Waiting on the Sidelines (Waiting on the Sidelines #1)(77)

Sarah coughed a little to bring me back to reality. “Start counting, sister,” she was snarky.

“Oh yeah, uh… sorry,” I said, starting with my pile again.



The doors were locked by 10:30 p.m. Sarah and I talked to a couple of the teacher chaperones and gave them the envelope of the money we’d raised. Not wanting to waste any more time, Sarah pulled me to the dance floor where Sienna was standing awkwardly waiting for us. She had picked all of the music for the night, so of course it was all something we could dance to.

We spent the first hour of the lock-in dancing with a lot of the other girls. Most of the boys at the party were sitting along the walls watching. Typical, I thought.

I could only keep up the poor showing of hip-hop that came from my feet for so long. I leaned over to tell Sarah and Sienna that I was going to check out the movie rooms and they both nodded. Sienna was determined to learn some step that Sarah was trying to teach her. Hopeless. But I admire her determination.

The halls were quiet, no one tucked in a corner making out. I was glad of that, mostly someone in particular. I looked into the room that was showing scary movies and saw a lot of seniors sitting in there, some cuddling a little too close. The chaperones are going to have an issue with that.

Not really in the mood for blood and gore, I stopped in at the game room. Sean and Reed were in there playing a competitive game of ping pong. I slid into a seat next to Becky and asked her who was winning. She said it was all tied up and they have to play a tie-breaker game. Just then, Sean hit a shot that nicked the corner of the table and sent the ball flying into my lap. I jumped a little with surprise and then held the ball out in my hand to give it to Reed.

He had a sinister grin as he turned to me, his eyes lowering a little. I felt very much like prey that he was focusing on.

“I believe that’s my ball, madam,” he snickered.

Oh, he was being playful tonight, huh? I can do this. “That’s funny. I heard you didn’t have any balls,” I smiled right back at him, tossing the ball up in my hand and catching it.

Reed bit his bottom lip a little and nodded with a little laugh. I tossed the ball to him and he caught it, winking at me before he turned around. I sat by Becky for a few more points, mostly to see if this strange flirtation that had been lost for so long was going to make another appearance, but when Reed remained focused on the game, I felt disappointed. Not wanting to be caught moping, I told Becky I was going to check out some of the other rooms and left my seat.

I finally found my room, the Sandler one. This felt like home. There were a lot of people spread about the floor with sleeping bags, pillows and popcorn. This room was full of laughter. Yes, that’s what I needed.

When I found a spot in the back, I slid down the wall and stretched my legs out in front of me. It felt good to rest for a while. I pulled my sweatshirt off after a while and rolled it up behind my back for a little more support. It was “The Wedding Singer,” another favorite. I had been watching it for about 30 minutes when the door cracked open, shedding light across the room again. Squinting, I tried to tell who had just come in.

Reed stood by the door for a few minutes, surveying the room. I kept a watchful eye on him from my periphery and my heart jumped a little when I noticed him notice me and start in my direction.

“Hey, this seat taken?” he whispered, kneeling down next to me.

“No sir, I came to this show solo. It’s all yours if you want it,” I said, immediately regretting the syrupy words as they left my mouth. I was trying too hard.

He just smiled and slid down next to me, our shoulders touching ever so slightly. I had seen this movie dozens of times, which was good, because I most certainly wasn’t watching it now.

My legs were getting tired, so I pulled them up to crisscross them in front of me, pulling my sweatshirt out from my back to cover them a little since I was chilly. Reed was watching my lap as I spread the shirt over my knees and tucked it under my legs. I caught a glimpse of the smirk on his face, too. After a few minutes he scooted in front of me and laid his head on my lap, propping it up just enough to see the movie. He tilted it up for just a second and flashed me a big, toothy smile. “Mind?” he said.

My insides were saying “never.” But when I responded to Reed I kept it less needy, just shrugging and smiling a bit.

Reed laid there for the next hour, and somewhere along the way, my feet fell asleep, both of them. But I didn’t dare move. Not even a twitch. You could amputate my legs after this for all I cared, I was not going to be the reason he got up and left.

The movie ended and someone sitting near the door switched half of the lights on, forcing most of us to groan and throw our hands over our faces. “Ooooooh, that’s bright,” Reed said, sitting up. I just rubbed my forehead and grimaced back.

Someone up front announced that “The Water Boy” was up next, and Reed smiled, looking at me. “I love that one,” he said.

“Me, too. You know, these are all mine,” I admitted. “Well, actually… my dad’s the collector. But it’s sort of our thing.”

The million-dollar smile was back. “That’s awesome,” he said, nodding in approval. He was looking around the room a bit and then came back to me. “I’m thirsty. You want something?”

“Water would be great,” I said.

“OK, coming right up,” he said, jumping up to a standing position and shaking out his legs a little.