Love Match (20 page)

“And if it means changing who I am, I should do that,” Cleo said.

“It has worked for me,” the woman agreed.

“Thank you,” Cleo said with a smile. “I appreciate the advice.”

Cleo put down her drink and walked back to the ninth hole. The designer who hadn't climbed into the tree was down on the ground, using her golf club like a pool cue to knock the ball into the hole.

Maya followed. “Cleo, where are you going?”

“I have a few minutes between holes,” Cleo said. “I think it's time for another change.”

Maya was late for the beach volleyball match, but it didn't matter. She had to see what those fashion contest designers did with Cleo. They'd taken her back behind the trees so she could have her big reveal when they were done, but it was taking forever. Both their foursomes were supposed to be onto the second half of the course. Maya was concerned that Nails would blame her for the delay in the schedule.

Any thought for herself went out of Maya's head when she saw Cleo come out of the trees. Her friend looked comfortable for the first time since she put on Maya's outfit that morning. The old Cleo was back and better than ever. Maya's borrowed clothing, however, was completely unrecognizable.

Maya's shorts were artistically cut to give the bland khakis a bit of an edge with tiger stripes down the sides, showing just the right amount of skin. The sleeves on the polo were completely gone, emphasizing the biceps that Cleo had developed
from swinging clubs for a large chunk of her life. The pink shirt faded into a purple-stained design, courtesy of that awful punch. Maya didn't want to think what that stuff did inside a person's body. Renee's baseball cap was gone completely, leaving Cleo's short spiky hair free for all to gawk at.

It was over the top, while still having nods to a classic look. Cleo had rarely looked better and Maya wondered why the designers hadn't won their season of the show.

Maya could barely contain herself as Cleo approached. “You look—”

“I know!”

“Wow.”

They laughed at their sudden inability to create complex sentences. Cleo worked that outfit unlike anything their more fashionable friend, Renee, had ever worn.

Once the excitement passed, Maya took it down to a serious tone. “Are you ready for this?”

“Let Grant Adams come after me,” Cleo said. “I'm not letting her make her issues mine.”

Maya wanted see the rest of the game, but she'd already stayed beyond her scheduled allotment of time. There was still an afternoon full of appearances to make before meeting up with Nicole and Primrose.

Nails had done an impressive job creating a schedule that kept her and Travis on complete opposite sides of campus all day. There was no way the manipulative former football star could keep her from his son's game, though.

Maya breezed by the beach volleyball game, the swim meet, and a half-dozen track-and-field events before arriving
at the football field at the start of halftime. She found Renee and Diego in the stands, holding hands and looking annoyingly adorable together. She was glad to see that things were working out between them, and happier that they remembered to save her a seat by the fifty yard line so she didn't have to fight for some square inch of the bleachers. The stands were packed.

With most of the other events wrapped up, the football field was the natural place for everyone to gather. It also boasted the second-largest celebrity draw of the day with the CW hotties.

Along the sidelines on the other side of the field, the most popular actresses from the network cheered on their costars. Cheerleading was one of the few sports that hadn't come to the Academy yet, so the “home” side of the field sat empty. Unfortunately for Maya, that meant there was nothing to drown out the conversations taking place around her.

“Oh, yeah! It was totally my idea for Travis to go on
The Hype
,” Nicole said from her seat directly behind Renee, Diego, and Maya. “I suggested it to Tommy Z. He's one of the producers.”

It reminded Maya of the conversation she'd overheard back at the tournament when those strangers had been complimenting Maya by way of trashing Nicole. The main difference was that Maya was fairly certain she was meant to overhear this talk.

“Nicole, that's horrible! You suggested Travis for
The Hype
judging?”

Maya didn't recognize the second voice, but it didn't matter.
It was just some random person Nicole had picked so she wasn't mumbling this information out loud by herself.

“Of course not!” Nicole said as if she were insulted by the suggestion. It wasn't the first time Maya had been impressed by her acting skills. “If I ever suspected that was going to happen, I would have told Travis to blow it off entirely. I should really call Tommy and give him hell for what he did to my friend.”

“You're such a thoughtful person, Nicole.”

Blech
. Maya wondered if she'd sounded like that when she was under Nicole's spell. She didn't want to admit it to herself, but she probably had.

“I better get going,” Nicole said. “I've got some things to arrange before the tennis match.”

Maya refused to glance Nicole's way as she heard the metallic footsteps move past her and down the bleachers.

“And … scene!” Renee said once Nicole was safely out of earshot.

“Oh good,” Maya said. “I wasn't the only one to suspect that performance was for our benefit.”

Renee shook her head. “Nicole's been dropping hints about it all week. Just another reason I tried to avoid her.”

“What's the point?” Maya asked. “None of it even matters.”

“The only important thing is that that show affected Travis's game,” Diego said. “Unless all this talk I heard about him being a star player really was because of his dad.”

“No. He's good,” Renee said. “He's just not good today.”

Maya was afraid to ask. “How bad is it?”

Renee and Diego shared a look. They both obviously
wanted the other one to answer the question. Finally, Diego gave in. “At first, I thought he was messing around like we did in the soccer game—throwing way off target, stumbling backward and tripping over his own feet. But I don't think any of that was on purpose.”

“They've been chanting ‘Hype' all through the first half,” Renee added. “The crappy D-list comedian the school got to be the game announcer started it up. Travis's game got worse the more they yelled … and the worse his game got, the more they shouted it.”

Maya glanced to the scoreboard. There were still a few minutes left of halftime. Since this wasn't a serious game, the guys stayed on the field during the break. The CW actors were on their side of the field posing for pictures with the fans.

“I should talk to him,” Maya said.

