Secrets of a Southern Belle

Chapter 10

The sun set behind the trees as we all sat around the bonfire that the football team started.  One would think that Wesley couldn't get anymore perfect; he was playing his guitar and singing a popular country song. I couldn't help but stare at how his blonde locks partially covered his face as he looked down at the frets on his guitar. I caught myself when I realized that Blake was giving me a glare. I let my guard down and my arch enemy seen it. I was messing up a lot this weekend.

Despite the small moments that included Blake's glaring at me or the disappointed look from my brother, I actually had a great time. 

The only thing that has stopped me from completely enjoying myself is my brother still being mad at me. Despite us having our small fights, we are pretty close, and it bothers me that he still hasn't gotten over the Rhett thing. I am also mad at myself for still being annoyed with him from his accusation.

My eyes danced around the circle of people that sat around the fire until they landed on my brother. He was intently watching Wesley's fingers move across the strings. I wondered what was going through his head and if he was going to get over himself anytime soon.

Some movement behind him in the trees caught my attention. From the shadows, I could have sworn I saw Rhett. I quickly flicked my attention to my friends to see if they noticed anything. When I looked back to where I saw him, there wasn't anything there.

For some reason, I knew I wasn't seeing things. In my gut, I had a feeling that it wasn't a coincidence that Rhett suddenly showed up at the game, Sugar's, and then here. I have no idea why that is, but something urged me to figure it out.

About a half an hour later, more people from our school showed up, turning the creek into a huge party. Wesley was no longer playing his guitar for everyone. His strumming was replaced by the loud music that was coming from the speakers that someone brought. Almost everyone had a red solo cup in their hand, and the party began to get crazy like it usually does around this hour.

Every time I tried to distract myself from my thoughts, the image of Rhett popped back into my head. I couldn't shake this guy. I knew that I would have to talk to my brother, who was still ignoring me. I knew that he would listen to my crazy thoughts, unlike Savannah. Molly would, but she is wrapped around Austin's finger at the moment. And honestly, I missed talking to him.

After a few minutes, I finally found Sawyer having a conversation with another football player. As I approached him, the guy nodded at me awkwardly as if he saw our argument last night and left. A confused Sawyer turned around to see why his friend left him. His glare said it all. He still was upset at me. I swear that he is so stubborn sometimes.

"Sawyer..." I began.

"Rae, I just.... I don't want to talk to you right now. Okay?" He rubbed his temple as if I was giving him a headache.

"You don't understand. I need to talk to you about last night—about Rhett."

He sighed heavily and his angry eyes met mine. "I definitely don't want to talk about that or him," he spat as anger surged in his light eyes. "Just go have fun, Rae—away from me, please."  He began to walk away from me before I could respond. I wasn't making up with my brother tonight. 

I was alone with my crazy thoughts about Rhett.

I decided to walk to where I thought I saw him in the woods. As I made my way over there, Savannah noticed I was moving away from everyone.

"Where are you going?" She called out after me.

She wouldn't understand.

"To the bathroom," I lied and continued walking.