"Grayson?"

"Hey." He smiles with a bank card in his hand. He points it in my direction as his brows draw together. "I didn't know you work here?"

"Yeah I have for a while." I set the iced coffee that I was preparing on the bench and signal Stefan to switch places with me. He does, but he doesn't look happy about it. "Only part-time. Usually after school."

"Ah that makes sense" - he winks and nods his head - "I usually just come in during the day."

"So what brings you in this afternoon?"

"Dray just finished football practice." He points his thumb over his shoulder and I look past him, noticing the jeep in the parking lot. "We're grabbing some burgers."

"Drayton's out there?" I'm not sure if he knows that I work here or not. It hasn't come up before and I've never seen him here. But I get the feeling he doesn't eat a lot of takeout anyway.

"Yeah, he was on a phone call so he stayed in the car. I'll tell him you say hey though."

"Oh no don't!" I lightly chuckle at the confusion on Grayson's face. "I mean it's not - we're not like friends or anything. So ya know. Don't."

"Oh I kind of got the impression that you guys were uh" - he wiggles his brows in a suggestive gesture - "ya know."

A definite heat creeps it's way on to my cheeks, no doubt colouring them a bright shade of red. I wonder if he and Drayton had spoken about me. Had Drayton let Grayson get the impression that there was something going on or had he come to his own conclusion based on our midday departure from his house on Sunday?

"No we aren't. Never have. Never will."

Grayson simply nods his head with his lips curled down and raised brows in a seemingly satisfied response. The espresso machine behind me starts to boil loudly while Stefan carries on making orders. I can practically feel his burning curiosity as he hovers around and does whatever he can to be in earshot throughout the conversation. When he has to take orders to the tables he lightly jogs or power walks. I'm waiting for him to drop something and make a total idiot of himself.

"So do you wanna order then?" I ask Grayson who seemed to be lost in his own thoughts for a short moment.

"Oh yeah." He shakes his head as if to rid the distracting inner commentary and glances at the order board behind me with slit eyes. "I'll have... two of the chicken, bacon and guac burgers and two colas please. And" - he stretches out the 'and' with a small voice - "perhaps a date to the first Archwood football game of the season on Friday night?"

I glance up from the till where I'd been totalling the balance and stare at Grayson's sheepish expression. I can't deny that he'd worked that in there relatively smoothly. I sweep his features as I try to arrange the jumble of thoughts that are causing a clusterfuck inside my head.

I imagine his height might often be a problem for girls. He's short for a guy. But I'm relatively short myself so I reach his chin rather than below his pecks where I come to on Drayton. His muscles are toned, his arms a golden tan, but he's not built like Drayton and his hair, while a dirty blonde, is a little more golden than Dra- 

Ugh. I'm standing here comparing him to Drayton. The revelation makes me nauseous and I start to internally chastise myself.

"I'd love to say yes," I tell him as I tear off the order slip and hand it to Stefan who's not being very subtle with his eavesdropping. "But I'm moving to California next year and I'm not looking for anything serious or long term right now. And I can't accept a date without making that absolutely clear."

It might seem a little extra to respond as if he's just proposed or asked me to birth his child. But I had once arranged a tinder date with a twenty-one-year-old in Castle Pines. Three weak martinis into the evening he slid into the conversation that he was hoping to be hitched within a year, kids, a house, the whole lot. He claimed that he'd made his commitment preferences clear on his profile but I argued that, 'looking for a good time, for a long time,' wasn't exactly the clearest message that he could have used. But of course I was a slut with no credibility because all I wanted was sex. So since that disaster of an evening, I've made it a point to be clear about what I want. It's safer that way.

"So, just casual, no expectations is your sort of arrangement," he asks, his confidence unaffected by the initial rejection.

"Yeah... I mean I don't usually date at all to be honest." He nods with a tight smile as he averts his gaze, accepting the decline. "But" - his expression brightens - "maybe we can hang out after the game? I'm cheering so I can't exactly go as your date. But there's usually an after-party. Just don't ask me out for dinner or anything like that."

"No problem." He chuckles, flashing a sweet smile. Stefan appears by my side and slides the order across the countertop. His mannerisms, while blatantly hostile don't do much to wipe the bliss from Grayson's face.

"Seventeen dollars by the way."

He hands over his bank card and I swipe it through the machine while he picks up a pen and starts scrawling on a customer feedback slip. Once the transaction is complete I hand his card back and in return he slips a piece of paper in my hand.

"My number," he informs me, picking up the bag of food and drinks. "I'll see you on Friday."

I watch him walk towards the door and wonder what the hell I've just gotten myself into. The one and only time I accept a date, it happens to be with Drayton's best friend. I remind myself that it's just hanging out after a football game and there's really no reason to consider it any more than harmless.

Stefan leans on the counter beside me and stares at me with wide disgruntled eyes.

"You're going out with him?!"

• • •

When Friday comes around I'm relieved with how well the rest of the week went. Drayton and I continue to exchange greetings and the odd conversation in the corridor or on the field.