“That's the last thing you should do,” Diego said.

“Nails will kill you,” Renee added.

“I've done what Nails wanted all week long,” Maya reminded them. “I stayed away. It didn't make any difference.”

Maya got up before Renee could talk her out of it. She used to have a calming presence on Jake. Maybe that would work with Travis as well. Even if it didn't, she couldn't just sit there and watch Travis fall apart through the second half without trying something.

Maya was thankful that the CW girls were putting on some kind of halftime show. Most of the people in the stands were watching their performance instead of Maya walking to the sideline. She got there in time to catch the tail end of the
coach's inspirational speech to his players. Nails had decided to lead the Academy guys for this exhibition match.

“I know this isn't a real game,” Nails said. “But are we going to let those pretty-boy actors make us look like amateurs?”

“No!” the guys yelled in response.

“Darn right we aren't,” Nails said. “We are warriors. That is
our
battlefield. Are we going to let them take it from us?”

“No!” the team shouted again.

“Back when I was playing, we had a little ritual in the locker room during halftime,” Nails said. “That's when the coach would name his own MVP for the game. Someone to lead the team out for the second half. Well, I'm going to do that now.”

Maya hung back and listened, imagining all the ways what Nails was about to say could go wrong.

“I know this is going to seem biased,” Nails said. “But I don't care. We all know who the leader on that field has been in the first half and I'm not afraid to say it just because he's my son.” Nails's hand came down on Jake's shoulder. “Jake, continue to do me proud.”

The only person who looked more surprised than Jake was Travis. They were both speechless as Nails led the team in a final chant before breaking the group to get ready for the second half.

Nails saw Maya before his sons did. He glared at her, but didn't say anything in front of the guys. That was good, because she was even more concerned about Travis when she saw him standing alone staring out at the field.

“Hey,” Maya said as she reached him.

Travis grunted in return.

They stood together in silence. After a week of avoiding each other, Maya found they had nothing to say. It didn't help that the halftime show had ended and it felt like everyone in the stands was watching them. At first, Maya thought it was just her imagination, but the number of cell phone cameras trained on them proved she had a right to be paranoid.

Maya didn't want to start with the obvious, but the staring into space was already beyond awkward. “How's the game going?”

“I'd rather not talk about it.”

“It's a good turnout,” Maya said. “I'd call this day a success.”

“Maya, I need to concentrate. Can we save this for after the game?”

“Oh,” Maya said. “Sure.”

She should have listened to Renee. The walk back to the stands was going to be even more awkward than the standing in silence. Thankfully, Jake nodded her over before she would have to make that walk. That was both a good thing and a bad one.

“I've never seen him like this,” Jake said softly, knowing that they were in a very public space.

“Reminds me of someone else I know,” Maya said.

“Maybe we're more alike than I thought,” Jake said. “That would explain some things.”

Maya couldn't help but think that she was one of those things.

“You know,” Jake said, “that's the first time my dad has praised my playing in a long time. Figures he'd use it as a backhanded compliment to smack Travis around.”

“It doesn't matter why he said it, Jake. He said it. Eventually you'll find a way to make him believe it.”

Jake smiled. “I don't know what it is about this messed-up family that keeps you interested.”

Maya smiled along with him. “Believe me, Jake, I wish I knew.”

If the third quarter was any indication of how the first half had gone, Maya was glad she'd missed it. Travis was so far out of the zone, Maya thought someone else was playing entirely.

It didn't help that the announcer was squarely on the side of the actors. He'd been razzing the Academy players every chance he got.

Travis threw another long, wobbly pass. It wasn't pretty and it wasn't anywhere near a player. But unofficial MVP Jake saw the opportunity and made an incredible running leap. He snagged the ball out of the air and held tight as he came down, rolling to the ground before popping back up on his feet. An actor's hand just brushed his side, pulling the flag from his belt, stopping the play dead.

If it had been tackle football, Jake would have been able to run it into the end zone. An incredible catch made even more spectacular by a touchdown. As it was, it still gave the announcer a way to turn something good into something bad.

“Looks like one Reed brother really is worth the hype!”

High fives switched to balled-up fists as the celebration turned dark. Maya obviously couldn't hear what was being said, but it was clear that there was trash talk happening. One of the actors, who probably thought he was just having fun
being one of the guys, made a comment. Travis said something back with a flash of anger across his face that brought Jake hurrying over to talk him down.

The ball was on the five yard line. Any other time, it would have been an easy play. The Academy students could practically walk it in against a team of actors. But nothing looked easy at the moment.

Travis almost vibrated on the turf. He jumped from foot to foot, unable to stand still. Maya had watched enough football games in her time at the Academy to know that this was not ideal for the quarterback. That position needed to be the calmest on the field; the one in control. Travis and control were two completely separate concepts right now.

The ball was snapped. Travis dropped back for a pass. He jumped left, then right, moving from opponents that weren't anywhere near him.

Travis was grandstanding. All the trained athletes in the bleachers knew it, but the announcer loved it. So did the cameras. People jumped to their feet waiting to see what he would do.

Two of his guys were open, but Travis didn't care. He tucked the ball into his chest, lowered his head, and plowed through the players. No one could touch him as he wove through the actors toward the goal line.

One actor reached for his flag as he approached the line. Travis smacked his hand away, twisting his body as he jumped for the end zone.

Travis never saw his brother in the path. As his body spiraled, his elbow went out, connecting with the back of Jake's
unprotected head. Bone met skull and both brothers went down. Jake's head hit the ground.

Maya was on her feet along with a few hundred other people. If they'd been in regular football gear it would have been a minor accident. But flag football didn't require extra padding. Or helmets.