Two's Company (Four of a Kind #2)

by Kellie Bean

  John’s eyes darts away from my own as he presses his lips together. After taking a long, tired breath, he speaks, “Milo’s new family was picking him up here and coming to fill in all the paperwork. My mom and I dropped him off right after school. That’s the last of them. All three boys are now with their new families.”

  I offer John a sympathetic grimace. I wish I could do more. “Are you happy with the homes they all ended up in?” I ask, partially needing to know for myself as well. I can still remember each individual moment I first saw each of the puppies. Milo, Sophie, and Stella under the dumpster, Louie snuggled up in Kendra’s arms with Bear and Molly hiding out by the florist. The first time Molly ran toward me and so excited to see me, even though we’d never met before.

  To my relief, John nods enthusiastically. “Oh, for sure. Aunt Kendra let me read over all of the applications she was considering so Mom and I could help match families to puppies with the right temperament. I still kind of wish I could have kept one… Maybe Milo, or Bear. Maybe even Louie. Yeah, I don’t know.”

  I roll my eyes good-naturedly. “You would have kept all of them.”

  “No question.”

  "Do you want me to steal one back for you?" I ask, hoping to make him smile.

  Right away, my wish is granted. John's face opens up in a genuine grin. "I've always thought I'd be really good at a heist." he jokes back right away. "In a heist? I may need to brush up on my heist terminology."

  "Alright, it's settled then. We ride at dawn!"

  Though John's brow furrowed in confusion, his smile only grows. "Is that a heist thing?"

  "Does it matter?"

  John considers my question for a moment and then answers. "No. Probably not. Count me in. Alas, first I have to finish up the paper Mrs. Blanca assigned today. There’s a special place in hell for teachers who give assignments on the first day. Or even the first week.”

  I nod along, I’m also still a little stuck on the fact that John just seriously used the word alas in a sentence, completely serious. Any of the guys I play with would have gotten mocked relentlessly for saying something that dorky.

  Part of me thinks it’s actually pretty cute.

  “You just know they're going to be so much fun all year round.” John continues ranting about his homework, completely oblivious to my own train of thought.

  With everything else that happened today, I hadn’t realized that John and I didn't have another class together. After spending a day hanging out in his backyard and meeting his mom, plus the connection to Kendra, I could've seen us becoming closer friends.

  "Reece?" John asks.

  My eyebrows shoot up as I wonder what I missed. "What?"

  "I asked if you got any assignments today.” John says, talking more slowly now. I completely missed that he had asked me anything at all.

  I shake my head and apologize. "It's been one of those days. Actually… I should probably double check with friends in my classes, just to be sure. Honestly, I wasn’t playing that close attention to any of my classes today. It is totally possible that I missed something."

  "Not quite ready to be back in school?" John asks, his tone still light. His reminder of what had been occupying my thoughts all day was all it took to get me right back to standing in that hallway this morning, learning that soccer had been cancelled and all of my plans for the year, maybe even for my future, could be over.

  "Oh!" John says before I have to come up with something to say. "I completely forgot that you’re on the soccer team. I heard about what happened today. That's totally crazy. I'm so sorry."

  He says he’s sorry like someone close to me has died. Instead of appreciating his sympathy, I kind of hate how matter of fact he sounds. I try to shrug off his apology as though none of this matters to me at all, even I don't believe me. "Nothing's for sure yet. I don't think anyone's giving up.”

  John shoves his hands in his pockets of his jeans, looking a little uncomfortable. "Right. Of course. I didn't even think… Sports have never really been on my radar. None of my friends have ever been on a school team either, even though this was all anyone could talk about today, it all felt like it was happening in a world away from my life. You know?"

  I nod, even though I really don't know. I understand the not being into sports thing. Maybe I wouldn't understand if it weren't for the fact that I have three very unathletic sisters but sports? How could anyone feel like sports aren’t part of their world?

  "You'd be surprised but the school actually has a bunch of other after school stuff. They look great on college applications. Maybe if you’re not doing soccer this year, you could try something else."

  "I said nothing was for sure yet" I reiterate, a little annoyed now. I'm not going to need to join any other clubs, even if this really has fallen apart for good. I can’t just switch to photography or yearbook like it would just fill the gap in my life , especially where soccer is supposed to be filled by only soccer. I don't say any of this out loud, but John can probably read it on my face.

  "Sorry." he mumbles. "I just mean… I don't even know what I mean. I'm sure it will all be fine."

  Only half paying attention to him now, I nod and pull my phone out of my pocket. Still no news. Maybe mom is waiting for me at home, wanting to tell me what she knows in person.

  "I should go." I say, cutting John off from whatever he was saying. "I'm supposed to be taking Molly out for a walk." That last part is kind of a lie. I'm supposed be at soccer right now, I’ve already told him so much. I'm pretty sure it's Reilly's turn to walk Molly. She's still so small, that once around the block in five minutes or less is more than enough to tire her out.

  I just don't want to be here anymore. I don't want to be talking about this anymore.

  I’m not ready to be thinking about possibilities outside of soccer.

  Our goodbyes are awkward and forced. By the time I stepped back out into the sunlight of late afternoon, tears are prickling behind my eyes.

