"You"ve reached the middle of nowhere. Leave a message after the beep."
BEEP.
"Hey, Rachel. It"s me. Haven"t talked to you in days and I"m hoping your day off is coming up. Only another week of being a camp counselor and then you come home. Yay for me! Things are a little crazy right now. I really wish you were here. Everything with Chris is weird and... and... crazy. Yeah, babbling. Sorry. Stay safe. See ya soon."
I am a horrible friend. I am a super-amazing-life-alteringly horrible best friend for being annoyed she was where she needed to be instead of with me. If I weren"t, I"d totally get that this summer working at the wilderness camp was the best thing Rachel could do for her college apps.
I did get that. Really. But I"d never been in this situation before... in this boy situation. Even if Rachel couldn"t stand Chris-or Ego Boy, as she called him-and didn"t get my six-year-invisible-loyalty thing, I could have used her advice. Rachel was a pro at handling social things. She could blow off drama like a starlet breezing past the paparazzi.
I was even jealous of Rachel"s tightness with her mom and how she could discuss anything with her.
One week. I only needed to last one more week on my own and she could return to being my life-organizing whirlwind of a best friend.
The phone rang at 1:09 am, the light from its screen lighting up my bedside table.
Took her long enough.
"Where have you been? I called you three times this week." I know, a little pushy, but I was tired-it was the middle of the night-and anxious since I hadn"t heard from her.
"Babe, you saw me today at practice."
I practically fell out of bed as I shot up and pulled my phone away to check the caller ID.
"Chris. Sorry. I thought you were Rachel."
He kind of chuckled on the other end. Any time I brought up Rachel he evaded. I think that heat-of-a-thousand-suns thing was a little obvious.
"I just wanted to call to say good night and tell you how much tonight sucked." He breathed out, the quiet behind him letting me know he was finally alone. "I could have used the downtime with you."
"Oh." I grinned to myself. Good. Let it be not-easy being with her. Let her be a pain in the b.u.t.t.
"So, I was just calling to say good night."
I wasn"t really sure what the right answer was. Was I supposed to tell him how much I"d missed him tonight or just say good night back? When I opened my mouth, my polite gene took over.
"Thanks."
Chris chuckled again. I wish he did that more often. "You"re welcome."
Before I could say anything else, the line went dead. I held the phone a second longer until the screen light flicked off and rolled over to try to fall back asleep.
Try being the operative word.
Chapter 4.
Second session tryouts were not my friend. It had already been a long day and the bike ride back to school was grueling in the early evening heat. I locked up my bike and headed into the building, breathing in the cool air of the darkened hallway. My keys landed with a heavy thud at the bottom of my official stats girl locker. I could hardly wait to get to the restroom to wash and put on a clean tank top. Basically, girlify myself in my standard fashion.
"Babe."
I tried not to spin around, but as the boy who went with that voice leaned past my locker door, my heart sped faster than when I"d hit the third hill on the way there.
"Hi, Chris."
He bent down to pick up my backpack and surveyed both ends of the hall. With a grin, he leaned in and brushed my hair behind my ear. His warm hand cupped my cheek and I thought, Kiss me. Kiss me, already!
"Did you see that attack I made this morning? I was really on my game."
What was I supposed to say? It was true. It was always true.
"Coach kept a couple seniors after practice to let us know he"d be watching this evening to name the tryout captains." He braced his arm against the locker and peered down at me. I dropped my head to hide how big my smile grew at the whole thing-the whole Chris-is-so-close-I-can-smell-the-soap-he-used thing.
"Well, of course he"ll name you. You"ve been on the varsity team since freshman year. You"re the best. The guys already consider you their leader."
His smile widened. "Did he say anything to you about it?"
I shook my head. I did that a lot around Chris. It was easier than trying to make sense and gave me a second to pull my thoughts off his general hotness. "I didn"t even know you guys did tryout captains."
That blinding smile came back and I felt like I"d won some type of lottery. I wasn"t even sure what type, just something really good.
"Let me know if he does, alright, babe?"
I nodded, grinning at him again. Man, I needed to get Botox in my lip muscles to stop the stupid expressions that popped up around him.
"You know, this is easier." He c.o.c.ked his head to the side, looking at me like he hadn"t seen me before. Like I was new, brand new. "You being here. Knowing you"ve got my back. Just having you here makes me feel... I don"t know... calmer."
I grinned again, or maybe just bigger. He made me feel anything but calm.
"What is it about you?" His voice had dropped and he looked, if not serious, more serious than I"d seen.
The doors behind Chris opened and he peered over his shoulder at new-kid-Luke coming in. The Look evaporated and he stepped away, distancing himself in more ways than one.
"I have to go. I"ll talk to you later."
More nodding on my part. "Okay. Talk to you later." Parroting was almost as bad as nodding. Doing both had to look twice as inane.
I leaned against the cool metal lockers to watch him walk away, bag slung over his shoulder, hitching up his T-shirt to show the tan line around the top edge of his shorts.
"Hey."
For a new kid, this guy was everywhere.
"Hey." I settled my backpack over my shoulder and started down the hall.
He fell in step with me and motioned toward Chris, as present as ever a few yards ahead of us.
"You know that guy?" And nosy.
"I know him."
"How?"
"How do I know him?" I stopped and gave Luke Parker my full attention. "He"s Chris Kent. Everyone knows him. You even know him and you"ve been around for like, what, eight minutes?"
