The Player's List

Chapter 10: A Promise and A Lie

                      Destery's P.O.V.

            After I left Ads house I had a lot on my mind. Like who was this Ronnie? Why did their break-up hurt her so much she hates the nickname Ads? Why did I feel so jealous when she told me about him? And lastly was I really just about to kiss her?

            All these questions were swirling around my head that I almost didn't notice my cell phone ringing.

            "Hello?" I answered it.

            "Yeah hi. I'm looking for my best friend. I wonder if you've seen him. I felt like I haven't heard from him in like months." A voice said.

            "Hiya Nikki." I greeted her.

            "Oh so you do remember me. I thought you forgot all about me." She retorted angrily.

            "How could I forget about my loving, pain in the ass best friend?" I replied sarcastically, joking.

            "Meet me in the park. We need to talk." Nikki said before hanging up on me.

            "Of course I'll go meet you in the park. It's not like I'm not doing anything." I muttered putting away my phone. It took me about ten minutes before I got to the park. I parked my car and went to the swing set. Whenever Nikki and I had a serious conversation we would always meet here. Not matter if it was raining or even hailing. We always met here.

            "Hello dearest Nicole." I greeted her as I sat in the swing next to her.

            "Cut the crap Dessy. What the hell are you up to?" She asked narrowing her eyes.

            "What are you talking about?" I asked her.

            "Why haven't I seen you in like the past 2 months? And how come when I do, you are always with that Adeline Ford girl?" She explained.

            "It's nothing Nikki. I'm just hanging out with her. That's all." I reasoned.

            "Just hanging with her, huh?" She questioned me, yet again.

            "Yes, just hanging. I want to be friend with her again." I lied to Nicole.

            "I know you two were friend in the past and you messed up your friendship. And I can understand if you want to be friends with her again. You always did tell me once in a while you missed her. But why now? Why all of a sudden you want to be friends with her? It's completely out of the blue." She asked me seriously. I just sighed before continuing.

            "Well, one night I was just thinking about the past and how much I missed hanging out with her. So I figured I might as well try to be friends with her before our senior year is over and we are all off to different colleges.." I simply answered.

            "It's not because of the list is it? You promised you'd stop." Nikki said getting mad. She knew everything about my life including the list. But when she found out she made me promise not to continue. By then I only had one more left and I really just want to finish it. So lied about the promise. I'm not proud of it, but it had to be done.

            "No Nikki. I really want to be friends with her again." I whispered.

            "Then why are you just being friends with her and not Kayden too?" She questioned me again.

            "What's up with all the questions?" I laughed.

            "Just answer the god damn question." She snapped. I rarely ever saw her this worked up before.

            "Nicole Lewis, calm down. You just need to relax. You're working yourself up over nothing." I said trying to sooth her.

            "No! Don't tell what to do Destery. Just promise me Adeline isn't another girl on your list." She said looking in my eyes. She looked like she was on the verge of tears at the moment. I felt so bad about what I did next.

            "I promise she isn't." I lied to my best friend. She looked at me for a while, trying to figure out if I was lying or not.

            "I believe you." She whispered. I smiled at her. I know what I did was wrong, but I had just one more to finish. Wouldn't the other 9 just be a complete waste? It would almost be cruel not to finish it.

            "I glad." I got up and hugged her. "I love you Nikki. I don't want you to hurt. You mean a lot to me. You're my best friend."

            "I love you too Dessy. You're my best friend too. But what you have done in the past is wrong. I just don't want you to do it again." She whispered as a few tears escaped her eyes.

            "I know. Trust me, I know." I whispered back.

            We ended up spending a few hours at the park just talking. We talked about what has been happening to us the past 2 months. It was only now that it really did feel like I haven't talked to her in forever.

            "We need to talk more Dessy." Nikki said as we began to leave.

            "Yes we do." I replied hugging her. "Do you need a ride home?"

            "Nope! I got my license last week and got my car on the road." She answered pointing to the little blue car parked next to my black mustang.

            "Congrats!!" I laughed.

            "Thank you. Well I need to go home. Bye Dessy. Oh and good job on the game last night. Can't wait to see you play in states on Friday." She said as she got in her car and drove off. I got into mine and drove home. As I got home no one was there. Mom had a conference in Houston for the week and dad was still working on a case in NYC so I was home alone.

            "Home sweet home." I muttered walking in. I went to the kitchen and grabbed a slice of cold pizza for dinner. I then went up to my room and lied down on my bed. I lied there thinking about my eventful day.

            From lying to Nikki at the park, to the phone call with Ads, to lastly the moment on the porch. I lied a LOT today. More than I ever had in my life. It was a lot to process.

I lied to the only person I fully trusted with my life. I feel so bad lying to Nicole, it's eating me alive. So many times today I just want to tell her, but if I did I know I'd lose her as a friend and I just can't deal with that.

            I flipped on Ads over the phone. I was a complete ass about it. It just pissed me off that I thought she didn't come to my game because of a nickname I called her. And I felt even worse when I found out it was because of Kayden. I still don't know if I believe he truly was beat up downtown, but Ads really believed it so I trusted her.

            And after that phone call, I knew I screwed up and needed to fix it. But what confused me was I don't know if I did it because of the list or because I really want to be her friend. For the past few weeks, I feel like some of the things I do aren't for the list. But I know I don't like her. How could I? She's just another girl, a random face in the crowd. And yet I feel like I'm lying to myself.

            Lastly, that almost kiss. I was only doing it for the list, but why do I feel like it wasn't? Like I really did want to kiss her. Something about those pink eyes keep me wanting more. They had the same effect on me when we were growing up. It was just something about them that draw me to them.

            I suddenly start to feel myself drift off to sleep. And I had one last thought cross my mind.

            Was I falling for Adeline Ford, the emo freak? Ha ha that was impossible...