The Year of Falling in Love

  Hell yeah! I start to celebrate, but then Kyler yells, "Isa, run!" and I realize I still have to make it to the end zone. I reel around and run like a boss, trying to ignore the sounds of heavy footsteps charging toward me. Seconds later, I step over the line. Touchdown, baby!

  I throw the ball down and do a dance until Kyler picks me up and spins me around. I'm not even sure if we won, but it's all very exciting. It might have turned out to be a pretty good ending to a crappy starting day if at that very moment I didn't spot the dark blue car again, driving as slowly as possible on the road beside the field.

  I try to convince myself it's not the same car, but then I see a Superman sticker on the back window. I'm pretty sure the car circling the park had the same sticker.

  Kyler sets me down on the ground and raises his hand for a high-five. "See, pretty fun, right?"

  I distractedly tap my palm against his. "Yeah, it kind of was."

  "And the game's over, so you can celebrate that too." He's beaming from ear to ear, his bare chest sheen with sweat.

  I try not to gawk, but I steal a few glances at his ripped, defined muscles. "It's over?"

  He laughs at me. "Yeah, you just scored the winning touchdown."

  "Holy crap. I'm awesome," I joke, but my voice sounds flat. I can't seem to get into celebrating with that car right there.

  "You are awesome." He drapes an arm around my shoulders. "And awesome people get rewards."

  The scent of his cologne and sweat engulfs my nostrils. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to love the smell or hate it. Maybe a little of both.

  "I get a reward?" I ask, and he nods. "What is it?"

  He gives me a side hug and my heart flutters. "I'm taking you out for ice cream."

  "Yeah!" I fist pump the air. "I'm so hungry."

  "Just let me say goodbye to the guys and we'll go." He heads across the field toward his friends with his arm still slung around me, leaving me no other choice than to go with him.

  I glance over my shoulder at the car and frown when I see it turning into the parking lot. I half-expect it to slam to a stop and a policeman to jump out of it. But all it does is stop by Kyler's car for a moment before flipping a bitch and speeding off.

  So strange and creepy.

  Even though it might be nothing, I need to make sure to mention the car to Grandma Stephy, just in case.

  Chapter 8

  Isabella

  While scoring the touchdown felt epic, it didn't earn me any mad cool points with Kyler's friends. I learn quickly that I don't fit in with any of them besides Lily. All the guys want to talk about is the big game next week and whose party they're hitting up tonight. The girls talk to each other until the party is mentioned, and then they're all about the conversation, rattling off different ideas. Once plans are finalized, they all part ways for their cars.

  Lily pulls me aside so we can exchange numbers, and while I'm sending her a text so she has mine, I notice an extraordinarily beautiful girl hugging Kyler.

  "That's Jesmine. They dated before she dumped him for some older dude," Lily explains when she notices me staring at them.

  "I don't ever remember them dating." I shove back the jealousy when Kyler doesn't seem in too big of a hurry to stop hugging Jesmine.

  "It was over the summer and only lasted about a week." Lily slides her phone into her jacket pocket. "She's a couple of years older too so they spent a lot of time at college parties and stuff because she thought she was too cool for his friends. At least that's what Wes says. I guess she got over it, though, since she's here. Or maybe it's okay now because most of his friends are in college."

  I stab my nails into my palms, once again feeling like the dorky girl next-door, harboring a silly crush on her sexy next-door neighbor.

  "Are you two like together, together?" Lily asks. "Because if you are, you might want to go break up the hug."

  "Nah, we're just friends." Once I say it, I realize it's the truth. He can hug whomever he wants whenever he wants. It's not like we're a couple. Still, that doesn't mean I don't want to march over there and go all hungry zombie on both of them. Well, either that or go home and eat a gallon of ice cream.

  Finally, the two of them pull away, but they don't put very much space between them. They lean in as they talk seriously about something and he tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.

  Ugh! I can't take this. It's like I'm back to square one and if I'm being honest with myself, it's kind of a turn off.

  "I have to make a call," I say to Lily. "I'll call you tonight to get more deets about the job."

