I decided to shake off my doubts, and just have fun that night. “You guys are right! Let’s go!”

We made our way out of my neighborhood, and down onto the main road. People from our school would see us and wave, and we were feeling pretty good about our selves. But, when we made it to the main gate of the game I started feeling nervous about my outfit, and seeing Bryce.

“You guys, wait.” I said, pulling them back a little. “Do I really look okay?”

They all sighed and said “Of course” And they were about to turn away when Rosa noticed Dante’s bracelet on my wrist.

“OHMYGOD, Vannah. What the heck is on your wrist?” She said, grabbing my arm.

“Uhm, a bracelet?” I replied, hoping they would drop it.

“Your bracelet?” Kate asked suspiciously.

“Of course.” I lied

And before I knew it Rosa had flipped the bracelet inside out and was looking at the inside. There was something written in thick black sharpie. Why hadn’t I noticed it?

“Then why does it say Dante Garcia on the inside?”

I was trying to come up with an excuse, when an excited girl with blond hair bounced over. She was facing Kate and Rosa, and I couldn’t see her face. She had also completely cut me out of the circle.

“Oh my gosh!” She spouted, “Kate, Rosa, Hi!”

Kate and Rosa were clearly surprised, but trying to hide it.

“Hi, Melinda.” Rosa said nervously.

My mind went wild. What was Melinda doing here? She didn’t even go to Canyon high! And Dante had told me that they were going to her house tonight.

“It’s so great to see you guys! I almost didn’t come, but Dante made me. He said he wanted me to meet some girl named Savannah.”

“Uhm, this is our friend Savannah.” They said, motioning to me.

She whirled around and gave me the once over. “Hey, you went to our school last year, right?” She said with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. For some reason she seemed nervous.

“Yeah. I did.” I said, trying to smile back at her. She was pretty, but not the kind of girl I imagined Dante dating. She was tall and not fat, but solid. Her hair came down to her shoulders and her bangs went straight across her forehead. With her jeans and sweatshirt she blended in perfectly with the rest of the crowd.

She leaned in and looked at me, “You’re Dante’s Savannah? The one he always talks about?”

Dante talked about me?

“I guess.” I said, shrugging like it wasn’t a big deal to me.

“Oh.” She said, and he smile faltered for a second. “Well, I’m sure we’ll be friends.”

Kate awkwardly said, “Where is Dante, anyways?”

And as if to answer her question, he walked up to the fence. “Hey. Come into the game, already. You got people waiting for you Savannah.” He winked, and went to wait by the entrance for us.

Melinda linked arms with me and pulled me inside, and I barely had time to flash my ID to the ticket taker. Kate and Rosa followed us in, as we tried to locate Dante. He appeared out of the crowd, towing Blake and Bryce with him.

“She’s all yours.” He said to them, nodding in my direction.

Bryce smiled at me nervously, and I covered my nerves with a grin.

“Bryceeee!!!!!” I squealed, and threw my arms around his neck. He wrapped his around my waist and hugged me so tightly it hurt. When he let go of me, we both turned to look at the group. Kate and Rosa were giving me a secretive look, Melinda was gazing trustingly at Dante as she kissed him on the cheek, and Dante’s eyes were fastened to the spot where Bryce’s hand still clung to my waist. I turned my nose up at Dante and took a step closer to Bryce.

The rest of the game past in an awkward blur of Dante and Melinda kissing, Blake looking down my shirt, and Bryce gazing at me with a silly grin on his face. Soon it was almost the end of the last quarter, and I decided it was time for me to say goodbye and walk home.

I said goodbye to Kate and Rosa first, hugging them and promising to call as soon as I got home. I turned to Bryce and Blake, and shrugged my shoulders up a little.

“Bye guys!” I said, with a half-wave.

“Hold up.” blurted Blake. “Uh, can I have your number?”

“Yeah, me too?” Added Bryce.

“Sure” I replied, and scribbled it on a piece of paper. I added a heart by my name, and handed it back to Blake. I hugged Bryce goodbye, and turned to hug Blake. He pulled me in and began to inch us away from the rest of the group. I felt his hands slide down my back, and into the back pockets of my shorts. I knew Dante could see the whole thing, but I didn’t care. But when Blake started kissing my neck, I broke the embrace and told him I really had to leave.

I walked over to Melinda and smiled. “It was nice meeting you.” I said, as sincerely as I could.

“Thanks” she said, distractedly. She was looking at someone over my shoulder, and waved. Refocusing her attention on me she said, “Tell Dante I’ll be right back.”

I nodded, and walked over to where he was standing with his cousins. The look he gave me was the one he always did. The same smirk, with the same smug mouth. but tonight his eyes weren’t glinting with humor. Tonight they were glassy and distant, with hidden emotions dancing in the corners.

“Hey, Savannah.” He said, leaving his group to talk to me.

“Melinda will be right back.”

He nodded and took a step closer to me.

“I’m leaving.” I said.

“So early?” He asked, still inching closer.

“Yeah.” I said, trying to not make eye contact.

He slipped his arm around my waist and drew his other hand up to my cheek. A shiver went through my whole body as he rested his forehead on mine. When he spoke I could feel his lips on my skin, and they sent little electric pulses down my spine.

“I could kiss you right now.” He whispered.

“You could. But you’re not going to.” I managed to say.

He spread his hand wide on the small of my back and pressed me even closer to him. With his finger he traced the line of my cheekbone. I couldn’t help myself any longer, and shakily placed my hands on his chest.

“But I really want to, baby. You know you’re the only girl who could ever keep me in line.” He leaned in even closer and waited for me to do the same.

The wrongness of what he was saying had dawned on me, so instead of leaning in I threw his hands off me and stepped backwards.

“Then I’m going to keep you in line, now. You have a girlfriend.”

He nodded, obviously disappointed and slightly ashamed.

I just stared at him. Then I turned on my heel and walked away.