We Can Turn Our Backs on the Past and Start Over
We can Turn our Backs on the Past and Start Over
The grass on the football field was damp and chilly on the October night in Illinois. The Sun was setting noticeably earlier now, and the lights around the modest high school stadium were already full blast. Georgia Guesserman was stretching out her quads in her sparkly, red and white Barrington High School Dance Team uniform as she hummed to herself quietly. Her blonde hair was pulled into a tight ponytail, held in place with her favorite stretchy-sequined red headband. A few of her teammates were giggling a few yards away, talking to their coach. Everyone seemed to be high-energy today. The Barrington High School Broncos football team had made the playoffs for the first time in sixteen years- led by senior quarterback Hal Cole. The thought of Rob made Georgia lose a little of the spring in her step.
She and Hal broke up towards the beginning of the football season. She supposed that once the team started experiencing success Hal realized he could use his new-found power as an excuse to fool around, and that must be why he dumped her on the night of the homecoming dance.
“That, or he’s just a tool-ish douchebag,” Georgia’s friend William Beckett had said at the time when he found her crying in her pretty gold dress. William, though, was hardly an outstanding citizen himself. He was the captain of the drumline and lead singer in the most popular local band north of Chicago, so of course he had his own way with the ladies. At least in his defense, William never put on a pretense of actually BEING a nice guy. Any girl who hooked up with William knew it was a one-and-done deal.
In that one, vulnerable, lonely moment on Homecoming night, all of this was running through Georgia’s mind- but she found herself not caring. She figured, maybe a rebound was exactly what she needed to distract herself from the pain and embarrassment of her break up with Hal. And who better for that than William Eugene Beckett? What surprised Georgia most was how well it worked, how GOOD she felt when she hooked up with William that night. And the next night. And the night after that.
The more time Georgia spent with William, the more she had to remind herself that it was a rebound- nothing more. Harmless hooking up while Georgia worked through a tough time. It didn’t mean anything- it COULDN’T mean anything to a guy like William to start with. Besides, first and foremost, William and Georgia were just friends.
Georgia heard the clicking of football cleats on the asphalt track surrounding the field. One pair of clicking seemed to be separated from the group and approaching her direction.
“Sup, Georgia?” Hal’s smug voice said with the most forced, fake-sounding casualness Georgia had ever heard. It made her angry and uncomfortable.
“Hey.”
“Soooo,” he sighed, not-so-secretly flexing his biceps as he “stretched” in his Under Armor, “there’s gonna be a killer party at Jamicky’s after we win tonight, you should stop by.”
Georgia had to blink a few times to fully take in what Hal was saying to her- on top of the fact that he was even speaking to her at all.
“Why?” was all she could get out before her brain went back to fuzz.
“To celebrate, duh! Besides, maybe you and I could sneak away and celebrate on our own...”
He went to reach out and touch her, but Georgia jumped back and smacked his hand away. Hal looked dumbfounded.
“What do you think you’re doing?” She snapped.
“Chill out, babe, damn,” he scoffed, looking around to see if anyone had seen him get rejected just now. “I figured you’d be cool about us now, since you’ve been hooking up with that drumline guy.”
“What?” She gasped. “Who told you about that?”
“Umm EVERYBODY.”
Both of Georgia’s hands flew up and covered her mouth just as one of the assistant football coaches called for Hal to get his ass back to the team.
“Gotta jet, catch you later, girl,” he winked slimily and he hurried off. Georgia, meanwhile, suddenly felt very naked and embarrassed standing stiff, all on her own.
She wasn’t alone for long, almost immediately after Hal left William was jogging over.
“Hey,” he said, adjusting his stupid red feather-hat that made him appear even more freakishly tall than normal. “What the Hell did Hal want?”
“I don’t want to talk to you right now,” she answered shakily.
William’s eyebrows went up in alarm. “Why? What happened?”
