Sidetracked

by Deb Loughead

  “What’s up?” he says, without opening it.

  “I need to talk to you,” I say.

  “Can’t right now. I’m kind of busy,” Matt says. So I knock again. “What is your problem? I’m trying to get an assignment done. Quit bugging me.”

  “Why can’t you do it tonight?” I ask.

  “Because I have to be somewhere! What’s with you today?”

  I pause. Smile at the sweet rush I’m about to get.

  “Where do you have to be, Matt? Your Burger King job, or Shauna’s place?” The words are like candy in my mouth.

  Matt’s door swings slowly open. He stares at me as if I’ve just announced the world is about to end.

  chapter thirteen

  “Shh!” Matt pulls me into his room and shuts the door. “How did you find out, Maddy?”

  “Oh, I have my sources,” I say and sit on his bed.

  “Who ratted me out? Oh. Wait. Shauna, right?” When I nod, he sighs and sinks onto the bed beside me. “She didn’t know that I hadn’t told you guys about my job.”

  “No kidding. I was totally shocked when she told me. So where do you stash your uniform anyway?”

  “I just leave it at work. Someone takes it home and washes it for me. They’re really nice and understanding there.” He shrugs and sighs. “So are you going to blab it to Mom and Abuelo, or what?”

  “Blab? I don’t get it, Matt. Why don’t you just tell them yourself? Why don’t you want them to find out? What’s the big secret?”

  “Got any more questions?” He raises his eyebrows at me. “Don’t you get how complicated this is, Maddy? You know what Abuelo is like, how proud he is. He hates to feel that we’re taking care of him, so he tries to take care of us.”

  “Yeah, so why would it matter if you have a job?”

  Matt sighs again and scrubs his fingers through his thick dark hair. “Because I don’t want Mom and Abuelo to think I need more than they can give me. Don’t you see? I like having stuff. Like the iPod I bought off Craigslist. I don’t want to bother them for money I know they probably don’t have. I want to pay for stuff myself. I also don’t want them to worry that I might be sacrificing my schoolwork because of a job. You get it now?”

  Oh yeah, I get it all right. Finally. “So is that why you missed track practice on Friday? And why you’ve been keeping such weird hours all the time?”

  Matt nods slowly. “I can’t pick and choose all my shifts. Sometimes I have to work lousy ones. They know I have school and track, and they try to do the best they can with that. Sometimes I have to cover for people. Like last Friday, I worked two shifts and booked it home on my bike in between. It’s tough squeezing everything in. But I’m saving for a car. Might actually be able to buy one in a couple of years. Something I can fix up. God, I did so not want to have this conversation.”

  He stops babbling and looks straight into my eyes. I reach out and give him a quick hug.

  “You rock, Mateo,” I say, and he smiles.

  I ask him about Shauna and find out he likes her, but he says he can’t really give her much of his time. So they’re just friends for now. He says that could change. He never told us when he was going over to Shauna and Justin’s place because he doesn’t want Abuelo to know about him having a sort-of girlfriend. It would only make him worry about Matt losing focus at school and track. And if Mom found out, she’d never be able to not tell Abuelo. She blabs absolutely everything to our grandfather.

  “How well do you know Justin Halstead anyway, Matt?” I ask. “You guys are friends, aren’t you? In some of the same classes?”

  “We talk sometimes, train together, but that’s about it. He seems okay. Acts kind of goofy and shows off a bit. Just like Carter and some of those other guys. Which the coaches aren’t digging so much. Amazing athlete though. I’m pretty sure Shauna’s worried about him. For a lot of reasons.”

  “Major worried, Matt. And Shauna told me Justin looks up to you.”

  Matt’s eyebrows shoot up. “Why would he look up to me? He’s the better athlete.”

  “Maybe he’s a better runner, but absolutely everyone watches when you throw that shot put, for some crazy reason,” I say with an eye roll and then laugh when he blushes.

  “I’m glad you know what’s going on,” Matt says with a sheepish grin. “It was hard to keep it a secret for three months. So what else did Shauna say?”

