Just Friends Read online

  Just Friends

  Bayview High #3

  Melody Summers

  Copyright © 2017 Melody Summers

  melody-summers.com

  All rights reserved. No part of this eBook may be reproduced in any form or by any means, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Names, characters, places, businesses, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Excerpt: The Perfect Match

  About the Author

  Chapter One

  As the bell rang, I slung my backpack over my shoulder with an inner sigh of relief. It was Friday afternoon and the only thing standing between me and the weekend was our homecoming pep rally.

  “Dannika, hold on a sec.”

  Ms. Hobson, my art teacher, had my escape route blocked and was approaching me with a large sheet of art paper in her hands. I winced inwardly as I recognized it—my proposal for the big art project she had assigned at the beginning of the week. She held it up in front of me, displaying a sketch of a woman’s face in four different states: sleeping, crying, laughing, and in love. Or at least it was supposed to be love. I was having trouble getting that one right.

  “What is this?” she asked.

  I put on my best blank look. “The proposal for my art project?”

  “I was really hoping for more from you,” she said.

  “Well, it will display hyperrealism and contrast, which cover the requirements you gave us.”

  Ms. Hobson pursed her lips. “Yes, it does. But I’m not feeling it. There’s nothing of you in it.”

  Unfortunately she was right. It was pretty lifeless. I just hadn’t been able to come up with anything better. My creativity had apparently decided to take the semester off, and my usual sources of inspiration had proven less than helpful as I struggled to find it again.

  “Yeah,” I admitted. “I’ve just been having trouble coming up with a better idea.”

  “You might want to rethink it. It’s a big part of your grade, and the top entries are going to go on display in the lobby at the bank.”

  I nodded grudgingly. Ms. Hobson expected a lot from me and I needed to deliver, especially since this was what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. If I couldn’t even manage this, I wasn’t sure how art was going to work out for me as a career. And there just wasn’t anything else I wanted to do.

  She took another hard look at my paper then shrugged. “Well, go with this for now. If you come up with something better later you can change it. But I think your problem is that you’re trying too hard. You’re getting in your own way. You can’t force this stuff, Dannika. The best thing you can do is not think about it and let it percolate in the back of your mind for a few days.”

  Most likely she was right. And I’d have plenty of other things to occupy my mind over the weekend.

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “All right. Enjoy your weekend.”

  “You, too.”

  I fled to the hallway where Ashton was waiting, looking all kinds of hot in his football jersey, and together we worked our way into the crowd and headed towards the gym.

  “What’s wrong, Dani?”

  Somehow he always knew when something was bothering me.

  “Molly’s homecoming date bailed on her.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yeah. She’s pretty upset, although she’s doing her best to pretend.”

  “I can’t believe anyone would do that to her.”

  “I offered to set her up with someone else, but she said no.”

  “Poor kid. Just when she was doing so well.” His eyes met mine and he frowned. “What else is wrong?”

  I told him the gist of my art project problem as we walked, and he took my hand and squeezed it with a reassuring smile that left me feeling warm all over.

  “You’ll get it,” he said. “You’re the queen of creativity. You always come up with the best ideas.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  “Of course I am.”

  He grinned, and the warmth swirling inside me spiked up a few more degrees. As we reached the gym he let go of my hand, which immediately missed his touch.

  “I’ll find you at the game tonight,” he said. “Don’t forget your mum.”

  “I won’t,” I promised.

  He had dropped it off at my house that morning before school. Since we were going to the dance as friends I hadn’t really expected it, so it had jolted me with a pang of nostalgia that I’d had to fight hard to conceal from him. With a quick wave Ashton took off to join the other football players while I went to find my friends in the bleachers and help cheer up Molly.

  Life is complicated when your best friend is your ex-boyfriend. It’s even more so when you secretly wish he was still your boyfriend. Maybe secretly is too strong a word since all of my friends knew how I felt about him—and how he felt about me. I just didn’t like admitting it, not even to myself most of the time.

  Saturday night the sight of Ashton dancing in front of me kick started the old familiar flutter in my stomach which always weakened my resolve to keep him safely in the friend zone. He moved with the confident, assured grace of the athlete he was, and his dark eyes glinted in the shifting lights. I caught a teasing smile on his lips as our eyes met and knew that he felt it, too. Even though we’d officially broken up over a year ago it was always there, had never gone away or seemed to lessen much.

  I sighed a little as I remembered other dances and how I’d felt so at home in his arms, as though I’d always belonged there. But at tonight’s homecoming dance we had come as friends, not dates. My boy wasn’t mine anymore. The fact that he wasn’t anyone else’s didn’t offer much comfort.

  Lost in my thoughts I didn’t notice at first when the DJ replaced the upbeat pop music we’d been dancing to with a slow song. Suddenly Ashton’s arms were around me and he’d pulled me in close, folding me against the achingly familiar warmth of his chest. It was a bad idea—I’d avoided slow dancing with him all night because I knew that surrendering to all our old feelings would only make things worse for both of us. But although my heart thudded wildly, I relaxed into his embrace and rested my cheek against his shoulder.

