Rival Love (17 page)

Principal Keegan shakes his head. “No. Not this time.” He pauses for a moment. “How up to date are you on your current events, Skylar?”

Is this a quiz?
I make a face. “Very little. The newspaper is negative. I mean, unless it’s sports, I like to be current on those events.”

He nods.

“Well, I will make this brief. Our superintendent is facing embezzling charges. At the time of the incident, we thought our school would be able to maintain all its programs and activities without any major setbacks occurring. Unfortunately, that’s not the case.”

“I’m not following. What’s all this have to do with me?”

He clasps his fingers together. The others seem to stand motionless, staring at me. “Our athletic director, Mr. Chamberlin, has been getting phone calls from recruiters asking when they can schedule meetings to visit with you. College recruiting is a huge revenue for us. If more scouts come to see a player, the fan base increases, and therefore the money for our school increases.”

“I get it. The snowball effect. What’s your point?”

Mr. Chamberlin clears his throat. “Because of recent events, even if all the fall sports make it to the championships, we’ll have to cut some of the winter and spring programs. As well as take away some of the music and drama performances. I know this doesn’t seem like it’s your problem, and truth is, it really shouldn’t be. But I’ve got over a dozen scouts who want to see you. The list is in my office and it keeps getting longer as the weeks pass.”

I shake my head and stand before I even realize what I’m doing. “No. I can’t. That’s going too far. I’m already tutoring a player. I’ve given up way too much as it is, and you want me to betray my friends and the school I love, so you can have your programs?”

Coach Grim draws near me. “Skylar, I’ve seen what you can do. For years, I’ve wanted my team to swim with half the heart you do. You’ve got talent others can only dream of having. And I know what we’re asking seems like turning your back on the school you thought you’d graduate from. But I’m not asking you to do that. I am, however, asking you, where do you see your future? What college do you plan on attending? How do you plan on paying the tuition?”

My heart stops. She has me pinned. My weakness is exposed. I need to swim. It’s my life, my passion. It’s like breathing, and man do I miss it. Coach Grim presses on, “Skylar, imagine you’re at the school you want to be at and someone pulls you off to the side and says, ‘The teams are being cut because of the lack of funds.’ There’s not enough time to host fundraisers to support swimming, basketball, wrestling, and hockey. We’re asking for your help, but I want you to do this for you. You owe it to yourself, Skylar, to get into the college you want, doing the things you love most.”

“I need to think about it.” That’s the only answer I have for her right now. She nods.

The other guy in the room shuffles past me as I head for the door. “It was nice to meet you, Skylar, I’m the new superintendent,” he says.

I nod as he shakes my hand, leaving behind a film of sweat.
Uck!
I make a face and wipe my hand on my jeans. “I’ve got to get to class.”

Bolting out the door, I head straight for the bathrooms. After washing my hands and splashing some cold water on my face, I stare at myself in the mirror. This decision should be easy. No. Done. Over. No emotional attachments. But the more I stare at my reflection, the more confused and heavier this decision feels. It’s like a monkey is now strapped onto my shoulders and won’t leave. If I say yes, those girls, that team, won’t accept me or the favor I’m doing them. If I say no, they’ll hate me when they find out I could have saved their program. At the same time, if I say yes and my friends find out, they’ll think I’m turning into a stupid Bobcat. Oh boy, and those uniforms! I mean really, brown and yellow? Barf in my mouth. Either way I’m losing.

Storming out of the bathroom, I head to second period. I don’t make it to class like planned. My shoulder collides right into someone’s chest. “Damn Bulldog, you trying to plow me over or something?”

I look up at Lance. He’s rubbing his chest and shaking his head. My eyes begin to water. “Hey, are you okay?”

“Fine. I just…”
wish I wasn’t Skylar Fletcher for once
. But the more Lance stares at me, the more the need to tell someone something comes bubbling up, like a bad case of word vomit. And there I am, telling him everything.
 

Chapter 30

Caleb

Class lets out early, so I head to the cafeteria, grab a lunch, and head to my usual spot. By the time Lance and Derrick take a seat, I’m halfway through my second hamburger. Derrick leaves the table and Lance watches him for a moment then turns to me. “I’ve got to tell you something.”

