Travis

I woke up early the next morning feeling like shit. My dreams were filled with crying redheads dancing around a lake. Whatever symbolism that was was lost on me.

I spent an hour in the gym room lifting weights and jogging on the treadmill. Earlier, I'd caught a glimpse of my dad brewing coffee in the kitchen. I'd wanted to hurl a couch at his head.

I didn't let him see me, because I knew whatever would come out of his mouth would send me raging. My lectures started at eleven, and I couldn't wait to leave.

Nellie was in her school uniform, standing in front of her vanity and applying mascara when I strolled into her room after I showered later. Huxley howled at my presence and tried to trip me over. Expertly, I stepped over him, sadly thinking of how my wicked little sister had succeeded in winning him over to the dark side.

"Why are you so bent on stealing my boy?" I cast Huxley a look of longing.

"Morning to you too, brother." Nellie finished her last touch and put her mascara away. "Yes, I had a good sleep; thanks for asking."

I chuckled as Huxley waddled over to Nellie's bed and propped himself on it. I sat on the bed, inching closer to him, but he shot me a look filled with contempt and shifted far, far away.

"Last night, I saw Raine's snap story." Nellie was saying as she started packing books and pens into her backpack. "She was dancing, and from what I could gather from her caption, the dance coach at Hamilton High will be doing some eviction of those who don't measure up to her standards next week. She was reminding her team members to work hard."

"Oh." The full realization of what that meant hit me. Rebecca had said something like this, but I didn't know she had such a limited time.

It made me feel even worse for turning her down yesterday. But then I thought about how she'd quit easily the first time, and I got mad at her for wasting so much time when she didn't have enough of it to begin with.

"Is Raine their captain?" I asked.

Nellie hummed in response. "I've never seen a girl as scary as her." She slung her backpack over her shoulder and gave a teasing smile. "You do know she's crazy about you, right?"

Yes, I knew, and there was nothing I could do for her.

"Yeah, crazy about wanting to drive me insane with her scariness."

Nellie gave a lopsided grin. "Trust me, the only drive Raine intends to take you on is to ride you so hard you can't think straight."

My mouth dropped open with shock and a coil of ew. Why the hell was my baby sister spewing this dirt?

"You have two seconds to run out of here before I kill you." I warned.

"Come on," she laughed. "I'm sure she's probably staring at your window right now. She's so in love with you." She wiggled her brows mischievously and proceeded to sing in an annoying pitch, "Travis and the girl next door, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-ow!"

I grabbed one fluffy pillow from her bed and threw it at her head.

Our mom walked in just then, carrying a laundry basket half-full with clothes that needed to be in the washing machine.

"Hey, guys," she pecked Nellie's cheek. "I have to make this quick announcement before y'all go. We're having a weekend getaway early tomorrow morning. To the beach house. Prepare."

Nellie groaned, pouted, and stomped her foot. "Mom, no!"

"Daughter, yes." Used to her tantrums, she ignored my sister and looked at me. "Do you think you can make it?"

Immediately I put two and two together. She didn't want to be around our dad right now, and maybe he intended on staying around for a while. So she wanted to get away but didn't want to leave Nellie with him.

"Sure," I said. "I'd love to."

She smiled with relief. "That's great."

"It's not!" My sister whined. "Gosh, I'll be bored to tears. Can I at least bring Leslie?"

"Nellie, bring whoever you want; I don't mind." My mom waved her hand with an air of finality. "You too, Connor." She called over her shoulder as she left.

Nellie immediately snatched her phone with glee. "Lemme text the girls..." Her fingers flew over the screen rapidly as she muttered to herself. "Okay, I'm inviting Leslie, that's for sure. And Jillian. Darla? Dang no, Darla has a terrible crush on you, and it's gross as fuck. Willow? Or Kat? Nah, Kat is a gossip. Willow it is."

Satisfied with her impeccable selection, she finally looked up after texting all of the chosen ones. "Who are you bringing?"

I didn't miss a beat. "Rebecca."

Her grin fell. "Now, why would you do that?"

"She has limited time, Nellie. And since dad's here, we both know she can't come around. So I figured you could squeeze some of your time this weekend into teaching her aside from having fun. Is that cool with you?"

"Of course not, but sure. It's a brilliant thought, and I'll do it. But then, you'd be the only guy in our midst."

"I'll talk to the guys. Heath and Luke might wanna come."

If I wasn't so attentive, I would have missed the way Nellie went suddenly stiff at the mention of Luke's name. But she recovered quickly and shrugged. "Cool."

"Nellie, what's wrong?" My eyes slitted with concern.

She tucked her phone in the pocket of her uniform and began heading out. "I'm sorry, I'm running late."

"Cornelia."

"Gotta go. See ya!"

Then she was gone.

***
I broke the news to Luke and Heath in the locker room after practice in the afternoon. Luke was excited, but Heath was reluctant.

"I don't know, man." He scratched the back of his head. "I have a couple of assignments due next two weeks."