I enjoy talking to him, as brief as the conversations seem to be, there's something I like about hearing his masculine voice and seeing his rough but gorgeous features. I don't want to further explore why I find him so fascinating but I've accepted that I do.

He doesn't seem as distant or as much of an asshole as I'd previously written him off to be. But there's still a definite wall that he's keeping up around him and I often find myself a little disappointed that he doesn't seem to trust me enough to open up more. But I suppose that's a time factor, not to mention a friend factor which neither of us has bought up since Sunday morning but it seems as though we've become a little more than just acquaintances.

He also hasn't bought up the fact that Grayson and I exchanged numbers with the intent of hanging out after the game tonight. So I don't bring it up either because despite our friendly basis, it would seem a little strange to discuss my personal affairs with him.

"What's on tonight?" I ask Spencer.

We're sitting on the bleachers after school. The pep rally starts in twenty minutes and I have time to kill since amazingly, Emily isn't ordering everyone to get into formation just yet.

My face has been striped with two maroon lines on either cheek and a matching coloured ribbon is wrapped around my ponytail. My Pom poms stay on the field in the squad's place of congregation though. I refuse to touch those until I absolutely have to.

"Uh, you mean after parties?" she confirms, not looking away from her cellphone screen.

"Yeah."

"One sec."

She starts typing away on the device in her hand which I refuse to believe is just a cellphone. It's some sort of intelligent life at this point. The bleachers are getting more full by the minute, excitement vibes through the atmosphere and students have decked themselves out in our colours now that school's over. The marching band is on standby, ready to get the drums rolling when the team comes bursting on to the field but the air is currently being filled by a Rudimental song blasting from the school speakers.

"Dallas!" a familiar voice screeches from the tunnel on the left side of the field. I glance over, adorning a bored expression to find Emily glaring at me. "Hurry up!"

I hold up my finger to signal that I need a second and turn back to Spencer who perks up with some potential information.

"Okay so it looks like everyone's going to Maxon Boyd's afterwards. I mean everyone except me because my best friend is ditching me!"

"Spence," I groan. "I've told you a million times, I'm not ditching you. You can come with us!"

"I'm not third-wheeling." She pouts for a moment until she sighs loudly. "It doesn't matter. Mom said I can't go out after the game anyway."

"So you were guilt-tripping me for no reason?!"

She shrugs with a guilty expression and I resist the urge to pinch her arm with brute force, instead settling for plucking my phone from the sports bra under my cheer top and sending a text to Grayson to inform him of our plans.

"Okay so Maxon's?"

Maxon is one of the boys on defence. I know that he and Drayton are relatively close from the amount of time they spend together and I think it's safe to assume that he's well off considering he drives a brand new sports car to school every day. I'm sure his house is equally as extravagant. I can never understand why these elite parents let their kids throw raves in their homes. If I had a house like that I'd want to surround it with bubble wrap.

"Can you text me the address?" I ask, ignoring the bottom lip she's exposing with sad eyes.

"Yes," she mumbles. "Let it be known that I'm sad!"

"It's known." I playfully roll my eyes as Emily's voice comes barrelling through the sea of voices. It's so high pitch and unbearable that I start to sympathise for the poor bloke that ends up marrying her.

"I gotta go. I'll catch up with you after the pep rally."

I head down the bleacher steps, weaving through the obstacle of bodies before I jog across the field and into the tunnel where the football team is lined up with a cheerleader beside each of them. 

"Dallas you're with Joseph," Emily orders, pointing to the same player that I'd been assigned to last year.

I reluctantly make my way towards the 6ft black-haired boy and hold back an eye roll as he smirks and slings an arm across my shoulder. He reminds me of Jacob Black if Jacob Black hadn't been a werewolf but rather an addict who took steroids and touched himself too often.

"Hey cheer pear." His sleazy greeting reminds me that the nickname did not originate from a place of endearment and while I'd grown used to hearing it come out of Drayton's mouth, from Joseph's, it sounds dirty and defiling.

"Switch with me," an authoritative voice rumbles from beside me before an arm grips my elbow and tugs me away, Aria quickly taking the spot where I'd just been standing.

I glance up to find a stone-faced Drayton dragging me back to his place in the lineup, which is first, seen as he's the captain.

"Um excuse me Drayton," Emily hisses, marching her way towards us. "No, you can't just screw up my placing. I'm the cheer captain! Put her back!"

"I'm the football captain," Drayton bites back with a harsh voice. "Get over it Emily. She's with me. End of story."

Drayton doesn't even spare her a glance, his tone is finalising and she gives up the argument, settling for stomping her foot and storming away instead. I'm actually surprised that the two captains aren't paired together. I imagine that Emily would have had it that way, but I get the feeling Drayton would have refused to do his debut with her.

Heat starts to warm my cheeks as I sense a large number of eyes on the two of us and an eerie silence makes me fear that my heartbeat will be heard throughout the tunnel. This is why I keep my head down at all costs.

The silence is soon broken by Maxon, who's a few people behind us. "Drayton, I thought you said nothing was going on with you and cheer pear?!"