  It was like we’d never broken up, like not a day had passed since I told him we could no longer be a couple. We swayed slowly together, drifting in the moment, and even though I knew it was a mistake and would just hurt worse afterwards I savored every lovely second of it.

  Finally the music died away and I slipped out of his grasp, back to safety. Ashton’s smile turned wistful, but he let me go.

  “Dani...”

  I shook my head, knowing what he wanted to say and fearing to hear it.

  “It’s almost midnight,” I told him. “I need to get home before I turn into a pumpkin. Or at least before Dad grounds me from the car for a week.”

  “All right,” Ashton agreed. “I know how much you hate riding the bus.”

  His eyes were still on me, their expression impossible to read in the dim light, but I didn’t need to see them to know. I knew him, and I was feeling the same things.

  Allison and her date had already left the dance floor, althoug
h Delaney and Molly were still locked together with their dates as the next song began. We said our goodbyes and headed out to his car. I half expected Ashton to try to hold my hand or something, but he seemed content merely to walk beside me. We spent the ride to my house trapped in a silence which grew more oppressive with every passing mile.

  “Did you have a good time?” I blurted, desperate to fill that quiet.

  “Yeah. But I could have fun with you during a drug awareness assembly.”

  I laughed and had to fight the urge to reach over and take his hand. “Thanks for going with me.”

  “Any time.”

  Flustered by the feelings swirling restlessly in my heart I couldn’t think of anything else to say, and my throat tightened up as I observed his silhouette from the corner of my eye. Friends. It wasn’t really enough, but it was all I could have. Some day I’d have to learn to be content with that. Somehow.

  All too soon we pulled up to the curb in front of my little house, so much older and shabbier than Ashton’s luxurious house on the beach. I opened the car door slowly, wishing I had some excuse to prolong the evening, but the mental comparison I’d just made reminded me why I shouldn’t.

  “I’ll walk you to your door,” Ashton said, following me out of the car.

  I felt like a death row inmate taking that last, fateful walk as we strolled up the sidewalk, each step bringing me a little closer to the end of my night with him. I didn’t want it to end, didn’t want to stop remembering. Finally we stopped on the porch before my front door.

  “Thank you again for going with me, Ash. Goodnight.”

  He said nothing, so I turned away. Had the memories hurt him that badly?

  “Dani.”

  Something in his tone compelled me to pause with my hand on the doorknob, and I turned my head towards him. Before I knew it his arms were around my waist and his lips brushed against mine, sending my blood crashing through my veins like a derailed freight train.

  “Dani,” he whispered again.

  His mouth closed over mine, gently, teasing. With a groan I let my hand slide from the doorknob and wrapped my arms around his neck to draw us closer together. A thrill like an electric shock sizzled through me from head to toe as he kissed me, and I felt more alive, more awake, than I had in the last year. Oh, how I’d missed Ashton’s kisses.

  Although gentle at first, when he decided I wasn’t going to pull away Ashton allowed his passion to break free. I whimpered deep in my throat and kissed him back with everything I had, lost in the moment without a thought for the potential consequences. After what seemed like hours he pulled away and took a step back. With a tiny smile he shoved his hands in his pockets as though he was afraid to touch me again.

  “Night, Dannika.”

  He turned and strode off into the darkness without a backwards glance. I watched him go, my chest heaving and knees wobbly, not trusting myself to move as he drove away. When his taillights disappeared around the corner I went inside and slumped back against the door as it shut behind me.

  Friends. It ought to be a curse word.

  Chapter Two

  After that night I stayed away from him as much as I could to try to give myself some time to regain my balance. Fortunately I had a ready excuse in the project for my art class, which stubbornly refused to come together for me. Still, we were part of the same circle of friends so it was impossible to avoid him completely.

  About three weeks after the homecoming dance our group was sitting together in the cafeteria at lunch. Ashton was showing me a funny video on his phone and leaned in a little bit closer so I could get a better view. I could feel the heat of his arm where it was almost touching mine, and I took a deep breath to inhale his scent. He always smelled so good, like summer and spice mixed together. I’d gotten addicted to that smell back when we’d been dating, and I wanted to bury my face against his shirt and smother myself with it like I used to. There was no way I could do that now, though, not without it being all kinds of awkward.

  Unfortunately the scent also brought back memories which squeezed my heart like a giant squid’s tentacles. I really hadn’t gotten over him. I wasn’t sure I even wanted to, though we were over and done and there was no going back. It had been great—until it wasn’t.

  “Wasn’t that hilarious?” he asked.

  I didn’t know. All of my attention had been focused on him, not the video.

  “Dannika?” he asked, his lips quirked in exasperated bemusement when I didn’t answer.

  I was saved from having to admit that I hadn’t actually seen the video by Walker’s arrival. He hooked out a chair and sat down next to Delaney.

