I touch two fingers to my phone screen to enlarge the image to look for any more clues about his relationship to this woman. And that’s when my finger slips.
Oops.
I gasp and clumsily drop my phone.
Staring at the ceiling for a moment, I can’t believe what just happened.
My stomach churns. My heart races. My jaw drops. My face, hands and feet start to sweat.
What. Have. I. Done.
I’ll tell you what I’ve done. I’ve just “liked” a photo of my super-hot swim coach at 3 a.m. on a Tuesday. My pulse pounds hard in my ears. In my panic, I have trouble finding the button to “unlike” the photo. I finally find it and undo it. But the damage is done. He’s definitely going to see a notification about this.
“Way to go, Addie,” I say to myself. “That’s one way to get his attention.”
9
Addie
The next morning as I wait for Hunter to pick me up for school, I experience a whole new kind of cringe when it becomes clear that Coach Ford has blocked me on all social media.
I climb into Hunter’s new Infiniti and fail to look as impressed as I should.
She counsels me on the way to school.
“Listen. We are goddesses. We hold our heads high. And besides that, there’s no way he told anybody about you creeping on his page. What good would it do a teacher to mention to anyone that a female student liked one of his shirtless profile pictures at 3 a.m.? They would be asking, what is Weston Ford doing to get the attention of young girls? Nah. He’s too smart for that.”
“You’re right,” I exhale. “And by the way, tell your parents thanks for the upgrade. The other car was beat to shit.”
“Oh. Right. Actually, they’re pretty pissed about this car because, well, I sort of got my way even after they put their foot down.” She bites her lip and seems to be concentrating harder on the road than what is normal for her. I’m thankful for that, but something is up.
“Sounds like quite a story. Care to spill it?”
She takes a deep breath and exhales a dismissive laugh. “Oh, you know, how it is. Daddies can’t say no to their little girls sometimes.”
“True,” I say, still not believing her but changing the subject anyway. “How are things going with the winter musical?”
She nods. “The costumes are coming along. It’s a lot of work. But the truth is, I miss acting. And actually that’s something I need to talk to you about. I’m thinking of going away for a few days over Christmas. So I won’t be around for our annual shopping trip. I ... uh ... I have a meeting with a talent agency.”
Shocked by this news, I silently scream while clapping my hands. Finally, I shout, “I’m so excited for you! I bet your parents are over t
he moon! No wonder you got a new ride!”
“I haven’t exactly told them.” She shrugs. “They’re not excited about my plans to incorporate auditions in the big city into my independent study next semester. So ... I might need you to cover for me over winter break.”
I’m a little confused, but of course I’ll cover for her. I’m also sad that we’ll be breaking our Christmas shopping tradition, but then I have a great idea.
“Hell,” I offer, “Why don’t I just go with you to New York? We’ll go shopping together! Much better shopping up there!”
Hunter visibly winces at the suggestion.
“Hunter, what’s going on with you?”
She puts on a brave smile. “It’s complicated.”
My breath comes out in a louder huff of indignance than I intended. “You could just be straight with your parents and tell them the truth. Then you wouldn’t have to sneak off and make things complicated.”
She cocks her head but keeps her eyes on the road. “Well, they’re going to ask a lot of questions about where I might be staying and what I’m going to do for money.”