  “She can’t figure out why Justin’s been acting like such a jerk lately. He has so much potential. He’s actually getting scouted already,” I say.

  Matt shakes his head. “I know. If I were him, I’d be totally focused on the track. But he likes to make people laugh. A classclown dude. And it feeds right into Carter’s lame attitude. That doesn’t work for Coach Reeves. You can tell he’s getting fed up.”

  “I can’t believe Carter can’t get his act together,” I say. “Shauna asked me if we can help her with Justin. See if we can keep him out of trouble, get him to focus. How do we do that?”

  “We’ll figure something out,” he says and pats me on the head like I’m a little kid or something. I playfully swat his hand away.

  “Mateo! Madina! Dinner!” Abuelo’s voice down the hall makes us jump to our feet.

  “Can’t wait to try that mac and cheese,” Matt says. He stops me at the door. “You won’t tell Mom, right, Maddy? Promise?”

  I nod and smile.

  A few seconds later, we’re sitting at the table scarfing down macaroni and cheese. Abuelo couldn’t resist adding his Spanish touch to it by throwing in some fried chorizo sausage. It’s awesome.

  Abuelo has an ear-to-ear grin. “You like my North American cooking, Mateo?” he says.

  Matt nods, his mouth too stuffed to answer.

  Mom comes in the door a few minutes later and sits down to eat with us. It’s the first time in ages we’ve all eaten together. Mom chats away with Matt like she always does whenever he sticks around long enough.

  I admire her for what she said on Saturday. She’s right. Sometimes you have to let your guard down and trust people and hope they’ll do the right thing. That’s easy enough at home, but I sure wish I could feel the same way about trusting the kids on my track team. Friends gather no dust, Jesse Owens said. But after the theft, I don’t know what to think anymore.

  I’m so relieved to know the truth about Matt’s activities, I concentrate on getting every last drop of cheese sauce off my plate. I try not to think about the call I have to make after dinner.

  I dial Zenia’s number after the kitchen is cleaned up. And, yet again, all she gives me are excuses. She says a calf cramp caused the false starts today. I’m not convinced. Clearly whatever happened on Saturday is playing on her mind and affecting her on the track.

  And when it affects her, it affects the rest of us too.

  chapter fourteen

  Tuesday morning practice goes well for a change, for most of us. Coach Reeves doesn’t start off with a lecture. Only his usual words of encouragement and reminders about doing our best. Because his decisions are waiting to be made.

  Only one person is getting flak from Coach Reeves, and that’s Justin. He shows up a few minutes late and has to do pushups because of it. He goofs off the whole time he’s doing them and makes the other guys laugh. Which is not amusing for Coach. Shauna rolls her eyes and shakes her head when she sees her brother acting stupid again.

  When it’s time to get serious, he doesn’t run well at all. Coach starts lecturing and accuses Justin of not being focused. He may be a rocket in the 100 and 400 meter, but the way it’s going right now, he might not even make the relay team. He’s that close to getting dumped. Whenever Coach raises his voice to blast Justin, I can’t help notice Shauna cringe. She’s trying to look out for her brother, but he just keeps blowing it. If only Matt and I could come up with a decent plan to help.

  This morning, Zenia is quiet. She’s focused on her racing and doesn’t say much to the rest of us. I catch her watching some of the gu
ys from time to time and realize a few of them are also watching her. Especially Carter.

  At one point, I actually catch them in an exchange. When Zenia glances in his direction, I spot him press a finger up against his lips. His eyes lock on hers. I can guess what he’s telling her when Zenia quickly turns away. Keep your mouth shut. No wonder Zenia has been so quiet the last couple of days. No wonder she made those false starts. She’s scared. She knows too much.

  In the change room after practice, I try to talk to her. She’s alone on a bench changing out of her runners.

  “You were amazing today in the high jump,” I say. “And on the track. I can’t believe how close we all are, you, me, Shauna and Kat.”

  Zenia smirks. “Yeah, but you guys are always one step ahead, aren’t you.”

  “It’s weird, isn’t it?” I say. “If Kat wins one race, I win the next one. We end up breaking even all the time. There’s no escaping it. And it’s driving Coach Reeves crazy!”

