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

by Kellie Bean

  “I’m going?” I ask, double-checking.

  She nods. “You’re going.”

  Chapter 28

  Waiting a week before going on live television is both the hardest, and one of the easiest things I’ve ever had to do. I don't want to get there, but am more than ready to be done with the feeling of dread that lives in my stomach now.

  There are so many ways I could screw this up.

  I don’t think I’ve ever been this nervous about anything in my life. On one hand, I’m totally happy to wait, telling myself I’m preparing, even though mostly I’m just watching morning shows and calling it research.

  As news of the interview spreads, so does word of mouth about our video. We’re up to three thousand views by the next week, that number seems to be going up every time I look.

  The day before I’m set to miss school for the interview, I’m all set to go find John after classes end, but he’s already waiting for me by my locker.

  “I really want to give you a hug right now.” he says. “Is that allowed?”

  “I won’t tell if you don’t. Besides, there were never any specific rules.”

  John folds me into his arms. For a moment, the entire school falls away, along with all of my fears about the next day.

  “You’re going to do great.” he whispers in my ear.

  “Thanks.” I answer, giving him a tight squeeze. “I really needed to hear that.”

  John starts to let go, but I squeeze his body close to mine all over again, not quite willing to face the rest of the world again yet.

  Soon, but not yet.

  Dad and I leave for Virginia only an hour later, since the drive is so long and we have to be at the studio for eight in the morning, about mid-way through their morning programming.

  I blare music for the entire trip, trying to drown out the sound of how hard my heart is working, beating inside my chest and threatening to send me into a panic.

  This was a terrible idea.

  Or an awesome idea.

  I’m going to embarrass myself in front of everyone.

  Or I’m going to be a freaking rock star on that show, and everyone I’ve ever met will know it.

  Everyone. I’ve. Ever. Met.

  Yeah, okay… there’s no way I’m going to survive until it’s time for the show.

  The time flies by and I’m still alive, even if I don’t sleep much at all that night. It’s kind of weird being back in Richmond, the city my family called home not all that long ago, and not having time to see anyone.

  It doesn’t really feel like home anymore, but I still wish there was time to visit.

  Giving up on sleep, I hop in the shower and then take some extra time to do my hair. Knowing I look good will probably help, at least a little.

  Then, just like that, I only have a few minutes before we go live. Live in front of thousands and thousands of people.

  I remind myself to breathe, but it only makes me feel light headed.

  Reece: It’s almost go time. Wish me luck.

  John: You don’t need it. You’re unstoppable, Reece. They’re going to love you. I’ll be thinking about you the whole time.

  I was kind of hoping that hearing from John would make me feel like it did that day I told him I wanted to say yes to going out with him, but my nerves are still there and my palms are still sweating. Still, I feel better. No matter what happens next, I’ve got my family, I’ve got my team and I’ve got John waiting for me at home. This may be a bigger audience than I’m used to, but I’m Reece Montgomery Donovan, I was made for the spotlight.

  My dad goes with me to the edge of the soundstage where I wait until they call my name.

  As soon as they do, I’m ready. I walk out with my biggest smile, knowing my hair looks awesome and that whatever comes next, I can handle it.

  “I can’t believe it’s over already.” I say to Dad less than twenty-minutes later. We’re already back in the car. My interview was probably five minutes total, half of that was the morning shows hosts talking or showing clips from the video I made.

  I’m not even sure I remember what happened after I shook their hands, sitting down in the chair I’d been told to sit in. I think they asked me questions, and I’m pretty sure I didn’t say anything too stupid. But that’s about it.

  Dad reaches over and squeezes my knee. “You were perfect.” he promises, I do my best to believe him.

  I fall asleep before we leave the city, only waking up when Dad pulls into a truck stop, somewhere off the interstate.

  “Are we home?” I ask, opening my eyes.

  “Not even you can sleep for that long.” Dad answers, parking the car. “I was hungry and figured you might need something to eat too. It’s been quite the day.”

  Getting out of the car to stretch my legs feels like heaven, eating feels even better. I order a burger and two sides of french fries, eating every last morsel on my plate, plus all of the fries dad doesn’t finish.

  “Did you want me to get you another order of them to go?” Dad asks, while I can tell he’s joking, I consider it anyway.

  “Nope, I’m okay. I’m going to Lizzie’s with John and some friends once I get home.” Everyone will be out of school by the time we get back home, which means it will be time to celebrate.

  As I pop the very last of the french fries into my mouth, Dad’s expression changes ever so slightly.

  “What?” I ask, already wishing I’d taken him up on the offer for more food.

  “John.” he states, simply. To the point.

  “What about him?” I try to look as innocent as I possibly can.

  “Your mother and I have noticed that you’ve been mentioning him quite a lot for weeks now. I hadn’t planned to bring it up until after our trip since you already have more than enough on your plate…”

  “Since it came up naturally, you might as well accuse me of breaking my promise now instead of later?” I ask, raising my eyebrows. I could leave him to stew on that for a few minutes. I’ve had a pretty good day, and he did let me eat some of his fries, so I let him off the hook instead. “I like him.” I say with a shrug, trying to downplay just how much I like him. “But, he knows the deal.”

