Chase

My blood is pumping extra hard this morning. It’s not just tonight’s game I’m excited about, but also the rose the freshman player just handed over to me.

I don’t usually look at the roses, but I did this time. It’s a long-stemmed rose, its perfectly shaped bud of petals a deep shade of red. I even took a sniff of the sweet, perfumy scent.

This rose is special. It’s going to change everything for Gin.

For the past week, I’ve paid attention to her. Where she goes, what she does, who she’s with. She rarely talks to anyone besides Lauren and Raj. She doesn’t even look at other people, and others don’t look at her. It’s like she’s invisible, her head down as she just bides her time.

It makes me appreciate what she did for Cassie that much more. For an introvert to step in like that…I know it had to be harder for her than for someone like me.

I’m guessing she’ll blush like crazy and not be able to find any words to say when I hand her this rose. Everyone will be shocked, including her. It took me a good forty minutes to convince the rest of the team we should pick her.

One thing I’ve realized from paying attention to Gin this past week is that she’s actually pretty. She’s got pale blue eyes and a bright smile. I imagine her body’s nice under those baggy clothes, too. The inky black hair isn’t helping her out any.

Doesn’t matter, though. I’m not doing this because of her looks. I want to repay her for what she did for my sister, and this will change her entire senior year. Being one of the Sweet Sixteen will elevate her social status like nothing else could. She’ll be the envy of most every girl at Roper, and the guys will see her in a whole new light.

Sam falls into step beside me as I make my way down the hall to Gin’s locker, the rest of the team following behind me.

“You sure about this, man?” he asks under his breath.

“Yep.”

He lets out a sharp breath. “Yeah, but she’s—”

“Don’t. The vote’s done, and there’s no going back.”

He glances over at me. “But if we could go back, would you want to?”

“No.”

With my tone, I let him know the conversation is over. Sam’s never cared who was chosen for the Sweet Sixteen before. One of his favorite things to say is, “Pussy’s pussy.” I don’t know what’s got his panties in a bunch over Gin.

The farther I walk down the hall, the more people stare, all of them holding their breath. The hallway smells like powdery perfume, some of the girls spraying it and putting on lipstick as I approach.

They’re all hoping it’s their day. My gaze passes over them like they aren’t even there, landing on the back of the girl bent down to pull books from the bottom of her locker and put them in her backpack.

Gin’s oblivious to the rose ritual, and that makes me almost smile. She’s gonna be blown away.

The rest of the team hangs back as I stop and approach her. I keep the rose half hidden behind my leg as I stand in front of the locker next to hers.

She doesn’t look up, her attention focused on the pages of a notebook she’s flipping through. There are at least a hundred students in this hallway, and they all just fell into silence. Gin doesn’t even seem to know.

“Gin?”

She looks up at me, pulling earbuds from her ears. “Did you say something to me?”

“Yeah.” I run a hand through my hair and grin. “Can you, uh…stand up?”

She stuffs the notebook into her green canvas backpack and stands, looking off to the side and then back at me, her eyes narrowing as she figures out everyone is watching us.

“What’s going on, Chase?”

“I have something for you.”

A slight pink flush colors her cheeks as she furrows her brow at me. I take the rose out and hold it in front of her. There’s a collective gasp from the students around us. Pretty overdramatic, because obviously, I was planning to give the rose to her.

Gin’s eyes go wide, and her cheeks darken to red. “What…the hell…?”

“It’s not a joke,” I reassure her, because she’s looking anything but pleased.

I should have known she’d think it was some kind of prank. Gin’s been teased and called a lesbian since middle school.

“Um…it is a joke, though.” Her eyes meet mine, her chin tipped slightly up.

“No, it’s not. I chose you, Gin. You’re one of the Sweet Sixteen.”

She scoffs and shakes her head. “I most definitely am not, Chase. Choose someone else.”

When she turns back to face her locker, I can feel the energy in the hallway. It’s trapped, everyone frozen in disbelief.

“Gin,” I say in a low tone. “I give you my word this is legit. Take the rose.”

She shakes her head again, silent.

I keep my shit together. This isn’t unfolding like I imagined it would, but I can fix it. I reassess and try a different approach.

“You’re a beautiful girl. Why wouldn’t we choose you? I want everyone else to see you the way I do.”

Her eyes are narrowed when she turns to face me, but I can still see they’re a darker shade of blue than usual.

“I’m sure everyone would see me differently if I allowed myself to get gangbanged by the football team, but I’m fine with the way I’m seen now, Chase.”

Her tone is level and firm, and the hallway fills with the buzz of whispers. Sam is muttering his disgust nearby. This thing is going to hell fast.

“It’s not gangbanging, Gin.” My aggravation bleeds through in my tone.

“Really?” Her brows shoot up in mock surprise. “Maybe you should Google gangbanging sometime.”

There’s a shocked laugh behind me, and a muscle in my jaw flexes unconsciously.

“Take the goddamn rose, Gin,” I say through gritted teeth.

“No.” She holds my gaze in challenge.

Now I’m pissed. I’m doing her a favor, and this is how she thanks me? I shove the rose toward her.

“Just take it, and we can talk about this later.”

“I don’t want your stupid rose.” Her voice rises with anger. “No self-respecting girl would. Go find some desperate wannabe groupie.”

The mood in the hallway has shifted. The shocked whispering has turned into an angry rumble that may explode at any moment. Gin and I are staring each other down, me willing her to accept the rose and her telling me to fuck off with her eyes.

Gin shoulders her bag and moves to step around me. I can’t let my big idea blow up in my face like this, so I step to the side too, blocking her path.

“Will you please take the rose, Gin? Please. I’m asking you to do this.”

Her eyes are glistening with tears, but she’s not sad. I realize as she stares up at me, chin tilted defiantly, she’s furious.

“Take that rose and shove it up your ass, Chase.”

She walks around me, ignoring the glares and insults that await as soon as she’s a few feet away from me.

I push off the locker with my shoulder, pissed off as I stride through the crowd of teammates gathered in the hallway. The cluster parts into two for me, and I stalk off in the direction of my own locker.

“What the hell was that?” Sam falls in beside me, his tone alarmed.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“You want me to give the rose to someone else?”

The warning bell rings. We have two minutes to get to class, and I only have a few seconds to make a decision.

Cut our losses, give the rose to another girl, and pretend the Gin incident didn’t happen? Or keep trying to convince her to take the rose so I can salvage a shred of my wounded pride?

“No,” I tell Sam. “I’ll take care of it.”

“Take care of…how? Do we need to vote again?”

I silence him with a look. “I’ve got it.”

He nods and slows his pace. Everyone scatters, heading to class, and I stand in front of my locker for a minute, collecting myself.

That was a disaster. She turned me down. Gin Fielding told me to shove the rose up my ass in earshot of dozens of people. I’ll never live this down.

And worse, a Roper tradition hangs in the balance. If I don’t fix this, and fast, there’s a lot more at stake than my ego.