silver springs ~ c. walter

chapter 6 !

Homecoming was a big deal in Silver Falls. Everyone showed up for the pep rally, the game, and if the team won, the whole town seemed to party. In other words, the fate of the happiness of the town rested in the hands of the hometown football team, and Dylan was nervous. He'd always been in Cole's shadow, and this was his time to prove himself. Cole was never scared. He never was unsure of a play or anything but certain that the team would win. And, truth be told, Dylan wasn't just nervous- he was terrified.

Not just for the game, but because he was going on a date with Dorrie Banks.

He'd liked her since freshman year, but had no idea how to talk to her. He always tried to invite her to sit with him, but she never really did. Every time he tried to talk with her, he felt tongue tied. Until he saw her at Cole's locker. His heart had fell, because he'd been hoping they were just friends. But when Dylan heard that there was truly nothing between them, he finally felt it- the confidence that he'd been needing all those years. Even after the incident with Cole, he still had the drive to go and ask her for help on math homework so he'd have another excuse to talk with her. Dylan was over the moon when she agreed to go out with him, and it was transferring to his playing, too. He was more confident on the field, more sure of himself. And he was beyond excited for dinner.

Dorrie Banks had seen a few guys over the years, mostly random hook-ups at parties, but she'd never been on a date. And despite the nerves that fluttered through her stomach, she was excited. The date, as well as the excitement for homecoming, had given her something to think about other than Cole. She liked the smiles Dylan would send her in the hallways or the random videos of puppies (sometimes in rain boots) he'd send her when they'd show up on his feed. It was nice to feel noticed, at least in a way that she wasn't used to. Isaac was her best friend, of course, but he wasn't the type to tell her how pretty she looked at school that day. Danny knew her schedule and what she was worried about, but he'd usually just ask her about it in the car, not send her a text after class asking how the test she spent all night studying for went. She felt seen, and it made Cole's radio silence a little easier. She could focus less on him and the cars she saw going to and from his house at odd hours of the morning and more on the newfound butterflies for the boy on the football team.

"Are you almost ready?" Isaac groaned from outside the bathroom. "Why does it take girls thousands of years to get ready?"

"Does he ever shut up? That's the third time in five minutes," Jackie hissed to Dorrie. The younger girl had insisted that she'd help with the getting ready portion, claiming that it was something she'd do for her older sister all the time. Dorrie didn't want anything fancy, so Jackie had settled on lightly curling her hair and applying some natural-seeming makeup. She was already dressed in a nice top and jeans, so she had headed over to the Walter house with about an hour til the date.

"Never. You should see him when it comes to school dances," Dorrie replied.

"I heard that," Isaac yelled through the door.

"You can come in," Dorrie shouted back. "We don't have cooties."

"Dorrie, the ladies love me for my good looks as it is. I don't need any help with that," he joked. "Plus, it's a small bathroom. And Jackie's there."

The Howard girl rolled her eyes. She'd accepted the fact that Isaac didn't like her because she'd unknowingly broken their "no-snitch" rule, but they'd drawn an unspoken truce when it came to Dorrie. They both accepted the fact that they needed her, in different ways. "I can hear you," she called.

"Isaac, play nice."

"I'm always nice." The girls shared a look before laughing. "What? I am."

Dorrie and Jackie had just finished up, when a voice called from across the hall. "Who's always nice?"