Heart and Soul [bxb]

Chapter Twelve

They lost the homecoming game.

It was close, but they still lost. They finished the first half in a tie, then managed to gain a few points advantage when the game picked back up in the second half. It started going wrong after their kicker failed to get them an extra point. The team began getting in their own heads, pointing fingers and placing blames, and their opponents bounced back.

No one really held the loss against them for too long, though. It was homecoming week after all. Their school lived for it. The game was one of the major events of the week, for sure, but what the student body really wanted was the dance.

Carter woke up past three, on Saturday. When he came downstairs, he found his mother sitting on the couch alone, in a suspiciously quiet house. She told him Tony was working, Frankie and Luca were out with friends, and Bella was out with Jack. Only Mike was in his room, studying.

Carter sat next to his mom, leaning his head on her shoulder as he tried to catch up to the movie she was watching. From the few minutes he got before Melanie called, it was one of those soft-plot Rom-Coms.

As he hung up the phone, Carter noticed his mother's eyes on him.

"Was that Melanie?"

He nodded. "We're going to the dance with Joey and Jenna. But we're grabbing something to eat first," he recounted the plan of which he had just been informed.

"Okay," his mom said, in that perfectly casual tone only moms really think sounds casual.

"What?"

"Nothing." Abby shrugged, too obviously. "Go have fun... with Melanie."

Carter rolled his eyes at the poorly hidden smile on his mom's face. He knew what she was thinking and it couldn't be farther from the truth. Like Mel's dad, Carter's mom had some difficulty understanding the terms in which the two of them had ended their relationship. While Mr Jones thought somebody - Carter - had to mess up for the relationship to end, Carter's mom was having trouble understanding that two people who had previously dated could have a perfectly platonic relationship after parting in completely mutual friendly terms.

With a quick run to the kitchen, Carter made himself a bowl of cereal and joined his mother again. When the movie ended, with a happily reunited couple, he went up to his room to get ready.

Because Seth wasn't going and Carter hadn't thought about the dance until three days before, he had to try out the only dress shirt he owned. Apparently, he'd put on some muscle since last homecoming, because it didn't fit. He thought about texting Joey for a borrowed shirt, but he was significantly slimmer than Carter and all his clothes were carefully fitted.

For a split second, Carter considered texting Mel to say he'd messed up and couldn't make it. But then another thought occurred to him. He hesitated in the hallway, before stepping onto the retractable ladder toward the attic. 

From his desk, Mike turned around in the office chair to look at Carter. "Hey." He smiled. "Do you need something?"

Carter rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, actually. Do you have a shirt I can borrow?" He tried. "Just for tonight. Mine no longer fits and I didn't remember to buy a new one. Of course, if you need it-"

"It's fine," Mike told him, getting up. He opened his closet and pushed open a drawer. "You can see in here if there's one you like."

"Thanks." Carter smiled, relieved.

He stepped inside as Mike returned to his computer. The drawer he'd volunteered Carter was full of dress shirts. Carter picked a plain white one and tried it out, while Mike kept his eyes on the document he was redacting.