Carden

"A B-?! You've got to be kidding me!"

Carden stared at his Mythology test score in disbelief. He should've gotten an A. He had been studying beyond belief to keep his grade up and with the help of Zoë, his grade should go up. But if it didn't, he might get kicked off the team. And that wasn't an option.

"Oooooo, looks like we both failed," Cam said with a sigh. A C+ was written in red marker in the top right corner along with a "Keep trying! Maybe invest in some study classes, Mr. Smith."

"Yup. Coach is going to kill us if we don't get our grades up."

"Especially since Homecoming is in a couple weeks." Cam shivered. "I don't want to be the main reason Coach is ticked off at all of us. He'll make us work ten times harder than usual."

"Oh poor, innocent little Cam. It'll be twenty, maybe thirty times worse."

"Don't! I don't want to go to sleep dreaming about the torture to come."

"Hey, if you need help Cam, I know the perfect person who'd be totally willing to tutor you," a beautiful voice interrupted from behind them.

Cam and Carden turned around to face Zoë who was biting her bottom lip in that please just say yes so I can go back to being quiet type of shy girl way.

Since Monday, she had started to open up to Carden. He knew about her drunken father and how he was over possessive. He was going to be kept in on the loop, along with Amber, about how her mother was doing. It was one of the "perks" of being her friend.

And just a friend between the two of them. Yes that acted like a couple at school but when it was just them or them with Cam and Amber, they were friends.

And that was totally okay with Carden. She could be just his tutor, but as long as she was in his life, he was okay. He wasn't ready to live a life without Zoë Flynn yet. She needed to be there one way or another.

"Let me guess," Carden said as he leaned onto her desk, "would it happen to be Amber?"

Cam's face flushed as Zoë nodded.

That boy had feelings for Amber as much as he didn't want to admit it. He acted like he was in love with Cami Right but the side glances and the stiffening of his back about every mention of Amber was a huge giveaway. He wasn't as subtle about his feelings when it came to girls as Carden was.

He nudged Cam. "That's a great idea!"

"Shut up."

"I bet Amber can make you."

Cam's face went so red, he looked like a ripe tomato as Zoë giggled behind her hands. "I'll talk to her and see if she's down. I'm pretty sure she will be though."

She winked at Cam and he nervously cleared his throat. "Excuse me, Mrs Lott? Can I go to the bathroom real quick?"

"Of course, Cameron!" Mrs. Lott said in her light British accent.

He scurried out of the classroom as a speedy quick pace, causing the two teens to crack up.

"He's...so...hopeless," Carden said in between his laughter.

"So is...Amber." Zoë giggled so hard she snorted and Carden lost it, laughing so hard there was no noise escaping from his lips.

Students around them were starting to look over at the wheezing couple but this was beginning to become a normal thing to them. They were used to them laughing about the dumbest things or Carden chasing after Zoë if she took something of his.

They were the King and Queen after all.

Zoë finally caught her breath and brushed back a stray curl that stuck out of her ponytail. "We're idiots."

"You're just figuring this out now?" Carden laughed.

"Eh, not really."

The bell rang out loudly for the end of first hour and everyone started to file out in a tired zombie state. As they walked, Carden took his "girlfriend's" hand and swung it between them.

She glanced down at her phone and laughed. She shoved it towards his face a moment later.

Ambi: Do you know why Super Hottie Cameron is pacing outside of the girls bathroom? WAIT OMG HE'S LOOKING AT ME SKSKSK HE'S COMING TOWARDS ME WHAT DO I DOOOOOOOOOOOOO????

Ambi: HOLY SHOOT! He asked me to tutor him!!! AHHHHHHH ZO IS THIS A DREAM? A PRANK? Did Carden set him up to this cause if he did, I'm gonna bash his head in with a helmet.

Ambi: Update: IT'S NOT A PRANK CAN YOU GO GET THE JANITOR CAUSE I THINK I'M BECOMING A PUDDLE ON THE FLOOR OMG

Carden snorted. "I'm glad I can at least keep my head."

"Me too. It suits you."

"Is that a compliment, Miss Dedicated?"

She pulled her hand from his. "No, it's a known fact. You could never pass as The Headless Horseman."

"Thanks for the Halloween costume idea." He paused. "Quick question."

Zoë toyed with her backpack strap. "Hmm?"

"Are you sure I can't have my five bucks back yet? Cause you seem like you're in love with me."

"Yeah, no." She pulled the green paper out of her phone case and waved it in front of his face. "You want this, huh? Maybe try harder then."

"Okay." He leaned forward to kiss her cheek but she smacked him away.

"AH, NO!"

"I'll get that money back someday, Zo."

"Not in this life you won't."

"Are you betting again? Cause if you do, you're going to have thousands of dollars in debt by the time you graduate." He put a hand to his temple. "Actually, I need that money so be my guest!"

Zoë snorted and headed towards the math hall without a "goodbye" or even a "I love you Carden! I'll see you after class and please, don't miss me that much."

He smiled. He was so going to get that five dollars sooner or later. Hopefully sooner.

