It was four o’clock in the afternoon when Chris pulled up to my house in his car. After grabbing my backpack and string bag, I hurried outside to it, trying to avoid being soaked by the rain that was falling down heavily. He popped the trunk for me and I quickly threw my stuff into it, taking not at the other bags already in there. I glanced into the car and realized the passenger seat was left open for me. Smiling, I climbed in, looking back into the backseat where Lance, Lexi, and Aaron were. “You guys left me shotty?”

            Aaron grunted. “No, we were forced to leave you shotty.”

            “Holly, put on your seatbelt,” Chris ordered flatly.

            I grinned at him, obeying his command. “Aw, is someone a little grumpy?”

            “If so, I like him when he’s grumpy,” Lance commented, smirking. “He doesn’t talk very much.”

            “I can kick you out of this car, you know,” Chris retorted threateningly. “Or I could crash it. That way I wouldn’t have to chaperone at all—”

            “Chris,” I interjected with a frown.

            He sighed. “I’m kidding. I’ll only kill myself.”

            “Chris!”

            Lexi giggled from the backseat. “You’re like an old man, Mr. Heywood.”

            “No, I just don’t like rollerblading,” he corrected her, putting his arm over my headrest and turning his head so he could back out of my driveway. “Nor do I want to be in the same place with your class for eight hours.”

            To be honest, I felt a little mixed up about Chris chaperoning all our senior week events. A part of me was excited I was going to be with him almost literally all week, but another part of me was annoyed because I knew girls would be all over him. After all, we were just about to graduate. They were probably thinking that because of that, Chris might be interested in them now. It definitely showed at school today. I scowled at the memory. As if Chris wanted to hang out with them this weekend…

            “Right, Holly?”

            “Um, right?” I responded, pulling myself from my thoughts.

            The car erupted into snickers and even Chris smirked. “Is that so, Holly?”

            “Is what so?”

            “You and Heywood would rather spend the evening snogging in his apartment,” Lance informed me.

            I blushed, glowering at him. “No! I mean yes— I mean not tonight! But I mean…”

            “Aw, Holly, you’re so cute!” Lexi cooed. “I’m so jealous you blush so easily!”

            “That’s not a good thing,” I muttered.

            Chris reached over with his right hand and squeezed my hand. “I think it’s cute.”

            I turned my nose up at him. “Yeah? Why don’t you try blushing when you just smile at someone cute?”

            “You think other people are cute?”

            “You’re the cutest,” I responded him quickly.

            He chuckled, releasing my hand, and putting back on the steering wheel. “I don’t care if you think other people are cute.”

            “Do you think other people are cute?”

            “Oh yeah. Lots of girls. Some are in your class.”

            “Am I cute?” Lexi asked curiously.

            Chris nodded. “Yep.”

            I smiled, annoyed. He was doing that on purpose. How many times had he said how annoying most of the girls in my class were? Then again, annoying girls could still be cute. Like Lexi. Except she wasn’t so annoying anymore.

            “She’s got a boyfriend, dude,” Lance spoke up, awkwardly putting his arm around her shoulder. “One who’s much hotter than you.”

            Chris rolled his eyes. “Okay.”

            “His accent gives him a plus ten,” I said, glancing back at Lance, who was looking smug. “But because Chris actually has muscles, he gets bonus twenty.”

            The self-satisfied expression on Lance’s face was wiped off and replaced by a scowl. “I have muscle too!”

            “Why don’t you all shut up?” Aaron demanded, crossing his arms. “You talk too damn much. Are were there yet?”

            “We still have twenty minutes until Hadley,” Chris muttered resentfully. “And if you think we talk too much, you should’ve drove yourself!”

            “You offered.”

            “Holly offered,” Chris corrected him.

            He shrugged. “Same thing. You guys are practically married, aren’t you?”

            I made a face. “No way.”

            “What’s that face supposed to mean?” Chris questioned, pursing his lips at me.

            “Eyes on the road!”

            His eyes focused on the road and he mumbled something I didn’t catch. “I hope this night ends soon.”

            “Do you like rollerblading at all?” I asked.

            Shaking his head, he glanced in the side view mirror before changing to the passing lane. “Not at all.”

            “Can you rollerblade?”

