Chapter 25

“What? Babe, I’m so confused,” Casey said, with genuine hurt.

“No, what's confusing is you trying to kiss my boyfriend,” Harper shouted, getting in Casey’s face.

Casey was taken aback and looked so hurt. I ran over to get between them. I couldn’t believe he brought her. Casey started to cry and I hugged her tightly.

“Dude, you can’t make our girl Casey cry. What gives?” Baylen asked, as he and Keegan stepped to Cyman like overprotective big brothers.

“The chick clearly is obsessed with me. Did you not see her try to kiss me?” Cyman accused.

They turned to look at Casey, who was still crying on my shoulder.

“You came for Casey bro. That’s the only reason you were even invited was because of her. You and Harper can leave now,” Keegan said, poking Cyman in the chest with his finger.

“Yeah bro, we don’t even hang out with you, so what made you think you could show up with a date and hurt our Case?” Baylen said, doubling down on Keegan’s words.

“Why would anyone think he is here for Casey? When Jeff told me he was coming to a bowling party for couples, I assumed it was with me, his girlfriend,” Harper said, looking at Casey.

“Well I’m sure you will have a great chat about it on the way home, right Cyman?” I said, pulling Casey over to the tables.

Cyman and Harper left, with Harper fuming mad. I was sad for Casey, but also relieved that she could see he was playing her. He never intended on leaving Harper. He was just using Casey.

We took a half hour to regroup and I called Jada over to play as Casey’s partner. Her and I kept in touch after Keegan and I started dating. She was one of my best friends now, if you can believe that.

Partners were chosen. It was Baylen and Casey, Quinn and Isadora, Jada and Jagger and Keegan was with me. I wasn’t going to let it be a bad experience. I went into the first game with an open mind. We were up against Quinn and Izzy.

“Alright Kee, you are up! Don’t let me down!” I shouted, trying to be an enthusiastic partner.

He gave me a slightly bewildered glance and then proceeded down the lane. He brought the ball back and then whipped it forward down the lane. The ball smacked the pins right in the middle and sent them soaring in different directions. STRIKE! I high-fived Keegan as I trash talked Quinn. She knocked down 5 pins on her turn, and then 2 more. The game went quickly. I had four strikes already. We ended up winning the first round. We were now up against Baylen and Casey. Isadora and Jagger sat with us to cheer us on. Izzy would give Keegan good luck kisses before each roll. It was time consuming and just too much. I had to stay focused and not concern myself with their relationship. Like, we get it, you and Keegan are a couple, but I digress. This isn’t my concern.

The game was neck and neck. We headed into the 10th frame. I went to roll my first ball. It seemed to curve at first, but made its way back to the middle to kiss the pins and earn me a strike. I had two more rolls. If I could get a strike in both rolls we would win.

“Ok Brees, you’ve got this. We need these two strikes for the win!” Keegan yelled, through cupped hands.

Isadora was sitting on his lap at this point. I wasn’t even phased. We had been getting along again like we had when we were friends. It was nice to be supportive of one another again in some capacity. I threw my second strike and it all came down to this last ball.

“You got it girl!” Jagger cheered.

“Let’s go James!” Casey squeaked.

“Ok Brees!” Jada joined in.

It seemed as if the room went completely quiet. You could hear my red and blue shoes squeaking on the shiny wood flooring. I raised the ball in front of me and prepared to throw it in a V formation down the lane. I held my breath and released. It rolled down methodically over the boards—making a swishing noise as it did. It shifted slightly to the right and then hit the pins. They all fell except for one. It bobbled around as if to taunt me. I put my hands over my face in disappointment and turned to face the crowd. Their eyes were all still trained on the pin. I saw Jagger and Quinn’s mouth open and a huge smile on Casey’s face.

“Holy shit! It fell! We won!” Keegan yelled.

Before I could react, he jumped up, almost knocking Isadora to the floor. He rushed at me and lifted me off of my feet. He held me there for a minute, hugging me, before realizing what he had done. He let me down slowly. His hands slid up my back side unintentionally. I fixed my dress. Keegan and I stood awkwardly after the brief moment of hugging.

Then, thankfully, Jagger came over and hugged me as well.

“That was amazing to watch Brees! You are such a sick athlete,” she said.

Everyone cheered and celebrated our win. I caught Keegan’s stare and he caught mine. There was something about the way he held me that made my heart wonder. Made me think that he possibly could still… no that’s not possible. Why was I doing this to myself?

He smiled at me as Isadora hugged him and mouthed the words, “Good job Squirt.”

Squirt. That was the first time he had called me that in over a year. Usually I hated that nickname, but this time it was welcomed. This time it felt like home. It felt like it was mending things between us. It felt like we were 9 years old again and chasing one another in my backyard. It felt good.