by Amanda Ashby
Zac opened his mouth to protest but quickly shut it again. If he’d learned one thing from hanging out with Norah over the past four days, it was that he didn’t need to always talk loudly to be heard. Especially yesterday when the other volunteers had turned up to the meeting and she’d managed to keep them under control, all without losing her cool. It was impressive.
Coach eyed him as a ringing noise came from somewhere under the mess on the desk. Coach knocked over several files before retrieving his phone.
“Yardley. What? No…fine. I’ll send someone over.” He finished the call and gave Zac a beady look. “You want to make yourself useful? The office has some things for me to sign.”
“You bet.” Zac jumped to his feet and raced for the door. He never minded running errands for teachers since it meant he wasn’t stuck in the classroom. As he jogged down the empty corridors, he yanked his phone from his pocket and sent Norah a text.
I didn’t see the vein once. I think he’s warming to me.
She replied with a line of tiny soccer balls.
He grinned and pocketed his phone.
He was quickly discovering there was more to her than he’d first thought. For a start, she was funny. Not to mention he loved the way she blushed, then wrinkled her nose, as if trying to make it go away. Kind of cute. And when he’d randomly bought her a bag of jellybeans, she’d genuinely smiled.
He was pretty sure if he’d given Kennedy or any of her crew a dollar bag of candy it would have been thrown in his face.
“No running, Zac,” his old English teacher called out in a patient voice, as if he knew it was a lost cause. Zac grinned and detoured left to avoid Mrs. Higgins, who’d been busting his chops over a geography paper, and jogged past one of the auction posters. He stopped.
He’d already sold fifteen of the tables. At least he was pulling his weight. It was a relief considering how great Norah had been. She’d sat with him at lunch for the last three days and watched him practice twice. She’d even helped him work out what to say to Coach today.
He reached the office in a couple more minutes, grabbed the files, then turned back. He rounded the corner, almost slamming into someone. Hell. He swerved in time to avoid a tall man with dark hair and wide shoulders.
Steven Lewis.
The most famous soccer player to come out of Cricket Bay.
He’d moved back to town a couple of years ago after his injury. Zac had seen him at a distance but never met him.
“Sorry.” Zac pulled himself up while managing to hold onto the files.
“No worries.” Steven gave him a knowing smile. “I managed to take out a person or two while I was here. Don’t suppose you can show me where Coach Yardley’s office is? It used to be over by the gym.”
He grinned. “Too many kids kept coming to see him, so he shifted down to the basement. I’m going there now if you want to follow. I’m Zac by the way. Big fan.”
“Nice to meet you, Zac big fan. You play?”
“Yeah.” He nodded as they turned left and headed toward the basement stairs. “Midfielder like you. Though I’m a right footer.”
“Nice,” Steven said. “You playing varsity?”
“I did last year.” Zac winced. “Tryouts are in another two weeks, but right now I’m benched.”
“Old dog. He did the same thing to me.” Steven burst out laughing and clapped him on the back.
“Seriously?”
“Yeah. I’d been messing around a bit. I guess he thought it would put a rocket up me. And it did,” he said as they reached Coach’s office. “Don’t worry. If he likes you, you’ll get back in.”
“Thanks, man,” Zac said as his phone rang. It was Norah’s ringtone, and an idea formed. “Hey, this might be out of line, but I’m helping a friend with a charity auction. It’s for a real great cause, and we’re looking for donations. I could send you the details. It’s to build toilets in Cambodia.”
“I’m always happy to help out at my old school. My assistant’s away for the next couple of days, but give me your number and I’ll let you know when you can come and collect some gear. I’m sure there will be a signed shirt and a ball or two.”
“You’re a legend.” Zac gave him the number. “Is it true you’re moving back to Europe to coach?”
“I forgot how quickly news travels around this place. But yeah. Turns out I’m not great at being married, or retired. It’ll be good to go back to something I actually know how to do. It’s for a non-league club in Wales, but it’s a start.”