  “It’s pretty much guaranteed that we’ll all be on the same relay team,” Zenia says as she goes back to changing her shoes.

  “You know, I saw what Carter did out there,” I say, knowing nobody else can hear us over the girls’ chatter echoing off the concrete walls.

  Zenia narrows her eyes. “What are you talking about, Maddy?”

  “He was telling you to keep quiet. I saw him, Zenia. What does he want you to keep quiet about anyway?” Is she going to give it up now, or will I have to tell her what I saw on Saturday? I really don’t want to.

  Her mouth is a tight line. “Don’t worry about it, okay?” she says. “He…he was just goofing around, that’s all.”

  “Is that why you made all those false starts yesterday, Zenia? Was he giving you grief then too? If you know something, you should say something, don’t you think?”

  Her eyes stray sideways. “Why do you keep bugging me about it?” she says. “Why do you think I know something?”

  I shrug. I can’t confess what I saw on Saturday. I can’t admit I did nothing to help her. So I let it go, and I let her go. I watch as she saunters out of the change room and leaves me sitting with all my questions still unanswered.

  At lunchtime in the caf on Tuesday, a group of the old Wentworth gang gathers around a table to chow down and have some laughs.

  I spot Shauna, with her lunch, headed for our table. I keep thinking maybe she’ll swerve off to another table, but no. She plops into the empty chair beside me, says hi, and opens her lunch bag. Kat and Zenia look completely baffled. Nobody is saying much. It’s as if they’re not sure about Shauna and are upset she had the guts to sit with us, which is something that bugs me about high school. Some of my old middle-school friends are afraid to make new friends. I was, too, until I got to know Shauna a bit better. I’m glad she’s decided to suck it up and sit with us today.

  “Hey,” I say, “how’s it going? You were burning up the track this morning.”

  “Thanks. Just trying to do my best.” She smiles, then looks at my friends. They’re staring at her as if an alien landed at our table instead of a classmate.

  Kat narrows her eyes. Nobody says anything. So it’s up to me to make conversation. I start to babble about anything and everything. I keep checking the clock, hoping lunchtime will end soon. But I don’t need to worry long, because within a few minutes everyone has wandered off, including Kat and Zenia.

  “Wow, that went well,” Shauna says.

  I shrug. “It was good you took a chance. Maybe it’ll be easier next time.”

  In middle school, friendships were so much easier.

  chapter fifteen

  After school on Tuesday, everything changes. I know from the moment our coaches show up on the track that we’re about to hear some more lousy news. When Coach Reeves blows his whistle, we all hustle over. I wish I could make a run for it so I won’t have to hear what’s coming next.

  “Well, boys and girls,” he says in a low voice. “I think we may have had a break in Saturday’s theft. Someone came forward and told us what they saw. So you’ll notice a face missing on the team.”

  Everyone starts to look around. Who is missing?

  “And right now,” Coach Chapman says, “he’s in the office, having a meeting with the principal and vice-principals to decide if he should be suspended from school for the rest of the week. They’re trying to get the whole story out of him.”

  I have a brief flash of hope. Maybe Zenia finally said something! Maybe the truth about what I saw, about what I know, never has to come out. My teammates are still turning their heads in every direction to try and figure out who’s missing.

  Coach Reeves holds up one hand. “Look. The rest of you have to carry on. It isn’t your problem. Focus on your events, on being the best that you can be on the track and on the field. That’s your job right now. Not yapping among yourselves about what happened.”

  Everyone nods. Our coaches are depending on us to perform at our best no matter what. But it’s going to be hard. Especially for Shauna, whose face is sagging. It’s Justin who’s missing today. Matt glances at me and shakes his head. We’ve let Shauna down. I only hope it isn’t too late for Justin Halstead. I wonder who turned him in.

  And then I hear someone say something and turn around.

  “Major bummer. It sure sucks to be Justin right now, doesn’t it?” Carter says. He has a strange smirk on his face. One of relief, maybe even triumph, like he just won a race or something. But I can tell Zenia is completely shocked. She stares at Carter with disgust. Then she shakes her head and stalks toward the school doors.

