Rival Love (24 page)

I go to this youth center, which is open Monday through Saturday, as much as I can. With everything going on like early practices, tutoring, work, and my own schoolwork, I’ve been slacking on visiting.

After Kayla and I are dressed, we head out for the center, and I can’t help but feel super grungy in my hoodie and jeans. I drive by my house because I think about stopping to get some more clothes and a different pair of shoes, but seeing Caleb’s car parked in the drive nixes that idea. Call me chicken, but I’m not ready to face him yet, my humiliation hasn’t left.

We enter the center and the first face I see is Mike, the head director. “Hey Sky, it’s been a while. Who’s this with you?”

“Kayla. How are you?”

Mike smiles and goes through his spiel about what they do there. What kind of things the kids need, if she wanted to volunteer. I hold up my hand. “Mike, chillax. She’s just checking it out.”

He nods and lets us pass. Kayla laughs as soon as we’re out of earshot. “He’s hyper.”

“He’s very hyper.” I lead us through a set of double doors leading to a big open gym. One side is playing basketball. The other side is playing volleyball. “They mostly play sports to keep themselves entertained. They also have a crafting, artistic area.”

We walk over to the bench where a bunch of middle-grade and elementary kids are hanging out. One little boy, Henry, turns to me and shouts, “Sky! You’re here!” He hops off the bench and wraps his eleven-year-old arms around me.

“Hey, man. I’ve come to see you before vacation starts up.”

He scowls at me. “Where’ve you been?”

“I’ve been practicing, working, and I’m tutoring someone. I’m sorry, my time has been stretched.” And I really am sorry. I love this place, really. It’s kind of like my own retreat whenever the pressure is getting to me.

Sometimes, I’d give anything to be some normal, untalented nobody. It would be so much easier. No one would look at you and expect perfection, either swimming-, pitching-, fielding-, or hitting-wise. No one would expect you to never fail a test or be this damn superstar of a person. But I’m not the untalented nobody. I’m the gifted person, and yes, I’m grateful, but it’s also draining.

“Okay, well, you’ve got a lot of make-up games.” Henry smiles, snatches up a basketball, and tosses it at me. Kayla looks worried.

I shrug, “If you don’t want to play this I’m sure the others would love you to help them out in volleyball. Isn’t that something you Cali girls are known for?” I nudge her.

She laughs. “I’ll go give them some of my wisdom.”

We both laugh and head to our different courts. Two hours later, we meet back up, sweating and panting, and Kayla says, “This was great. We should totally do this again.”

And for the first time, I’m actually glad my mom and I moved, because I found a friend who loves this place as much as I do.

Chapter 40

Caleb

I’ve been waiting for Skylar to come back home since the game. I figured she’d be back tonight since we have school tomorrow, but she’s still not here. Erin calls me down to dinner. I hurry into the dining room thinking Sky’s already in there.

Looking about the table, I notice only three plates have been set. Where the hell is Skylar? I sit down at the table and stare at the empty chair across from me. “Where’s Skylar?”

“She’s staying with a friend again,” Erin smiles. “I’m so glad she’s starting to get back into a routine.”

What does that mean? That I won’t be seeing a lot of her? ‘Cause I’m not down with that. My insides knot at the thought. I should have never pushed her away. I desperately want to tell her this and kiss her again.

I finish dinner as fast as possible and head out the door. I’m not really sure where I’m going, but I’m driving. After ten minutes, I end up at Derrick’s house.

“What’s up?” he asks as he opens the front door.

I look directly at him and sigh. “This is going to sound screwed up, but…I made a huge mistake.”

We walk down to his room in the basement of his house. “How did you mess up?” He sits down on his couch and I sit next to him.

“Remember when Sky kissed me?”

He smiles. “Yeah. Who could forget that? You really laid into her for it.”

I frown. “I know. That’s the thing.”

Derrick looks at me like I’m crazy. “Don’t tell me you’re into Skylar now.”

I look away and mumble, “So what if I am?” Really, does it matter? She’s beautiful, funny, and has more in common with me than any chick I’ve ever dated or slept with.

