Second Chances by Tracy Younker

I suppose this happens to most girls at a much younger age but I've just never cared this much before now. I've dated guys because I know that's what I am supposed to be doing, but I've never felt anything for any of them. Chase is supposed to be my friend so it's a little, well, a lot strange to have these strong, new feelings for him.
    I sigh. I don't know the first thing about dressing sexy or what kind of thing will turn Chase on so I give up. I tug on a pair of skinny jeans and pull a white tank top over my head and cover that with a purple and blue flannel shirt. I leave a bunch of the top buttons undone and realize that the neckline of the tank dips low enough to display some cleavage. I smile at that and pull a brush through my hair one more time. I dig through the mounds of clothes until I find my purple Converse and head downstairs. I quickly throw in a load of laundry so that I won't be out of bathing suits tomorrow.
    I find Griff sitting on the couch in the living room with his flip flop shod feet propped up on the coffee table, watching TV. He glances at his watch and says, ”Impressive. I thought for sure I'd have to come up there and dig you out of the rubble.”
    I choose to ignore him this time. “Where is Chase anyway?” He is staying with Griff and going to the bonfire as well, so why isn't he with Griff now?
    “He is going to go and try talking to Brynn. Let her know he is in town. He said he'd meet us over there,” Griff replies and my eyes go wide with shock. I actually feel sorry for him. He has no idea how much Brynn has changed. “Don't worry, I warned him, and I would give anything to be a fly on that wall.”
    We both laugh as Griff stands up. I have no idea how Brynn will react to seeing Chase. She pretty much doesn't do anything you would expect a normal human being to do these days. Brynn's mom and my dad were brother and sister, and her mom had a hard time after his death as well. She seems to be handling it better than my mom is now though, but she doesn't really know the extent of how much Brynn has changed. They know we don't hang out anymore and they are constantly trying to get us back together.
    Griff and I head out to his truck. He'll have to drive because we have to get all the way out to the field and my little Corolla won't do well out there. By the time we get over to Shelper's field, it's chock full of trucks, jeeps, and SUV's. I can see the orange glow of the giant bonfire as soon as we near the field and the trees were no longer in the way. People are laughing and mingling and music can be heard above it all.
    “You nervous?” Griff asks as he walks around the truck and stands beside me.
    “No, why do you think that?” I ask nonchalantly as I let my gaze take it all in.
    “Because you were wringing your hands like a crazy person the whole way here,” Griff smiles down at me.
    “Oh,” is all I say. I wasn't even aware that I was doing it, but yeah, I am pretty nervous.
    “You know he's still just Chase, right?” Griff asks and we start walking through some of the trucks parked haphazardly around us.
    “I'm fine,” I reply quietly. It's my standard response and Griff just nods his head twice like he is acknowledging that he can see right through that. The sky is dark and clear overhead but you can't quite make out the stars because the light from the fire is that bright.
    Griff slaps hands with a few people along way and then he stops to talk to someone that I recognize from the garage where he works, so I keep walking, watching people as I go. Tonight for some reason, being here reminds me of the one time that Brynn and I had come to one of these with Griff and Chase after their freshman year of high school. She and I weren't even in high school yet, but Griff and Chase had been like big brothers that night. They made sure that no one gave us a hard time and that we had fun. Not many guys would willingly choose to hang out with their younger, platonic female friends