Rival Love

by Natalie Decker

  I drop the beanbag beside the desk, and head to the door.

  “Oh, and Caleb?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Please take a shower. You smell like you rolled in dog crap.”

  I hurry out of the room a little embarrassed. I knew I’m not smelling like a prince but dog crap? She must think I’m one of those guys who basks in their sweat.

  After my quick shower, I go to my room change, grab my book bag, then return to her room. I slink down into the overstuffed pillow on the floor and we actually do homework together. Well, at least for the classes we share, we help each other out. But for the ones we don’t share, we work silently, trying to figure out our own messes. I’ll admit, working with Skylar is kind of nice. She doesn’t lean over me, breathing down my neck the way Danielle does. She explains things, like where and how she got an answer instead of saying, “Oh you know you got it,” like Danielle does.

  “You should have been my tutor,” I mumble.

  Skylar looks at me and smiles. “I don’t do blowjobs or sex for rewards.”

  I glare at her. “Who said you’d have to?”

  She drops her gaze but the way her eyebrows are still raised and her eyes remain wide tells me she’s thinking something horrible.

  “You don’t know anything about me!” I yell. “You have no clue who I am or what I’ve been through. But there you go again, being all judgmental because of something you heard.” I slam my books shut and start to get up.

  Her fingers brush against my arm causing a tingling sensation throughout my body. “I shouldn’t judge you. You’re right and I don’t know anything about you other than the articles in the paper. But this street goes both ways. You don’t know anything about me either, but God do you judge me, Caleb. You and the rest of those people at Delmont.”

  I sit back down again, ready to reply but she moves her fingers to my mouth. The tingling ignites from my lips down to my toes. And for the first time ever, I want to show someone the real me. The broken, torn-up orphan and all the parts of me that I keep locked away. It’s my center, my main drive for being the asshole, heartbreaker, and even the need to be number one at everything in life.

  “So, I’ll make you a deal,” Skylar goes on. “I can’t judge you until I learn at least twenty-five facts about you. You can’t judge me until you learn twenty-five facts about me. These facts must come from one of us and not from family members, friends, or newspapers. Oh, and there is a limit on the number of facts you can collect in a day—let’s say two. Two’s a good number. Do we have a deal?”

  Her hand is out there, ready for me to seal the deal. I stare at it for a moment then I snatch it up and shake it. She smiles. “Want to start?”

  As much as I’d love to start this session of truth-spilling, I can’t think of anything I can really ask her. Let alone tell her about my own self. I mean, I guess my parents’ accident could be one, but that’s depressing and not one I’m ready to share just yet.

  Pondering over my thoughts a bit, I finally come up with something I can share. It’s corny, but hey, no one said it had to be total mind-blowing shit or pure gold. “Frogs freak me out. The whole webbed feet thing, and eating flies while secreting mucus, that’s just too much weird shit for me.”

  She giggles a little. “I’m not a fan of snakes. If I see one, I scream and run as far away as I can in the opposite direction. I don’t watch movies with them, don’t look at them at the pet store, even when they’re in their little glass cages. No.” She shivers a little, which in turn makes me laugh.

  She hits the iPod on the iDeck and Matchbox 20’s “Push” plays through the speakers. I drop my pen and start to sing along. “I love this band.”

  “You do? I’m sadly in love with Train.” I smile at that. Maybe these twenty-five facts won’t end up being so bad after all.

  Chapter 29

  Skylar

  My alarm goes off four, five, six times before someone knocks on my door. “Hey, Fletch. You dead in there?”

  I wish I were dead. It would be easier. The biggest game of the year is today, and I have no interest in moving from this spot on my bed. My alarm sounds off again, and Caleb doesn’t wait for my response he just opens the door and stares at me. “Fletch, don’t take this the wrong way but you look like hell.”

  “Thanks. That’s what I was aiming for.” I roll over to avoid his gorgeous eyes. Why does he have to have those wonderfully emerald eyes with flecks of gold splintering out? And why is it that today he has to look really sexy in his button-down shirt and dress slacks?