“Sounds cool,” Zac said as Coach opened the door, his mouth grim.
“Mackenzie, what are you still doing here?”
“Files.” He instantly handed them over. Coach took them and gave him a sharp glare.
“Good. Now get out of here. And you.” He turned to Steven. “Let’s hope you don’t fidget as much as you used to.”
Zac grinned and jogged back down the corridor. If Steven Lewis had been benched and lived to play another day, then so would he.
8
“What do you think of this one?” Norah’s mom held up a tiny baby outfit, which looked almost identical to the previous one.
“It’s cute,” she said, trying to pretend she hadn’t been thinking about Zac, who had bought her a second bag of jellybeans when they’d been out getting more donations. This time they’d actually gone into the old-fashioned candy store, The Sweetest Thing.
He’d led her over to the clear Perspex container that hung on the wall so they could fill the white bag together. He’d then pointed to some salted licorice and demanded to know who in their right mind would buy it, an instant before a middle-aged woman scooped up three packets.
Norah had been forced to put her hand over her mouth to stop from laughing out loud.
“She’s got baby clothing overload.” Greg put the last of the plates back in the plastic box and carefully walked through the kitchen, which was messier than yesterday. He wrapped his arms around her mom’s belly. “I’ve got a meeting in town. But promise me you’ll rest tonight. Norah, I give you permission to withhold hot sauce if she tries to get off the sofa.”
“I swear I was planning to take it easy. I only need to do a couple loads of laundry and a bit of ironing,” her mom protested before holding up her hands. “Fine. I’ll lie down and let my daughter wait on me hand and foot. Happy?”
“Very.” Greg kissed her. There were small worry lines around his mouth, probably because he’d caught her mom trying to hang curtains yesterday.
“He’s right. You’re meant to be taking it easy,” Norah said once her stepdad had left.
“I know.” Her mom rubbed her belly. “And I am trying. Speaking of relaxing, Greg’s out of town on Saturday night. I thought we could have some girl time. Dinner and the movies, my treat. What do you say?”
Oh.
Norah bit her lip. She hadn’t gotten around to mentioning she’d had a fake boyfriend for a whole week, or that she was meant to be going to a not-so-fake party on Saturday. In her defense, her mom was already worried. If she discovered the truth about Zac, she might think Norah had gone crazy, which would definitely add to her mom’s stress levels. There was no reason for her to find out. In two weeks it would all be over.
“Actually…I have something on.”
“Oh.” Her mom’s face fell. “Is it with Piper? She could come too.”
“No…it’s some other friends. It’s a party.”
“A date?” Her mom blinked.
No.
Definitely not.
Apart from on paper.
Apart from the fact he seems to think what I do isn’t weird. That I’m not weird.
When had this become so complicated?
“Um, kind of.” Her pulse flickered like Morse code. She was pretty sure it was saying: Universe. Help. Please send interference of any kind.
“Why didn’t you tell me about him?”
“I’m not really sure,” she eventually mumbled, guilt catchi
ng in her throat. Her mom had always been there for her. Through every operation, every hospital visit. Rubbing cream on her skin, holding her hand when the nightmares came. Standing by her when her dad wouldn’t. “I’m sorry. It’s new, and I’m still trying to figure it out.”
Her mom’s face softened. “It’s okay. Believe it or not, I know a thing or two about how it works.”
“Thanks…and sorry about the girls’ night.”
“Don’t be. I’m pleased you’re going out and doing regular teen things.” Her mom settled on the sofa. Norah swallowed her guilt. She knew her mom worried. She never said anything, but Norah could see it in her eyes.
“Thanks. Now, I’m going to make you a cup of herbal tea.”
She hurried into the half-built kitchen, but by the time she returned her mom was sound asleep. Draping a blanket over her, Norah left the cooling tea on a small side table. She headed to her room and went through her emails. Most of them were from the other volunteers, keeping her updated on everything. She quickly replied to them all and was about to start on her homework when Zac texted.
