Bending Under Pressure (5 page)

“Natalie wants to meet me. Mom says it’s my decision.”

“Wow. What are you going to do?”

“I have no freaking clue.”

M
om looks worried when I come home. She’s in the living room and immediately gets up to meet me at the door.

“Everything go well with your father?” she asks.

“Yep,” I lie. “I’m going to bed. Night, Mom.”

I can tell she wants to say something, but she doesn’t. I keep going to my room, grateful for the distraction Keelan and his mom provided, but now that I’m home, I’m overwhelmingly bummed. Just once, why can’t Dad show up like he says he will? I change, climb into bed, and let the tears fall.

The second day of school is as boring as the first and my English class gives out the first assignment of the year. Keelan walks me to most of my classes, but he’s quiet today. At lunch, when we sit down in the same seats, I angle myself toward him. He’s picking at his food, looking lost in his thoughts.

“Everything okay?” I ask softly.

Keelan lifts his head and looks at me. “Yeah, Hales. Everything’s fine. Just thinking.”

I nod and mistakenly glance at the rest of the table. Already I’ve cornered myself by befriending Keelan, Cameron, and Jess. I don’t know how to start conversations with the rest of the table and they’re too busy talking about something I know nothing about. With Keelan quiet and Jess giggling over something Cam is telling her, I’m pretty much on my own.

My mind drifts to my father. Part of me doesn’t want to miss him because it’s pointless. But the other part of me is completely baffled. How can he go from always being around to not returning my calls or not showing up when he says he will? He’s supposed to be my
father
. You know what? I’m going home this weekend. I want to see him. I’ll surprise Dad with a visit and hang out for a while. He won’t mind one bit.

After practice, I groan when I see Walter is home. I feel like he tries twice as hard when Mom isn’t around. Why? Mom isn’t here to see him make a show of getting to know me. All it does is irritate me further.

He’s in the kitchen, cooking dinner, and I pretend he isn’t there as I head toward the fridge for something to drink.

“How was practice?” he asks.

I let the fridge door shut on its own, the contents in the door clinking together as it closes.

“I’m fixing your favorite,” he tries again. “Smoked sausage and mac and cheese.” As if I don’t know what my favorite meal is.

Turning, I take my can of soda and begin to walk toward the doorway.

“I’m not your enemy, you know,” he says.

His words cause me to swivel on my heels to face him. “Maybe not, but just because you married my mom doesn’t mean we’re family. My family is my mom and my dad. You’re not my enemy, but you aren’t family either.” I fold my arms over my chest, waiting for his response.

“Yeah? And how many times have you seen your father, who is part of your family, in the past six months?”

This is the first time Walter has ever brought up my father to me. My jaw drops and tears sting my eyes. How does he know I didn’t see him yesterday? God, even Walter knows my dad tossed me to the side like trash. I don’t know if I should be pissed or hurt that Walter basically threw my barely there relationship with my father in my face. Before my building rage and hurt can release the words in my mouth, he speaks again.

“Haley, all I’m saying is that I’m here, too. I don’t have to be family or a friend, but I can be here if you ever need something.”

I’m sick and tired of not knowing what I feel. I don’t like Walter. I don’t know why my parents divorced or if he had anything to do with it. All I know is that he’s offering to be here for me, and my own father rarely answers my calls and never shows up. My shoulders sag in defeat. Silently, I turn and walk away.

I’m in the middle of my homework when Walter peeks his head into my room.

“Dinner’s ready. Your mom is going to be late, but she said we should go ahead and eat.”

Walter’s company is not what I want right now. “If I decide to eat in my room alone, are you going to tattle on me?” I ask, lifting my head from where I sit on my bed.

He gives me a small smile. “Nope. I’ll tell her we sat at the table and you were your usual talkative self.”

“Thanks,” I mumble, closing my book and crawling off the bed. Maybe Walter isn’t too bad.

“3
0 – Love.” I toss the ball into the air, bringing my arm forward in time to hit it across the court. Jess and I are up two points in our doubles match, with our opponents having none, or love as it’s called in tennis. All we need is two more points and we’ve won the game. We have three more before our second set is done. If we can keep the lead through the next set, we’ll have won the match.

I’m impressed with how well Jess and I play together. It helps that she can volley like no one’s business. She’s better at the front of the net, while I’m better in the back. Unfortunately, I can’t stay in the back the entire game. Coach Spell already pulled me aside after my singles match to let me know we’re going to be working on my volleys more. It’s my one weak area.

“You!” Jess shouts as she lets the return pass by her.

My left hand grabs the handle as I bring the racquet back on my left side to prepare for my backhanded hit. I swing in perfect timing, the ball landing just inside the outer line; one of our opponents rushes for the return, but she hits the net. The tennis ball is tossed back to me. I try to relax my shoulders as I prepare for my next serve. I stand along the serve line and bounce the ball five times. It’s part ritual, part giving myself time.