  I run after her. I can’t help it. I just have to know. “What’s going on?” I say. “Where are you going?”

  “To see the principal,” she says, shaking her mane of hair in fury. “Something is wrong. It wasn’t only Justin hanging around those bags on Saturday. Carter was there too, and some other guys. There’s no proof who actually did do it, and Justin is getting blamed. Carter knows I saw something going on though. He saw me watching him, and when I tried to confront him about it, he started shoving me around.”

  “So you saw those guys messing with the backpacks and tried to ask them about it? God, Zenia, you’ve got guts!”

  “Not only that,” she adds. “I didn’t know it at the time, but it was my smartphone that got ripped off! There were lots of kids hanging around the backpacks that day. So it’s hard to say exactly who did it. But Justin isn’t the one.”

  She has a funny smile on her face. Is she crushing on Justin?

  “Oh god, Zenia. So that’s what happened on Saturday. That’s why Carter and his friends were giving you a hard time after everyone left.” Crap. I cover my mouth.

  Zenia stops dead. “What did you just say?” she asks in a low voice. “You mean you were there? You saw what happened?”

  I nod slowly. “I was way over by the school though. I couldn’t even see who it was. And I was scared, Zenia. I was a total chicken, and I’m so sorry.”

  “You think I wasn’t scared too? You didn’t even try to do something to help me. I can’t believe it.” She spins around and marches into the school.

  What a complete and total jerk I am. How will I ever make it up to Zenia? How will I even be able to face her again? What kind of a team will we be if we keep getting sidetracked with all these problems?

  I shuffle back to join the rest of the team. I feel as if I’m wearing lead runners. Everyone is watching me. I’m sure they’re wondering what Zenia and I were talking about. Coach Reeves has an eye on me too. He raises his eyebrows, and I just shrug. When he launches into his usual pep talk, I can barely hear what he’s saying, I’m so rattled.

  The coach winds up and sends us off to do our warm-ups. As I’m about to head for the track, fingers grip my arm and dig in hard.

  “Hey!” I yank myself loose and spin around.

  Carter is standing there grinning and frowning at the same time. “How’s it going, Maddy?” he says.

  �
�It’s going fine, Carter.” I try to edge away from him. Just having him this close to me is making me sweat.

  “What was Zenia whining about? What’s her problem? Is something wrong?”

  I’m close to tears. What’s become of this guy I thought I knew last year? I even went to an eighth-grade grad barbecue at his place with the whole track team. Was that only a year ago? What is he trying to prove?

  “Of course something’s wrong, Carter. Everything’s wrong. Don’t you get it? Coach Reeves is freaking out. The team is sucking. And there’s only one person who can fix things.”

  Carter narrows his eyes and pushes his face close to mine. “Stay out of it, Maddy. It’s none of your business.”

  He lopes over to the track and starts running. I watch the back of him, wondering how we’ll ever get this team to pull together with so much tension in the air.

  We carry on as best we can with Justin and Zenia missing from practice. Everyone’s wondering what’s going on in the principal’s office. And Coach Reeves seems uneasy. He dismisses us before they come back. Kat is icy for the entire practice, and then she takes off without even saying goodbye. Matt and I wait around with Shauna for a while, but when Justin and Zenia don’t come out, we give up and walk home.

  chapter sixteen

  I find out what really happened from Shauna when she phones me later that evening. Zenia’s report to the principal changed everything. They had to let Justin go because they don’t know who is telling the truth. Justin is keeping his mouth shut. He won’t tell Shauna anything. It’s as if he’s covering for Carter or afraid to speak up.

  Shauna can’t figure out why a guy like Carter, who is younger than her brother, has such an effect on him. I tell her people get a kick out of Carter because they think he’s cool. And this year he has a bigger audience. He looks and acts way older than he actually is. Girls want him, and guys want to be him, so now his head is too big for the rest of his body. I reassure Shauna that at least Justin has another chance now. At least he didn’t get suspended.