Rival Love (18 page)

“Why do I feel so weak then? Why do I feel like either way this will be a losing battle for me?”

“Because it is. Look, if I had to start over at Harris Academy, I’d be screwed up. No one would want me there. It’d be a bitch of a time trying to prove my self-worth, and to beat out people who already have claims on the positions I’ve been playing for over four years. Yeah, that would totally suck. So, believe me when I say I understand. You’ve got your work cut out for you, but Sky this is you. Not the whole Bobcat stuff, but challenges. If you’re anything like me, you love challenges. Reaching goals, breaking records, it’s a total rush. This is your challenge.”

She smiles. “Caleb, you’re right.” She smacks my shoulder. “Thanks. I gotta get back. But thanks for helping me see this from another angle.”

“Anytime.”

Chapter 31

Skylar

After school, I make my way to the pool. No one is in the small front desk area, so I proceed with caution into one of the small offices that holds the sound system to the pool deck. I continue past a computer desk and toward the door leading to the poolside deck.
Am I ready to do this?
Crossing this threshold will change me forever. I know this. Frozen in place, my eyes land on the handle of the door. Just a simple turn, that’s all it requires. Why can’t I do it?

Laughter from behind me causes me to snap out of my own thoughts and back into reality. It’s Amber. I can tell from the high-pitch cackle that it’s her. “Oh, that troll had the nerve to ask me if Max and I wanted to ride in a limo with them. Who the hell does she think she is, rubbing her relationship with him in my face like that?”

Don’t get me wrong, I despise Amber for the shit she’s put me through, but I kind of feel her pain. It’s exactly what Mia and Kevin did to me at my place of work, rubbing my nose in their relationship. As for Caleb—again, not a fan of Amber, but she seems better than Danielle any day of the week.

“You know what’s funny to me? Caleb has never been the relationship type. Everyone knows this, yet he’s dating that.”

“I know.” One of her friends chimes in.

Footsteps approach. My heart pounds radically against my ribcage. I’ve got to get out of here quick. I start to close my fingers around the handle and turn. The handle doesn’t budge. I jiggle it. Nope. It’s locked. “Did you guys hear something?”

“Hey, y’all! Don’t we have land warm-ups today?” I hear a familiar voice call out.
Kayla.

“Yeah, Kayla. Go through the office and see who’s back there, will ya?” Amber commands.

“Sure,” she says in a chipper voice. I need to hide, but where? There’s a closet, but it’s locked. There’s a desk with an old desktop computer sitting upon it. I can’t squeeze behind the chair though because it’s a compact desk. Maybe if I was the size of a toddler I’d fit where the printer sat, but that’s not the case at all.

Kayla is entering. I hurry over and snatch her up from behind, closing the door with my foot while I cover her mouth with my hand. I walk her over to a chair and whisper, “Kayla, I’m not going to hurt you, but you can’t tell anyone I’m in here. I have to see your coach. That’s all.” She whimpers a little and I mentally curse. “Kayla, I’m going to let you go, just don’t scream. Okay?”

Her head dips a little and I release her. She spins around, her eyes wide, and she snaps, “Skylar! What the hell are you doing in here?”

“Coach Grim spoke with me today. I came to give her an answer.” I’ve got no clue why I’m telling her any of this. She cowers by the door staring at me in disbelief. I raise my hands up. “I’m not trying to start trouble, I just need to give her my answer and be on my way, that’s all. The door’s locked though, and I heard Amber and I’m not in the mood to deal with them. Not today.” I drop my hands and hang my head.

“Okay.” She finally says.

I look up and she nods. “You’ve got to do something for me though.”

“What’s that?”

“Is it true? Are you really good at swimming?”

I nod.

“Good. You’re going to work with me. Deal?”

“But I…” I have work, my own training to do, and Lance’s tutoring. And I’ve got to avoid this team until the coach says it’s time. Kayla stares at me and says, “Well…”

Feeling trapped, I nod. “Okay. But this has to be on my terms, and no one is to know about it. Got it?”

She sticks out her hand and smiles. I shake it and smile back. “I’ll be right back.” She disappears. I take a seat in the swivel chair and sigh. What have I gotten myself into?