  “So you aren’t seeing him?”

  “With my eyes, sure.” With my heart, yeah, I’m pretty sure I’m doing that too but my Dad doesn’t need to know that. “There hasn’t been anything between John and I that could count as dating. I promise.”

  Since I don’t even think about Noah any more, I see no reason to bring him up either.

  “Well, if I haven’t said this a million times already to you lately, I’m proud of you. I am ridiculously, insanely proud of everything you’ve done and in only a few months. If this is who you are at sixteen, Reece, you are going to grow up to be an incredible woman someday. Someday soon. Sooner than I’m probably ready to think about.”

  I’m probably just over tired, but tears start to well up in the corners of my eyes.

  Yeah, it’s been a long day.

  By the time we get home, our campaign video has been viewed seventy-five-thousand times. I’m pretty sure I’m going to pass out from shock.

  We did it.

  I did it. Though I doubt I’ll ever say that particular thought out loud. It's hard not to be proud of myself right now. I don’t even know what comes next, at least now there’s going to be a next. We’re going to get to play again, and at least part of that is because of me.

  It’s kind of hard to believe, but mostly, it just feels awesome.

  I think this might have been the craziest day or so of my entire life.

  That very next Saturday my attic is full of people, almost all girls, and every single one of them excited.

  We officially have way more money than we could ever need. Not only will we be able to form an official team in the county’s women’s league starting right after Thanksgiving, including hiring both Coach Wasserman and another collegiate level coach to come up with us for our games and pract
ices, we can also afford everything from uniforms to transportation to meals during our away games. Our season may be starting late, but now it’s going to last all year and be so much cooler than anything we ever could have done through the school.

  Even better, the national coverage has gotten the attention of college scouts. There are no guarantees, but at least now they know the girls of Fairview High are here, and that we’re some of the most dedicated players they’re ever going to find.

  We’ve also had people commenting on our campaign from all over the country, sharing words of support or stories that are equally as frustrating as what we’ve gone through. We’ve already donated some of the money we made to three other crowdfunding campaigns that we haven’t been able to stop thinking about.

  Without any real semblance of order, the room discusses what we could do with the leftover money. The world is watching—or at least a small, but enthusiastic corner of it— we don’t want to screw this up.

  “We could divide the rest into scholarships for everyone?” A girl named Nicole suggests. A few people nod their approval. Of course we’d all be on board for a bit of help with paying for college. I’m not convinced.

  “Anything else?” I ask, even though some people are still talking and I’m sure not everyone will hear me.

  “We could give the extra money to the school.” Emma points out.

  “Why?” Someone else asks. “They didn’t give us anything when they had the chance.”

  “Yeah, but we also weren’t the only team to get cut. Maybe the money will help make sure this doesn’t happen again. Or that we get an official team next year if we want it and the year after that. Seriously, it’s a lot of money.”

  At first, I hate the idea. But it’s possible I’m being a little vindictive.

  Not a single person from the faculty besides Coach Wasserman has mentioned our campaign, or congratulated us on our epic victory. But, Emma’s right. They aren’t the ones that would really be benefitting from the donation.

  “If we’re the ones donating the money, do we get a say in how it’s spent? Or can they use it for something stupid?” I ask, not even sure who I’m directing the question at.

  “If they don’t agree to what you want, then you find somewhere else to use the money” Rhiannon points out like this is the easiest problem in the world. “You guys are in the driver’s seat on this one. They need you a hell of a lot more than you need them. And hey, it’s a nice problem to have.”

  In the end, we decide to give the extra money back to the school. Not only do they have to say publicly that they’ll put all of the money back into the programs who had their funding cut, but Mom hires a lawyer as well to make sure everything is taken care of more officially too.

  We can afford to hire lawyers now, that’s pretty cool.

  For weeks, I feel like a superhero. I know I couldn’t have done this without the help of like a million different people, but I’m also totally okay with feeling proud of myself at the same time.

  In only the span of a few months, I did some real good.

  I made a real difference.

  I got a puppy too.

  Nope, not a bad year so far at all.

  Chapter 29

  John: Merry Christmas! 45 more days!

  Reece: Merry Christmas!!! Do I still get to see you later?

  John: Of course!

  Staring up at my ceiling on Christmas morning, I let the warmth of the holiday wash over me. Finally, a vacation. Between school, soccer and having wormed my way back into a full volunteer position at the shelter, things have been busy. I’ve been looking forward to getting two weeks off for what feels like forever.

  In another forty-five days, I get to add one more thing to the list of things keeping me busy. John. Forty-five days until the end of the semester. The end of the deal I made with my parents.

  It seems like an eternity, but I’ve kept my word. Thankfully, my parents didn’t even try to include just having guy friends as part of the deal, so John is over at my house at least once a week where my parents can see that we’re totally behaving ourselves. When we go out, it’s always with friends. If we are alone together, it’s outside or with someone else in the very next room.

