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�Road To Nowhere� Chapter 14: The Lies We Tell At school the next day, tensions were running high. Matt and Courtney couldn't even look each other in the eye. Chelsea kept winking at Dan and Courtney and Dan stayed close together the whole day. No one dared to say anything to any one of the four; they might just blow up in your face. Dan and Courtney ate lunch away from the others. Matt was pissed and Chelsea was disappointed. "What in the hell is going on?" Dan asked Courtney. "Don't worry about them. They get like that sometimes," Courtney said not thinking any more of it. Her fight with Matt was eating away at her, but she was not one to apologize so easily. "Do you think we should talk to them?" Dan asked eyeing the table where Matt and Chelsea sat. "Nah, I wouldn't bother. Something is going to go down, I can feel it," Courtney finished off her pizza. "Let's get out of here." Dan stood up and followed Courtney. They walked out of the cafeteria and into the courtyard. It was a nice fall day and it felt good to be outside. Dan and Courtney sat down on a bench. "Courtney, I have to talk to you about something," Dan said biting his lip. He was never good at talking about his feelings. "Yeah Dan? I'm listening," Courtney encouraged him. "You know that day when you came over and we... well we..." Dan trailed off. His lips couldn't form the words. Courtney could see the struggle in his eyes. "When we kissed?" she asked him. Dan nodded, his head down. Courtney saw how much he wanted to talk about it, but something was keeping him from saying it out loud. Courtney wasn't about to let her emotions get the better of her, so she kept quiet. "We don't have to talk about it," Courtney almost whispered the words. "Court, did you feel anything after that kiss? Did it mean anything to you?" Dan looked her straight in the eyes. Courtney was shocked. What was she to say? What could she say? She didn't want to tell him yes, she had felt something and she didn't want to tell him no, she hadn't felt anything. So she said the first thing that came to her mind, "I don't really think about it Dan. Do you?" Dan was hurt. Of course he thought about it. He thought about it so much that it was beginning to seem like something he had made up in his mind. He hung his head and said, "No, I was just wondering if you did." They sat there a moment, both feeling very uncomfortable. They had both just lied to the other's face and it didn't fell good. Courtney cleared her throat. "You know what? I have a huge world history test after lunch, I should go study for it." "Yeah, I have homework I didn't finish," Dan said getting up. "I'll see you later." "Yeah, later," Courtney said as she walked away kicking herself. `Why am I such a dumbass sometimes?' she asked herself. * * * * It was game night so Courtney had to stay after with the squad and go over cheers. It helped to keep her mind off of what had happened at lunch, but her heart just wasn't in it. When practice was finally over, Courtney was never happier to go home. She grabbed a quick dinner then changed into her uniform. Driving back to the school, she couldn't stop her mind from wandering back to lunch. 'Did you feel anything after the kiss?' Dan's voice asked her in her mind. 'I don't really think about it. Do you?' her voice replied. She remembered the hurt that had flashed over Dan's face. She remembered how much her heart had ached after she had said those words. And she remembered what Dan had said after that. 'No, I was just wondering if you did,' Dan had said to her. She wanted to make it all better, she really did. She hadn't wanted to lie to Dan, but she had to. She had to keep him from seeing how fast she was falling for him. She couldn't let him know because it scared her too badly. * * * * Palo Verde's football team was winning 36-7 in the fourth quarter. The opposing team made one final play and made one final touchdown, the closest it had been since the opening score of 0-0. Palo Verde ended the game winning it 36-13, the players couldn't be happier. Courtney and the squad cheered for them as they ran back to the locker room. Courtney excused herself to look for Dan. He hadn't shown up for the game. In the back of her mind, she knew he wouldn't be there. He was probably angry or hurt or even both because of what she had said. How she longed to go back and change the words that had come out of her mouth. She knew that wouldn't happen though and went to change so she could go home. * * * *
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