Catch My Fall | ✔

05. Big Headed Jocks

"You've been talking to Andre Walker this whole time?" Indy looked as shocked as I felt when LaterTofu told me his identity.

Not that I believed it was really Andre. After staying up for hours to read through every one of our messages, I couldn't find any clues to prove what he said.

He didn't mention football once. The game was Andre's entire personality. From what I've seen, at least. Honestly, I only knew gossip about him. My interactions with Andre were limited to the one time last year when I hit him with a door.

It was an accident and he wasn't injured. But Indy and Romeo teased me about it endlessly. Especially after the Valle Vista Bulldogs almost lost the playoffs that year. They tried to say I knocked the football out of him.

My limited knowledge about Andre Walker didn't matter, because I hadn't been talking to him. "No, I was talking to a scam artist that happened to know his way around Procreate."

We were in her mom's car on the way to school the next day. Indy had to pick me up because my mom had an early morning appointment with one of her clients.

"But what if it was?" she said, glancing at me with curiosity before turning back to the road. "What if you were really talking to Andre?"

I didn't even want to entertain the idea that he was really the person behind LaterTofu. "Well, I called him a big headed jock, so..."

Indy gasped, her jaw dropping. "You did not call him that!"

"I did," I admitted. "No, actually, I didn't because it wasn't Andre."

Indy was still giggling about my text exchange with LaterTofu as we walked into school together. She kept glancing at me and shaking her head like she was in on some inside joke I didn't know.

We went our separate ways once we made it to the quad. Indy usually hung out in the indoor cafeteria while I made my way to my usual spot.

Romeo and Keraun were watching some tennis players hit the ball back and forth on the other side of the fence. Their heads bobbed left and right along with the ball.

They hadn't noticed me, hypnotized by the game. I crept up behind Romeo, ready to attack, when suddenly, my back was pinned to Romeo's chest. The scent of lavender and mint practically suffocating me.

"How?" I demanded, as I struggled to get out of his grasp.

Romeo laughed, holding me tighter the more I struggled. "You're not as sneaky as you think you are."

"We heard you as soon as you turned the corner," Keraun added, looking apologetic at my failed attempt to scare them.

I let my shoulders fall, defeated. "I'll get you one day."

"Sure, you will," Romeo said, finally releasing me. The smile on his face warmed me.

He was in a way better mood than yesterday. He could hardly look at me before, even after he said he accepted my apology. Whatever was bothering him wasn't an issue now. I was glad to have my friend back.

The three of us continued to watch the tennis players. The neon green ball seemed even brighter against the gray morning sky. Then I realized we were missing someone.

"Where's Nia?' I asked, pulling out my phone to send her message.

"Doctor's appointment," Keraun informed me. He turned away from the tennis courts and sat on the curb.

I sat with him, wrapping my arms around my knees. "So, I'm stuck with you two all day?"

"I think you meant 'blessed with'." Romeo sat next to me, slinging his arm over my shoulders.