The Dating Game

TEN

"What's the big deal?" Chase asks me when we reach the indented door of the classroom. My face feels hot and I can't stand the anxious feeling I'm getting. Like I said, I hate feeling small—and God, does Miles make me feel small. A different kind of small, of course. Not the kind where I feel like I'm less than him. More like, I know he has a hold over me and I can't control it.

"Why are we running?" Chase asks again.

"You see, I've been in love with Miles since, like, the fourth grade," I quickly explain to him. "And I act pretty weird around him, as you can tell."

"You like that guy?" he asks, pointing behind him with his thumb. "No, you can't."

I narrow my eyes at him. "Why not?"

"I can't explain that to you right now. I have to get to class. Just stay away from him, Michelle."

"You can't tell me what to do-" I try to say but Chase rips his wrist out of my grip and dashes down the hallway. Since when did Chase Matthews care about class? There is definitely something going on between those two.

I shrug it off and walk inside the classroom, hoping English can distract me from all of my boy drama.

After I take a deep breath and realize again that I'd be on my own this week, I start to take my seat. My legs shuffle across the room, making my way to the back corner in silence. I can still feel my heart pounding in my chest from the short conversation I had with Miles.

Then someone suddenly bumps into me. I turn to see who it is, and I immediately recognize the volleyball star herself, Anna Price—Dylan Price's twin sister.

"Oh, my bad," she says sarcastically, patting my shoulder. "I didn't notice you were there."

"Um, it's okay," I reply cautiously, sitting down in my seat. She walks to her seat with a bitchy giggle, meeting up with her equally bitchy friends.

The volleyball girls at this school have never been angels, but this is new for me. None of them had ever talked to me before, much less knew my name. And now they were purposely bumping into me and giggling over my very presence?

This is all Chase's fault. If it weren't for that stupid Tuesday-night party, none of this would be happening. I'd still have my best friend, I'd still have enough time to study, and I'd still be invisible to all the jealous teenage girls—but now, I can't have any of that. Thanks to Chase fucking Matthews. And I don't even know what I'm getting out of all of this! This is all just one giant lose-lose scenario!

Mrs. Peters walks through the door and I manage to rip my attention away from Chase and place it on her instead. She greets the class and gets us to settle down before she starts her lesson and I'm able to breathe again. I just hope I'm able to stay calm for the rest of the day.

///

When lunchtime approaches, I am fully prepared for the worst. Chase mentioned something about the "next stage in the game" and to be honest, I'm terrified. I'm not sure what to make of that—whether it's more kissing or more hugging, or even worse, more than just kissing. My skin crawls just at the thought of being intimate with Chase, and the idea won't leave my mind no matter how hard I try to shake it out. It's unbearable.

But then Chase meets me at my classroom door right before lunch and everything is fine again. I'm not sure why, since he's deathly annoying and too forward and really pushy, but somehow he makes me feel safe, I guess. I know he's strong and he can take down anyone who hurts me. Not because he wants to, but because he has to. Because he's my boyfriend.

Or at least he has to act like he is.

We make our way to the field immediately, our steps synchronizing perfectly as we march along. He tries to throw his arm over my shoulders, but I push him away. I can't be letting him off too easy—he's getting way too comfortable.

Eventually, we make it to the football field where Holly and the others are gathered on a blanket at the edge of the field. A group of guys are tossing a football around on the other side and a few different groups and cliques are joined together on the field as well. We fit in just perfectly.

"We've arrived," Chase announces obnoxiously when we meet up with everyone else, rightfully earning an eye roll from me and the others.

We both take our seats in the same exact order we did last Tuesday night, and the memories from the party start rolling in. I glance around the circle, making eye contact with Chase when I get to him. He blows me a kiss with a wink and I shake my head dully at him in response. I can't believe every time I want to look in front of me, I have to see him.

I guess it's not so bad, though. It is a nice sight to see, after all. I could've done much worse in the looks department.

"Welcome, Chase and Michelle," Holly greets us while she gets up to give us water bottles. "How have you guys been doing? Good?"

"I've been good," I answer first.

"Oh, no silly. I don't mean you two separately. I mean as a couple, how have you been doing?"

"Oh, uh-"

"We've been great. She was a little difficult at first, but she eventually came to her senses," Chase answers for the both of us. I swear I'm going to punch him when we get done with this meeting thing.

"Oh? That's good. I didn't expect that from Michelle," Dylan comments. He looks so much like his sister—no surprise there. Looking at him only reminds me of earlier today when she was acting like a total-

"Yeah, we don't really care," Holly regains control, even though she was the one to ask the question, "Let's get back to the intermission."

"It's a meeting-" Dylan tries correcting her.

"So anyway! Here's the deal: in the dating game, there are missions each couple has to complete throughout the month. The first week–or in this case, the first half week, since we started the game in the middle of the week–the couples just have to be around each other basically. Get to know each other a little, you know? A few hugs and kisses here and there.

"But the second week is where everything starts. The mission for the second week is to start the touching stage."

The hairs on my arms stand up completely as her words ring in my head. Touching stage? Please don't tell me that means what I think it means.

"Well, I'm pretty sure we've all been around each other enough to kiss or hug at least once this past week, right?"

We nod together and she continues. "Exactly. That was basically the only goal for the first week, other than talking. Kissing, hugging, and talking. Those were the requirements. Since we got the first three out of the way, touching is the next step."

"I have a question," Chase raises his hand and then looks at me mischievously. Oh no. "What is touching limited to?"

I cross my arms and open my mouth to say something when Holly speaks for me instead. Not that she says what I was planning to say. In fact, she says pretty much the opposite.

"Oh, there are no limits when it comes to touching."

Chase grins, rubbing his hands together maniacally as if a string of ideas were starting to unravel in his head. My face heats up and I hug my knees to my chest, hoping he isn't planning on anything too soon. I need more time to prepare for something like that.

But then Holly continues and sends my worries away with just one simple sentence.

"Other than personal limits, of course."

Chase stops dead in his tracks. His devious grin fades and instead he forms a new expression with his smile. Hopelessness.

"Welp, we're gonna fail," he says as he throws himself back and lays on the ground.