            He hesitated. “I can, but…”

            “But?”

            “I don’t like he,” he finished flatly. “I think rolling around on wheels in a circle is stupid.”

            Lance scoffed. “I’ll have you know it’s not a circle. It’s a connected bracket shape.”

            “Same thing.”

            “No, one of them is—”

            “Ahem,” I cut him, silencing Lance. “Don’t distract the driver, Lance. Lexi, keep him busy.”

            She nodded her head vehemently. “Sure! Hey Lance, I downloaded a new game on my phone, do you want to check it out?”

            Sighing, he nodded, leaning closer to Lexi so he could see his phone. Aaron shook his head at them before turning to gaze out the window. I decided to stare at Chris. He was a lot more interesting than the auto dealerships we were passing. They didn’t have a chiseled jaw. After a few moments I caught him stealing a glance at me. We both grinned at each other.

            “I hope you have fun tonight,” I told him sincerely. “Even if those girls annoy you.”

            “Hopefully they’ll be skating the whole time. I’ll probably just watch the sitting area,” he informed me. “You should injure yourself so you can sit out with me,” he added jokingly.

            Smiling, I scratched the back of my head. “Actually, I’m pretty good at rollerblading. I won’t fall.”

            “Sure.”

            “Let’s both do laser tag at six,” I suggested, watching as his eyes went back to the road. “Then again at eight and ten.”

            He nodded. “Sure. We’ll challenge Jeremy.”

            “And Casey. Speaking of those two…” I paused, making sure Lance, Lexi, and Aaron weren’t paying attention to our conversation. It didn’t seem like they were. “Why are you so against them getting together?”

            The corners of his lips curved down into a frown. “Why are you so into getting them together?” he countered.

            “They’d be so cute together!”

            “I don’t think so.”

            “Why not?”

            He sighed. “Think of it this way. Casey is just like Jeremy.”

            “I know, that’s why they work so well together—”

            “Which means if they get together. I’ll have to deal with two Jeremy’s.”

            My jaw almost dropped. “That’s the only reason you don’t want them to get together, Chris?”

            He stuck out his chin. “Problem?”

            “You’re so selfish! Totally unromantic!”

            “They’re annoying.”

            “Casey is my best friend!”

            He tsked. “Fine. Jeremy is annoying.”

            “Jeremy is your best friend!”

            “Which means I can think he’s annoying.”

            Huffing, I crossed my arms and turned away from him. “I don’t need your help anyway. Idiot.” I would be able to get Casey and Jeremy together all by myself. They seemed to have chemistry going on anyway; they might not even need my help.

            The rest of the drive to the mall where Interskate 91, the skating rink, was located went silently. I had turned on the radio, so even if someone wanted to talk, it would’ve been drowned out. When we arrived, I was the first out of the car, doing my best to ignore Chris. I grabbed my string bag out of the trunk and headed to the entrance of the mall. Chris dogged me all the way. I walked slowly to irritate him. Aaron, Lexi, and Lance walked past us, in a hurry to get to the skating rink.

            “Are you not going to speak to me now?” Chris asked teasingly, slowing down so he wasn’t directly behind me. “I don’t think you’ll be able to do it.”

            “I think I can.”

            He cocked an eyebrow.

            My eyes widened. “Shoot,” I muttered.

            Chuckling, he patted my shoulder. “Okay, Ms. Evers. Let’s try to keep the student and teacher boundary up tonight, okay? Unless we get a moment alone.”

            “Sure, Chris.”

            “Ah?”

            “Mr. Heywood,” I corrected meekly, feeling heat rise to my cheeks. “This is your fault. You shouldn’t have made me call you Chris.”

            He snorted. “It took you almost five months just to call me Chris. You’d think reverting back to Mr. Heywood would be easy for you.”

            I gently shoved him to the side. “Shut up.”

            “Wait,” he said, grabbing my hand and making me turn to face him. “Before we go in…”

            My heart stuttered in my chest as he brought his head closer to mine. “Chris—”

            “Mr. Heywood!”

            Immediately Chris straightened out, dropping my hand. I turned away from him swiftly, feeling blood blossom through my cheeks. That was close. That was stupid. We were in public! We couldn’t do stuff like that yet. I was going to go crazy. How long was it until graduation?

