Freeing Carter (16 page)

My body stiffens. If something
'
s going on with Trina
,
it
'
s going on with Mel too. I can
'
t figure out if I care or not. I mean
,
really
care.

"
The thing is
,"
Travis leans forward
,
his voice low like he doesn
'
t want Kira to know that guys really talk about important stuff too.
"
It should piss me off. I mean
,
if I think she
'
s being shady. It
'
s just like
,
whatever though. I
'
m kind of over it
,
know what I mean? People break up all the time. No matter how long they
'
ve been together.
"
Travis
'
s voice is stiff.

I do
,
but the difference is
,
I
'
m not sure if I have the nerve to do anything about it.
"
Are you going to talk to her? You guys have been together a long time.
"
But I know he
'
s made the decision; he really is going to break it off with her.

He laughs a little.
"
You
so
don
'
t like change
,
do you? It
'
ll be okay. We
'
ll have joint custody of you. Mel can have you sometimes
,
but you
'
re still my boy.
"

Kira steps up beside me
,
pulling the third chair out and sitting down.
"
What
'
d I miss?
"

"
Just me saying homework is way too boring for me. I
'
ll catch you guys later. I
'
m gonna walk down to Tad
'
s.
"
Travis winks at Kira who gives him one right back
,
then ruffles my hair like he
'
s my dad and I
'
m eight.
"
Cha-cha-cha-Changes
,"
he sings and walks out.

Kira grabs her bag out from under the table and pulls out her books
,
too. Without a word
,
she opens one and gets to work. My book is calling to me
,
but I can
'
t make myself reply.

"
Where
'
d you move here from?
"
I ask
,
not sure where the question came from.

Her eyes don
'
t leave her book
,
but I see her smile. It
'
s like the inside of my chest hiccups or something at the sight.

"
Get your homework done and I
'
ll tell you.
"

I
'
m halfway through reading the directions when I realize I
'
m smiling too.

Chapter Seven

Trina is crying when I get to school. Mel
'
s got her arm around her
,
shushing her and going on and on about how big a jerk Travis is. It makes me feel like shit. Girls and crying are two things I don
'
t like together. It makes me want to make things better and really makes me not want to be the guy who does this to someone else.

"
You don
'
t need him
,
Trin. Plus
,
you didn
'
t even know if you wanted to be with him anymore
,
either. Don
'
t let him win.
"

Wow
...
that
'
s news to me. Trina didn
'
t want to be with Travis? It makes me wonder if he was right. If there
'
s more going on than I know about.

Trina looks up at Mel and notices me standing behind her. Awkwardly
,
I wave at her.
"
Hey
,
Trin. Sorry about
...
you know.
"

Trina shrugs and starts crying more. So my cue to leave only I don
'
t get the chance.
Mel says,
"
Can you give us a minute
,
Carter? This is a girl thing.
"

Thank God!
"
Sure. I
'
ll see you guys later.
"

By the time lunch comes around
,
I realize I
'
m screwed. There
'
s no way the four of us are sitting together. Who do I have lunch with? My best friend or my girlfriend?

"
We
'
re
not
sitting with him at lunch
,"
Mel says when she walks up to me
,
reading my mind. She
'
s flanked by Trina and Sam
,
her new BFF.

"
I can
'
t just ditch him.
"
They
'
re sticking together so it makes sense I should hang out with Travis. I think. Or I did until Mel gets that look on her face like she
'
s been taken over by an alien. A very pissed off alien.

"
He dumped her for no reason
,
on the phone
,
Carter. How is that okay? Would you break up with me like that?
"

Okay
,
so maybe he should have done it in person
,
but that
'
s their deal
,
not mine. I hold up my hands.
"
Umm
,
how did this turn into something about us? I
'
m not Travis
,
but I am his friend. You guys are here with Trina. What
'
s wrong with me wanting to be there for him?
"

"
Whatever
,
Carter. Take his side.
"

She tries to walk away
,
but I grab her hand.
"
Hey
,
did I wake in in some parallel universe or something? Why are you mad at me? I
'
m sorry they broke up
,
but I don
'
t get why we
'
re fighting about it.
"
I guess it
'
s because all we do is fight lately
,
but still.

Mel sighs.
"
I
'
m not mad. It
'
s just
...
I don
'
t know. Hard day? Just go. I
'
ll talk to you later.
"

Letting go of her hand
,
I do just that.

***

The next two weeks fly by. I
'
m too busy with basketball and getting ready for our first game—a home
game--
to worry about much else. Mel and I don
'
t spend much time together
,
but it
'
s not like we
'
re fighting
,
we
'
re just busy. She
'
s got cheer and girl stuff. I have basketball and homework.
Some days
go by where we don
'
t really talk at all.

Mom
'
s been perfect. No sharp
,
alcoholic scent
,
no stumbling nights or accidentally walking into my room instead of hers
,
even when Sara
'
s been with Bill. I hate that it took her drinking with Sara home to make her see she has to quit
,
but I
'
m thankful for it
,
too. Glad that Mom loves my little sister enough to pick her over the bottle.

My life is finally coming together. I don
'
t have to lie. I
'
m not pulled in a million different directions
,
treading that line of right and wrong
,
always afraid I
'
m on the wrong side of it. I don
'
t have Mel on my case or Mom to worry about. I
'
m just Carter and it feels good.

"
Carter
,
can you stay after class for a minute?
"
Mrs. Z asks when the bell rings. Travis pats me on the back and walks out. Kira wasn
'
t at school today
,
which makes me wonder if she
'
ll to be at the store tonight. We
'
ve done homework together a few times over the last two weeks
,
but even that
'
s slowed down because of basketball.

"
Sure.
"
My shoulders rise and fall in a shrug
,
like I really have a choice.

She
'
s sitting behind her desk and I stand in front of it.
"
I just wanted to let you know I
'
m proud of you. You
'
re doing a good job catching up. You
'
re almost there. The lure of basketball must be really strong.
"

Yeah
,
it is. That and a clear head too.
"
For sure.
"

"
That
'
s all I wanted to tell you. Keep up the good work
,
Carter.
"
Mrs. Z holds out her hand and I shake it.
"
Good luck at your game tomorrow.
"

***

Practice is over.
All the guys are just as pumped as I am knowing this is the last practice before our first game.
We
'
re shoving each other around the locker room celebrating the awesomeness that is the Jacksonville Lancers.

"
Whose house?
"
I yell one last time.

"
Our house!
"
They all chant around me and then go their separate ways. I
'
m waiting for Travis to finish tying his shoes when Jackson comes up to me.

"
What
'
s up
,
Shaw?
"

I nod my head at him.

"
Hey
...
I didn
'
t know you and Melanie broke up. Sucks.
"

"
Dun
,
dun
,
duuun.
"
Travis sings from the bench.

"
What? We didn
'
t break up. What makes you say that?
"

Jackson looks like he might swallow his tongue.
"
Nothing
...
nothing. I just haven
'
t seen you guys together much. That
'
s all.
"

Yeah
,
and he wanted to make sure before he could go for her. I
'
m not stupid.
"
Back off
,
J. We
'
re still together.
"