Freeing Carter (32 page)

Travis nods.
"
I hear
ya
.
"
He gets up and puts his hat on
,
and then falls down into his computer chair. It
'
s another quiet minute
,
but I don
'
t try and break it
,
somehow knowing he
'
s about to. He looks at the ground
,
digging the toe of his shoe into the carpet.
"
Dad left Mom. My parents are splitting up.
"

This time
,
it
'
s me who lurches forward on the couch. Travis still isn
'
t looking at me and I wonder how long he
'
s been carrying this around with him. What kind of friend I am for not noticing
?
Well
,
I noticed something was up
,
but I didn
'
t ask. Now
,
the ditching school and partying kind of makes sense.
"
Wow
.
I
'
m sorry. I can
'
t believe that
..."

He shakes his head
,
looking up at me.
"
You and me both. I never
...
It's
not really about me
,
right? I mean
,
I
'
m out of here in less than a year
,
but it just sucks.
"

"
Yeah
...
Damn
."
Travis
'
s parents always got along. He couldn
'
t have said anything that would have shocked me more. And I know I should reciprocate. Tell him something about myself too. About my mom. I owe it to him. He
'
s been my best friend for most of my life
,
but I
'
m such a coward
,
I can
'
t make myself do it.

Travis pushes to his feet and wipes his eyes.
"
Okay
.
Enough
about that.
"

I kind of feel like crap. I should have asked him before what was up.
I s
houldn
'
t have ditched him so much lately.
"
Wanna stay at my house tonight? We can go out or something and then I can kick
your
ass. Have to get my title back.
"

"
I
'
m not gonna break up
,
Carter. You don
'
t have to play the pity card.
"

"
Shut up.
"

He shrugs.
"
Okay
.
Sounds cool to me.
"

While waiting in my truck for Travis to get his crap and come down, I call Kira
. She
'
s expecting me today
,
but I need to hang out with Travis.

Until she picks up the phone
,
I don
'
t even realize I
'
m a little nervous.

"
Hey
,
Coach.
"

"
Hey
.
What’s
up?
"

"
Nothing. Just about to head to your mom
'
s store. What time are you coming in?
"

"
Ummm.
"
I scratch my head. I
'
m pretty sure it
'
s not cool to ditch your girlfriend less than twenty-four hours after she gets the title.
"
I
'
m with Trav right now
.
We haven
'
t really hung out that much lately and he just told me his parents are splitting up.
"

She pauses.
"
Are you
nervous
to tell me you
'
re hanging out with your friend? Geez. I like you
,
Carter
,
but I think I can handle a night on my own while you hang out with Travis.
"

Well
,
when she puts it like that
,
I sort of feel like an idiot.
"
You
'
re awesome.
"

"
I know.
"
I hear the laugh in her voice.

"
Can I pick you
up
for school Monday morning?
"

"
Hmmm
,
on one condition. After practice you have to meet me at the store. I
'
m pretty sure I can think of a good bribe to get you to do your English homework.
"

Just that easily
,
I
'
m smiling.
"
Only if I get to make the terms.
"

***

"
Boys! Dinner
'
s done! I made lasagna.
"
Mom calls up the stairs to Travis and me. After my second win in a row
,
we turn off the game to head down.

"
Oh well. I
'
d rather have dinner with your hottie—I mean
,
mom
,
anyway.
"
Travis dodges my push.
"
I
'
m kidding. Touchy
,
aren
'
t you?
"

"
So not going there.
"
We all sit at the table
to eat
. Sara
,
who I think is maybe little bit in love with my best friend
,
scoots her chair closer to him.

"
It
'
s been a while since you
'
ve been here
,
Travis. How are you?
"
Mom asks.

He finishes chewing his bite.
"
Good.
"
His eyes don
'
t meet Mom
'
s.

"
That
'
s good. You guys are playing great so far this year. Your senior year shaping up the way you want?
"

"
Mm hmm.
"

"
Are you still dating Melanie
'
s friend? What was her name?
"

"
Geez
,
Ma. Fifty questions.
"
She looks at me funny
,
but then I think she sees something in my face and knows there
'
s a reason I want her to lay off him.

"
Sorry.
"
She tosses a crouton from her salad at me and I laugh.
"
Who
'
s up for dishes tonight? One
,
two
,
three
,
not it.
"
I
'
m pretty sure I have the only mother in the world
that
plays
"
not it
"
.

"
No it
,"
Travis says
,
before I can.

"
No fair!
"
I pout and they both laugh at me. Once dinner is done
,
I kind of
,
sort of wash the dishes before tossing them in the machine and turning it on. Travis is with Mom and Sara in the living room.

"
What do you want to do? Wanna go out or stay here?
"
I ask him as Sara grabs my arm.

"
Play. Carter. Trav. Please
,
please.
"
Sara
'
s holding Candyland.

"
I
'
ll play with you
,
sweetie
,"
Mom tells her.
"
Let the boys go out.
"

"
Carter! Carter! Please.
"
She hugs me and then runs over and wraps her arms around Travis
,
too. I groan
,
knowing this can
'
t be the way Travis wants to spend a Saturday night
,
but also knowing Sara has a way of getting what she wants.

I look at him and Travis shrugs
,
before saying
,
"
I am like the King of Candyland. Get ready to go down.
"

Sara looks up at him
,
smiles
,
and starts jabbering in excitement.

Travis
,
Sara
,
Mom and I spend the next three hours playing every game in Sara
'
s closet. And it
'
s actually kind of cool. Mom
'
s the person she would always be if it wasn
'
t for alcohol. Sara
'
s happy. I
'
m pretty sure Travis isn
'
t thinking about his parents. The only thing missing is Kira.

***

Kira still has her hair straight when I pick her up Monday morning. She
'
s dressed in a pair of jeans and a hoodie. The clothes are almost
too
normal for her
,
but she still looks good. As soon as she closes the door behind her
,
I don
'
t even give her a chance to speak before I lean over and kiss her. Kissing her ranks at the top of my favorite things to do list.

When my body starts to overheat
,
I press my lips to hers one more time before pulling away.

"
Well
,
good morning to you
,
too.
"
Her hand comes up to touch her lips and I hope she
'
s trying to savor my touch. On the way to school
,
I give her a rundown of Saturday night.

"
That sounds like so much fun! I totally want to play next time. I love your little sister. She
'
s so cool.
"

Smiling
,
I say
,
"
She takes after me.
"

We get a few strange looks when we show up at school holding hands. People are surprised to see us together. Death glares come from the cheer team
,
but Kira doesn
'
t flinch or say anything. Travis alternates between teasing us
,
and telling Kira how much cooler he is than me
,
and that she should go out with him instead
.
I alternate between laughing and wanting to punch him even though I know he
'
d never really try
to
steal my girl.

Mrs. Z gives me
the
eye when we get to English
,
but before she can say anything
,
I promise her I will have work for her tomorrow and every day the rest of the week. And I will. I have to
,
even though I have no idea how I
'
m going to get it all done.

"
You
'
re running out of time
,
Mr. Shaw
,"
is her only reply.