Coach Grim appears in the office, with Kayla trailing behind her. The door closes and my whole world seems to tip. This is it. My hands start to shake while my heart thuds.
“You’re one of them, Skylar,”
Sam’s voice echoes in my head.
“Anyone can see how much you love this,”
Coach Grim’s words flow through. I shake my head and stare at the ground. “I’ll do it. But I’m not training with them. Not yet. They don’t trust me, and honestly, I train better away from negativity. So when it’s time, I’ll join the team practices. Until then, I want my own hours, an hour before school for dry-land exercises. I need free swim times, two hours every day except Thursdays and Sundays. I’ve got places to be those days.” I glance up. “Do we have a deal?”

Coach Grim smiles. “Yes. We’ve got a deal.”

“Kayla is the only one who practices with me.”

Coach Grim nods again. “That’s a great idea. I’ll set up the arrangements. Be ready Tuesday.”

I nod. Then I stand and walk out of the office. Kayla runs after me. “Does that mean I’m training with you and not them?”

“Yeah.” I wave at her and head to my car but she follows with a bag full of stuff.

“I hate to ask, but can you give me a lift home?”

I smile. “Yeah. Come on.” I glance over at her as she gets into my Mini Cooper. “Don’t tell anyone you know which car is mine.” I am not about to tell her it’s a gift from my father for missing so much of my life. I mean, who wants to listen to a bunch of daddy issues? And besides that, Kayla and I only talk in English class so that doesn’t really make us best friends.

She runs her fingers along the seat. “My parents are getting me a car after graduation. Until then I’ve got to get straight A’s and stay out of trouble.”

I nod then start the engine. “Have you been in trouble?”

“Eh. Not really. I kind of dated a bad boy in Cali, but he got picked up for selling drugs and my parents moved us a couple months later.” I look over at her and she shakes her head. “Sometimes I don’t know why I was even with him.”

“I think the same thing about my ex.”

We smile at each other.

Once we’re outside her house, Kayla turns to me and says, “Thanks for the ride.”

“Yeah, no problem.”

She starts to step out and then twists herself back into the car. “Um, so we’re going to be spending a lot of time together.” I must be giving her a funny look ‘cause she smiles and says, “And I know this is already starting out weird, but do you wanna hang out?”

“Like now?”

She shrugs. “Sure.”

I’m about to pass, but Lance’s words stop me: “It wouldn’t hurt to make some friends.” So I say, “All right.”

“Um. Okay. Park your car and come inside.”

I do and follow her inside her two-story brick home. A woman with short, blondish-brown hair greets us as we enter. “Hi, honey. You brought a friend! And who’s this?”

“I’m Skylar Fletcher, nice to meet you.” I stick my hand out to her.

She shakes it and smiles. “Nice to meet you. Kayla, honey, how was practice?”

“It was good.” She chews on her lower lip. “Where’s Kai?”

“He’s at a friend’s house. Were you girls going to go to the game tonight?”

I’m about to say no but Kayla says, “Yeah we were. We’re going to go get ready.”

She starts to dart for the stairs and I follow, feeling like maybe this wasn’t a very good idea after all.

***

After I swing by my house and change my clothes, I head to the game with Kayla. My stomach knots all over again. I feel as if I’m going to throw up any second. “Kayla, this isn’t a good idea.”

“What are you talking about? It’s fine. We’ll sit in my special spot. No one will bother you there.”

“Where’s your special spot?” I’ve got a terrible feeling she’s going to point to a tree, or worse—the visitors’ section. I can tolerate the tree, possibly, but the visitors’ section is definitely off-limits, just like the home side is.

Kayla points up to the press box. She hands me a badge and puts one around her own neck. “People might know you up there, but no one will bother you. Plus, I want you to meet my dad. He’s the new announcer.”

We hurry up the long stretch of stairs leading to the press box. She opens the door and motions for me to step through. I do, and my nerves begin to ease. “Daddy! This is Skylar. She goes to school with me.”

A man with salt-and-pepper hair flips a microphone attached to a headpiece upward, turns slightly in his chair, and nods. “Hello. Come grab a seat.” He maneuvers around an old man and a younger guy that I’ve never seen before and points at two empty swivel chairs in front of the long table overlooking the field.

“Thanks.” I do as he says and take a seat next to Kayla. “So, is this where you sit at all the games?” I whisper.