            “Mr. Heywood! You’re chaperoning?”

            Turning back around, I saw two of the girls on the softball team running up to him. They were both blonde and I recognized them as Leslie and Maya. Maya was okay, but Leslie was one of those girls who complained about getting a ninety-eight on a test. Shooting a quick smile at Chris, I entered the mall without him.

            A good amount of my class was in the sitting area of Interskate. It was kind of surprising. A lot of people had been complaining about how lame skating had sounded, but there were at least fifty people here. I heard Casey laughing and followed the sound of her voice around the corner to a hidden table out of view from the rest. A perfect place to sit out of sight from everyone else. I headed over to them, waving.  “How was the trip here?” I inquired.

            “Good,” they responded with grins.

            “That’s good,” I replied, grinning as well.

            “Where’s Chris?” Jeremy asked, looking behind me. “Didn’t you come here with him?”

            I set down my bag on the bench. “Yeah, but some girls called to him outside a few minutes ago, so I came in without him.

            Jeremy gave me a pitying look. “Ah.”

            “Jeremy, I’m not upset.”

            “Not a little bit?”

            Puffing out my chest, I shook my head. “Nope, because I know he loves me the most.”

            He chuckled. “That’s a good way to think of it.”

            “You be careful tonight though,” I warned him. “All these girls will be all over the both of you.”

            Waving me off, he bent down to fix the straps of his rollerblades that I just realized he was wearing. “Those girls don’t interest me, so don’t worry about it. My love will always be for you.”

            Casey laughed. “Sucks to be you, Jeremy. A unrequited love is so tragic.”

            He sighed dramatically. “I know. But there’s always that one who’s there to pick up the pieces…”

            “Is that supposed to be me?”

            “Maybe.”

            Grinning, I walked away from the pair, heading to the counter where I could pick up rental blades. After giving the worker my size, he retrieved a pair of rollerblades for me and I returned to the table to put them on. Chris entered the rink at that moment, Leslie and Maya still with him. He noticed me and excused himself from the girls. “Jeremy!” he called loudly. “Mind if I sit with you?”

            Jeremy’s head snapped to him so fast I was surprised it didn’t break off. “Me? You want to sit with me? I’m so happy!” he cried, jumping up from his chair. “Oh, Chris!”

            He went in to hug my boyfriend, but Chris swiftly dodged it. Jeremy pouted, causing Casey and I to laugh. “I don’t really think he wants to sit with you,” Casey informed him.

            “She’s right,” Chris said, placing his bag next to mine. “I just didn’t want to make sitting next to Holly suspicious.”

            “Then you should sit next to me,” Jeremy responded, patting the spot on the bench next to him.

            Chris ignored him, staring at the rollerblades on my feet. “You’re changed already?”

            “Yup. I didn’t feel like waiting for you,” I told him teasingly.

            “It’s okay. It’s not like we can be together all night anyway,” he said resentfully.

            I pushed on his shoulders. “Come on, Mr. Heywood. Let’s get you some rollerblades.”

            He grunted, allowing me to steer him in the direction of the counter. A few people called out a greeting to them, to which he replied uncharacteristically enthusiastically. It was weird to see his teacher persona after knowing his real one. I wondered what the students would think if they knew his real personality…

            “Size 11,” Chris told the worker.

            My mouth opened a little bit. “What? You’re feet are so big!”

            “I’m tall,” he countered. “What, are you size six in women?”

            “What about it?”

            “Nothing,” he responded with a grin. “Shorty.”

            I glowered at him. “I’m going back to the table.”

            “Just wait for me—”

            “Nope.”

            Ignoring his protest, I skated back to the table, slamming straight into James in the process. He held me steady, his expression brightening. “Hey Holly!”

            “Hi James,” I greeted, regaining my balance. “Thanks.”

            “No problem! I didn’t know you were coming tonight.”

            “I’m doing all the senior week activities,” I replied.

            His expression grew even brighter, if that was possible. “Really? Awesome! Me too! Will you play a game of laser tag with me tonight?”

            I nodded. “Of course! I have to, um, fix the straps on my rollerblades though, so I’ll see you around, okay?”