No idea why anyone would pay for a tan, but I just got two hundred bucks worth of tanning time from the place on Maine Street.
She grinned and replied. Legend.
To think that last week the only thing she’d organized was the hall. But now, not only did she have an army of volunteers, she also had donations. She was really starting to believe it would work out for both of them.
xxxx
“Seriously, man. We’ve hardly seen you,” Pete complained as he tried to toe the ball into the net. He overcooked it and it went shooting above the bar. He was lucky Coach had disappeared back into his basement office ten minutes ago and missed such a lousy penalty attempt.
“Yeah,” Max echoed.
“We all take the same classes. You both see me all day every day,” Zac retorted as he jogged over to retrieve the errant ball and kick it back onto the field. “And I can hardly ditch Norah when she’s got this auction thing on. Speaking of which…you’re buying tickets and coming along.”
“To a charity auction?” Max’s mouth dropped open. “You’re joking.”
“Nope,” Zac assured him. “Think of it as your chance to give back. I need the money by tomorrow.”
“I don’t even know who you are anymore,” Max grumbled.
“You better not bail on my party on Saturday night,” Pete warned. “And you can’t sit in the corner with her all night.”
“Why? Jealous?”
“You were more fun when you were single,” Max complained as he stopped the ball with his foot.
“Says you. Anyway, I gotta go,” Zac called out as he jogged toward the locker room. The day was overcast, and the sky was a dull gray with the threat of rain to come. None of which dampened his mood. He took a fast shower, still grinning.
Norah had sat with him at lunch again, and while Myles hadn’t broken out in song, he appeared to be buying it. Then again, what was there not to buy? Norah was great. Smart, funny, beautiful. And he liked the way she smiled when he got each donation. As if it was some kind of rocket science rather than just talking to people. It was an addictive feeling.
The only small problem was that while he was beginning to like her, it was one sided. She’d flinched a couple of times when he’d held her hand, and every now and then her mouth twitched when he said something too outrageous. A reminder that his feelings might have changed, but hers hadn’t.
He jogged to the parking lot and climbed into his car.
When he’d walked her to class after lunch, she’d mentioned she was meeting with Gareth and Piper to do more work on the auction, but since the other volunteers weren’t going, she didn’t expect him to either. But he’d insisted. She was stuck going to the party with him, so it was only fair.
He paused to text that he was on the way.
At the other end of the parking lot, Kennedy and Myles were sitting in the cab of his truck. It looked like they were arguing. Zac sighed. Their messed-up relationship was what had started the whole problem in the first place. He honked his horn as he drove past, but they ignored him.
At least he’d tried.
He pulled up outside Piper’s house five minutes later. Norah met him at the front door.
“Hey,” she said, her mouth turning into the faint half smile he’d come to recognize. She only used it when she was around her friends. And now me. “Thanks for coming. Sorry we can’t have it at my place. It’s a construction site.”
“What are you having done?”
“The kitchen. It’s been a bit of a hot mess of mismatched cupboards and appliances. It’s crazy. My mom’s an interior designer, but after my dad left, she was so busy working and taking care of me—” She broke off, color draining from her face, as if she’d just said something she regretted.
“You okay?” he said in surprise before kicking himself. Of course she wasn’t okay. Her dad left them and then he died two years later. Zac couldn’t even imagine how much that would suck. “Sorry, forget I said that. It must have been pretty bad for you.”
“Why do you say that?” She visibly swallowed.
“I just figured since you didn’t talk about him, that it must be hard,” he said, kicking himself for a second time. “And now I’ve brought it up twice. Sorry. Via reckons I have foot in mouth disease.”
“It’s okay. I didn’t realize I never mentioned him. It happened so long ago.” Her voice was light, but there was still a strain around her eyes. She finally lifted her head, her dark hair tumbling around her face. “Anyway, we should go in, but word of advice, when Piper asks you to play Voyage of the Anthral, say no.”
“I heard that,” Piper said as they walked into the den. She was sitting on a long couch facing a fifty-inch screen on the wall.