  Everything just feels crappy and awful. Usually I love the first day of school, but, it already feels like this one day has been enough to ruin my entire year for me.

  I turn on my street right as I get a new text message from my dad. It's another picture of Molly, her big brown eyes staring right at the camera.

  Dad: Somebody misses you.

  It's all the message says, but it's enough to get me walking a little faster.

  "Molly!" I call out as soon as I open the front door of the house. I hear her barking from upstairs right away. Kicking off my shoes in two seconds flat, I fling my backpack down by the floor near the stairs. Before I’m even halfway up, she's struggling from upstairs to come down to me. I stop moving allowing myself to enjoy the hilarious and adorable antics of a dog with very short legs trying to get down a step. I'm not actually willing to risk her making a wrong move and getting hurt, so I jump in and pick her up soon after.

  "She's never going to learn if you keep saving her.” Dad says, still standing upstairs and looking down at the two of us.

  "She’ll figure it out soon enough. I'd rather she practice from a little closer to the floor."

  Dad doesn't argue, it also doesn’t really look like he agrees with me either.

  "Has she been out recently?" I ask. I've already walked one dog today, but I wouldn't mind going for another one.

  "Reilly took her about ten minutes ago."

  Which brings me to my next option.

  Molly still in my arms, I take the rest of the steps to the second floor landing. As soon as I'm standing beside my dad he steadies his gaze on me. "Your mom filled me in on the basics. Do you want to talk about it?"

  As soon as I open my mouth, not even sure what I want to say, I feel a quivering breath shoot upward from my lungs. My eyes start stinging all over again, I refuse to surrender to the tears.

  "I'm okay.” I force out, trying to keep my voice steady. "I think I'm just going to take a nap."

  Shutting the door to my bedroom behind
me, I'm relieved to see that Reilly isn't around. There’s a half-empty glass of water on my bedside table from earlier that morning. I chug it down in two gulps.

  As soon as I lay down and tuck my blanket up to my neck, placing Molly beside me, it's easy to see that little dog is in no mood for sleep.

  Usually, she'll settle down if there's nothing to do for a few minutes. Today she seems determined to chew on absolutely everything. Mostly, she focuses on my blanket, but after closing my eyes for a few seconds, I'm startled into forcing them open again when a tiny tooth nips against my nose.

  "Go to sleep.” I grumble. I should've left her with my dad. Now that I'm in bed, the last thing I want to do is get out again.

  Molly ignores me.

  I wonder if it's possible to train a dog to go to sleep on command. Or at least to stop moving and gnawing on stuff on command.

  Blessedly, her little body trots off in the opposite direction, down to the end of the bed.

  Fine, I can live with that.

  She's still for about half a second before I hear the now familiar ‘thunk’ of her jumping off the bed and onto the floor.

  Fine, just stop moving. Stop making noise.

  Her nails click against the hardwood of the floor, running at full speed toward the other side of the room.

  Go. To. Sleep.

  Maybe I can text someone to come get her. I've probably earned some serious pity points today.

  Crunch.

  Crunch. Crunch.

  I instantly recognize the sound Molly's teeth wrapping around something plastic, biting into it again and again.

  Over the last two weeks, I have tried so hard to get anything off the floor that might interest her. The noise continues. Clearly I’ve missed something.

  With a groan, I throw off my blanket and get out of bed. Molly is in the corner, biting into an empty water bottle that is just a little too big for her to get her mouth all the way around. It’s cute but probably not the safest.

  I grab her by the middle, picking her up and bring her back into bed with me.

  All at once, I’m completely drained. I can’t even find the willpower to get back under the covers. Instead, I'm sitting up on top of them, Molly on my lap as I rhythmically stroke the soft space between her ears.

  It's only then as she snuggles in against my thigh, I finally feel so content that my own emotions catch up with me.

  I feel a tear run down my face before I even realize I’m crying. A second later, another falls.

  From there, they don't stop.

  I don't know exactly how long I'm lying there, or when I fell asleep, but when I wake up, I still don’t feel rested.

  The sky outside my window is starting to darken. Molly is snoozing beside me. I should feel great. Instead, the day still hangs heavy over my head.

  I grab for my phone and read through my missed messages.

  Jamie: I’ve been crying all night and my mom doesn’t even care. She says soccer was a waste of my time anyway. WTF?!

  Tessa: Any news?

  Emma: The PTA meeting is scheduled for Thursday night at eight o'clock. They're pitching it as a chance to explain their decision, not as one where anything is actually open for debate. The whole team is planning to go to plead our case. Or back the coaches. I don't know. The guys too. Can you be there?

  I stare at my phone for a second, reading the message again to make sure I've got it right.

  Two more days.

  Two more days until my chance at playing soccer this year is destroyed once and for all.

  Or… Two more days to figure out how to figure out how to fix all of this.

  Either way, two more days.

  Reece: I'll be there.

  Chapter 11

  I spend the next two days wishing for some sort of movie-moment-type epiphany, when some tiny moment in my life will lead to a shocking discovery about how to fix everything in a way that keeps everyone happy, or which defeats the bad guy.