*****

Sweat dripped into Carden's eyes as he threw one heck of a spiral to Derek who ran it in for a touchdown. Coach and the other staff members clapped from their place in the shade, obviously living their best lives because they weren't losing pounds due to weat. Why they decided to practice at Barrington's park in the heat of September was beyond Carden's understanding.

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Cam whooped, slapping Carden's helmet in a brotherly way. "Throw like that against Arrowsmith and we'll win for sure!"

"Great job, men!" Coach yelled in his deep, raspy voice. He was tall, buff, and scary. Those three attributes alone made him the perfect candidate to be a high school football coach. He could also be described as a knockoff LeBron James. "Take a break. Y'all look like you could die from heatstroke."

Carden whipped off his helmet and sat on the ground, grateful for the break. As he predicted, Coach was working them to the bone. They were defending State champs after all because of Jared.

No, don't think about him.

To keep his mind off of it, he sipped from his Cool Blue Gatorade and started looking around the park.

Kids played on the playground, loud laughter and screaming coming from them. Their mothers chatted near the playsets with cups of coffee or water bottles in their hands and messy buns on top of their heads. Some yelled and showed some of their Karen personalities. Sons threw footballs and baseballs with their dads and daughters sat on benches on their phones. Dogs ran around the park, chasing leaves or other dogs.

A little over twenty yards from a playground stood three people. A girl with long wavy brown hair, a man with the same dark brown hair and he seemed a little wobbly but still held tightly to the woman's hand next to him. She was dressed all in black with purple and black hair and a smile as she tried to talk to the girl.

The man looked strangely familiar. So did the girl.

"Yo Carden!" someone yelled. It sounded like Cam.

Her arms were crossed across her chest as the man tried to talk to her. She shook her head, pulling her purse closer to her.

"Why can't you leave me alone?!" Her twinkling voice carried over the wind and the man stepped closer to her.

"Carden, bro. You good? Hello?" A hand was waved in front of Carden's face but he swatted it away so he could watch what was going on.

The man snapped and lunged at the girl, ripping her purse from her and taking something from inside. He threw the purse at her feet and took something green, money from her wallet, and tossed that a couple yard away. The woman watched in, was it anger? Excitement?

"Just stay in your lane," the man yelled over his shoulder as walked away with the woman.

"This coming from you?! SCREW YOU!" The girl turned around and clutched her stomach with her arms.

Her hand quickly wiped at her eyes and she walked to a tree and sat under the shade, her head in between her knees and completely ignoring the fact her money sat out in the wide open.

"Car-"

"Cam." Carden looked up at him. "You see that girl over there?"

Cam looked to where he was pointing. "Yeah. Why?"

"A man just took some money from her." He stared at the girl. She seemed so familiar. "I'm gonna go talk to her and see if she's okay."

"Carden! Coach won't-"

But Carden was already gone. He jogged off towards the girl underneath the tree, ignoring his teammates yelling at him to come back.

He picked up her belongings and held them out. "Hey."

The girl froze at the sound of his voice, looking up slowly. "Carden? What are you doing here?" Her voice was thick with tears and her mascara was smeared.

Zoë.

He was officially the dumbest person to ever live on the earth.

Carden sat beside her. "You okay? I saw what just happened."

She put her head in between her knees again and sniffled. "I'm fine."

"Why didn't you tell me Alec wanted money from you?"

She didn't answer.

He glanced up at his friends, every single one of them staring at him and Zoë. Some smirked and others started yelling, "KISS, KISS, KISS." Cam was the only one who looked genuinely concerned.

"Sorry about them. They're really stupid and really annoying almost all the time." He moved to sit in front of her and gently look one of her hands, praying that his face wouldn't turn tomato red as Cam's had earlier.

Zoë looked up at their entwined hands. "Shouldn't you go back to your football buddies or something?"

Probably. But I won't.

"Nah, we've got time. We're taking a break at the moment. Now," he gently raised her chin so she'd look him in the eyes, "Are you okay? What was Alec doing here?"

Zoë sniffled again. "Just the usual. He wanted my mom to come here so he could get some stupid money from her but I said I'd go instead. I thought I could resist him but then he just took it from me." A tear rolled down her face. "It's just...just..."

"Stupid?" Carden finished for her. He raised his free hand to wipe away her tears.

She laughed. "Yeah, that."

"ASH, GET OVER HERE RIGHT NOW!" Coach yelled at the top of his lungs as the team started to form into a huddle.

Carden sighed. "Coach has a habit of ruining moments like these."

"Was this a moment?"

Carden pulled her up as he stood. "If you want it to be one."

"Maybe." They stared at each other for a moment. "Carden?"

"Yeah?"

"Go hangout with your football dudes and be bros or whatever it is football players do." She smiled. "Leave a girl underneath a tree while she's by herself. Such chivalry."

Carden laughed. "You make life difficult."

"That is my job!"

"CARDEN ASH!" Coach yelled again, his tone getting more and more dangerous.

"Umm, gotta go. Sadly." He frowned.

Zoë smiled. "Sure. But before you go..."

She stepped toward him and gently pulled his face down to hers. For a split second he thought she was going to kiss him on the lips but she kissed his cheek instead, wrapping her arms around him. As she pulled away, she whispered into his ear, "I like the helmet hair."