Luke slapped his back lightly. "Dude, that's a lot of time. I wait till the last day before my assignments are due and do them overnight."

I could never. My strategic ass would never let me, and Heath looked like he shared my concerns.

"It's fine if you can't make it." I assured him. "I just didn't want to be the only guy in the midst of hormonal girls."

Luke's eyes shone brighter. "There are going to be girls?"

"Yeah, sixteen-year-olds." I couldn't help but snigger at his crestfallen expression. "Bring your own women."

And that reminded me of something really important. I took a breath, and my expression turned serious.
"One more thing; y'all remember Rebecca?"

"Your ex's lookalike?"

"The girl you stalked?"

Heath and Luke said at the same time.

"I didn't stalk her. I just wanted to confirm her identity." I glared at Luke.

"Yeah, and showed up right at the cinema where she and her friends were supposed to hang out." Luke smirked. "Poor girl probably thought it was coincidental."

"When you say it like that, you make me sound like a fucking creep." I grumbled.

"Well, aren't you?" He angled an amused brow upward. "You son of a gun. You're so obsessed with your ex that you followed her lookalike to confirm her identity. You need a couple of spankings."

"Luke, if you see her, you'll understand me. They look exactly the same. I was curious."

"Doesn't make you less of a creep." He shrugged.

"I never meant to harm her." I raised my hands in defense. Thinking about my actions made me feel uneasy, and he was totally right. It was creepy of me to do that, but I'd been too absorbed then to think of that at the time. "My intentions were pure. You know I wouldn't hurt anyone."

"Come on, I'm just messing with you." He softened his voice and ruffled my hair. "Awww," he cooed, "you're such an adorable golden retriever. Don't feel bad."

I swatted his hand away in annoyance and grumbled, "Fuck off."

He puckered his lips in an attempt to kiss my cheek, and I quickly recoiled and shoved his face away. He cackled loudly and evilly.

"Luke Miller, you gross bitch!" I couldn't help my laughter. "I hate you sometimes."

He flashed a shit-eating grin. "Cheridan asked of you this morning. She wanted me to pass a message. 'Tell Travis to pass by my dorm tonight.'" He turned his voice a pitch higher to mimic Cheridan's.

"Right," I said, yawning.

"Come on, Connor. Don't tell me you don't want to pop Cheri's cherry." He narrowed his eyes with suspicion, hit by a sudden thought. "Or are you the one having problems with Travis junior?"

I looked at Heath with pain. "Man, how do you manage to hang with him all the time and not get tempted to murder him?"

"Who said I don't get tempted?"

"Hey!" Offended, Luke shouted.

Heath ignored him and kept his eyes on my face. "Well, you were about to say something about Rebecca before your 'creepiness' came up."

"Oh, yes." I scratched the back of my neck. "Well, she's coming, too."

"Oh, then I'm coming as well. I have to see this infamous Rebecca." Heath leaned against a wall and crossed his arms, beginning to enjoy himself.

"Me, too." Luke agreed.

"Well, the deal is that no one has to mention Rachel." I shot Luke a serious look.

Heath never met Rachel, so he wouldn't be taken aback by the resemblance, but Luke definitely would. Without me having to say a word, they both seemed to know what I was thinking and agreed.

Luke made a motion of zipping his lips shut. "Sir, yes, sir." He gave a mock salute.

"When are we leaving?" Heath asked.

"Tomorrow morning. Really early."

***

I didn't know what possessed me to think she would agree to this. No, she wouldn't, I thought as I stared at our chat from the previous evening.

Me: hi. I'm ok. Don't.

Me: just not today, please. There's a crisis.

Blue: oh, I'm really sorry about that, and it's totally fine. Thanks for letting me know :)

I knew she wasn't smiling.

Me: Thanks for understanding.

Blue: Don't worry about it.

And I didn't say anything after that. I hadn't known what else to say. Were we even friends? Did she want me in her life?

I groaned and threw myself on my bed. My eyes landed on my packed duffel bag sitting on the rug. It was getting late. If I didn't tell her now, maybe she couldn't pack before tomorrow morning.

I reached for my phone once more, and again, I couldn't help questioning my decision. Was her coming along the right thing to do?

Of course it was. There was no time, and she needed to start practicing asap. I just had to stay far, far away from her, like how Huxley stays far, far away from me these days, and things would go smoothly. Perfectly.

That was what I told myself.

With newfound courage, I texted her. Then, as an afterthought because I didn't want her feeling left out in case she still couldn't get along with Nellie and her friends, I asked her to bring a friend along if she wanted. Then I quickly turned off my phone's screen and stared at the ceiling.

My phone lighted with a notification a good three minutes later, and I knew it had to be her text.

When she agreed, I let out a breath I hadn't known I'd been holding.

***

Any predictions on what will happen during the weekend?

Another question for y'all: what do you like about Nicole? Do you respect her, and why?

Please let me know your thoughts, and don't forget to vote and add this book to your reading lists!