“I’m not dissing it. But man, you better be prepared for the consequences. I mean, you see what that chick goes through daily, right? If you try to tell others how you want to be with her, this will only end bad for both of you. You do realize that, right?”

“But why does it have to? Derrick, we’ve been friends for a long-ass time. You know me. When have I ever tried pursuing a girl?” The answer is never. I like chicks, but I’ve never once made an effort to get one to want me. This, in itself, is new territory for me. Girls always just came to me. Skylar isn’t going to be like that. I mean, not after what I did to her. God, she probably wishes she never even met me, let alone kissed me, after that. I’m so dumb.

Derrick shrugs. “Look, I don’t think she’s a bad person. I think if she wasn’t who she was the whole male population would be following her around. And I’d be rooting for one of us to snatch her up. But she’s Skylar Fletcher. Ex-Bulldog. Every girl is ready to kill her and most of the guys don’t want to be around her. If you want my advice…I’d walk away and avoid her at all costs.”

I stand up and pace the room. “You don’t get it. She’s not something you can walk away from. Sky is the perfect girl. She’s knowledgeable in sports. She works, is caring, and cooks. She talks about things that has nothing to do with dances or shoes or upcoming events.” I stop pacing and shake my head. “She’s the real deal, and I can’t just walk away. Would you walk away from that?”

“This isn’t about me, man. And honestly, I don’t know. Probably not.”

We talk a little longer. He finally caves and we figure out a plan. I leave his place feeling a little better. But how much longer will that last? Who knows.

***

Next morning I get up early and take a drive to the nearest bakery. I grab a box full of donuts and head to school. I go to the side entrance leading to the pool and weight room. I watch a few of the old ladies enter the girls’ locker room while I sit patiently, waiting for Skylar to exit.

A good twenty minutes pass; only elderly people enter and no one exits. My stomach churns with disgust. Am I too late? Did they decide not to swim today? The morning bell indicating that school’s about to start sounds off.

Another group of old people head toward the locker rooms and I stop one of the women. “Excuse me. Hi. Um…I was wondering if you could help me out with something. My girlfriend was supposed to be swimming today, and I got her breakfast, but I haven’t seen her leave yet. Could you possibly see if she’s in there for me?”

The old woman blushes. “Aw, that’s so sweet. I will go check for you. What’s her name?”

“Skylar.”

She smiles and walks into the locker room. I watch the clock on the wall; two minutes go by before the woman comes out. “She’s not in there, dearie. I’m sorry.”

“That’s okay. She’s probably up at class. Thanks for checking.”

“My pleasure. It’s not every day you see a gentleman in your generation.” She winks and walks back into the locker room. I rush up to the first class I remember her having.

Skidding to a stop outside of Social Psychology I scan the room for Sky, but she’s not in there. Where the hell is she? Is she skipping today?

The warning bell is about to go off, so I run up the stairs and down the hall to my first class. Lance eyes up the box of donuts in my hand. “Hey buddy, I hope you’re sharing those.”

I hand over the box. “Enjoy,” I say in a depressed tone. There’s no reason to hide my drowned hopes.

My own frustration eats away at me in chemistry. I can’t concentrate on the task at hand. I want to escape and find Skylar.

“Caleb, is there a reason your project is still on the burner?” Mr. Gibson calls out. I swallow hard and quickly take it off. The project has gone from a bluish liquid to a purple glob. And what sucks is projects are where I do my best. Man, Sky’s really messing with my whole game. My entire head is wrapped around her. If I don’t get a good dose of her soon, I’m going to be in worse trouble than I already am.

“Dude. I thought you said you had this?” Lance shakes his head. He has every right, too. I just caused not only myself to get a terrible grade but him as well since we’re lab partners.

“Sorry. I’m just…” What? Thinking about a freaking Bulldog? Yeah, that will go over real well.

He slaps my shoulder. “I’m just messing. The worst we’ll get is a C. So what are you going to do on Thanksgiving break? I was thinking Derrick and I could come over and play
Lord of Doom
or something like that.”

“I can’t. I’m going to New York.” I give him an odd look because I know I told him this.