  She smiles at me, but there's a hint of pity in her eyes. "All right. Cool. Call me to get the details about the job, okay?"

  I nod, wave to her, then powerwalk to the car. I don't really have anyone to call, but I dial people's numbers anyway, hoping someone will pick up. No one does and I'm left with no other option than to climb into the car and pretend to mess around with my hair. Thankfully, Kyler climbs in only a couple of minutes later.

  His cheeks are flushed. "Ready for that ice cream?"

  I nod even though I just want to go to my Grandma Stephy's. "Sure."

  He pauses as he's slipping the keys into the ignition. "Is something wrong?"

  I shake my head, reaching over my shoulder for the seatbelt. "I'm just tired. Playing football is exhausting."

  He doesn't appear like he's buying it. "She's just a friend."

  "Huh?"

  "Jesmine. I mean, we dated for like two seconds, but we both realized we weren't right for each other. Her dad passed away a couple of weeks ago and I wasn't able to go to the funeral. This was the first time I've seen her since then."

  "Oh. Okay." I'm so confused. Why is he telling me this? Because he can read the jealousy all over my face? Am I that transparent?

  He puts a hand on my thigh. "I like you, Isa. Like a lot. I'm sorry if I haven't made that clear."

  "No... you have." God, I sound like a spaz. Think of something else to say! Something awesomely epic! "Um... I like you too."

  Not really awesomely epic but it gets him to smile.

  "Good. Now that we have that settled, let's get you some ice cream and then go back to the court." He shoves the car in park and backs out of the parking space. "I think there's still enough time for me to kick your butt one more time at Horse."

  I roll my eyes, like you wish buddy, but my joking attitude goes right out the window the moment we pull out onto the road, because that damn blue car pulls out right behind us.

  Chapter 9

  Kai

  The drive to Mapleview is long and boring. I've never been one for driving solo and, I usually have a driving buddy with me. I turn on some music to try to liven things up, but when a Katy Perry song clicks on, all I can think about is that time Isa and I danced to it, how I licked her neck, pretending the move was playful when I really just wanted to get a taste. She shocked the shit out of me when she licked me back, but I think she did it because she was drunk. Sober, I'm not so sure things would've gone down that way.

  Even if Isa did like me the way I like her, she's never been the kind of girl to bluntly announce how she feels. I've seen her dismiss a lot of things that probably shouldn't have been dismissed. With a simple shrug or by tucking her head down she spends a lot of time pretending she's okay, even when she's not.

  I've known this about her since we were in seventh grade. It was during the start of our brief friendship. Everyone in the entire school knew she was obsessed with Kyler, mainly because Hannah had blabbered it to anyone who would listen.

  "Seriously, you should read her diary," I heard her saying to Kyler and a group of their friends during lunch. "It's all Kyler this, Kyler that. Kyler's so dreamy. I hope we get married some day. She even has some kind of weird chant thing written down on one of the pages that looks like a love spell or something. Seriously, she's such a stalker." Then she giggled in that shrill way that always made me want to jab my eardrums out. And, of course, her friends joined i
n, like a bunch of wannabe hyenas.

  Kyler didn't say anything at first, merely chewing on his burger. His friends all remained quiet, waiting for him to say something. And me ... While I sat at the same table, I never really joined in on their conversation. I was always just there Kyler's younger brother, who everyone was nice to because my last name was Meyers.

  "What do you mean there was a love spell?" Kyler finally asked, setting his burger down on the lunch tray in front of him. "Does she, like, think she's a witch or something?"

  "Yeah, she talks about it all the time," Hannah said, but I could tell she was lying, just like she was probably lying about the love spell and Isa having a diary at all--she didn't really seem like a diary kind of girl. "She thinks she can curse people and stuff." She wiggled her fingers in front of her, giggling. "You better watch out, Kyler. She might put a love spell on you, and the next thing you know, you'll be kissing her."

  Kyler visibly shuddered, but I could tell it was more for show than over the fact that he was that creeped out about the idea of kissing Isa. I knew he hung out and played basketball with her sometimes, and there were a couple of times when I caught him staring at her balcony.

