“Oh my goodness, it is her. December!”
A wave and two ladies at the foot of the bleachers gained my attention. They were mirror images of each other, one wearing a nice blouse with a cardigan and the other in a pair of shorts and heeled pumps. The one in pumps waved at me, her black hair flying across her face in the wind. I hadn’t seen Mrs. Hastings and her twin sister, Daisy, recently, but I waved at them back.
Getting my attention, Daisy grabbed Mrs. Hastings, known to me as Lena. Lena used to be my sister’s guidance counselor way back when. Elena seeing me too, she waved in my direction.
“Is that Mrs. Hastings?” Kiki asked, the goddess waving herself. I swear the girl needed to be an international model with her height and lovely, long hair. All the girls around me ended up waving at the pair, obviously acquainted with them as my sister had been. We all waved for them to join us, and the twin women made their way up the stands. I wasn’t surprised to see them here at all. I mean, the whole town came out for these games.
“Hey.” I hugged Lena since she’d gotten up here first, then Daisy. “You guys come out to represent the king today?”
The king was our mascot, out there too in his gorilla suit. It was the same symbol that donned the Court rings and used to scare me until I wore one around my neck. It was Royal’s ring, a very precious gift to me, and I hadn’t feared it for a long time. Embracing it turned out to be just what I needed.
“Of course,” Lena said, then also hugged Kiki, Shakira, and Birdie. I wasn’t surprised to see them all so friendly. I hadn’t known Lena long, but she really seemed like such a sweetheart. She pulled back from my friends. “How have you girls been? You look great!”
“Thank you. We’re good. And look,” Birdie squealed, flashing her acceptance letter. “I just got into Princeton!”
Genuine joy flashed across Lena’s face as she eyed the letter. She took a seat between Birdie and me, smiling as she read. “Birdie Arnold, why am I not surprised? Congratulations, honey. What about the rest of you girls? I’m sure you got into just as good of a school.”
The others detailed just how good those schools were, and each and every announcement flashed so much pride across Lena’s face. Eventually, the conversation drifted over to me and my plans, and after I explained my intent to stay here and go to community college, Lena bumped my shoulder. “Don’t sound like that. That’s completely fine too. You’ll get a great education, and when you transfer, schools will be clamoring for you. My sister and I both attended community college before transferring.”
“Yeah, even though only one of us finished,” Daisy stated, but did say it with a laugh. She’d sat on my other side, and Lena reached over and pinched her.
“That’s because you were completely in love with the school’s quarterback and decided to focus on that and ultimately stay here. Nothing wrong with that, Daisy.” After she shook her sister’s knee, Lena nudged me. “The two were basically married when we went to school here, which completely delighted our fathers. They were best friends growing up.”
“Yes, they were.” Daisy played with her hands a little, her faint smile to herself. She shook my arm. “Anyway, enough about me and memory lane. How have you been? I haven’t seen you at the Mallicks’ family dinners.”
Well, that had been a disaster the all of a one time I’d done it. Not to mention, back then Ramses and I had been pretending to be fake girlfriend and fake boyfriend. I shrugged. “Didn’t work out between Ramses and me, but we’re still buds.”
I waved at him for good measure, and funny enough, he noticed me out there on the field again. He pointed a stick in my direction, and when Royal noticed, he elbowed his teammate back into the game. Ramses shrugged, waggling his eyebrows at me before getting back into the game.
I chuckled.
“Oh, glad to hear that.”
I turned, facing Daisy who’d spoken. I noticed her staring at my sister’s journal, those cartoon drawings that I’d finished. I shifted the pages so she could see better. “Paige did the eyes, but I drew the figures. Just trying to match what she put on paper.”
“May I?” Daisy asked, and not minding, I slid the whole thing over to her.
I smiled. “Great. Aren’t they? I mean, Paige’s stuff? I’m just fooling around, but hers are so good.”
Daisy didn’t say anything, thumbing through each page. She smiled too. Though, I noticed it was a little sad. I didn’t know how well she knew Paige, but the fact my sister wasn’t here anymore would make anyone who knew her sad, I supposed. Paige was such a good person. So much stronger and resilient to all obstacles in life like I never could be. I hoped I honored her by adding to what she’d already done on the pages. I could only hope.
“They’re lovely,” Daisy said, but when she started to pass the journal back to me, she hesitated. “Mind if I take a photo? I guess I’m sentimental. I knew Paige. Well, way back when.”
Of course I hadn’t minded it, and it felt kind of good that someone cared about what I’d done too. As Daisy reached into her handbag and got her phone, I gazed up, noticing we scored again.
