Blind Ambition | ✓

34 | All's Well That Ends

As March rolled in, so did warmer weather, and it was finally nice enough to eat lunch outside again. Chris and I had claimed a table in the courtyard under the oak tree, where little sprouts of reemerging life dotted the larger branches that stretched out above us. People hovered around us but didn't get too close, like little moons to our Jupiter and Saturn.

"You're still not speaking to your dad?" Chris asked, grabbing another french fry from the Wendy's bag laying sideways on the table. In order to avoid walking into a field of landmines at my own house, I slept at Chris's after 90s night and gave him the full rundown of the weekend's events, from my meltdown at the Cornell Club all the way to my "suspicious disappearance" (in Chris's own words) at Just Jake's.

"Nope," I replied curtly.

Chris clicked his tongue at me. "Come on man, it's been like a week."

"Patrick Gunther is the most stubborn person I know."

I kept my head down towards my phone, where I read and reread an email from Clemson's scouting director about coordinating my visit. I wouldn't even blink, as if I expected it to disappear the moment I did. A chorus of laughter brought my gaze upwards, where I saw Kaia strolling through the courtyard back into school with Kennedy and Alexis, twirling their lacrosse sticks as they walked. Jackson trailed behind them with a basketball tucked under his arm. She never once looked back at him.

"Gee, sounds familiar." Chris's tone dripped with sarcasm and promptly brought me back down to earth.

I worked my jaw and snapped back a little too maliciously, "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"You refuse to let this thing with Kaia go, despite the fact that nothing has changed. She's still dating Jackson and she's still your competition for Valedictorian." Chris took a beat to steady himself, and I watched the little veins on his temple pulse. "Dallas, this does not end well for you."

I scoffed. "What are you suddenly some kind of prophet? There's nothing happening. It's fine."

A beat of silence hung in the air, and it wasn't until then that I realized we were now completely alone outside. A gust of wind blew through the courtyard, and I pulled the new baseball team windbreakers we'd been gifted last week tighter over my chest. 

"I'm worried about you, man."

Hearing that from Chris made my stomach roll. I already had too many people hovering, waiting to catch me as if I'd become a glass sculpture of myself that would shatter into a thousand pieces the moment I hit the floor. I didn't need my best friend doing the same.

"Well don't be," I bit back. "I'm not a fucking child."

Chris took a long, loud slurp of his soda and placed it back down on the table with a heavy sigh. "You're completely missing the point. Why can't you see what this is actually about?"

"Enlighten me then, Christopher the Wise," I arched an eyebrow at him. "What is this about?"

He threw his hands out at me, and I knew he was trying not to shout from the way his voice cracked. "Look at yourself man. You really think I'm not catching on to everything that's going on? Just because you stopped telling me things doesn't mean I don't know things."

I groaned in annoyance. "You're really getting pissy that I didn't tell you the very second I heard about Clemson? Come on-"

"No, shut up and let me finish." Anger flared in Chris's voice, and I felt myself recoil as if his words turned to physical blows. "This isn't about Clemson, and this isn't about some girl. Like why do I have to hear from fucking Anthony that you're hanging out with his shady cousin? Everyone knows about Danny's side hustle, and the more you do this, the more people talk and the more people find out."