She nods. “Yeah. Pretty cool, huh?” I laugh and nod. She has no idea how much she’s made my day. She nudges me. “Want something to drink?”

“Sure. Thanks, Kayla.”

“And here is the starting lineup for tonight’s game. On the Delmont High Bobcats, we’ve got…number seven, Caleb Morgan. Number five, Derrick Rivers. Number fourteen, Lance Bradshaw,” Kayla’s dad announces into his headset.

Kayla gasps and turns, chewing on her straw, gazing out the big window of the press box. She sits down beside me and sighs like she’s floating on a cloud somewhere far off to fairy-tale land. I nudge her. “Oh my God, you’ve got a thing for Lance.”

“What?” Her eyes are wide. “No. I just…”

“Wanna make babies with him,” I whisper then begin to giggle when her face turns bright red.

She shakes her head and laughs. “No. No. He’s really sweet, and so freaking cute. But it’ll never happen. He’s got no idea who I am.”

“Do you want him to?”

She looks over at me. “I don’t know. I mean…he’s Lance, I’m just some dork who transferred here.”

This girl needs a major confidence boost. “Well, I think you’re the tits.” She blushes. “If you wanna get Lance, you should really let me help you.”

She nods. “Okay, what do we do?”

Chapter 32

Caleb

I feel different running onto the field tonight. This is not only the homecoming game, it’s the last really important game. The final showdown between him and me. Who’s the better quarterback, who’s the best team? It all becomes final tonight.

Lance hits my shoulder in the huddle and screams over the bands battling each other off. “Dude, you okay? You look a little off.”

“I’m fine. Just thinking.”

“Don’t do too much of that. You’ll fuck yourself up.”

We grin at each other. Derrick screams, “We’re the champions here tonight, boys! Take no bullshit! Give it to them, and give it to them hard!”

The sophomores and a couple of juniors yell, “Hell yeah!”

Lance and I take a knee in the middle of the circle. “Whose house is this, boys?” Lance starts.

Everyone screams, “Ours!”

Lance continues, “Who’s going to go home crying?”

“They are!”

“That’s right, boys. We’re going to show these dogs who their fucking master is tonight.”

He turns to me and I laugh. It’s my turn to speak, but the words that have been running through my head disappear. The only ones that seem to stay are hers. “I want everyone to do a few things for me tonight: play with your hearts, trust one another, and pay attention to the things that are working. If something fails, eliminate it from the playlist. It’s the only way we’re going to take these guys down.”

“Bring them in, guys,” Derrick says. Hands close in around Lance and me still kneeling in the middle. He looks at me and I nod.

***

It’s halftime, and I’m jogging my way down to the field house when I spot Skylar at the concession stand. I stop without warning, and the guys behind me collide right into me, causing me to lose my balance. Lance shuffles through the crowd and helps me to my feet while some dumb cocky sophomore—Findley Keller—snaps at me, “What the fuck, Morgan? Stop and smell the roses some other time.”

“Go fuck yourself.”

“Dude, what’s up with you?” Lance asks.

The coaches start to pass by us, yelling, “To the locker room boys! Come on, move it.”

“Just a second.” I take Lance with me.

“Are you nuts? Coach will have both our balls man.” He looks around and hisses, “Dude, come on.”

I know. But for now, I don’t care. We’re down by two touchdowns and I need Skylar. I need her smartass, critical mind to tell me what the hell I’m doing wrong. And I don’t give a flying shit if the whole stadium sees me talking to her. Closing in on my target, I tap on her shoulder and watch her spin around. The girl isn’t Skylar at all. My frustration grows as soon as the girl snaps, “Uck! Bobcats.”

My eyes dart down to the pin on her chest and I shake my head. Kevin’s ugly fucking mug is strapped to her coat. “I thought you were someone else,” I mutter.

Lance slaps my shoulder. “We’ve got to get down there. Come on.”

I agree and turn to walk away, but run straight into the chick from my English class. “Shit, sorry…uh…Kayla, right?”

She nods. “It was partly my fault. Hey, Lance.”

He nods. “Caleb. We’ve gotta go, man.”

I shrug. “I gotta go.”

She holds up a finger. “One second. I was told to give this to you.” She hands me a note. “She said you’ll know what it means. Good luck.” She walks over to the concession stand and Lance drags me off to the locker rooms.