Anne had tried to warn me and everyone else that he was a heartless, spoiled player. I should have listened to her instead of thinking he'd changed.
My eyes burned as we crossed the shiny linoleum floor and entered the staircase, my hands shaking as I gripped the metal rail and climbed the winding stairs.
Was it some kind of game to him, messing with my heart and my mind? Was it a big joke, getting me to open up and talk to him so he could turn around and treat me like crap again? And in front of others, too. At the end of the game, no less than five Charmers had asked me what I'd said to make Tristan act like that.
What I'd said! When all I had done was try to be nice to him.
He waited until we were halfway up the stairs before speaking. "Now can we talk?"
I swallowed hard as tears filled my vision. Praying my voice wouldn't shake and give me away, I mumbled, "What about?"
"I want to apologize to you."
I froze at the third-floor landing, sure I'd heard him wrong. After a few seconds, I found the strength to push the hallway door open. Maybe this was a new part of his game.
I unlocked Mrs. Daniels's office.
He followed me inside. "Sav, I'm sorry I was rude to you. It was...hard to see my team playing without me."
Part of me melted a little at that and wanted nothing more than to turn and hug him.
But then I really thought about his words, and fury replaced the ache in my chest. Even if he'd been upset, he shouldn't have taken it out on me. He acted like he was the only person in the entire world who had ever lost something that mattered to them. Like I wasn't in his exact same position at every Charmers practice and performance, watching others do what I would give anything to be able to do, too.
Not to mention the lovely experience he'd given me twice now of making me think we were friends only to toss me aside yet again like the worthless trash he apparently thought I was.
The anger gave me the courage to swallow back the tears, turn and face him.
"You say it was hard to see your team play without you." Just talking hurt my throat, it was so tight. Still, I somehow pushed out the rest of the words. "But what do you know about what's hard? All your life you've had it so easy. Jacksonville's golden prince, the rich boy all the girls want to date. The Clann's future high Pooh-Bah witch leader." I waggled my fingers in the air, the years' worth of hurt and anger all boiling up to push me close to the edge. It was all I could do not to yell at him right now.
He froze, those achingly gorgeous eyes of his widening. "What are you talking-"
A laugh escaped me, sounding hollow and empty even to my ears. He truly thought I was clueless, didn't he? "I know all about the Clann and your magic. My family are descendants, too-they were Clann until they weren't perfect enough, pure enough, for your kind anymore." I closed the distance between us until only inches separated us. He wanted to talk? Maybe it was time we really talked. About everything. "You want to know what's hard? Try having your best friend suddenly refuse to speak to you. Try not knowing what you did wrong, and begging your former friends to forgive you, and them just pretending you don't even exist anymore. For seven years. I must have been out of my mind to think you and I could be friends again. All you're going to do is treat me like crap, just like you did Friday night. And all I was trying to do was be nice to you!"
He dragged a hand through his hair, making a mess of it. "Look, you're right. I was a jerk all those years, and an even bigger jerk last week at the game. I mean, yeah, my parents told me to stay away from you, and I was trying to be a good kid and follow the rules. But I shouldn't have. And I'm not anymore." He cupped my shoulders, his hands burning me right through my sweater. "Please believe me, I never wanted to hurt you like that. And I'm more sorry about it than I can ever tell you."
His voice poured over me like ice on a burn, his words everything I'd wanted to hear for years.
But it still didn't quite explain his acting like an ass at the game. "I get why you were upset Friday night. But why take it out on me? Are you sure this isn't a Clann thing? They didn't put you up to this, did they?"
"What? Hell, no! I had to fight with my parents just to get to stay on as a manager."
That stunned me into silence for a few seconds. "What? Why would you do that?"
His entire body froze, and I wondered if he was even still breathing. After a long hesitation, the muscles in his neck worked as he swallowed hard. His hands, shaky now, slid down to cup my elbows, bringing my hands up to rest on his forearms. "Because I miss hanging out with you. We were best friends once. I miss that. I miss you."
All my anger drained out of me, leaving this strange sense of lightness and returning warmth inside. Tears of a different kind burned my eyes now. "Really?"
He grinned. "Yeah, really."
I couldn't stop an answering smile from forming. "Okay. But no more acting like an ass. I'm the head manager. I've got a rep to maintain here. How am I supposed to boss those Charmers around when I can't even keep my own managers in line?"
He laughed and faked a salute. "Aye, aye, captain."
"And you get to carry the sound system and the trainer bag. For at least a week, for your rudeness to the team head manager." My lips twitched with the effort not to laugh.
"Yes, ma'am, Miss Savannah." He grabbed the bag's strap and slung it over his shoulder.
As I followed him down the stairs, he looked back at me and grinned.
And that's when I realized how hard just being friends with him was going to be.
Tristan
At the end of practice, I hung around Mrs. Daniels's office with Savannah.
"Hey, I was thinking...you should keep an extra hat or two in your truck," I said. "You know, in case anyone forgets theirs at the game tonight."
"Hmm, good idea. I'll have to remember to grab a couple this afternoon."
"Why not grab them now while you're here?"
She shut and locked the closet door. "Because I have to come back up here this afternoon anyways."
"I thought we didn't have practice the afternoon before a game?"
"We don't. But I do have to load all the Secret Sis gifts into my truck for the game." She waved a hand at the dance room.
I peeked through the doorway. A cabinet ran down the length of the back wall opposite the mirrors. Its counter was covered with blue-and-gold gifts of all shapes and styles. I gave a low whistle. That was one heck of a gift pile. With forty girls on the team, even if she put the presents into big boxes, she'd still have to make several trips.