“You told people?” she hissed, leaning in close. Then, suddenly aware that people may be staring at them, she turned the other question and crossed her arms across her chest.
“Damn it, Sisky,” she heard William sigh, referring to his best friend and bandmate Adam Siska.
“How could you do that? Everyone knows, Hal was practically convinced that I’m such a slut now that I’d hook up with him after the game tonight.”
“WHAT?!” William exclaimed, suddenly looking around. “Where’d he go? I’ll break his fucking arm, I couldn’t give a shit about a stupid football game.”
“That’s not the point here, William!” The hurt in Georgia’s voice was clear. It brought William back down to earth.
Gently, he pleaded, “come on, G.G...”
“You don’t get to call me that anymore,” she snapped, whirling in his direction. “When we started this, we had ground rules. No telling people. No changing our friendship. No... No falling for each other. You’ve managed to break almost all of those rules.”
“Well, what if I did break ALL the rules?” He whispered. He reached out to take her hand in his, running his thumb along the tops of her glittery fingers. “Georgia, look, I know I haven’t exactly been perfect, but I never thought that things between us would turn into this. You aren’t like any other girl to me. I CARE about you.”
“Stop it,” she jerked her hand away, once again worried about hearing whispers as fans began to fill the metal bleachers. “Don’t say this shit just because you don’t want me to be mad at you.”
“That’s not why I’m saying it!”
“Please, William, you know me better than that. Give me some credit.”
“Damn it, Georgia, I’m not trying to play you!”
She looked up at his strong, set jaw with misty eyes. She brushed lightly at her bottom lids, afraid of messing up the make-up job that she had spent so much time on. Drowned in the background of their moment was the sound of different band members warming up, the principal over the loudspeaker thanking the booster clubs, and the growing, excited crowd. Under Friday night lights, William and Georgia were in their own world.
“You can’t tell me that you didn’t fall for me too.” William whispered with the slightest shake of his head. “I can see it. You blush when we talk. Your eyes get all soft and warm when find you in the hallway after class. And the way we kiss each other... That’s not something anybody can fake.”
He looked so earnest. So unlike the William Georgia thought she knew. Despite the whirlwind of emotions swirling around her heart, slamming against her ribcage, she knew that he was right.
“I know you’ve been fighting it because you’re still hurt, but I don’t want to fight anymore. I need you, Georgia. We can turn our backs on the past and start over.”
She and Hal broke up towards the beginning of the football season. She supposed that once the team started experiencing success Hal realized he could use his new-found power as an excuse to fool around, and that must be why he dumped her on the night of the homecoming dance.
“That, or he’s just a tool-ish douchebag,” Georgia’s friend William Beckett had said at the time when he found her crying in her pretty gold dress. William, though, was hardly an outstanding citizen himself. He was the captain of the drumline and lead singer in the most popular local band north of Chicago, so of course he had his own way with the ladies. At least in his defense, William never put on a pretense of actually BEING a nice guy. Any girl who hooked up with William knew it was a one-and-done deal.
In that one, vulnerable, lonely moment on Homecoming night, all of this was running through Georgia’s mind- but she found herself not caring. She figured, maybe a rebound was exactly what she needed to distract herself from the pain and embarrassment of her break up with Hal. And who better for that than William Eugene Beckett? What surprised Georgia most was how well it worked, how GOOD she felt when she hooked up with William that night. And the next night. And the night after that.
The more time Georgia spent with William, the more she had to remind herself that it was a rebound- nothing more. Harmless hooking up while Georgia worked through a tough time. It didn’t mean anything- it COULDN’T mean anything to a guy like William to start with. Besides, first and foremost, William and Georgia were just friends.
Georgia heard the clicking of football cleats on the asphalt track surrounding the field. One pair of clicking seemed to be separated from the group and approaching her direction.
“Sup, Georgia?” Hal’s smug voice said with the most forced, fake-sounding casualness Georgia had ever heard. It made her angry and uncomfortable.