  My bed shifts a little. “What’s going on with you? You’ve been acting all…I don’t know, zombie-like lately.”

  I prop up on my left elbow but still don’t meet his gaze. “Here’s one fact for today. I feel like every time I walk the halls of Delmont High I’m betraying my friends, and the school I love. And today the feeling of betrayal has doubled.”

  “I understand.” I meet his eyes, and he goes on. “Don’t tell anyone this, but I’m nervous about tonight. This is my senior year and you know as well as I do alumni always ask you about this one particular game. I can’t be that person to say we lost. I just can’t.”

  I know the feeling. “Caleb, remember how I told you at the away game if you would have figured out their weakness earlier you could have had more points on the board?”

  “Yeah.”

  “That’s all you need to do tonight. Now, go tell my mom I’m sick.”

  He doesn’t. Instead, he yanks me out of bed, and carries me to the shower. “Caleb! What the hell…” He turns on the water and before I can stop it, I’m taking a shower with my nightclothes on. My anger is beyond controllable. “You’re such an asshole!” I punch his arm. He doesn’t laugh or growl at me like normal, he simply sighs.

  “You should probably close the curtain and start handing over your wet clothes. I’m pretty sure your mom will kill us both if you walk down the hallway dripping water all over the place.”

  I untangle myself from my wet clothes and hand them to him. Then I hear the door close. I don’t know why I bother taking the shower. My stomach knots at the thought of going to school today. If my mother makes me go to the game tonight, I’ll just die. Because that will be the final nail in my coffin. I’m currently the black sheep among both sides, and there’s no section in the stands labeled Unwanted Section. Even the stoners and losers have a section and I’m not welcomed there either.

  Why couldn’t someone invent something useful, like a ‘miss one whole day of your life once a year’ thingamajig? Meaning you go to sleep on a Sunday and instead of it being Monday when you wake up, it’s Tuesday. Why can’t that exist?

  I grab my bottle of body wash and notice it’s practically gone. Really? I make a mental note to pick some more up on the way to work tomorrow, and hide it from my mother who’s obviously using it. I’m all for sharing but she could at least tell me we were running on empty, or at least pick us up another bottle. Instead she buys some gross flower-scented stuff that makes me smell like someone’s grandma.

  After my shower, I change quickly, not really caring that I look like a bum in some gray sweats and a t-shirt. Then I make my way into the kitchen. My mom is sitting in her usual spot drinking coffee.

  “You know, if you’re going to use my stuff you could at least replace it,” I say.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t use anything of yours.” I give her a look that says she’s full of crap. She pauses and lifts a finger. “Wait, I’m wrong, I used your straightener cream the other day. I thought I put it back where you had it. The bottle felt full to me, but I’ll replace it. I’m sorry.”

  Jeez. She probably used all of that too! I’m just about to tell her about my body wash when Caleb strolls in and asks me, “Ready to go?”

  Seriously, he’s still trying to make me go to school today? My mom raises her brows like she’s waiting for me to object or something. I sigh in defeat and head out the door with
Caleb.

  Inside the school is when my walls begin to cave. Every inch of this place is decorated in yellow and brown banners. It makes me ill to see it. These aren’t my hallways. Those aren’t my team colors.

  I manage to make it to my first period class without vomiting, even though it’s exactly what I want to do. My stomach is churning and twisting as my butt slides into my assigned seat. Class is barely five minutes in and my name is announced over the PA system. The only thought surfacing in my mind is “What now?”

  The people working in the office just shake their heads every time they see me entering. I take a seat in what should be marked Skylar’s chair, since I’m in this damn place more often than I should be. Mrs. Anderson, the elderly woman, tsks at me. “He’ll see you now, Skylar.”

  I almost give her something to tsk at. Stepping into Principal Keegan’s office, I look about the room and notice I’m not the only one seeing him this minute. “Um…she told me to come in here.”

  Principal Keegan nods. “Have a seat, Skylar.”

