‘And what could be more embarrassing than a prom-night crash and burn?’ I reply. ‘What if he rejects me? Then what?’
‘Then nothing! If he rejects you, he rejects you. I don’t understand why everyone has this debilitating fear of rejection! Worse things have happened, Zach.’
‘I just feel like there’s been so much building to this these past two years.’ Admittedly I think I’ve enjoyed the fantasy as much as anything. ‘I’m not sure I could take it if suddenly that was over. If it all came to nothing.’
‘That’s why you should have made a move two years ago!’
‘Rome wasn’t built in a day!’
‘You’re not establishing an ancient civilization, Zach. You’re telling a guy that you like him. That can, in fact, be done in less than a day.’
‘Well, I’ve been trying!’
‘You have not been trying.’ Kellen laughs. ‘You’ve been being all Zach about it.’
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘I think you know what that’s supposed to mean.’ He raises an eyebrow.
‘Yeah, well …’ I’m at a loss for words now. ‘You’re being very Kellen about this too.’
‘Good, I love being Kellen.’ He sounds awfully pleased with himself. ‘You don’t need to make this so complicated, Zach. Just make the move. Shoot your shot! Better to leave having given it a go than be left wondering what could have been.’
‘Easier said than done,’ I say, shuffling my feet. ‘I’m not good at this.’
‘You think I am?’ Kellen says. ‘I still put on my big-boy pants and talked to Rhys. At least you don’t need to go down into the trenches of Hawthorn! Cameron’s on our side!’
‘I know,’ I say. ‘I just need a bit more time.’
‘Well, we’re fresh out of that, I’m afraid. It’s now or never, Zach.’
‘Maybe I could just –’
The sound of snapping branches interrupts me.
‘What was that?’ Kellen springs up, on the alert.
‘Stay here,’ I say, stepping away from the flag, heading in the direction of the noise.
‘Maybe it’s just a deer …’
‘There aren’t any deer at Oakbrook.’
‘A bear then? I don’t know.’
‘A bear?’ I say, turning back round to face him. ‘What do you mean “a bear”?’
‘There are bears in the countryside.’
‘Not in the UK there aren’t. Where do you think we are? Svalbard?’
‘Well, how do we know if we’ve never seen one?’
‘We know because we’ve never seen one!’
‘Seems like pretty flawed logic,’ Kellen says. ‘It’s a false alarm anyway. Look.’
I turn back round and see that he’s right. There’s someone in a blue bandana running through the woodland towards us. At least it’s one of ours.
‘They’re coming!’ they yell, and I realize it’s Cameron. His ears must have been burning. ‘They’re coming!’ he pants, looking back over his shoulder. ‘Their whole team.’
‘What?’ I say. ‘Their whole team?!’
‘Their whole team,’ he repeats, bouncing on his heels, ready to defend. We’re clearly done for. With just me and Kellen at his side, Cameron may as well be by himself.