What Once Was

(25) jealousy jealousy

"I kinda wanna throw my phone across the room."
-Olivia Rodrigo

On Sunday, my family drove over to the stadium with Cato's. We pulled to a stop behind an entrance, where fans and the paparazzi were lined up.

The security teams were holding back the crowd while our driver opened the car door for us.

"It's been a while since I've received this attention," I said to Cato as we walked around the car and to where the crowd was standing.

"Yeah, it's not something you can ever get used to. I see them almost everyday and am still not used to it," he chuckled as we were blinded by the lights of the cameras.

Cato and I walked down the strip between the two lines of the crowds, ignoring the people asking us questions since that is what we were instructed to do.

When we got inside the safety of the stadium with our family, a worker led us to our seats which were in the box.

"You're lucky you don't live that in your everyday life," said Cato as we took our seats.

"Yeah, the paparazzi is pretty annoying," I laughed.

So as the ball was kicked off, we sat talking the entire time. The Leopards are really good this year, so it was a fun game to watch, especially because the other team was putting up a fight.

"Oh! Look at this!" Cato said during the third quarter. He showed me a news article on his phone, and of course, we were on the cover. It was titled, 'Ainsley and Cato: Back Together Once More?'

"How do they manage to spread news so fast?"

He shook his head and chuckled. "No clue. It's crazy."

Sure enough, my phone was blowing up moments later with text messages from my friends.

-

On Monday, Cato and I decided to go out into the city to hang out before my family headed home. He drove us to a restaurant in the heart of the city. The second we got out of his car, we caught people's attention.

He placed a hand on my back and ushered me into the restaurant quickly before we managed to draw the paparazzi over to us too.

The host of the restaurant found us a table that was away from the public eye.

"This is a nice place," I said as I took in the rustic decor.

"It's easily my favorite resteraunt," he said with a grin. "Anyways, how has life been for you? I overheard your dad accusing you of making his QB play badly."

"Oh my gosh! Ryder was playing perfectly fine until he was told to stay away from me."

"Forbidden romance?"

"As if. He started ignoring me. How about you, you're like known for being hot," I said.

He chuckled. "You think I'm hot?"

"Don't get too ahead of yourself. I was asking a question."

He sat back in the booth and toyed with the paper from his straw. "I've been off and on with a few girls. I stopped messing around once the season started though. . . so this Ryder guy sounds like a real jerk."

I shrugged and looked down. "I don't know. I really liked him and all. It sucks that he is acting like this though."

"Make him jealous," Cato said simply. "The media is freaking out about us being spotted together. We can easily go out there and stir something up."

"I'm not sure if that's a great idea. . ."

"Fair enough, but if you change my mind, I'm always here," he said whilst shooting me a wink as he spoke.

-

After we ate, we hung out in the city. He brought me to a bunch of stores, and when we were done shopping, we sat down in a cafe.

I pulled out my phone since I had not checked it all day.

"Let me see this Ryder kid," he said, scooting his chair closer to me.

I went onto my Snapchat memories and pulled up a picture of Ryder.

"You could do so much better," he said as I went to check Ryder's story.

Surprisingly, he had posted quite a lot. Usually he never posts anything on his story.

"Let's see what this loser posts," said Cato.

I clicked through the pictures. One was a picture of his Jeep at our spot. Another was a classic gym picture, a football picture, and one of Tessa at a volleyball game. However, when I got to the last snap, I felt my cheeks heat up. It was a picture of Tessa and Katie captioned, 'my favorite girls.'

I set my phone down, completely raging. Out of impulse, I turned to Cato and gazed up at him. Seeming to know what I wanted, he leaned in to kiss me.

Gasps filled the room, but I didn't care. Screw Ryder. I hope he finds out about this.

When we pulled away from each other, I looked around the room. Many people had their phones out. I know my intention was to draw attention to us, but people filming us is still awkward.

"The media is about to blow up," Cato chuckled as the people who had their phones out immediately went tapping rapidly on their screens.

"Good," I said as I watched one girl send the video to a group chat.

-

"Ainsley, what is this?" asked my dad as he pulled up a news article. The cover image was of Cato and me kissing - awkward.

"Um..."

"You two could have told us. Everett and I could have had our publicists release your relationship instead," he said.

"Oh, yeah, I guess it all just happened so fast."

"Well, I'm glad you picked Cato. He is a good kid. Everett and I always hoped things would end up working out between you two."

I laughed nervously and sat back in my seat. "Yeah... definitely."

"He was even talking about sending Cato to school up here next year so he could play for me."

"That's exciting. I hope it works out," I said flatly.

"Me too. We already have plans for them to visit us over Christmas."

I sighed and spun a ring around my finger. "Great! I really can't wait! Anyways, I am really tired, so I'm going to head to bed. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Alright. Good night, Ains."

-

When I showed up to school on Tuesday, I was approached by many people asking about Cato. I brushed off most of the questions and made my way into my English class.

Ryder was already at his desk and I avoided eye contact while I sat down. However, that did not stop other people coming up to me.

"Ainsley, since when did you know Cato Gray?" asked Braxton.

I glanced over at Ryder, who was looking down, but I could tell he was listening in. "We have been friends for a long time because our families are friends."

"So you're dating a guy from LA?" he asked. "How is that supposed to work?"

"Not dating," I said as I felt Ryder's eyes land on me.

"I always forget you're famous," said Braxton while shaking his head.

As I went to respond, Mr. Brown decided to start the class. Braxton jogged back over to his seat and I took another glance at Ryder who was acting as though I was invisible.

I sighed and turned my attention back to Mr. Brown. I really do miss Ryder, but I don't understand how he moved on so quickly, and to a girl he claims to be so annoyed by.