            “Sure! Try not to fall, Holly!”

            I smiled wryly. “Thanks, James.” Why did everyone think I was going to fall? I’d show them. I really was a pro rollerblader.

            Back at the table, Chris was already pulling on his rollerblades. A frown was set onto his face as he tried to figure out how to put on the straps. Taking pity on him, I kneeled down and strapped it for him. “I thought you knew how to skate.”

            “Strapping and skating are different.”

            Standing up, I gestured with my head for him to follow me. “Come on, let’s get in at least one lap before people start getting suspicious about us.”

            “I don’t really feel like skating right now. You don’t either, right Jeremy?”

            Jeremy jumped up from the bench. “What? Are you kidding? We’re allowed on the floor now? I’m going on! Let’s go! Casey, you coming?”

            She nodded, sliding herself off the bench. “Yeah!”

            “Let’s go,” I urged Chris, wishing I could hold out my hand for him.

            He set his jaw. “No.”

            “Chris.”

            “Holly.”

            “Come on!”

            “No!”

            Grinding my teeth together, I decided to force him to his feet. I grabbed his hand and started pulling. “Let’s go, Mr. Heywood!”

            “No,” he replied stubbornly, holding onto the table. “I don’t want to go on the floor and have girls flock around me.

            “I’ll call them here.”

            He scowled. “Holly.”

            “Come on!” I groaned, successfully pulling him off the bench. He threw his arms around me and before I knew it, we were lying on the ground, him sprawled out on top of me.

            “Ow,” he groaned, lifting his head off my chest. “Smooth move, Holly.”

            “Get off,” I said urgently, shoving him to the side. “We can’t get caught in this position!”

            “Fine.” He followed my command, but didn’t rise to his feet.

I scrambled to mine, frowning down at him. “Aren’t you going to get up?”

It took him a moment to respond. “I can’t,” he finally forced through gritted teeth.

“What do you mean you can’t?”

“Are you stupid?” he snapped. “I mean I can’t.”

I stared at him, a little started at his attitude. “Wait… Don’t tell me… You little liar! You don’t know how to skate!”

            He stayed silent.

            “Oh my god! You don’t!” I laughed, my eyes wide in disbelief. “I can’t believe it! Finally there’s something I can do and you can’t!”

            “Shut up,” he muttered, pushing himself to his knees. “Now help me up.”

            I helped him up, but couldn’t stop laughing as he clung to me for support. “Oh, this is grand. Come on, I’ll teach you.”

            “I thought you didn’t want to seem suspicious?”

            I smirked evilly. “I never said I was going to help you alone.”

            Half an hour later, Chris was able to skate in a straight line without falling. Thanks to my help… and the help of the other ten girls who’d offered. Those who didn’t help stood around and giggled. The guys watched as well, smirking at him. A few of them came forward to help him a few times as well. Surprisingly though, a number of students couldn’t skate either, so we ended up helping them as well. I was happy my class was getting along so well.

            “Mr. Heywood! Let’s try rounding a corner!” James called, skating in circles around the annoyed teacher. “Just lean your knees in the direction you want to turn! Holly, why don’t you demonstrate?”

            “Sure!” I responded, easily rounding the two poles that separated the two sides of the lanes. “Just lean, Mr. Heywood.”

            As he leaned to turn to the side, he wobbled a bit and two girls were immediately at his sides, holding him up. Unable to stop myself, I laughed at him, producing an irritated look from him. “I can do it,” he told the girls, struggling to liberate himself. “You can let go. Don’t worry.”

            “We don’t want to see you fall!” they chorused with frowns.

            “Again,” I coughed inconspicuously.

            James sniggered while Chris clenched his fists. I knew I would be in for it later, but at the moment I couldn’t help myself. It was nice to have a reason to pick on him for once. Chris was moving toward me slowly, aiming to go around the poles like I had, so I skated backward to keep an eye on him.  He was managing pretty well. To taunt him a bit, I twirled in circles while still skating backwards.

            “Show off,” he stated.

            I smiled innocently. “Who me?”

            “Who else— shit,” he swore, staggering to the side.

            Before anyone else could reach him, I wrapped my arm around his waist and steadied him. It wasn’t a suspicious act either, because everyone had been doing it all night. “Do you want me to put you out of your misery?”