“Sweet setup,” he said, relieved to change the subject from Norah’s dad, still worried he’d upset her. “Is that a twenty-eighty?”
“You better believe it.” She gave him a proud smile. “So, Zac, you ready to play?”
Norah folded her arms. “Piper—”
“It’s fine.” Zac scooped up the spare controller. Gareth was on a separate chair, his face puckered like he’d eaten something bad. Out of habit, Zac flicked him a smile. He couldn’t blame the guy for being pissed at having his crush stolen from under him. Then again, not his fault Gareth hadn’t gathered up the nerve to ask Norah out.
“It’s really not—” Norah started to say as Piper’s warrior princess raced across the screen and plunged an arming sword into his back. He turned to her.
“Seriously? You killed me before we even started?”
“Oh, my friend, we’d started,” Piper retorted, and the warrior princess raised her sword again. This time Zac was prepared, and his fingers flew over the controller, moving his character out of the way. He lasted ten minutes until a thick shield crushed his skull in.
He wiped his brow. “Wow, I didn’t know I sucked so much.”
“Don’t feel bad. You’re actually pretty good. Not as good as SageKnight194.”
“SageKnight194?” He rested the controller on his knee as Piper leaned forward, her pink hair swinging around her face.
“He’s my Internet lover,” she said in a defiant voice.
“Curious. Do continue,” Zac said, highly amused. It wasn’t just Norah he liked hanging out with. Piper was hilarious, and he was sure once Gareth chilled out, he’d be okay too.
“Part of the charm of our relationship is we’ve never met or seen photos of each other. Don’t want to spoil the magic.”
“So you have a boyfriend you’ve never met or seen?” He arched a brow, and Piper smirked.
“Yes, and you’ve got a girlfriend who isn’t real. Tomayto, tomahto.”
“Ouch. Talk about burn,” he protested with a grin. He put the controller down and stood up. Gareth jumped to his feet and snatched it, taking his place.
Zac wandered over to Norah, who was working h
er way through a long list. He now knew she wrote them out each night and crossed things off as she got through them. There was a complicated spreadsheet on her laptop, which he suspected would even challenge Via to read. As far as he could tell, Norah was an organizational genius.
“What’s the plan for this afternoon?” he asked.
“We need to start recruiting people for the Buy a Date auction. I’ve already got three teachers signed up, along with the sheriff, a doctor, and the mayor. We need at least two students, and they’ve got to be popular. It will get us higher bids. We can have auction sheets at school so anyone not going on the night can still put in a bid,” she said. “I thought Hamish Lachlan would be good. He’s great at athletics and on the student council.”
“I know someone else who would be perfect,” Gareth said from over on the couch, a sly grin flashing out across his long face. “I nominate Zac.”
“Me?” He blinked. The school often had dating auctions, and it meant being at the mercy of whoever had the highest bid. Last year three ninth graders had combined their money and made him serve tea and cakes all afternoon while quoting lines from Twilight. It was the worst. “I’m helping organize it. I’m exempt.”
“No such rule.” Gareth shook his head with a smirk. “What do you say, Norah?”
“G’s right. You’d be perfect. Everyone likes you, which means we’ll get loads of bids. But only if you want to. I know it’s not what we agreed on.”
She was right. Being part of the auction wasn’t in the plan, but it was important to her. Plus it was hard to say no when her eyes slanted down and her mouth softened into a droop.
“Fine. Sign me up. The things I do for toilets,” he said in mock protest before shrugging. “What else needs doing?”
“You could phone some more businesses. I’ve got to organize the other volunteers, and Piper and Gareth said they’d put posters up around town.”
“Can’t until I finish this game. It will ruin my ranking if I turn it off before I get the flag,” Piper called out. Norah let out a groan and crossed the room. Her jeans were loose, but her hips swayed as she moved, while the soft pink sweater hugged her curves. She casually plucked the controller from Piper’s hands and stood in front of the screen, one hip jutting out as her thumbs moved.