Chapter Twenty-Two

Ayla

With my sweatshirt in hand, I headed for the front porch to wait for Luke to show up. Before I got there, Mom stepped out in front of me.

“Where are you going? You haven’t been home from play practice for very long.”

“Luke’s coming over, we were going to hang out in the tree house and eat pizza.”

Her arms folded across her chest. “Why can’t you just eat in the house?”

“Because I don’t want you hovering. You and Dad always hover. Then hovering turns into talking, and talking turns into you joining us. I wanted to have a chance to talk with him for a while.”

“But the tree house? It’s not big enough.”

“Oh. My. God. This is because Luke is my first boyfriend, isn’t it?” I rolled my eyes. “It’s not like there’s any room up there to do anything but sitting anyway, if that’s what you’re going for here.”

Mom blushed. “It doesn’t take much room to do things, Ayla.”

“Can we not get into this now? You and Dad let him stay the weekend here. News flash, nothing happened. The most we might do is hold hands. Besides, you know me and pizza. I’ll be too busy scarfing food down to even think about anything else.”

Which was half-true. But Mom had no idea what seeing Luke’s smile did to me. The way one crooked grin could set my insides on fire. How much I loved it when he took my hand or caressed my face. He made me feel special. That was one of the many things I liked about him. He didn’t try to change me or turn me into something I wasn’t. He just let me be me.

Right then, I saw Luke’s headlights cut through the curtains as he pulled into our drive. I raced out the door before Mom could stop me.

Luke climbed from his car, his blond hair messy. He grinned, holding up the pizza and a box of cheesy garlic bread. “Are you racing out here to see me? Or do you just want my food?”

I hopped down the stairs. “Both. I mean, I have my two favorite things right in front of me!”

He kicked the door shut with his foot. When I reached him, he bumped me with his hip. “So I’m one of your favorite things now?”

I swallowed hard, trying hard not to free-fall into his sky-colored eyes. “Yes.”

He shifted the boxes into one hand and pulled me into his arms with the other. “You’re one of mine, too, Ayla. I seriously don’t know how I survived before you.”

My mom peeked out the window, and I gave a wave, quickly maneuvering Luke toward the backyard gate before she could descend upon us. When we got to the tree house, I climbed up first, then reached down to help grab the food. I’d already laid a blanket out earlier, after I’d first gotten home.

“Did Brady tell you that Chloe’s cousin made me some awesome pins, key chains, and posters to hand out tomorrow for the candidate meet and greet during both lunches?”

“No, but Chloe showed me the key chain with you holding a light saber that said ‘Vote for me, I’m your only hope.’ Clever slogan, by the way.”

“Hey, if I can’t win it with Star Wars, then there’s really no hope,” I said, grabbing a slice of pizza. The cheese stretched in a long string as I took a bite.

“Wait a second, I thought that’s what I was for. Your key to winning this?” He feigned being stabbed in the chest.

I laughed, watching him. “Maybe things started that way, but you’re not just a pawn for my election. I…” I what? Liked him? Loved him? Oh, God. What did I even feel?

A lot. That’s what I felt. Warm. Fuzzy. Cared for. Friendship. And other things. Things I was too scared to mention for fear of jinxing myself.

But the signs were all there. I hated being away from him. Not that I was one of those obsessed girls who needed to be with her boyfriend 24-7. But I realized I missed him when he wasn’t around. Before I’d always been in a hurry to get home and talk to Chloe; now I couldn’t wait to hear from Luke. I looked forward to seeing him, being close to him—to texting him from my government class when I was supposed to be doing homework.

Luke set his pizza down and moved closer, taking my slice from me as well. “You what, Ayla?” he said softly.

We hadn’t been hanging out that long—would it freak him out if I said it aloud?

Instead of answering, I just stared at him. The way his eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled. The way he ran a hand through his hair when he got nervous. His yummy scent. His laugh. How he took care of Landon.

Ignoring the box of pizza between us, he touched my face. “Ayla?” he said again.

My insides twisted as emotion swirled through me. My hand looped around the back of his neck as he leaned over to kiss me. The faint taste of pizza sauce still lingered, but I didn’t care. Luke Pressler was my real boyfriend.

And I was in love with him. But I didn’t dare tell him, not yet.

“You know, I told my mom we were only coming up here to eat pizza,” I said against his mouth.

“Well, you didn’t lie. We were eating pizza. Now we’re kissing.” But Luke moved back to his spot and resumed chomping down on his food.

I wasn’t sure if I’d ever get used to this…being Luke’s girlfriend.

…

The next day, Chloe and Luke helped me set my table up in the hallway outside the cafeteria for my meet and greet. I arranged the key chains and pins into separate piles then stacked up my rack cards, which explained who I was and what I would do for the senior class if they voted for me.

“Ah, you guys, I’m so freaking nervous,” I said as Chloe attempted to fix the faux flower she’d put in my hair.

“You’ll be great.” Luke brought my hand to his mouth and kissed my knuckles. “Plus, you only have to be out here without us during first lunch. Take a deep breath and just be yourself.”

“Easy for you to say,” I muttered.

He chuckled. “I’ll see you in a bit.”

“Good luck,” Chloe called, following him.

I set my phone on the table and stood next to my display, too wound up to sit down.

Jenna smirked at me from her table, where she had all her stuff set out—phone case covers, little bags of candy, pins, and flash drives. “You know, you could just drop out of the race now and save yourself the embarrassment. Because if you don’t, this is going to end badly.”

“Not a chance. I’m not letting you win this.”

“Well, don’t say I didn’t give you an opportunity to bow out gracefully.” Her too-sweet smile made me want to vomit.

