Free A Second Chance by Isabella Bearden

yells.
    “I’m not yours Tate. We’re friends. That’s it.” I was going to give in and tell him that I did cancel the date with Brent, but after this whole ‘mine’ crap, I’ll let him suffer all night.
    “We’re more than friends, Ray, and you know it. But fine, you want to be friends. We’ll be friends.” He says angrily and walks off.
    I watch him walk off; did he really just give in? We are really just friends now. I thought I would feel better now that he finally gave in, but now I feel horrible. I look over at Lily, as she saw the whole thing play out. I shake my head and get in the car.
    Lily takes me home and I go straight to my room and change into a sports bra and shorts. I need to get this day off my mind. I thought dressing sexy and getting Tate’s attention would be great, but instead he did the opposite. I grab my head phones and go to the garage.
    I stay in the garage for hours, missing dinner, all the way till my mom comes in and tells me that they are going to bed. I just realized that Lily never showed up. That means Tate now knows that I didn’t go out tonight.  Why should I care? He gave in, so should I.
    I go upstairs and lay down to catch my breath. A few minutes of cooling down, I grab a t-shirt and start changing as I hear my balcony doors open. I turn around to see Tate coming in my room. I throw my t-shirt on.
    “What are you doing!? Get out!” I tell him.
    “I wanted to make sure you are okay, I noticed that Brent never came over, so I assumed he stood you up.”
    Typical. “No, I cancelled on him when school let out today.”
    “Why didn’t you tell me before I walked away?”
    “It doesn’t matter, you gave up, Tate. Now get out.”
    “Can we talk?” Tate looks at me with sad eyes.
    “No, I told you to leave it, and I’m telling you again.”
    “You are so stubborn.”
    “GO!” I start to push him out of my balcony doors. Right when I got him out I shut them and made sure they were locked, even though that doesn’t even help nowadays.

Chapter 13

    Mom is letting me use her car today. I was shocked when she agreed, but I’m not going to question it. Lily didn’t show up last night so I’m pissed at her, I called her this morning telling her I didn’t need a ride. And there is no way right now that I’m going to drive with Tate.
    I walk outside to see Tate leaning by his car. “Need a ride?” he yells over.
    “Nope.” I say, popping the ‘p’. I unlock my mom’s car and hop in. I don’t pull out until Tate does. I want to follow him and see how the heck he gets to school so fast. Lily and I always leave before him, yet he always gets there first.
    Come to find out, there Is a secret way in and out of our neighborhood, the very front entrance has horrible traffic,  but the way Tate goes has no traffic and is a shorter way out of the neighborhood.
    We pull up at the school at the same time; I get out of the car and head into school. As I was walking across the parking lot, I see everyone almost everyone, pair off. You know, usually around Valentine’s Day, you start seeing all these random couples. Well that is how it is now, but instead it’s a week before thanksgiving.
    I get to my locker and hear Tate behind me, saying my name.  I don’t turn around. I roll my eyes. “What do you want, Tate?” I ask him, acting bored.
    “I was seeing if you have plans for thanksgiving. It’s usually just me and my parents, but my dad isn’t around here a lot lately.”
    I see where he is heading.
    “Tate, I will play your game. How about you and your mom come over for thanksgiving.” I smile at him.
    He nods, indicating he accepts the invitation.
    We keep saying we will be friends, so this is a good start. Tate doesn’t move away from me, and I start feeling a little bit uncomfortable.
    “Is there something else I can do for you, Tate?”
    He leans in and whispers in my ear “You look hot in those jeans.” He says as he grabs my ass then walks away.
    I am