  Slowly, I walk over to a set of leather chairs and sit in one. “Am I in trouble?” I can’t help but ask. There’s one person I recognize from swimming, which happens to be the coach. The other is the athletic director and there’s another person I’ve never seen before in my life. They all seem to be staring at me like I’m a piece of meat.

  Principal Keegan shakes his head. “No. Not this time.” He pauses for a moment. “How up to date are you on your current events, Skylar?”

  Is this a quiz? I make a face. “Very little. The newspaper is negative. I mean, unless it’s sports, I like to be current on those events.”

  He nods.

  “Well, I will make this brief. Our superintendent is facing embezzling charges. At the time of the incident, we thought our school would be able to maintain all its programs and activities without any major setbacks occurring. Unfortunately, that’s not the case.”

  “I’m not following. What’s all this have to do with me?”

  He clasps his fingers together. The others seem to stand motionless, staring at me. “Our athletic director, Mr. Chamberlin, has been getting phone calls from recruiters asking when they can schedule meetings to visit with you. College recruiting is a huge revenue for us. If more scouts come to see a player, the fan base increases, and therefore the money for our school increases.”

  “I get it. The snowball effect. What’s your point?”

  Mr. Chamberlin clears his throat. “Because of recent events, even if all the fall sports make it to the championships, we’ll have to cut some of the winter and spring programs. As well as take away some of the music and drama performances. I know this doesn’t seem like it’s your problem, and truth is, it really shouldn’t be. But I’ve got over a dozen scouts who want to see you. The list is in my office and it keeps getting longer as the weeks pass.”

  I shake my head and stand before I even realize what I’m doing. “No. I can’t. That’s going too far. I’m already tutoring a player. I’ve given up way too much as it is, and you want me to betray my friends and the school I love, so you can have your programs?”

  Coach Grim draws near me. “Skylar, I’ve seen what you can do. For years, I’ve wanted my team to swim with half the heart you do. You’ve got talent others can only dream of having. And I know what we’re asking seems like turning your back on the school you thought you’d graduate from. But I’m not asking you to do that. I am, however, asking you, where do you see your future? What college do you plan on attending? How do you plan on paying the tuition?”

  My heart stops. She has me pinned. My weakness is exposed. I need to swim. It’s my life, my passion. It’s like breathing, and man do I miss it. Coach Grim presses on, “Skylar, imagine you’re at the school you want to be at and someone pulls you off to the side and says, ‘The teams are being cut because of the lack of funds.’ There’s not enough time to host fundraisers to support swimming, basketball, wrestling, and hockey. We’re asking for your help, but I want you to do this for you. You owe it to yourself, Skylar, to get into the college you want, doing the things you love most.”

  “I need to think about it.” That’s the only answer I have for her right now. She nods.

  The other guy in the room shuffles past me as I head for the door. “It was nice to meet you, Skylar, I’m the new superintendent,” he says.

  I nod as he shakes my hand, leaving behind a film of sweat. Uck! I make a face and wipe my hand on my jeans. “I’ve got to get to class.”

  Bolting out the door, I head straight for the bathrooms. After washing my hands and splashing some cold water on my face, I stare at myself in the mirror. This decision should be easy. No. Done. Over. No emotional attachments. But the more I stare at my reflection, the more confused and heavier this decision feels. It’s like a monkey is now strapped onto my shoulders and won’t leave. If I say yes, those girls, that team, won’t accept me or the favor I’m doing them. If I say no, they’ll hate me when they find out I could have saved their program. At the same time, if I say yes and my friends find out, they’ll think I’m turning into a stupid Bobcat. Oh boy, and those uniforms! I mean really, brown and yellow? Barf in my mouth. Either way I’m losing.

  Storming out of the bathroom, I head to second period. I don’t make it to class like planned. My shoulder collides right into someone’s chest. “Damn Bulldog, you trying to plow me over or something?”

  I look up at Lance. He’s rubbing his chest and shaking his head. My eyes begin to water. “Hey, are you okay?”