            “Yes,” he muttered. “This is stupid.”

            “Are you done already, Mr. Heywood?” a girl named Stephanie inquired.

            He shook his head. “No, I’m just going to take a break.”

            “I’ll help you back,” she offered brightly.

            “I’ve got it,” I told her, half-smiling. “I’m going to go play a game of laser tag anyway.

            She looked a little put off, but nodded anyway. “Okay.”

            With Chris putting most of his weight on me, it was hard to skate back over to the sitting area. Jeremy, Casey, and Aaron were eating pizza when we arrived. A grin spread across their faces as they took in Chris. “How’s it going?” Aaron drawled.

            “Shut up,” Chris snapped.

            Casey giggled. “Is someone in a bad mood?”

            “Guys,” I warned, shooting a brief look at Chris. Even though it was amusing, I didn’t want him to feel too bad. “How about when you two are done we play a game of laser tag? I’ll find Lance and Lexi.”

            “We’ll need one more person.”

            “I’ll grab James too,” I responded. “How about James, Lance, Lexi, and Aaron against Chris, Jeremy, Casey, and I?”

            Jeremy shook his head. “I want to go against Chris, so switch Casey and I with Lance and Lexi.”

            I shrugged. “Okay. I’ll go get the other three then.”

            It only took a few moments to gather the trio and bring them back to our table. Jeremy, Casey, and Aaron finished up their pizza and I helped Chris remove his rollerblades. He was still a little crabby, but agreed to play laser tag with us.

            We waited for our turn in the darkened room and were finally let in. After putting on our vests and headgear, we headed in. Smoke covered the begging area, causing me to cough. Eventually it disappeared, allowing me to see the dark room brightened up by florescent lights. It was glow in the dark as well, so the white stars on the floor glowed a light green. I pulled out my gun, ready to play. Chris looked funny with the equipment on and I couldn’t help but laugh at him. He shoved me lightly in the shoulder. “You look pretty ridiculous too.”

            “Whatever,” I chirped. “Let’s kick some butt.”

            Lance came jogging up to me. “You and Heywood get the right side. Lexi and I will cover the left. I heard Aaron is really good at this, so keep an eye on him.”

            “James sucks, so it’ll even him out,” I informed him. “We’re going to own them.”

            “Casey’s good too,” he pointed out.

            I held up my gun. “What am I? Chop liver?”

            He grinned, hitting his gun to mine. “Let’s do this.”

            We split up then, Chris and I going to our side. Seconds later the speaker over the intercom announced our game was starting in thirty seconds. Chris grabbed my elbow, pulling me closer to him. “If anything happens to me Holly, I just want you to know I love you.”

            “Same,” I responded absentmindedly, my focus on the numbers ticking down.

            “Good to know you care about me so much,” he muttered. “Same?”

            I ignored him, moving to hide behind one of the black mats hanging from the ceiling. Believe it or not, but I took this game seriously. As soon as the count down hit 00 I moved out of my hiding spot, shooing blindly across the way. After a few seconds a ring in my ear sounded, notifying me I’d gotten someone.

            The strobe lights on the ceiling were flashing brightly, making everything seem distorted. It didn’t make sense. Even with all the lights in the room, it was still dark. Not that it mattered at the moment. The blackness was good cover. I dropped to my stomach and began to snake my way up to the border between the two sides. To my surprise, Aaron was doing the same thing. We shot at each other, but eventually I was the one who went down. Cursing him, I hurried to the shuttle where we could recharge. Chris was hanging out inside of it, filling up his gun.

            “How’s it going?” he asked, shouting to be heard over the music.

            “I got one person so far. Aaron just got me.”

            “He got me too,” Chris responded. “Little brat.”

            I grinned. “Hasn’t the loaded yet?”

            “Yep. I just don’t want to leave.”

            “Chris,” I complained, trying to push him aside. “At least let me reload.”

            He shook his head. “What’s the magic word?”

            “Please?”

            “And magic action?”

            “Magic action?” I echoed.

            He tapped his lips. “A kiss.”

            Rolling my eyes, I moved to my tiptoes to give him a quick kiss. “Is that good enough?”