His taunting voice causes a series of oohs and aahs and I stare at him with a sickening need to know how often I've come up in their locker room conversations. Pathetic. Drayton rolls his eyes with a small smile before he calls back. "Yeah I meant it, I've been too busy with your Mom."

"Fuck you Lahey!!"

He lets out a burly chuckle and I can't help but gaze at his mesmerising smile. He looks down and gives me a cheeky wink, snapping me out of the previously entranced state with a startle. "What was all that about?" I ask.

"I'm not really hooking up with his Mom, Dallas." He shakes his head as if to say duh.

"No!" I scoff, rolling my eyes. "I mean switching my place."

"Oh" - I think he shrugs but the shoulder pads make it hard to tell - "You looked uncomfortable. It's not a big deal." He nudges me with his elbow and wiggles his brows. "Ready?"

I look forward and realise that the freshman lackeys have taken their place in front of the tunnel, holding each end of a large banner that Drayton has the honour of tearing through. I realise I forgot my pom poms and quickly turn around snatching the pair out of Gemma Burn's hands. "Sorry," I squeak. "Emily, Gemma needs some Pom poms."

A loud voice booms through the speaker system, signalling for our start. "Give it up for your quarterback, team captain of the Archwood Wolves . . . Drayton Lahey!" I jog out beside Drayton, adopting my preppy persona, following him as he tears through the banner and causes an uproar of praise from the student body.

I wildly shake the pom poms as we jog side by side. When we reach our stop point, I drop the pom poms and focus on executing a back handspring. When I land, I pose and smile with enthusiasm. Of course, the attention remains on Drayton who was obviously born for the crowd. He has a dazzling smile but there's never a moment where he seems conceited or bigheaded. Which is surprising considering he knows how to seem so damn full of himself that it's exhausting. Still, when he glances over and grins, I return his smile and then we walk to our positions. Him beside coach, the start of the lineup. And I'm waiting for the rest of the squad on the track.

As far as pep rallies go, our school puts on an impressive show. The coach riles everyone up with a speech about how the season is ours and the other team tonight is as good as dead and a bunch of other intense declarations are made. The cheerleaders do an impressive routine and everyone seems to forget about the incident with Drayton in the tunnel. Well they've let it go at least. I doubt anyone will completely forget it, especially not Emily.

After the pep rally, everyone disperses while they wait for kickoff. Tonight's match is being played against Ridgewood, a team we've played before but not a rival. They belong to a school in a neighbouring town that a few of our opponent teams come from. Everyone's convinced that tonight will be an easy win because of the thrashing we gave them last time.

It's dark now, the bleachers are packed with families and students from our school on one side and the other team on the other side. The enormous spotlights that surround the green light up the field and a soft chanting starts to fill the air.

"I gotta go back to the squad now," I tell Spencer. We'd been sitting together on the bottom step of the bleachers, huddled under a blanket while we wait for kickoff.

"I'm probably gonna go," she mumbles through a yawn. "I'm tired."

"You're not going to stay for the first game of the season?!"

"I don't really care about football." She gives me a 'duh' look. "I care about hot football players. But I can't be bothered tonight."

"Fair call." I nod. I throw the blanket off and start walking towards the squad who are set up on the tartan track.

"Let me know how it goes tonight!" Spencer calls out. I give her a quick grin over my shoulder and promptly bump into a solid chest.

"Oh shit sorry!" I peer up and smile at Drayton when I realise it was only him. The smile quickly diminishes however when I notice his stormy glare.

"What's wrong?" I ask when he just silently stares at me with unkind eyes.

"Are you going out with Grayson tonight?"

"Uh," the question takes me by surprise and I fumble for an answer, "yeah. Well we're just going to Maxon's together."

"No you're not," he snaps. "Not with him."

"Actually yes I am." I fold my arms across my chest, not appreciating his tone. He continues to pierce me with a dangerous look. His eyes make me want to wave a white flag and do whatever he says. But no, I know better than to cower because a boy wants me too.

"No, you're not," He tells me again, slower this time.

"Yes, I am!" I match his slow firm tone.

"Why?" he barks, throwing his arms open wide with his helmet in hand. "You don't date, you don't go to parties. What's the deal?"

"Well it's not a date, I made that clear and there aren't any expectations. We're on the same page and also I do go to parties... very occasionally."

"Dray!" A helmeted player yells from the field, signalling for him to join them. Drayton looks over his shoulder and gives him a quick nod before turning back.

"Don't get involved with him." It sounds like a warning but I hear a hint of something else, something that I may be imagining. But I think I heard the slightest hint of pleading.

"Why do you care?" I question with a little bit more attitude than I'd intended.

"Because I don't want to see my best friend get hurt. Again."

"Oh."

His jaw twitches as he grinds his teeth together, a telltale sign of frustration. I'm at a loss for words. I mean, what had I been hoping he'd say?

Nothing. I hadn't been hoping for a thing. I'd be quite content if this conversation had never happened at all. He runs a hand through his hair as he exhales a loud breath of air and pulls his helmet on.

"Bye Dallas."

• • •

This story is now currently ranking #793 in teen fiction. That's incredible considering it's been up for less than a week. Thank you all so so much.

Weak. So weak.