  “Did you get them?” she asked eagerly.

  When her boyfriend laid four tickets down on the scuffed Formica tabletop she let out a squeal that turned heads halfway across the cafeteria.

  “Oh, yeah!”

  “What are those?” Ashton asked.

  “Walker won four tickets in a Student Council raffle to the sneak preview of that new splatterfest movie,” I told him.

  Delaney turned to Molly, the pretty blonde on the other side of the table. “Do you guys want to double date?”

  I wasn’t offended that she had asked Molly first since Delaney knew I wasn’t a fan of horror movies. Molly looked up from her lunch and gave the crowded cafeteria a furtive glance.

  “Quinn has to go to a birthday party for his granddad on Friday.”

  Delaney shifted her attention to Allison, who shrugged.

  “Don’t look at me. I got dumped last week.”

  We all stared at her, but she just shrugged again. “No big deal.”

  “Aww, Allie,” Delaney said. “Why didn’t you tell us?”

  “Like I said, no big deal. It wasn’t really a thing.”

  I traded a knowing look with Molly. For months our friend had been crushing hard on Seth Gray, but we’d hoped that going out with someone else would get her past it. Guess it just wasn’t meant to be. The matchmaker wheels in my head started to spin. Who could I set her up with? There had to be somebody who’d be a good match for her...

  Delaney’s face fell. “Seriously? I really wanted to do a double date.”

  Ever since she’d started going out with Walker, Delaney had been anxious to do more couple things. I had a feeling it was because she was still insecure about Walker, which was ridiculous because anyone could tell from the way his eyes lit up when he looked at her that the boy was crazy in love with her.

  Delaney’s eyes were pleading as her gaze landed on me and Ashton. “What about you two?”

  I blinked at her. Me and Ashton? Ash’s face was studiedly blank, devoid of any clue as to what he was thinking. I bit my lip, unsure how to respond. Horror movies really weren’t my thing, but I didn’t want to disappoint Laney. Still, there was the whole double date concept. While Ashton and I sometimes hung out together and went out with the others as a group, Delaney intended this to be a couples thing, more like a real date.

  “I’m cool with it if you are,” Ashton told me.

  Was I? We did fine as friends, but every time we came close to crossing that line it made me long for something I couldn’t have. A real date as a couple, even if it was just for Laney’s sake, was just asking for trouble. Ashton had kind of painted me into a corner, though. If I said no now, I’d make it sound like I couldn’t handle it. Plus I’d have to listen to Laney nagging me to change my mind until Friday.

  “Okay,” I sighed. “We’ll do it.”

  Delaney bounced up and down in her chair in unrestrained glee. “This is gonna be great!”

  Walker shot me a sympathetic look while I tried to force myself to feel some of Delaney’s excitement—but failed miserably. An amused smirk curled up one side of Ashton’s mouth. The jerk was enjoying himself, knowing that he’d left me no real choice. I promised myself I’d find a way to get even with him later. Maybe he thought it made for a good joke, but I wasn’t laughing.

  I still wasn’t l
aughing that afternoon when Ms. Hobson asked me if I’d come up with any new ideas for my art project. I had nothing. Nada. Zip. And with this double date coming up I had serious doubts that I’d be spending any time thinking about art until it was safely over and done with.

  I spent the rest of the week alternating between dread and excitement about Friday night. Memories of other movies with Ashton back when we had still been dating a year ago made me ache with nostalgia, while at the same time I was afraid I was putting myself into an impossible situation. Because dating Ashton again was not an option, no matter how much I might long for the good old days. It couldn’t work, and we both knew it.

  By the time Friday evening finally rolled around and the doorbell rang, I was so nervous I just wanted to hide under my bed. Still, I put my best face on it and forced myself to match Delaney’s happy chatter on the ride to the theater. That best face slipped a little while we stood in the concession line watching Delaney hanging on Walker, who had his arm curled possessively around her waist. They were whispering and laughing together nonstop and it was all so freaking cute I could barely stand it.

  Ashton rolled his eyes then bent to whisper in my ear. “They’re ruining my appetite.”

  “They’re so sweet I’m going to get diabetes,” I muttered back.

  “I never in a million years would have imagined Walker behaving this way.”

  “Yeah,” I agreed. “The school’s biggest bad boy seems to be thoroughly tamed.”

  “You want to do that?”

  I turned to him, gaping. He couldn’t possibly mean... “Do what?”

  He pointed to the tub of popcorn Delaney and Walker were holding. “Share a popcorn?”

  “Oh. Yeah. Sure.”

  Relief rushed through me like a cold rain. I was majorly overreacting to the situation. Now I just needed to get my heart to stop hammering. And to stop wishing for what I couldn’t have.

  The previews had already started by the time we got into the theater, and I was so distracted by my roiling thoughts and the images on the screen that I didn’t notice the three kids barreling down the stairs towards us.