“What?” I ask with a mouthful of food.

“Mr. Chamberlin and Mr. Keegan had her in the office this morning, and basically told her that she’s the key to help save our school programs or end them.”

I swallow. “What are you talking about?”

“Dude, it’s been all over the news for the past three weeks. The superintendent stole like a shit-ton of funds. Anyway, the school thought they could still keep everything going. Turns out, that’s not the case. They’re begging Skylar to play sports.”

I choke on my drink. “Sky?” I shake my head. “She won’t do it.” I shake my head some more. “No. She told them that, right?”

He shakes his head. “She said she’d think about it.”

“Really? Skylar Fletcher? We’re talking about the same girl, right? Long brown hair, crazy eyes, short and snappy. That girl?” I all but point to where she usually sits.

Lance smacks my arms. “Yeah man. She’s thinking about it. Dude, our track team is on the chopping block along with wrestling.”

“What are you boys talking about?” Danielle says as she takes a seat next to me. Lance shakes his head at her. I don’t blame him. I’d be doing the same as well as pushing her away from me if I didn’t need her to hold in my secret about Skylar living with me.

“Nothing.” I shrug.

She smiles. “Oh good. I need to talk to you about the limo, you did order that, right? And also, who’s riding along with us? Too many people will wrinkle and ruin my dress, so we must keep the head count down to about six. Unless they’re fat then four and that’s it.”

Lance scoots away from the table. “Where you off to?” I ask.

“I need to get my schedule from Skylar. I’ll talk to you later.” He shakes his head at me, as he passes by Derrick.

“Dude, is it me or does he leave a lot during lunch?” Derrick asks as he plops down into Lance’s empty seat.

Danielle snaps her fingers in front of my face. “Caleb! I’m trying to talk to you about homecoming.”

“It’s going to be fine. Stop worrying about it.” I want to tell her it’s a stupid dance. I want to tell her that her precious dress will be in the back of her closet once the dance is over and guess what? It’ll be wrinkled. This is one of the many reasons I haven’t had a steady girlfriend from freshman year until now. Because before this fiasco, I could go to any dance I wanted to, alone, and do my own thing without anyone’s approval. But now, it’s all about her and what she wants.

Derrick burps real loud, grossing Danielle out. She glares at him and hisses, “He’s so not riding with us!”

He’ll ride with us if he wants to. Especially if he’s offering to help with the cost of her precious limo. Yeah, they’re freaking cool as hell to ride in, but dude, this isn’t prom.

Lunch finally ends, but Danielle’s clinging continues all the way to her class. She tries to make out with me near a set of lockers, but I make an excuse and bolt to my class. Once Skylar and I started sharing facts about one another, things changed. Not even between us, but within my own self. Especially today. Today of all days, I should be riled up and yelling like everyone else roaming the halls. This is the game of the season. The one that determines who walks away a legend and who walks away a chump.

Instead of being pumped up and focused on the game tonight, I’m worried about Skylar. Her words from this morning have been on my mind more than I’d care to admit. Was she giving me a hint? And why hasn’t she said no to Mr. Chamberlin and Mr. Keegan’s request? It bothers me so much that I decide to take a detour from my sixth period class, and head to my uncle’s room.

Usually I knock on his door and then enter, but this is his free period, so there’s no reason to knock. Walking into his room, I spot him instantly scribbling some stuff on his board behind his desk. “Uncle Brian?”

“Caleb, shouldn’t you be in precalculus?” he asks while glancing up at the clock on the wall then back over at me.

I nod. “I need to talk to you though. It’s about the funding, and all the stuff on the news.”

His eyebrows rise, while his mouth puckers in the corner like he’s sucking on some sour candy. It’s a face I’m used to him making when it comes to me and my curiosity about things he thinks I’d have no interest in. School funding or anything school-related is probably setting off the alarms in his head. And I don’t mind, because up until now I didn’t care about school-school, just sports, friends, and parties. Books, studying, and whatever fundraisers were going on, yeah, that part of it had never interested me.

“Let me get this straight, you’re not in class because you want to talk about what’s been going on with the superintendent embezzling funds? Am I getting this right?”

I nod again. “The school seems to think the rest of the athletic and school functions will be cut if they don’t get a good amount of funds really fast.”