  While Isa wasn't popular, she wasn't a hideous beast. She had clear skin; long, brown hair; and yeah, she was a bit on the gangly side, but her height made her awesome at shooting hoops. Her biggest problem was that she was super socially awkward and shy. Plus, she dressed really weird sometimes, wearing superhero shirts and even a cape once. And yeah, while I thought superheroes and comics were cool, I knew better than to go advertising it to the entire middle school. Although, I did envy her ability to be who she was, unlike me.

  "There's no way in hell I'd ever kiss her." Kyler shot her a horrified look at the table where Isa was sitting by herself, eating lunch, and reading a book. "That'd be worse than kissing my dog."

  "And you would know how?" I didn't even mean to say it aloud. It just sort of slipped out.

  Kyler gave me his stupid I'm-the-shit-and-you're-not smirk. "You got a thing for weirdoes or something?"

  "No." It was one word, but it felt like such a betrayal. I didn't defend her. I didn't do anything at all except sit there and listen to them as they started making fun of her. I was too afraid that, if I spoke up, they'd make fun of me. It made me no better than them, maybe even worse.

  I hung out with Isa, and yeah, while I didn't declare to the world that she was my friend, I still sort of thought of her as one. She knew more about me than any of my other friends. She knew the real me. And she made me feel like I mattered, like I wasn't just Kyler's little brother who disappointed his father time and time again.

  Things got progressively worse from there when Hannah stood up on her chair and announced to the entire cafeteria what she had just told Kyler. Almost everyone busted up laughing and stared at Isa.

  I didn't laugh. All I did was watch as Isa quickly gathered her things and hurried out of the room with her head tucked down.

  Later that day, when we were sitting in the hollowed out tree, I asked her if she was okay. She simply shrugged, focusing on the drawing she was working on of a woman in a cape getup. "Yeah, I'm fine."

  I stuffed a couple of chips in my mouth, trying to decide if she was really fine or not. She looked like she was unbothered, but how could she be? It would suck to get laughed at by everyone.

  "Are you sure?" I slid closer to her. "Because you can tell me if you're not. I'm a great listener."

  She paused, and I thought she was going to open up to me, but then she looked up and smiled. "What do you think of this drawing? Does it scream 'I'm a badass mofo about to save the world'? Or is it coming off too 'I'm a beotch'?"

  It hurt that she didn't trust me, but then again, what had I done to earn her trust? Nothing at all. I was no better than everyone else.

  "I like that she looks pretty badass," I said, hoping to at least get her to feel good about her drawing. "Who is she?"

  Isa shrugged and used the pencil to shade in the woman's cape. "I'm not sure. I just see her in my head sometimes." She paused, pressing her lips together. "You really think she looks badass?"

  I nodded. "Like she's about to save the world from every jerk out there."

  She faintly smiled at that, like my words really meant something to her. It made me feel good about myself because the girl rarely smiled.

  But that feeling quickly faded about a week later when one of my so-called friends saw me hanging out with her. I had two choices in that moment: 1.) I could own it and finally just be who I was without hiding. But that would mean getting teased like crazy, and with everything going between my dad and me, I wasn't sure I could handle that. Or 2.) I could lie and cower out of the situation by calling her a stalker like Hannah did all the time.

  I stupidly and very cowardly went with option two, and to this day, I still hate myself a little bit for it. Maybe I deserve to be in the position I am now--sitting here, trying to make money to pay a debt that isn't even mine while Isa is back in Sunnyvale with Kyler.

  The thought, while probably true, is really effing depressing, so depressing I turn on my Emo playlist just so the music fits my mood.

  Forty-five minutes and nine angsty songs later, I'm finally pulling into Mapleview. The town is a tiny blip on a map, even smaller than Sunnyvale, which says a lot.

  After I circle the designated block three times without spotting a guy wearing a hoodie and brass knuckles, I grow worried he might be a no show. Still, I drive around the block six more times before pulling over into the parking lot of a nearby gas station.

  I'm not sure what to do. I don't have my phone, so I can't call Big Doug. He did say that, if I saw anyone sketchy, I wasn't supposed to drop off the envelope. But it's not like I've seen anyone sketchy; I just haven't seen anyone at all.