            “If you want to recharge for a second.”

            I frowned a tiny bit. “What if someone notices?”

            “We’re behind a wall in the dark, Holly,” he told me. “I don’t think anyone will walk in on us. Besides, the only people on are team are Lexi and Lance and they already know about it.”

            “But…”

            “Do you want to recharge?”

            Sighing, I stuck my gun into my belt. After that I brought my arms around Chris and made him bend down a little so I didn’t have to stand on my tiptoes. Our lips met and I kissed him a little harder than before, pressing my body against his. He easily took dominance, easing our kiss into a French one. I counted to thirty seconds before pulling away, pushing him aside. “There. I can charge for thirty seconds.”

            He chuckled. “Go right ahead.”

            I did and my gun was fully charged. Bidding adieu to Chris, I stepped back into the battlefield. The counter on the ceiling told me my team was behind by ten points and we had seven minutes left. I could even it back out… As long as I targeted James. Said young man happened to step out from behind one of the mats on his side at that moment. Immediately I shot him down. He kicked the air before scurrying away to the recharge shuttle. Casey popped out of nowhere after him, and I shot her down as well. They were like sitting ducks.

            Suddenly a ray of light went by my head, missing me by an inch. I threw my body to the side so I was behind the mat. Cautiously, I stuck my head out to see who my assailant was.

Aaron.

He shot at me again and I quickly pulled my head back under cover, feeling like a turtle. Before I looked back out again, I put my gun out first, ready to shoot. Aaron still had his gun pointed at me as I peeked out. Too scared of being hit, I pulled back out of view. I’d have to plan this good…

“Need help?”

I jumped in surprise, turning to Chris. “Don’t do that!”

He smirked. “Let’s get that brat. You distract, I’ll shoot.”

“Are you sure you’ll be able to hit him?”

“Positive,” he told me. “I’ll have you know I was actually a sniper during my gang days.”

My jaw hit the floor. “W-what?”

“Just kidding.”

I blushed, embarrassed I’d believed him so easily. “You’re a jerk.”

“You’ve mentioned that. No go be a good little piece of bait.”

Puffing out my cheeks, I threw myself out into the open. Aaron began shooting at me promptly. I danced around a little bit, trying to avoid his laser shots. A few seconds later they stopped and Aaron swore loudly. Loud enough to be heard over the blaring music. Chris looked at me, blowing off the top of his laser gun. I shook my head at him, but smiled.

“Watch out!” he cried suddenly.

I ducked immediately, avoiding a laser. Twisting around, I saw Jeremy scampering away. Immediately I chased him down, staying on my side of the border. He hid behind one of the mats and I paused, crouching down so he wouldn’t see me right away when he stuck his head back out. My plan worked perfectly and I managed to shoot him down before he realized where I was. Proud with my actions, I straightened out, doing a fake curtsy to Chris.

Suddenly the sound of my energy being drained met my ear. Looking around, I realized it was Casey who had shot me this time. Chris aimed at her and took her out swiftly. She shook her fist at him before disappearing. I hastened to the recharge shuttle and Chris followed me. He stood in front of the recharge expectantly.

“You’re annoying,” I told him.

“Think of it like getting gas. You don’t get it for free, right?”

Standing on my tiptoes again, I kissed him. He brought his hands to my face to hold me in place and caressed my cheek. This time, however, someone walked in on us. “Whoa,” Lance cried, coming up short. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! I knew you two rather be snogging!”

After pulling away from Chris, I blushed. “We call it kissing in America, Lance.”

“Still! Stop that! You don’t see Lexi and I snogging! I thought you wanted to win!”

“I do—”

“Then stop fooling around! Stand at attention, Holly!”

I immediately straightened out my back, saluting the British man. “Yes!”

“You are now assigned to work with Lexi. Move out!”

“Yes, Sir!” I responded, jogging out of the recharge shuttle and across the battlefield to the other shuttle where Lexi was recharging.

She looked at me in surprise. “Where’s Lance?”

“We switched sides.”

“Too much distraction?” she inquired slyly.

I grinned sheepishly. “Something like that…”

“Let’s go kick some butt then!” she cheered, holding up her gun.

“I just need to reload,” I notified her.