“Hey.”
“Soooo,” he sighed, not-so-secretly flexing his biceps as he “stretched” in his Under Armor, “there’s gonna be a killer party at Jamicky’s after we win tonight, you should stop by.”
Georgia had to blink a few times to fully take in what Hal was saying to her- on top of the fact that he was even speaking to her at all.
“Why?” was all she could get out before her brain went back to fuzz.
“To celebrate, duh! Besides, maybe you and I could sneak away and celebrate on our own...”
He went to reach out and touch her, but Georgia jumped back and smacked his hand away. Hal looked dumbfounded.
“What do you think you’re doing?” She snapped.
“Chill out, babe, damn,” he scoffed, looking around to see if anyone had seen him get rejected just now. “I figured you’d be cool about us now, since you’ve been hooking up with that drumline guy.”
“What?” She gasped. “Who told you about that?”
“Umm EVERYBODY.”
Both of Georgia’s hands flew up and covered her mouth just as one of the assistant football coaches called for Hal to get his ass back to the team.
“Gotta jet, catch you later, girl,” he winked slimily and he hurried off. Georgia, meanwhile, suddenly felt very naked and embarrassed standing stiff, all on her own.
She wasn’t alone for long, almost immediately after Hal left William was jogging over.
“Hey,” he said, adjusting his stupid red feather-hat that made him appear even more freakishly tall than normal. “What the Hell did Hal want?”
“I don’t want to talk to you right now,” she answered shakily.
William’s eyebrows went up in alarm. “Why? What happened?”
“You told people?” she hissed, leaning in close. Then, suddenly aware that people may be staring at them, she turned the other question and crossed her arms across her chest.
“Damn it, Sisky,” she heard William sigh, referring to his best friend and bandmate Adam Siska.
“How could you do that? Everyone knows, Hal was practically convinced that I’m such a slut now that I’d hook up with him after the game tonight.”
“WHAT?!” William exclaimed, suddenly looking around. “Where’d he go? I’ll break his fucking arm, I couldn’t give a shit about a stupid football game.”
“That’s not the point here, William!” The hurt in Georgia’s voice was clear. It brought William back down to earth.
Gently, he pleaded, “come on, G.G...”
“You don’t get to call me that anymore,” she snapped, whirling in his direction. “When we started this, we had ground rules. No telling people. No changing our friendship. No... No falling for each other. You’ve managed to break almost all of those rules.”
“Well, what if I did break ALL the rules?” He whispered. He reached out to take her hand in his, running his thumb along the tops of her glittery fingers. “Georgia, look, I know I haven’t exactly been perfect, but I never thought that things between us would turn into this. You aren’t like any other girl to me. I CARE about you.”
“Stop it,” she jerked her hand away, once again worried about hearing whispers as fans began to fill the metal bleachers. “Don’t say this shit just because you don’t want me to be mad at you.”
“That’s not why I’m saying it!”
“Please, William, you know me better than that. Give me some credit.”
“Damn it, Georgia, I’m not trying to play you!”
She looked up at his strong, set jaw with misty eyes. She brushed lightly at her bottom lids, afraid of messing up the make-up job that she had spent so much time on. Drowned in the background of their moment was the sound of different band members warming up, the principal over the loudspeaker thanking the booster clubs, and the growing, excited crowd. Under Friday night lights, William and Georgia were in their own world.
“You can’t tell me that you didn’t fall for me too.” William whispered with the slightest shake of his head. “I can see it. You blush when we talk. Your eyes get all soft and warm when find you in the hallway after class. And the way we kiss each other... That’s not something anybody can fake.”
He looked so earnest. So unlike the William Georgia thought she knew. Despite the whirlwind of emotions swirling around her heart, slamming against her ribcage, she knew that he was right.
“I know you’ve been fighting it because you’re still hurt, but I don’t want to fight anymore. I need you, Georgia. We can turn our backs on the past and start over.”