Homecoming Queen (5 page)

Taylor’s brow creased slightly. She actually seemed to be considering this.

DJ drove home her point. “It seems like you’d have more compassion.”

“I think I liked you better before you became such a goody-two-shoes, DJ.” Then Taylor picked up her black Kate Spade bag, slung it over her shoulder, and walked off, her high heels clicking across the hard locker-room floor.

A few minutes later, Casey came into the locker room, glancing nervously around. “I wanted to make sure that Taylor was gone before I came in,” she said to DJ.

“Coast is clear,” said DJ. “Thank goodness she left when she did. I felt like I wanted to deck her.”

Casey’s eyebrows shot up. “Really? Why?”

DJ quietly filled her in on Taylor’s derogatory comment about Coach Jones.

“Well, a lot of people think that’s true,” said Casey. “In fact, I’ve even heard you make some of those same kinds of comments.”

“Only as a joke!” DJ’s face went red. “Well, I’m not going to do it anymore.”

Casey just shrugged. “Whatever.”

“Think about it, Casey. No one likes to be judged, not to mention
misjudged
.”

Casey pulled on her shorts. “I guess. Even so, I keep my distance from Coach.”

DJ rolled her eyes.

“I’m just saying.”

DJ let it go. Still, she was determined to watch her words a little more closely. And even as they did their regular drills, ending with a match between JV and Varsity, DJ sensed that her attitude toward her teammates, even the “jock girls” as Taylor liked to call them, was changing. She was accepting them, and they were accepting her — like a real team — and that felt good.

“Great game, Tawnee,” said DJ after Varsity won, and they were all heading back to the locker room. “Way to be on it.”

Tawnee looked surprised, but then smiled. “Thanks!”

Since DJ hadn’t seen Conner since lunch, she had asked Casey to join her in watching the end of his soccer practice. But as the girls emerged from the locker room, there was Conner waiting for her in the gym’s breezeway. “Hey, girls,” he said cheerfully as he pushed back his damp hair. “How was practice?”

“Okay,” said DJ. Conner slipped an arm around DJ’s waist and gave her a squeeze. DJ smiled. Having a boyfriend was nice, but it still took some getting used to.

“Better than okay,” said Casey, “since we quit early.”

“Same with us. Coach cut practice short because we have two back-to-back matches tomorrow morning.”

Just then Garrison McKinley joined them. He looked fresh out of the shower room too. “Hey, ladies,” he said, smiling at Casey. “What’s up?”

DJ and Casey chatted with the guys as the four of them walked out to the parking lot. Then Garrison brushed his fingers through Casey’s short hair and chuckled. “Gotta admire a girl who isn’t afraid to look butch.”

“What?” Casey turned and glared at him.

But Garrison just smiled “Hey, if you’re pretty enough, you can carry it off.”

“Meaning what?” demanded Casey.

“Meaning you can carry it off.”

Casey looked unconvinced, but DJ was certain that Garrison was totally flirting with Casey.

“Go easy on Casey,” warned DJ. “She’s had a rough day.”

“Could’ve been rougher,” added Conner.

Now they were all standing around DJ’s car, and the guys were still making small talk like they weren’t ready to say good-bye yet. And it seemed that Casey was actually warming up to Garrison now, like maybe the light had clicked on and she’d figured out that he was pretty interested in her.

Garrison mentioned a movie that had just released. “Hey, you guys want to go together?” he asked. “I mean, the four of us?”

DJ peered curiously at Casey. Garrison was obviously asking her out but trying to keep it casual. And, unfortunately for Garrison, Casey started to act oblivious again, giving him a blank expression. Or maybe she just wanted to be asked out properly.

“Sounds good to me,” said DJ. “I know I’ve been wanting to see that film.”

“Me too,” added Conner.

“So how about you, Casey?” asked Garrison hopefully.

But now Casey was staring in the other direction, away from the group and toward the street, and DJ was getting seriously irritated. Why was Casey being so stubborn about this? DJ turned and followed Casey’s gaze in time to see a small child about to step into the street where traffic, oblivious to school-zone laws, was rapidly approaching.

Without thinking or even saying a word — DJ took off. Sprinting as fast as she could, she raced toward the child, who was nearly in the middle of the street now.

“Look out!” she screamed as she leaped. With arms outstretched like she was diving for a low shot, she grabbed the little boy and pushed him straight toward the curb. In that same instant, a blur of shining metal charged directly into her. And suddenly everything went from light to fuzzy to black.

“Is she okay?” said a woman’s voice. “It happened so quickly. I didn’t even see her.”

DJ opened her eyes to see a dark-haired woman putting a blanket over her. Then she noticed Conner was there too, holding her hand in his.

“What happened?” she muttered.

“You were hit by a car, DJ.” His eyes were serious. “Don’t move. Garrison already called 911, and an ambulance is coming.”

Then DJ tried to sit up, but a jolt of sharp pain surged through her left leg and she immediately leaned back again, dizzy with pain.

“Just be still,” said Conner.

“Seriously, DJ,” said Casey from the other side. She gently moved some hair from DJ’s eyes. “Don’t move, okay?”

DJ closed her eyes and mumbled okay. Or at least she thought she did, and once again things got blurry.

5

THE TRIP TO THE HOSPITAL
was hazy, but DJ vaguely remembered the ambulance’s siren, sort of like an alarm clock that’s been shoved beneath the pillow but still buzzing.

At the hospital, she did her best to cooperate with doctors and nurses and X-ray technicians and others as they examined and moved her from room to room in what seemed some sort of strange chess game or medical maze. It felt slightly surreal, or maybe that was from the pain medication they gave her. At times she almost felt as if she were watching this happening to someone else — or maybe she’d fallen asleep watching
Gray’s Anatomy
again.