As soon as I was ready to go, we both went out together. The timer showed we only had two minutes left and we were still five points behind. Shockingly, Lexi and I were like a dream team. Together, we managed to catch up to the other team and even get ahead. Since it was only her and I gaining the points, it made me wonder if Lance and Chris were slacking off.

With thirty seconds left of the game, it was Aaron against me. We were facing off one on one, seeing who would get the last shot. He randomly started sprinting across the field and I chased after him, shooting at his retreating form. Somehow he managed to avoid all beams. I urged myself to speed up, ready to catch him and end this. Without warning, Lance popped out of nowhere, crashing into me. A startled scream escaped my lips the momentum of my body caused me to fly forwards before crashing onto the floor. My ankle bent awkwardly and I hissed in pain.

Lance stooped down over me just as the lights came on and I realized he was laughing. “That was brilliant! I swear you did a front flip!”

“Holly! Are you okay?” Lexi cried, running up to me. “I saw that! That looked painful!”

“I saw it too, except I thought it looked hilarious.” Jeremy appeared over me, grinning widely.

I glowered at the men. “Thanks for being concerned.”

“I knew you’d fall.”

Turning my head, I stared up at Chris. “Yeah, but I’m not rollerblading, nor is this my fault.”

He shrugged. “Same difference. Come on, the game’s over.”

“And we won!” Lexi cried excitedly.

“Woo,” I cheered half-heartedly, attempting to push myself off the ground. As soon as I put weight onto my ankle, it felt like someone had stabbed it. I instantly pulled my weight off it, tumbling back onto the ground.

Chris raised an eyebrow. “You okay?”

“I hurt my ankle,” I admitted in a small voice.

“Are you okay?” he asked again, this time sounding more concerned. He offered me a hand and I took it. Easily he raised me to my feet, taking on most of my weight.

“I’m okay,” I told him. “I think I just sprained it.”

Jeremy slapped my back. “Just walk it off!”

Chris shot him a dirty look. “It’ll go away faster if she doesn’t irritate it. Come on, Holly. Let’s go sit down.”

“You just want to sit down because you can’t skate,” Aaron commented slyly, coming out of nowhere. “Your ankle better get better soon because we need to have a rematch.”

“Yes, we do,” I agreed, wrapping my arm around Chris’s shoulder. “But in the meanwhile, pizza sounds good. Right Chris?”

“You want me to buy you pizza?”

I gave him a puppy-dog look. “I hurt myself…”

He flicked my nose. “Fine, fine. I’ll buy us pizza.”

“Good!” I said, smiling happily. If he was eating pizza with me, that meant I wouldn’t have to sit out alone… and it also meant the girls wouldn’t bother him. I’d have him to myself for a little longer.

“Ah! Pizza sounds good! I’ll have some too!” Jeremy piped in.

“You just ate,” Chris responded flatly.

Jeremy patted his stomach. “I’m a big boy. I get hungry easily. Treat me to pizza!”

“No.”

“Treat me! Treat me!”

“How old are you, five?” Chris snapped at him.

            He batted his eyelashes innocently. “I am if it makes you buy me pizza.”

            “Will you shut up if I buy you pizza?”

            “Yes!”

            “Then I’ll buy you pizza.”

            “Yay— I mean… yay,” he repeated in a quiet voice.

            I laughed at his childishness. The corners of Chris’s lips twitched and I could tell he was trying not to smile. Even though he complained a lot, I knew he was having a good time. Maybe he realized what I was now realizing. This week was the last chance to have fun all together. Soon we would all be graduating and heading off to college, which was going to make it hard to hangout. I knew this week had to be the best week ever. And I was going to make sure it was.

___________________________________________ 

I'm sorry this is so late! I meant to write all today, but my mom was like, let's go to the wall and I was like... YAY MALL! Even though I went yesterday, haha. Speaking of yesterday, I met one of my fans in real life! HI TIFFANY! It was pretty awesome! But yeah, I'm trying to force myself back to my four day updates. I need to get back into the habit! But then again, there's only like six-seven chapters left of this story... D: Ugh, I don't want to think about it! 

Anyway, HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRISHMA!! I know you're probably asleep by now, but when you wake up, here it is! 

Facebook in external link!