My uncle takes a seat at his desk and sighs. “It’s unfortunate but yes, that’s true. Some of the music and drama programs will be cut down to one production this year, instead of the usual two they have every year.” I walk over to one of the lab tables and hop up. “That’s one of the reasons I’ve been going to so many teacher meetings this week. But why does this matter worry you so much? You know baseball won’t be affected by the cuts.”

“It’s Skylar. Mr. Chamberlin and Mr. Keegan seem to think that she’ll be able to save those programs by playing sports here.”

“Well, that’s news to me. Did Skylar tell you this?”

I shake my head. “No, but she told Lance. I’m worried what would happen if she says no and others find out.” Because that black eye she had a while back will probably be nothing compared to what she’ll be looking like or coming home with. I shudder at the thought.

My uncle starts to pace the area behind his desk. “Skylar is very strong-willed. Erin told me this, and I can see it. But she’s also got this spark to her when she swims and plays softball. It reminds me of you. I can’t see her giving up on sports forever. Let alone being responsible for taking it away from a whole group of kids.” He shakes his head. “No, Skylar is not like other teens. Not by far. She’ll make the right choice. And whatever her choice is, we’re going to support it.”

“Why do you keep saying she’s different?” Besides being smart, and working hard, I don’t get his need to keep telling me how different she is.

“Do you know once a month she works at the homeless shelter feeding the poor? Or that she hangs out at the youth center on Thursdays to play games with the kids down there?”

I shake my head. I didn’t know any of this stuff about Skylar. Maybe I’m wrong about her after all, and she’s actually closer to sainthood than I thought. “So you think she’ll say yes?”

He smiles. “I believe she will. Now, I think you’ve missed enough class already, and you should probably be on your way back to precalculus.” He scribbles a note and hands it to me.

Back in the hallway, I slowly walk to class. Well, take the longest way possible is more like it. Let’s be realistic, I’m not in a rush to go to precalculus. What I am in a rush to do is talk to Skylar. Before I realize what’s going on, I am outside her physics class.

I peek in the window of the door, and scan the class. Everyone is wearing long white lab coats and clear plastic glasses on their faces. My eyes land on Skylar as her long hair falls forward while her body hunches over a project in front of her. Her slender hand pushes the strands back, exposing her forehead. I notice her eyebrows are scrunching together which is an indication she’s frustrated with something.

Her stare leaves the table, and goes to the door. I motion for her to come out into the hall. At first, I’m not certain she sees me. And it’s causing my own frustration to spike, because I can’t very well make a scene outside her class. People will see and talk. And that’s the last thing I need on my plate right now.

I’m about to give up when the door to her room opens. As soon as the door closes, she looks around and then starts down the hall. “I thought we’re supposed to pretend like we don’t know each other,” she says while we round the corner.

“I know. This couldn’t wait though. I know about what happened this morning.”

She stops and pivots. “I see. So, what do you want?”

“Nothing much. I was just curious why you didn’t say no.”

“Oh.” She chews on her lower lip, which makes her look sexy as hell. “I tried to. But then everyone kept talking. And the more they talked the more my own thoughts settled in.” She shrugs. “Can I be honest?”

I smile. “Always.”

“I don’t want this kind of responsibility. I mean, when I was in the office today, all they kept saying was how other people would be punished, and basically when they see me, they see dollar signs.” She frowns. “It made me sick. I’m not a freaking showboat. But that’s how they’re painting me. And that’s when I said no.” She shakes her head and wrinkles her nose a little. “Coach Grim guilt-tripped me, as soon as she mentioned college and my future…it hit me all at once. I love swimming and softball so much that, if I were truly honest with myself, I can’t physically give them up. And that’s selfish, isn’t it?” She drops her gaze. “Caleb, my school pride means everything to me, but now, I don’t know.”

I rest my hand on her shoulder. “You aren’t selfish, Sky. This situation sucks, yeah, but haven’t you punished yourself enough? You’re in a school where a majority of the population hates you. None of your friends talk to you, do they?” She drops her head. I use my other hand to lift it up so I can see her gorgeous eyes. “I think it’s safe to say you shouldn’t have to make any more sacrifices.”