I attempted to do the same, watching from the bleachers while Royal scored points for his team. He had a freight train of muscle out there with him, LJ, Jax, and Knight always having his back. They were such good friends to him. They were such good friends to me. I called out to them all from the stands, waving, and on occasion, I got one back from all of them. They always looked out for me…
Oh, yeah, and one more.
Ramses eased across the field, only a full stride to every four of five of the opposing team. He clipped one of the Knightwood Prep boys with his shoulder, sending him down for the count and allowing Royal and crew to breeze by for our side. After, Ramses found me in the stands, flashing me a little teeth before picking up his feet and charging on with the rest of the team.
I shook my head at him, still floored that he’d decided to go out for the team. I’d honestly been flabbergasted when he told me about his intent toward the end of winter. I mean, he fucking hated Royal, and though my boyfriend wasn’t too keen on him either, the two had been surprisingly getting along and not just on the field. It’d been like my aunt and my dad in that sense, the pair clearly putting up with each other for me, but they had been doing that. Royal got over the fact whenever Ramses made his way over to our lunch table, and Ramses the same when he chose to sit at our lunch table. Ramses definitely had his own clique, still one of the most popular guys on the Court and at Windsor Prep, but he did take time sometimes to sit with us. And when he did, the two guys put up with each other, they played on the same team both on and off the field. There seemed to be a sort of truce after everything went down, and it only helped me. I’d missed Ramses, one of my good friends, and dare I say, he’d missed me too? He’d said he joined the lacrosse team because it’d look good on his college applications, but since he hadn’t given a fuck all year about grades or anything since he was so far ahead, I called bullshit on that. I only didn’t fight him on what he said because I did miss him too, the loser.
Smirking, I waved at him, calling out his name and clapping for him. We were up in points, and though lacrosse hadn’t been Ramses’s forte, he quickly matched Royal, Jax, Knight, and LJ in skill on the field. Ramses, though a complete nerd, was obviously a seasoned sportsman. He was a jack-of-all-trades. He was good and told me he’d actually had a few recruits come out for him at today’s game. He was getting money thrown at him from everywhere apparently, and that only made me laugh. No one nicer could deserve it.
I stayed huddled with a lot of the girls this game, the breeze cool and filled with earthy, floral scents. It was so nice to have anything but winter and sadness, and I got even more of that when suddenly Kiki, Shakira, and I were joined by Birdie.
“I got in!” Birdie waved something our way, a paper in her hand as she scaled the bleachers. She’d been late to today’s game for a reason. Her dad said she’d gotten a college letter from Princeton. Of course, after school the first thing she’d done was go home. She’d said she would meet us at the game.
Apparently, she’d gotten into her dream school.
So excited for her, Kiki, Shakira, and I leaped up, grappling her like a band of idiots. We all nearly fell off the stands, and at that moment, our side scored yet another point against Knightwood Prep. The whole crowd freaked out, which was so funny with Birdie’s news. It was like they all cheered for her.
“Let’s see it,” I nudged, the letter passing between us. It was legit. Birdie was in, and we hugged her again. She’d been talking about Princeton for months, seriously her dream school.
“I know, right?” She had a flurry of brown curls in her face, pushing them away. “Ah! This is really happening. Dad says we’ll take a road trip over there during the summer. Isn’t that amazing?”
It was, and she immediately went into the details, explaining the scholarship she got for playing basketball. All the girls did. Kiki was going to UCLA, and Shakira got in at Northwestern. These girls were all making their dreams come true, and though I’d decided to stay here and go to community college, I was okay with that. I hadn’t wanted to leave, not ready yet. I hadn’t found my place in the world and didn’t want to make any moves until I did. I felt something was keeping me here.
I gazed out on the field, watching as chiseled legs and muscular thighs charged down it. Royal threw his hand through sweaty blond locks, someone else whose plans were uncertain to me. After everything at the jewelry store, we hadn’t talked about anything serious, his own college plans under wraps even to me. I think it was still just all too much, my mind still on my sister, Paige, more than I wanted.
I couldn’t let go of her, even now. I fell out of the conversation with my friends, hugging an item that came with me to the game. My sister’s journal never left my side, always there with me, and I smoothed my hands over the pages. I’d actually been drawing in it lately, my little squiggles nothing compared to my sister’s, but I did like it. It helped me feel connected to her as weird as that may sound.