  John has been even more determined to behave than ever. He keeps telling me that if we’re going to get the chance to date officially in just a couple of months, then he wants to do it right.

  It’s kind of adorable and kind of torture all at the same time.

  As a result, John has managed to become one of my very best friends.

  Later tonight I get to see him, which makes today even better than it would have been already. He, his mom and his aunt will be going to the shelter for an hour as part of their family's Christmas tradition, to spend a little holiday time with all of the animals in their care.

  This year, I get to be a part of it too.

  Christmas is my favorite time of year.

  The tree, the lights… the presents. All of it.

  Even though our parents beg us to let them sleep in, my sisters and I are all up by eight in the morning without any alarms. Reilly and I escape into the other bedroom to try and kill a little more time, but before long, either our voices or Molly’s happy barking must wake our parents anyway.

  Dad knocks on the door and opens it a moment later, Molly runs in from behind him and jumps on my lap.

  “Presents or breakfast first?” Dad asks.

  “Presents!” We all yell back at once.

  The day passes as quickly as it always does, especially because Dad cooks dinner way too early. Somehow, we manage to find room for whatever he’s cooked up for us.

  Back in Richmond, Christmas was usually spend driving around to see different friends or family members, usually only for a couple of hours before we had to pile back in the car and go to the next step.

  This is only our second Christmas in Fairview, at least that I can remember. So far I’ve gotta say, I’m a fan of the highlights of the day being presents, food and spending some actual time with my family rather than just being stuck in traffic together.

  Things settle down for a while after dinner, with both Reagan and Rhiannon disappearing upstairs for a nap before our family movie date later. For once, I have no interest in sleep. Christmas only last for twenty-four hours, then I’ll have to wait another year for it to come around again.

  I head up to the attic and find Riley curled up on the couch, not sleeping, but not doing anything else either. Molly is chewing on one of her new stuffed toys underneath the coffee table.

  I sit down right on her feet, wiggling my butt around until she moves out from under me.

  “It’s Christmas.” I say with a happy sigh.

  “I had no idea.” Riley answers with a quirked eyebrow.

  “What was that? Did you, Riley Donovan, just use sarcasm?” I cover my mouth, feigning shock. “I didn’t know you had it in you.”

  Riley rolls her eyes, which doesn’t quite feel like her usual self either.

  “Come on, Rye. You love Christmas.”

  “I do.” Riley says, and thankfully, she smiles. “I’m just kind of lost in thought, I guess.”

  “Did you want me to go?”

  “Nope. Stay. I’m just thinking about how New Year’s is coming in just a few days. A new year, and a fresh start.”

  “Why do you need a fresh start?” Ever since that day she told me about the girl she asked out, Riley has mostly gone back to being her old self, if not a little more subdued than she used to be. Everyone in my family has changed since we moved to Fairview. There’s a good chance we probably would have changed even if we hadn’t moved, so I didn’t really worry about it. It’s not like Riley is required to be the nicest human on the planet all the time. I even think she could stand to be a little less nice sometimes, though I’d never tell her that.

  “I just think I need a change.” she answers after a while. “I’m not sure what it is yet, but there needs to be something.
”

  A ding from my phone pulls my attention from my sister. It’s a text from Jamie wishing me a merry Christmas. It's not the text I can't stop staring at, but it’s the time.

  I’m supposed to meet John and his family at the shelter soon.

  “Time to go?” Reilly asks.

  I say, “I can stay if you need me too.” even though it kills me a little.

  “Nope, I’m good. I promise. I’ll probably nap soon anyway.”

  I don’t wait for any more position than that, within a minute I’m in the front hall, putting on my coat and boots.

  “Heading out?” Dad’s voice interrupts my rush out the door when he steps into the hall from the living room.

  “Yup. It won’t be long though. I should be back before everyone else wakes up.”

  “Can we talk to you in here for a second first?”

  We has to mean him and Mom, so it’s not exactly like I can say no.

  I text John that I’m going to be a few minutes late as I kick my boots off all over again.

  My parents are on the couch together, mom’s legs stretched out on the couch across dad’s lap.

  “What’s up?”

  “Sit down for a second.” Mom says, gesturing toward the chairs that sit on the other side of the room.

  Am I in trouble?

  I study both of my parent’s faces. They’re both smiling, and it is Christmas. They wouldn’t choose today to start something.

  Or, at least they probably wouldn’t.

  I sit down and wait for them to start talking. I won’t be digging myself into more trouble by speaking first this time around.

  “We have one more present for you.” Mom starts. All my fears disappear at once, leaving me wiggling excitedly in my chair.

  Dad grins at me before chiming in. “You’re probably getting a little sick of hearing this, but we’ve been so impressed with you lately, Reece.” Nope, I really can’t see myself getting sick of hearing that. I still keep my mouth shut. “While this school year got off to a rocky start, what you’ve done since then has been well beyond our expectations.”