He leaned down enough that our eyes met and I wondered where all that intensity came from and what it was going to get him on the field. "I was wondering, because, you know, he looked awfully comfortable with you just now."
It wasn"t any of his business and, since no answer I gave was going to make sense, I shrugged. Hopefully my bangs gave me some coverage when I rolled my eyes as he shortened his stride to walk with me again.
"After seeing you run, I"m surprised you"re a bench-jockey."
"Not that it"s any of your business, but stats girl is a very popular job and I don"t need to be on a team to run."
He snorted. Didn"t he realize that was my line? "Yeah, I can see your skills are really stretched here."
"Trust me. Cross-country? Not such a loss." And why was I defending myself to him?
Ahead, the door to the boys" locker room fell shut behind Chris. A few more steps and we reached the girls" room. I paused and looked up at him.
"Well, this is my stop." I tried to smile, but it must have looked pained-since it was.
He nodded, but stayed where he was. Maybe he wasn"t very bright. That would explain a lot. Plus they say children and the childlike can see objects others can"t. That would make sense with the invisibility thing and all.
I slipped past the door and, pushing it closed behind me with a sigh, refocused on the important thing. Chris.
He said he"d talk to me later. Did that mean at practice? After practice? Would we get something to eat, or maybe he"d just drive me home? If he got stuck here with Coach again, maybe he"d call me.
Plus, we"d had A Moment.
Even I, socially awkward though I was, had noticed and known it for what it was. I could only wonder if he had.
Doing a quick recap of the summer, I couldn"t remember a time he"d called me. We mostly just texted. That was easier anyway since tracking him down would have been really hard with how much he had going on. If he wasn"t home, he"d be out with people and we wouldn"t be able to talk even if I did reach him.
He was right. It was totally worth being stats girl to get to see him every day at practice. I"d probably get to ride on the bus with him to games, too. That would rock-understatement.
Giggles traveled down the hall and past the door. Thank goodness there was a girls" room as well as their locker room. I don"t know how I"d deal with all the cheerleaders. I mean, if hairspray can destroy the ozone layer, what the heck did they think it was doing to their lungs? Or their brains? That explained a lot though. Not that they"d notice me, anyway. I seemed to be even more invisible to cute girls than cute guys.
Checking my watch, I headed to the field knowing I"d beat Coach Sarche, but wanting to be early after the take-this-seriously talk he"d given me last night. I set up my attendance sheets and dropped onto the gra.s.s to stretch my legs. Getting up the three hills to the school a second time had made a harder workout day than I expected.
"Hey."
Alright, not only was he everywhere, but he also only knew one way to start a conversation.
"Hey," I answered as my gaze slid past Luke Parker to where Chris came up behind him.
"Parker, you always early?" Chris asked.
"I like to get the lay of the land. See how things are." Luke"s words answered the question, but his eyes turned back toward me. "And how they aren"t."
Chris stepped to my other side, forcing me to look up at them both. "Yeah, well, things aren"t always how they seem. Like, walking on for a tryout doesn"t give you the spot you"re counting on. On the field or in the school."
Oh! Was he threatening the new kid over me? I mean, more than just literally standing over meaover me?
"I hear the spots go to the best player. And the school sounds like it pretty much does the same thing." That lopsided grin hitched up on the right. "Are you warning me off? A little worried you aren"t the best?"
"I"m not worried. I know who Coach"ll make captain." Chris reached past me to pat Luke on the shoulder. "I get the whole "make a name for yourself" thing. But make your own name. You can"t have mine."
Chris"s pat turned into a light shove before he pivoted and strode away.
Luke"s gaze dropped to me and it seemed for once he had nothing to say. He just stood there looking like there were words he didn"t know but if he thought hard enough he could figure them out.
And that"s when I began to panic. If he really saw things other people couldn"t, maybe he knew I was Chris"s secret girlfriend. He could use this for some evil-new-kid-plan and ruin everything.
"I don"t know what you"re thinking-why you look so serious," I said. "But I do know you need to stay out of his way and out of my business."
For the first time that day, when I stood and walked away, he let me go.
The first raindrop hit as the sun slid behind the tree line. By the time we reached the covered walkway to the gym, it was coming down as only a hot August rain could, the drops. .h.i.tting the ground and evaporating with a hiss. Inside, the guys headed toward the locker room, pulling wet shirts over their heads as they went.
Rachel totally would have loved that... a slow, rain-drenched striptease would be how she"d see it. Me? All I saw was a bunch of dirty, tired, wet guys. Go figure.
I"d hoped it was a flash storm and would end by the time I stowed the team binders. But, of course, it didn"t. I unlocked my bike at the railing and pulled my hat low over my eyes to block as much of the rain as possible. I pushed the bike off the curb and the downpour hit me in a heavy dousing as I tightened my pack straps.
A large hand reached past me, securing the bike by the handlebars. "Let me take that."
Every time I thought the day couldn"t get worse, there he was.
"I"m fine thanks."
Luke c.o.c.ked an eyebrow and glanced from under the walkway cover at the deluge I stood in.
"It isn"t that far," I said.
"If it"s the same direction you were running this morning, I live over there too. We can throw this in the truck." He pulled the bike from my grasp.
"Really," I said, trying to wrest it back. "I don"t mind."
"Are you always this stubborn?"