Then finally, with something stiff wrapped around the lower part of her leg and pillows propped beneath it, she was settled into yet another room. She fell asleep, and this time when she opened her eyes her grandmother was standing over her.

“Desiree,” she said softly with a slight frown. “How are you feeling?”

“I’ve had better days.” DJ looked around at the sparse, beige room with medical equipment all around. A nurse was standing nearby doing something on a laptop.

Grandmother nodded. “It seems you have suffered a broken leg, some cracked ribs, as well as a minor concussion.”

DJ grimaced. “Is that all?”

“Are you in much pain?” Grandmother asked.

DJ started to nod then stopped. Her head hurt too much. “Yes,” she muttered.

The nurse stepped over and held out two little white pills. “I’ve got something for that,” she said. “But it might make you sleepy.”

DJ didn’t care. She thankfully took the pills with a sip of water and then closed her eyes again.

“Your friends are still here,” said Grandmother. “They want to know if it’s okay to see you.”

DJ shrugged and then grimaced again. “It’s okay with me,” she said.

Casey, Conner, and Garrison came in and visited with her. But she was getting sleepy, and for the most part they chatted amongst themselves, making jokes about how they had missed the movie in order to play doctor. But it got harder to focus, and DJ felt herself drifting away. She was sorry to miss out on her friends, but it was nice to take a break from the pain.

When DJ awoke, the room was dark, and no one was in sight. She felt thirsty. A cup and a pitcher sat on the bedside table, and she fumbled to pour some water. Just as she took a sip, Casey emerged from the bathroom.

“You’re awake,” Casey said.

“Yeah,” DJ said. “What time is it?”

“It’s after nine.”

“When do I go home?”

“Not tonight,” said Casey. “I asked your grandmother if I could stay here with you, and she seemed relieved to go home. I get the impression that she doesn’t like hospitals much.”

“She hates hospitals. My mom told me that when Grandmother gets her plastic surgery done she goes to this special clinic that looks like a spa, and even then she has to take tranquilizers just to keep from freaking.”

“I think I’d give up the plastic surgery if I were her,” said Casey.

“Yeah, me too.”

“So, how are you feeling?”

“Sore.”

“I should warn you, the press came while you were asleep.”

“The press?”

“You’re a hero, DJ.”

“Huh?”

“Remember, you saved that little boy.”

“Oh, yeah. The little boy!” DJ couldn’t believe she’d forgotten about that. “He’s okay?”

“He’s fine. It was Coach Jones’s kid.”

“Coach Jones has a kid?”

“Apparently.”

“I didn’t even know she was married.”

“She’s not.” Casey grinned. “But if you haven’t heard the news, you
can
have babies without being married.”

DJ smiled.

“Anyway, she’s been here too. Those big yellow flowers are from her.”

DJ looked over to where several bouquets were lined up by the window. “Oh.”

“Yeah. You’ve had quite a few visitors. But we’ve kept them at bay.”

“Did Conner go home?”

“He didn’t want to, but I said he should. He’s got those soccer matches tomorrow.” Casey brightened now. “Hey, Garrison
likes
me.”

“I know.”

“How do you know?”

“It’s one of the things I remember before I jumped in front of that truck.”

“It was an SUV.”

“SUV, truck, whatever. It felt like a locomotive.”

“Did your grandmother tell you that you’re scheduled for surgery at six in the morning?”

“Huh?”

“Yeah. They’re going to put a piece of metal in your leg. Apparently that’s the latest thing for getting broken bones to heal up more quickly.”

For the first time that day, DJ felt tears filling her eyes. “I can’t believe this all happened to me, Casey. I mean, one minute I’m just living a normal life, and the next minute I’m — I’m — ” And now she was crying.

Casey handed her the tissue box. “It’s going to be okay, DJ. Seriously, you could’ve been killed. I heard the doctor saying it was good that you’re in such great shape and that most people would’ve been a lot more messed up than you are. He told your grandmother that you were lucky you only broke your fibula and not your tibia.”

“What’s that mean?”

“It means you broke the smaller bone in your leg. And apparently it was a clean break, whatever that means. Anyway, he said the prognosis was very good.”

“But look at me.” DJ blotted her tears. “I’m an invalid.”

“Hey, you’re lucky you’re not a vegetable.”

DJ blew her nose.

“Seriously, DJ, we saw the whole thing, and we thought you were about to be history. By the time we reached you, which seemed to take forever — like who knew you could run that fast — I honestly thought you were dead. I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared in my life.” Casey shook her head.

“I guess I should be glad to be alive . . .” DJ forced a weak smile for her friend’s benefit.

“Just so you know,” Casey continued, “the other girls at the house send their love. Every one of them has either called or stopped by.” She made a face. “Even Taylor acted all concerned when she came. She insisted that she had to see you, but I had already told Eliza to tell everyone it would be better to wait until tomorrow. That’s what the nurse told me to tell them. And so I had to turn her away. I hope you don’t mind.”

“I think I’ve been too out of it to mind.” DJ sighed. “But thanks for sticking around, Casey.”

“There’s no way I was leaving you here alone.”

“I appreciate it.” DJ thought about her mom, wondering if she would’ve been here right now if DJ had died after getting hit by that car. Too bad she hadn’t had one of those near-death experiences where you briefly visit loved ones in heaven. That would’ve been pretty cool. She wondered what Mom would’ve said to her. She probably would’ve welcomed her, hugged her, and stroked her hair like she used to do when DJ was little. Then maybe she would’ve sent her back. Thinking of Mom reminded DJ of her dad. What would he think about this? Would he care? Did he even know?

“Uh, Casey,” DJ began hesitantly. “Do you think Grandmother told my dad about the accident?”

“I don’t know, but it seems like she would’ve. Do you want me to call and ask her?” Casey started to dig in her backpack.