As students came into the cafeteria, I handed out some of my pins. Two theater friends pulled me away from my table and out of Jenna Lee’s earshot.

“So, what do you think is the likelihood of you being able to get us more funding for theater if you’re elected?” Dre asked.

“I think pretty good. If the board actually looks at where most of their money for the sports and clubs has been going, it’ll be obvious that we’ve been given the shaft.”

He winked. “I know you’ll work hard for drama club—I was just giving you a hard time. Which reminds me, we really need to meet up this week to try to get some extra practice time in for our duets.”

“Yeah, definitely. Mrs. Parkins is keeping a running tab of how many more rehearsals we have before opening night. I think she’s trying to freak us all out,” I said.

“No doubt. Well, hey, I better go get my lunch or I won’t have time to eat. We can discuss extra practices tonight.” Dre hurried away.

At least some people were stopping to chat with me. Although I hoped more than just my friends came by.

As I moved back to my table, I went still.

Jenna held up my phone. “You know, you have some really interesting texts on here. Especially the one between you and Luke and how you were done blackmailing him. So, where exactly are your videos on here?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Give me my phone.” Shit, I thought I’d deleted it. My mind raced as I played back the day in the library. Crap. No. Brady had interrupted me before I could.

“Aw, well, look what I found. This one in particular has kind of caught my attention.” She held it up, letting me see Luke, Brady, and Jack’s faces fill the screen.

“Give that back. It’s not yours…” Panic raced through my veins. Shit. What was I gonna do now? What if she sent it to someone?

“You really should learn to lock your phone, Ayla.” She continued to smile, only it twisted into a vicious sneer. “At least I know now how you managed to land Luke Pressler. You had dirt on him, because there’s no other way he’d ever date someone like you. Trust me. I’m more his type.”

“Jenna, I’m begging you. Please give me my phone.”

She shook her finger at me. “I don’t think so. Not until you and I have a little chat.”

I was in trouble, and if I didn’t play along with Jenna’s game, it could cost Luke everything. Sure, his dad was back in the picture, but if he got convicted, I doubted U of M would want him on their team still. Scholarship or no scholarship—he’d be a criminal. His basketball career would be over before it even started. Damn. I should’ve made sure I deleted the video.

Queasiness set in, my eyes welling. “What do you want?”

“Now there’s the right question. How about I forget all about this video. Of course it’ll cost you.”

“Name the price,” I said.

“I want you to drop out of the race.” She put her free hand on her hip.

Fuck. If I did, the paper was surely done for. There’d be no additional funds. And yeah, we’d get our last hurrah, but then what? And what about Stacy and Holly—what would this do to them? To all of us? It was either Luke or us.

Hadn’t he been through enough? Could I watch him fall farther? No. I couldn’t. Which meant I’d be the one to sacrifice something. “O-okay, consider it done. I’ll go straight to the office and take my name off the ballot. You can even follow me.”

“And there’s one more thing,” she said, eyes darkening. “You have to break up with Luke. It’s the only way to ensure you’re not going to just tell him about all this and have my campaign ruined.”

A lump lodged in my throat. “You want me to break up with Luke?” No. Damn it. This wasn’t happening. His whole life everyone had let him down. I didn’t want to be another nail in his coffin. Another person to ruin him.

“Yes. Break up with him and drop out of the race. Then all this goes away.”

I squeezed my lids shut. I had to keep him out of trouble. The city was already pushing to find the vandals. Hell, the cops had been here over a week ago investigating leads. If I didn’t protect him, then that’d be one more thing gone. One more disappointment. He was banking on going to U of M. Following his dream.

Could I take it from him?

No.

“If I do this, how do I know you won’t turn around and share the video or tell someone?”

“You have my word. Besides, if I don’t keep up my end, then you can jump back into the race for school president.”

This was fucking stupid. Not only would this hurt me, but Luke, too. He’d spent his lifetime being hurt and betrayed by the people closest to him, and here I was about to do the same thing. Although by doing this I was securing his future. The future he wanted and had worked so hard for.

Only…one without me in it.

Anger ripped through me. I wanted to punch Jenna Lee in her perfect face. To wipe that asshole smirk from her mouth. She had me right where she wanted me.

But I had to do this. For Luke. Maybe someday he’d forgive me. Maybe someday I’d forgive myself. God, if Stacy and Holly knew how close we were to keeping the paper going and how I’d let it slip through my fingers, they’d probably hate me, too. But there was no other resolution.

“Fine. You’ve got a deal.” My voice cracked as I tried to keep it together.

“You’ve got until the end of the school day to do it. If I don’t hear the rumors flying by the last bell, I’m forwarding this. Understand?” Jenna handed me my phone.

Did that mean she’d sent it to her phone? It didn’t matter now—she already had the information she needed to throw Luke under the bus if I didn’t do what she said.

“Okay.” I slipped the phone into my pocket.

Just last night Luke and I had had the perfect night, and today I’d have to break his heart.

When the bell rang for first lunch to end, I saw Luke heading toward me. His smile turned my legs to mush. And in a minute, my words would take his smile away.

“Hey, how’s everything going?” he asked, reaching for my hand.

Jenna kept a close eye on us. But I didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of witnessing the hurt and humiliation. “C-can we talk? Someplace private?”

“Sure. But what about your table?” He pointed at the short line of people moving toward it.

I noticed Chloe heading our way. “Can you watch my table for a couple of minutes?”

“Sure.” She moved to hand out my promo stuff.

As we walked away from the prying eyes and listening ears, my stomach knotted. I hated this. A part of me considered not going through with it and just telling him. But if I did, he might not get to use his basketball scholarship. I didn’t want to be the thing that ruined his future. So instead, I’d be the high school sweetheart who tore out his heart.