  “Fine. I just…” wish I wasn’t Skylar Fletcher for once. But the more Lance stares at me, the more the need to tell someone something comes bubbling up, like a bad case of word vomit. And there I am, telling him everything.

  Chapter 30

  Caleb

  Class lets out early, so I head to the cafeteria, grab a lunch, and head to my usual spot. By the time Lance and Derrick take a seat, I’m halfway through my second hamburger. Derrick leaves the table and Lance watches him for a moment then turns to me. “I’ve got to tell you something.”

  “What?” I ask with a mouthful of food.

  “Mr. Chamberlin and Mr. Keegan had her in the office this morning, and basically told her that she’s the key to help save our school programs or end them.”

  I swallow. “What are you talking about?”

  “Dude, it’s been all over the news for the past three weeks. The superintendent stole like a shit-ton of funds. Anyway, the school thought they could still keep everything going. Turns out, that’s not the case. They’re begging Skylar to play sports.”

  I choke on my drink. “Sky?” I shake my head. “She won’t do it.” I shake my head some more. “No. She told them that, right?”

  He shakes his head. “She said she’d think about it.”

  “Really? Skylar Fletcher? We’re talking about the same girl, right? Long brown hair, crazy eyes, short and snappy. That girl?” I all but point to where she usually sits.

  Lance smacks my arms. “Yeah man. She’s thinking about it. Dude, our track team is on the chopping block along with wrestling.”

  “What are you boys talking about?” Danielle says as she takes a seat next to me. Lance shakes his head at her. I don’t blame him. I’d be doing the same as well as pushing her away from me if I didn’t need her to hold in my secret about Skylar living with me.

  “Nothing.” I shrug.

  She smiles. “Oh good. I need to talk to you about the limo, you did order that, right? And also, who’s riding along with us? Too many people will wrinkle and ruin my dress, so we must keep the head count down to about six. Unless they’re fat then four and that’s it.”

  Lance scoots away from the table. “Where you off to?” I ask.

  “I need to get my schedule from Skylar. I’ll talk to you later.” He shakes his head at me, as he passes by Derrick.

  “Dude, is it me or does he leave a lot during lunch?” Derrick asks as he plops down into Lance’s
empty seat.

  Danielle snaps her fingers in front of my face. “Caleb! I’m trying to talk to you about homecoming.”

  “It’s going to be fine. Stop worrying about it.” I want to tell her it’s a stupid dance. I want to tell her that her precious dress will be in the back of her closet once the dance is over and guess what? It’ll be wrinkled. This is one of the many reasons I haven’t had a steady girlfriend from freshman year until now. Because before this fiasco, I could go to any dance I wanted to, alone, and do my own thing without anyone’s approval. But now, it’s all about her and what she wants.

  Derrick burps real loud, grossing Danielle out. She glares at him and hisses, “He’s so not riding with us!”

  He’ll ride with us if he wants to. Especially if he’s offering to help with the cost of her precious limo. Yeah, they’re freaking cool as hell to ride in, but dude, this isn’t prom.

  Lunch finally ends, but Danielle’s clinging continues all the way to her class. She tries to make out with me near a set of lockers, but I make an excuse and bolt to my class. Once Skylar and I started sharing facts about one another, things changed. Not even between us, but within my own self. Especially today. Today of all days, I should be riled up and yelling like everyone else roaming the halls. This is the game of the season. The one that determines who walks away a legend and who walks away a chump.

  Instead of being pumped up and focused on the game tonight, I’m worried about Skylar. Her words from this morning have been on my mind more than I’d care to admit. Was she giving me a hint? And why hasn’t she said no to Mr. Chamberlin and Mr. Keegan’s request? It bothers me so much that I decide to take a detour from my sixth period class, and head to my uncle’s room.

  Usually I knock on his door and then enter, but this is his free period, so there’s no reason to knock. Walking into his room, I spot him instantly scribbling some stuff on his board behind his desk. “Uncle Brian?”