“40 – Love,” I call out before I serve. The ball lands so perfectly inside the line and I can’t help the squeal that comes out as the girl misses the ace serve. There was no way she could have returned it. Jess gives me a high-five before we change the scorecard and start the next one.

The girls put up a good fight in the last set. We rally back and forth a ton. It starts to feel like it’ll never end, but it does and we walk away having won the match. I glance around to realize we were the last ones playing. I also notice we have two new spectators, Cameron and Keelan. They must have come over after football practice.

Coach Spell rallies us together, tells us we played well, and tomorrow, we’d be working harder on some things he’d noticed. Then he dismisses us. Jess grabs my elbow and drags me as we meet the guys. Cam wraps his arms around her and kisses her temple.

“Gross,” Jess says. “You guys haven’t even gone home to shower yet. You’re all sweaty and gross.” She still hugs him back though.

“Y’all are great together,” Cam tells me, ignoring Jess. “I thought Jess’s serves were crazy powerful, but I think you have her beat.”

“Thanks.” I smile and glance at Keelan. He was quiet again today, but he seems more relaxed now.

He grins. “You were fantastic, Hales.” He’s about to say something else, but he’s interrupted.

“Good job, Haley.” Ugh. Walter.

“You did great,” Mom adds as I turn to face them. “Are you going to introduce us to your friends?”

“Sure.” I point as I name them. “Mom, Walter, this is Keelan, Cameron, and Jess. Y’all, this is my mom and her husband, Walter.”

Pleasantries are exchanged and I want to separate my friends from my family for some reason. Luckily, Cam breaks our group up by saying they should head home. Soon, we all go our separate ways.

B
efore I know it, the first week of school is over. Friday is game day and the energy is palpable, coursing through everyone at school. Football is
the
sport around here, much like it was back home. There’s an exciting buzz in the air. The day starts and ends with the principal mentioning the big game and how we should show our school spirit by attending tonight.

Walter and Mom are supposed to be working late tonight. I’m about to leave a note telling them where I’ll be when I hear a knock on the door. I won’t lie. A part of me is excited to see Keelan in his uniform and to watch him play his game, like he’s seen me play. I open the door to see Jess wearing jeans and a cute blue top that shows off her figure. I went with jeans and a Virginia Tech T-shirt, just because I smiled when I saw it in my closet. It made me think about Keelan and how he’s not a fan of the university.

“Are you ready?” she asks.

“Yes!” I lock the door and walk toward her car. Once we’re on our way to the football stadium, I ask, “How long have you been dating Cameron?”

“Since freshman year. We’ve broken up a few times, but we always get back together. I think it could be a forever kind of love.” She keeps her eyes on the road, a goofy smile lifting her lips. “What about you? Did you leave a boyfriend behind? What’s going on between you and Keelan? Cam said you had dinner with them earlier this week while he was at my house.”

Keelan has returned to normal, or to the guy I know, but I think something’s been bugging him. “No boyfriend left behind and nothing between Keelan and me.”

Jess looks over at me, her raised brow showing me her skepticism. “Really?”

“I’ve known him all of two weeks! What could possibly be going on? We’re friends.”

“Do you think he’s hot?”

I think about Keelan, his killer smile, plump lips, and how nice he’s been to me. “He’s not bad looking,” I answer.

Jess laughs. “That’s the understatement of the year. I think he likes you.”

I roll my eyes. “If you say so.”

Jess parks and after paying admission, I’m surprised when she leads us to an empty spot in the stands where Keelan and Cam’s parents are sitting. Usually, the parents stayed in the bleachers, while we walked around and hung out with other kids. We sit and Jess motions to the couple on the other side of the Sanderson’s.

“Mom, Dad, this is Haley Summers. Haley, that’s my mom, Wanda, and my dad, Kenny.”

I wave at them. It doesn’t take long before the game starts. My eyes are constantly glued to Keelan and his number thirty-four jersey. He looks fantastic in a uniform. Jess bumps my shoulder during the second quarter.

“You have the hots for him,” she teases, wiggling her eyebrows.

Quietly, so his parents won’t overhear, I ask, “What makes you think he likes me?”

Jess grins. “Why do you want to know if you don’t like him back?” She laughs when I glare at her. “I know Keelan, and I date his brother. Don’t you think I would know if he does?”

Her words are on my mind for the rest of the game. The simple possibility that Keelan might like me has my heartbeat increasing in excitement. I wonder what it would be like to kiss him, to have that smile of his directed at me because I’d done something to encourage it, and I want to learn more about him.

They win the game. Something I wouldn’t have known if not for the crazy excited fans. I was too busy admiring a certain football player had been in la la land.

“C’mon,” Jess says as she stands. She says goodbye to her parents and then we, along with Octavia and John, head down to wait by the end zone. The players are on one knee in the middle of the field while the head coach gives a little speech. We’re far enough away that we can’t hear what he’s saying.