“Yeah, but after the other night on the field, I thought you wouldn’t go to New York. I mean, you aren’t interested in her, are you? Because I’ve been thinking about asking her to the winter formal.”

I shove him. “The hell you are!”

“What’s your freaking problem, man?”

I back up and stare at Lance. He’s looking at me as if I’m crazy. To be honest I think I am a little nuts. The bell rings. Lance gathers up his things and walks out the door. I gather up my things and move toward the door. I have every intention of not running to my next class, but as I’m exiting, I spot her. My heart is pounding like a damn drum. I can’t help but try to get next to her. I start plowing over people and shoving them aside. “What the?” some say. Others shout, “Hey! There’s people here, jackass!” I don’t care. My only concern is Skylar.

I’m almost right behind her when she turns around. Her face is unreadable, but her eyes are large, like she’s deathly afraid of me. This breaks another chink in my armored wall. I’d give anything to take this fear in her eyes away. “Sky, I…”

She doesn’t even let me finish. She’s taking off down the hall and I’m about to run after her but I’m outside my second period class. I’ll see her in third. At least that’s what I tell myself.

Chapter 41

Skylar

Changing classes from first to second, crazy shouts came from behind me. Then a dark shadow fell upon me, and I admit, it scared me. I had every intention to defend myself, but as soon as I turned and saw who the person was, my entire thought process went out the window. I knew this moment was coming. I just wasn’t prepared for it so I ran away.

As I sit in second period and Signora Frederica talks about proper sentences, my mind is set on Caleb, and next period. I can’t face him. I can’t sit there and listen to him tell me how disgusted he is with me. I sure as hell can’t let him see how I feel about him.

Then there’s New York; how in the hell am I going to avoid being near him or my other family?

“Sorpresa dei test.”

Wait, surprise test?
This can’t be happening. I’ve got no idea what she’s been talking about for the past twenty minutes. Oh man, an F will bring down my whole grade-point average, which has always remained 4.0 from kindergarten to now.

Chewing on my nails, I watch the white sheets of paper going backward down the rows. The paper is getting closer to me. I reluctantly grab it and look it over. Yeah, I’m totally going to fail this test.

***

I’ve never used the Brian card for help. As soon as the bell rings, I run to his class. Students are piling into his room, so I decide to go to Coach Grim instead. I hurry down to the gym and enter her office.

“Hey Skylar, what can I do you for?”

“I was wondering if you had any workouts you could give me to swim while I’m in New York visiting my dad.” I try to keep an even voice in order to draw myself away from the real reason I am in here.

She nods. “I can do that. Will Kayla be joining the team practices then?”

“Yeah. I’ll be doing them too, as soon as I get back. That’ll be Monday.”

“Perfect, just in time to prepare for the Butler meet.”

I know she knows I’m stalling. I take a seat and ask, “What about the team? How are they going to handle me being on it?”

She smiles. “I’m not sure. With all teams there is trust that must be formed. A great team trusts everyone on it completely. They all know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. They know where encouragement is needed and when others want to be pushed.” She sighs. “So I’m afraid we must wait and see. Oh, I need your size for suit orders, I already got Kayla’s.”

“Twenty-six.” This is really a size smaller than what I normally wear, but in competition suits, this is how it always is. Get the size smaller than what you normally wear. And this might sound really dorky, but talking about ordering swimsuits makes me very excited and ready for a meet.

Once I finish my talk with Coach, she hands me two notes and sends me off to class. Luckily I’ve been in her office so long, going over the things Kayla and I have been doing for the past month, that I’m actually heading up to Mr. Munzo’s room to hand him my excuse for not being in his class and collecting all my work. Then back down to Ms. Norris’s for about the last ten minutes of class.

I glance over to where Caleb usually sits but he’s not there. I sigh in relief and make my way to my seat near Kayla, who changed seats once we started swimming together. I’m about to sit down when I hear, “There you are. Where the hell have you been? Erin’s going to kill you if she finds out you’ve been skipping again.”

I whip around and see Caleb. “I wasn’t skipping. I was getting something straightened out.” I turn back around and tap on Kayla’s shoulder.

She shrugs. “I had nothing to do with it. He just sat there.”