Waiting on the Sidelines (Waiting on the Sidelines #1)(70)

“Nolan. You need to come get Reed. We’re at the desert party. I wasn’t going to come, but Calley’s in town and we thought it’d be fun. He’s messsssed up, man. He keeps trying to talk people into fighting. Shit, I think he just asked Calley to hit him. I tried to get him to let us take him home, but he refused. Said the only way he’s going home is if Nolan comes to get him herself. I’m so sorry. I know this is the last thing you need, but I’m worried, Noles. Call me as soon as you get this. I took Reed’s phone to keep him from making stupid drunk phone calls.”

Too late for that, I thought. My head was swirling. I knew I was going to go get him. I had to. Any other choice was one I couldn’t live with. But I was also overwhelmed with how to get out of the situation I was in now. Tyler in my house, midnight and my parents not wanting me to be out driving in the desert. I took a deep breath and walked back into the living room to get through my first hoop.

I smiled faintly, showing a little worry in my brow when I sat on the couch next to Tyler. “Hey, so I am so sorry to have to bail on our night like this, but my friend’s in trouble and needs some help,” I tried vague, hoping I could get out of this without a lie.

“What’s going on? Can I help? Let me get my shoes on and I’ll take you wherever you need to go,” he was being sweet.

I just held my hand on his arm to slow him a bit. I was going to lie. “No, no. It’s ok. It’s just Sarah. She went to the party and has been drinking too much. She’s at her house now, but is really sick. She’s alone and she sounds freaked out.”

I held my breath hoping he went along with my play, and when he did I was so relieved. Lying was hard. I needed to do less of this, I thought.

“Oh, ok,” he paused, still seeming to be thinking about trying to come with me. “As long as you are ok. I don’t want to make her uncomfortable. Promise you’ll call if you need me, though?” he said, standing and holding one of my hands as we walked to the front door.

“I promise,” I smiled, and he bent down and kissed me one last time. Still a hard kiss, no less passion than just minutes before. But where my knees went weak earlier, they were only filled with urgency now. I needed to get to Reed.

“Call you tomorrow?” he said, as he hopped down the front steps and into the gravel of my driveway.

“Mmmmm,” I smiled and nodded.

As soon as his lights faded around the corner, I shut the front door and paced around the living room a few times, running my hands through my hair and putting it in and out of a ponytail. I didn’t know how I was going to get through this next hurdle.

I knew my parents were barely sleeping. I knew that they were waiting for Tyler to leave. If I could just hold out a few minutes in my room, I was pretty sure they would think I had truly gone to bed. I shut out all of the lights, locked the front door (I would go out the back) and made my way to my room where I even went so far as to change into my baggy sweat pants and giant Coolidge football shirt that I had stolen from Mike years ago.

With the lights off, I sat with my knees up to my chest in the far corner of my bed and dialed Reed on my phone. My chest beat rapidly and sped up with each unanswered ring until finally Sarah answered. She was whispering.

“Noles?” she asked.

“Yeah, it’s me,” I just waited. Not sure how to make my next move.

“Did you listen to my message,” she was still whispering.

“Yeah, I got it. I’m trying to wait out my parents and then I’ll sneak out the back… why are you whispering?” I was curious. I could hear the party still raging behind her.

“I don’t want Reed to hear me. He keeps asking about his phone. He thinks he lost it. Of course, then he forgets about it and five minutes later he asks where his phone is,” her frustration coming through in her tone. Sadly, I could imagine how Reed looked. The time he lambasted me in front of everyone drunk was still scorched in my mind, and the way he looked and sounded was hard to erase.

“How bad?” I asked, not sure if I really wanted to know.

“Pretty bad. Like way worse than I have ever been, and you’ve seen me at my worst, girl,” she added. She was right. I was the pro at curing Sarah’s hangovers. She’s been getting lit up since 8th grade. The product of very loose parenting.

We sat on the phone silent for a long time. When I finally felt like I could make my move, I let out a heavy sigh. “Sarah, I don’t know if I can do this,” I admitted.

She sighed back. “I know. But Noles?” she was still whispering.

“Yeah?” I responded.

“You have to. You’re the only one. And you know it,” she said. She was right. I was. And I knew it. Whatever this stupid torture dance was that Reed and I were doing with each other, it was still very much about us. I couldn’t understand why he was pulling me close but then pushing me away. It was killing me. And there was Tyler, who was…unexpected. Part of me felt like I deserved Tyler. But that same part of me was also angry. And I didn’t know if that was the right reason to be with him.

I hung up with Sarah and managed to silently escape my room. I made it look like I was in bed, but barely. I didn’t really want it to look like I was trying to pull of a hokey sneak-out, which was exactly what I was doing.

I backed out my car slowly, leaving the lights off until I got to the main road. When I made it to the turn off for the desert party, I felt a swift sense of terror. I was scared. Not for me, but for Reed. I had this sick feeling that I was late, but I was also dreading seeing him in this condition.