The clack-clack noise of the sharp blade hitting wood comes to a halt. “Why?”
I take a cleansing breath, ready to rip off the Band-Aid. I give her a look that says everything I need to say. Disappointment, dejection, remorse. It’s all there, right between the lines creasing my face and my downturned eyes. She places her knife down and rushes to me. “Oh, Teeny. What happened?”
I expected to cry or break down, but I don’t do either. Instead, my voice sounds level and calm as I tell her. “He cheated on me.”
A whoosh of breath leaves her mouth, and it’s like I can feel the pressure expel out of her chest. “He cheated on you?”
“I kicked him out,” I continue to explain. “James and Josh know.”
“And Sadie?”
“We haven’t told her yet.”
She squeezes my shoulders in her hands and forces me to look at her. It’s then I start to feel the sting of tears hit behind my nose. “You’re going to be fine, Christine. You hear me?”
I silently nod.
“We are going to take this one day at a time, and you will befine.”
“Yeah,” I croak.
She pulls me into a hug, the sounds of my dad and Andrew bickering about proper meat-smoking temperatures echoing off the walls outside. We stay there, her hand running up and down my back and my chin resting on her shoulder, until I feel like maybe what she said is true. Maybe I will be fine. I’ll pick up the shattered pieces of my life, scooping all the fragments and shards into my own little dustpan. And maybe one day, those itty-bitty pieces will turn into something. Something that glitters and shines with hope, and I’ll look back at this moment and realize I worried for nothing.
CHAPTERTWELVE
Everett
THEN
When I playedbasketball up in Monterey, game day wasn’t very ceremonious. It was even a little blasé in my opinion. So when the first game of the season at Torrey Pines High School finally comes around, it’s a pleasant surprise to see how the entire school rallies to celebrate. The team wears dress shirts and slacks—tie optional—while Coach roams the hallways in a suit. We also make sure to sit together during lunch while the cheerleaders stop by our classes to offer goody bags with power bars and small bottles of Gatorade.
The attention and commotion are contagious, and I feel just as ready and hyped for the game.
“We’re all heading out to a bonfire after the game,” Josh informs me excitedly at the end of the day. “The cheerleaders are organizing it. You have to be there.”
I watch in amusement, Josh hopping up and down like an eager toddler, his fist punching into the opposite hand while he urges me to tell him yes.
“Yeah,” I answer. “My dad’s in town to catch the game so I’ll probably have to check in with him first.”
“Your dad’s here?”
“Yeah,” I tell him, whipping my keys out of my pocket as we reach the parking lot. “He makes it a point to make it to as many of my games as he can. And since it’s the first of the season and he had some time off, he flew down for the week.”
Teeny walks into view just then, skipping toward Josh with a gleeful smile. Her friend, Diana, who I’ve met a few times, trails behind her, eyeing me with a sly smile and her position somehow strategic in the way she’s hiding behind Teeny while making sure to catch any glimpse of mine and Josh’s conversation. I’ve noticed a lot of “strategic things” a few of the junior and senior girls do around me. Whispering things to each other in between secret giggles, waving at me in the cafeteria, or even the occasional greeting from girls I don’t even know the names of.
“Can we drop off Diana? She’s going home before the game. She forgot her clothes for the bonfire.” Diana cups a hand at Teeny’s ear and whispers something, her gaze on me, and I stand there a bit awkwardly.
“You’re going too?” I ask, interjecting her question directed at her brother.
Teeny shifts her smile in my direction, though the way her eyes light up with intrigue changes when she looks at me. “Yes. Why?”
I answer her with a shrug. “Just asking.” We continue this silent staring contest, uncaring of Josh’s presence as he rifles through his bag, his attention thankfully elsewhere.
Teeny tugs at her lower lip with her teeth, and I duck my head to the concrete, where she can’t see the creeping smile cutting across my face. She’s the only one of the girls who looks in my direction that makes me feel flustered and shy. No matter how many waves and flirty giggles I get, it’s only Teeny that makes the blood rush to my cheeks.
“Yeah,” Josh finally answers Teeny, though Diana is already helping herself to the back seat. “I’ll see you at the game,” he tells me.
We all climb into our respective cars, and I give Teeny one last look as she hops into the passenger seat next to Josh. I catch her watching me, her smile unchanging as I buckle up and turn the ignition on in my car.