  I make another few loops around the block, which basically consists of a few abandoned houses, a boarded up warehouse, and the gas station. Again, I don't see a single damn person, so I return to the gas station parking lot and sit in my car, trying to figure out what to do.

  I pick up the envelope, turn it over, and fiddle with the clasp, debating whether to open it or not. I know Big Doug said not to, but dammit, I'm really curious what could be in this thing that's worth all this trouble.

  I mess around with the clasp for a minute or two before setting the envelope back down without opening it. If I want to get paid for this job, then I need to do it right.

  I climb out of my car and head for the gas station to see if the cashier will let me use their phone. But halfway across the parking lot, I realize that Big Doug is speed dial number seven in my phone, and I don't know his number.

  "Shit. What the heck am I supposed to do now?" I curse under my breath, turning back around for the car.

  That's when I spot a guy near my car, wearing a ski mask and holding a crowbar. When he raises the crowbar to break the window, I run at him.

  "Don't you fucking dare!" I shout at him.

  The guy is completely unfazed as he bashes the crowbar against the window. Glass shatters as he reaches inside, snatching up the envelope.

  I barrel toward him, ready to beat his ass. But the closer I get, the more aware I become that the dude is fucking hella big, like sumo wrestler big. I slow down as I reach the back of my car, deliberating how far I want to take this. Sure, I promised Big Doug I'd guard the envelope with my life when I left, but I didn't mean that literally.

  Sumo guy knows he can beat my ass too, because he's just standing there, waiting for me to make a move.

  I linger near the rear end of the car, keeping some space between us. "I'm going to call the cops on your ass if you don't give me that back." Sure, I don't have my phone on me, but he doesn't know that.

  I swear I hear him laugh. Then he's suddenly striding toward me. Stepping back, I swing my fist around to punch him at the same time he raises the crowbar at me. My knuckles collide with his jaw as the metal bar slams against the side of my face. I hi
t the ground hard.

  He hovers over me, grasping the crowbar. "Tell Big Doug his three strikes are up," he growls then raises the crowbar and whacks it against the side of my head.

  Everything goes black.

  Chapter 10

  Isabella

  After we buy our ice cream, we sit in the car and eat it. I'm trying to be super cheery, but my thoughts are all over the place. I'm exhausted, on edge, and I'm sure I'm coming off as an energy draining downer. Despite the fact that the dark blue car hasn't made a grand appearance since we pulled into the ice cream shop, I can't shake the feeling it's going to materialize at any given moment. Even the cup of ice cream I'm holding doesn't help alleviate my worries.

  "I still can't believe what you put in that." Kyler stares at the cup of ice cream in my hand, his face scrunched.

  I can't help smiling as I replay the look he gave me when I ordered strawberry ice cream with cheesecake, sprinkles, cookies, gummy worms, and chocolate syrup toppings.

  "You have no idea what you're missing out on. It's so yummy." I stuff a spoonful into my mouth to prove my point. "It took me years of trying out different concoctions to get it right, and all of the concoctions were good."

  His lips quirk. "It took you that long to put together something that looks that disgusting?"

  I stick my tongue out at him. "I've made ones that look way worse, like when I put gumballs and nuts into a cotton candy flavored ice cream. I almost threw that one up."

  He makes another repulsed face. "That sounds so gross, but anything with cotton candy in it sounds gross to me."

  My eyes widen. "You don't like cotton candy?"

  He visibly shudders. "Ever since I was ten and ate an entire bag before I rode the Zipper at the carnival."

  "Let me guess." I try not to laugh at how intensely serious he seems over the subject. "You threw up?"

  "Yep. And trust me when I say it may taste good going down, but not so much when it comes up."

  "I'll have to take your word for it, but I don't think it's going to stop me from eating cotton candy or cotton candy flavored ice cream."

  "You're kind of crazy." A sudden, almost thoughtful, expression appears on his face. "A crazy girl who makes touchdowns like a boss and likes the most disgusting looking ice cream I've ever seen."