  Instead, my life feels a lot like waiting for an asteroid to hit—I know when and where it will hit and exactly what the impact will be, but I have no idea how to stop it.

  I’m not even really sure of who the bad guy is.

  By Thursday, absolutely everyone has heard about the big council and PTA meeting. In classic high school order, it only takes a day before the excitement surrounding the discussion has worn off. It’s only those of us who are actually on teams that are still talking about what comes next at the end of the school day on Thursday.

  I end up driving to the meeting with Mom instead of going with my friends. My sisters all offered to come for moral support, I turned them down. I don't need to be one of four today. Tonight, it needs to be just me that everyone sees.

  I'm terrified.

  "Are you sure it has to be me?" I ask as we pull into the parking lot in front of Fairview's tiny City Hall.

  She doesn't need to ask what it is I'm talking about. "I'm sure we can get someone else to do it if you really don't want to.” she says, leading with the typical supportive mom line. "However, I do think we'll have a better chance of success if it's you. A random student making a plea to her town is touching, but not necessarily noteworthy. One of the Fairview Four doing the exact same thing…"

  "Mindy will probably make it front page news.” I finished for her. As I say the words, I know they're right. Which makes me even less sure of this plan rather than more certain of it.

  If this somehow works and my face is the one attached to the victory, then sure, I'm all for it. If we fail…

  "It's your decision." my mom says as she turns off the car. I'm still staring out the front window, willing myself to move.

  There are plenty of other people milling around the front of the building and a few more cars pulling in. When I was picturing all of this in my head, I’d been hoping for swarms of Fairview citizens including every student from all three schools, every single one of their parents, maybe even people coming in from nearby counties to support our cause. Sadly, I can already see we aren't going to have that kind of showing.

  "Do you think it'll work?" I asked, looking over at my mom. Her dark hair, streaked with bold strands of blond and red looks more styled than I've seen in months.

  My heart sinks when she doesn't answer immediately. "I honestly don't know. I've talked to everyone I could to try and get more information about what it is we're walking into, but it's gotten me nowhere so far. I'm not even sure how many people even know what happened. All we can do is try. I know it feels like the finish line right now, but if you can look back on tonight and know that you did everything you could, that's going to count for a lot in the long run. Even if it doesn't get you where you want to go for this year."

  I don't even try to decipher what that means and instead unbuckle my seatbelt, and climb out of the car.

  She doesn't think this is going to work any more than I do.

  I know from the nonstop stream of text messages I've been getting tonight that most my friends are already here. I won't be sitting with them though. Instead, there's a seat saved for me right near the front of the town council chamber along with a couple of the school's coaches, including two parents who have signed up to speak.

  All of those adults in there. And me.

  Thinking about it sends my stomach swirling into knots. I keep trying to psych myself up like I'm about to get out on the field before game, hoping I can turn anxiety into nerves of steel. So far, it's not working.

  Inside of the building, things are even more chaotic than the parking lot.

  A few people glance at my mom and I, most are too wrapped up in their own conversations for more than a cursory glance.

  My mom and I head toward the main hall area. It's tiny. As I was surprised that Fairview had any sort of City Hall at all, I guess this isn't that unexpected. There's only about thirty or so plastic chairs setup throughout the room, with another five sitting behind a long table near the front of the room. A few people I vaguely r
ecognize stand huddled together nearby. The only one I know by name is Principal Holter, a man whose silvery hair suggests he's quickly approaching retirement.

  These have to be the people we're up against, the ones heading the meeting. They’re probably the ones who decided to cut our teams in the first place.

  The meeting is called to order by shouting, rather than through any official means.

  People crowd in from the hallway, lining up against the walls of the room because there's nowhere else left to sit. As a woman starts talking at the front of the room, Mom navigates her way through the crowd, leading me behind her until we've found a spot near the wall right at the front of the room.

  "Who is that?" I whisper once we're situated.

  "Mayor Samuelson."

  Honestly, I'm a little surprised. The woman addressing the room looks a fair bit younger than my parents. She’s dressed in a white pantsuit that not only fits her perfectly, but also gives her dark skin a youthful glow that makes her look more like a catalog model than a civil servant.

  If I'm impressed by what Mayor Samuelson looks like, I'm far less into what she's saying. After five minutes, she's still droning on about general updates for the town; a new stoplight, expansion of the library (my sisters will be thrilled), and a new schedule for the buses running between Fairview and Smithsville.

  Unless town council meetings are actually way more popular than I thought, she has to realize that none of this matters to most of the people here. This isn't what we came for.

  Fifteen minutes later, I'm starting to fidget when the Mayor finally introduces her co-host for the evening, Mr. Pratt, head of the Fairview High Parent-Teacher association. It's the first time that she's acknowledged the school at all.

  "We realize that many of you have concerns about the decision to cut down on our student sport offerings this year.” The Mayor's voice rings out over the room, crisp and clear through the microphone situated on the podium in front of her. "This was not a decision we made lightly, also, it’s not one we had any choice in." She pauses only for a moment to clear her throat. "School funding has been on the decline for a while now, and while we have done our best to subsidize certain programs through the town's budget, a breaking point was inevitable."