“I’ll see you guys when you get around,” she says leaving us alone again. She even closes the bedroom door. She has some misplaced trust.
Kennedy always looks gorgeous first thing in the morning, making it hard to try not to bury myself deep inside her. I have to talk my dick down from the ledge.
Kennedy gets out of bed heading over to her dresser pulling out a pair of shorts and the white blouse I love on her so much. She doesn’t bother going into her bathroom which I appreciate. She strips down putting on a rather cute pair of striped boy short underwear. At least I think that’s what they’re called. A white lace bra (my favorite) is thrown on next. She turns grinning at me as I watch her get dressed. I couldn’t force myself if I tried to look away. She’s fucking perfection.
“You going to get ready or just watch me prance around in my underwear?” she jokes with a wink.
“I think I’d rather watch you prance around in the cute little underwear, to be honest,” I jump off the bed getting to her side as quickly as possible. Planting a kiss on her shoulder and wrapping my arms around her waist. “God damn…you’re gorgeous.”
Kennedy pushes me off of her to continue to get dressed. I can see the smirk on her lips at the attention I’m showing her. “Get ready. I’m starving,” she says bending down to pull her shorts on.
“I have something you can eat,” I whisper in her ear as I envelope her pushing my front into her backside. The assault gets me a harsh shove on the chest and a disapproving shake of the head. “What? I thought it was funny.”
I pulled on my clothes from last night leaving Kennedy alone to get ready. Once I reach the kitchen Mrs. Conrad is sitting at the bar picking at her food. She notices that I’m walking in the room and looks up at me. There is no sign of pity in her eyes that I half expected this morning.
“Good morning, honey. How did you sleep?” she asks with a new sad expression on her face. I have to keep telling myself it’s because she cares.
“I slept great. Thank you for letting me stay,” I smile in appreciation.
“Something tells me this isn’t the first time this has happened.” She raises an eyebrow at me in speculation.
“No ma’am, it’s not. You have a very sweet daughter who took me in when I didn’t have anyone else to go to,” I explain honestly fiddling with the hem of my shirt. There’s no point in lying at this point.
“I figured,” she smiles. “Come get some food before you have to head to school.”
I stack a few pancakes and pieces of bacon on my plate smothering it all with syrup. Kennedy comes out a few minutes later finding her mother and me talking about baseball. She snatches a piece of bacon off my plate and nearly ate it in two bites grinning.
Kennedy must have overheard our conversation. “Georgia’s coming this Friday? That’s exciting,” she says cheerfully. She walks by kissing me on the cheek before filling her own plate of pancakes.
After breakfast and a quick goodbye Kennedy and I drive to school in near silence. I can tell she’s deep in thought. I just don’t know about what yet. She’ll talk when she’s ready. That I can guarantee. I’ve learned that when something is bothering Kennedy it’s best to let her fiddle with it in her own head before trying to convince her to share it with anyone else.
I dodge everyone’s questions the remainder of the day about what happened to my eye. Most people just believe I got into a fight. I let them go with that theory. I don’t have it in me to come up with some bullshit excuse anymore like I use to. Kennedy keeps quiet as Dan and Mark ask about it. She looks up at me almost pleading to quit hiding the truth.
Coach pulls me into his office during third period to talk to me about my newest wound. I tell him the same lie I had told everyone else. I got into a fight with some jackass from a neighboring school. He seems to buy it, but he explains that he’s postponing the Georgia scouts until it’s healed. I express my concerns that they will overlook me now, but he assures me that that isn’t possible. Apparently I’m on the top of their list. My dreams are within my grasp still and nothing is going to get in my way as far as I’m concerned.
Chapter Forty-Seven
-Kennedy-
“What can I do for you Kennedy?” Coach waves me into his office with a smile. I stand just outside the threshold having this internal debate on whether this is the right thing or if it’s a colossal mistake.
“I don’t have much time, but I need to talk to you,” I say as I finish the walk into his office. “It’s important.” I nervously close the door behind me. There’s no turning back now.
To be honest, I don’t know what I’m thinking. My only thoughts are with Graham. Being worried about him has become a full time job. The straw that broke the camel’s back was him showing up like he did last night. He can’t go on living like he is now and I refuse to sit around doing nothing. I know it isn’t my place. A part of me believes that it is. He confides in me and I know that if the roles were reversed that he would be up in arms.
“I need to talk to you about Graham,” I begin to explain taking a minute to collect my thoughts. Maybe I’m trying to talk myself out of telling him. Coach watches me intently waiting to hear what I have to say. Graham’s his star player. I can see the worry in his brow. “I don’t know how to say this and I’m not even sure if you’re the right person to be telling.”
“If it has to do with Graham then I’m the right person. What’s going on?” he asks obviously worried about his starting pitcher. Coach is the type of man who invests more than just time in his players. He sees them as his own children. Their troubles become his troubles.
Here goes nothing…
“I’m just going to come out and say it.” ----Long pause---- “Graham’s father beats the shit out of him and when I say beats the shit out of him I mean leaves bruises, causes cuts, and breaks bones.” That felt good to say out loud. I let out a long breath that I feel like I’ve been holding in for far too long.
Coach stares at me for what feels like an eternity.
“Is that where the swollen black eye came from?” he asks me with concern. He must have seen it this morning when we walked into the school. I nod in response. “And you know for a fact that it’s his father?” I nod again.
“Okay.” Coach runs his tanned wrinkled hand over his head and down his face in frustration. I can see the worry in his eyes.
“What’s going to happen now?” I question. There has to be something Coach can do, some solution to Graham’s nightmare.
“Kennedy…I’m glad you told me, but there isn’t much that I can do. Until Graham confides in someone of authority on his own then it’s sort of a moot point. When he’s ready to talk, he’ll tell someone. I can tell you are worried about him and I promise that I’ll keep an eye on him. If I notice anything then I’ll talk to him, okay?”
“That’s good enough for me.” I lie smiling softly hoping that he believes me.
“Kennedy, he’s lucky to have you looking out for him. You’ve made him into a good man,” Coach says with a knowing grin.
“I’m the lucky one.” I wave at him as I head out of his office. I have already missed most of lunch. Graham’s probably wondering where I disappeared to. I’ll come up with some excuse. I go into the library to try to read my book. It’s an impossible task as my mind filters through everything that I know about Graham and what I have just done. Graham won’t understand why I did what I did.
He’s going to hate me when he finds out. I don’t think I can survive losing him.
By the time third period rolls around Graham isn’t in class. I haven’t seen him all morning and am beginning to worry about him. It’s half way through the hour when the door opens. Graham glides in handing Mr. Stevenson a late slip. He finds his spot in the chair next to mine. I smile over at him trying to gage his mood.
“Where have you been?” I whisper as I lean over.
“Coach called me into his office,” Graham explains. I visibly tense up and he notices. “Every
thing’s fine. He just told me that he’s postponing the Georgia scouts until my eye is healed.”
“Oh that’s good,” I avoid looking at him. It’s an impossible task. Looking away from Graham is a chore, not something worth doing for too long. I manage to avoid Graham as much as possible for the rest of the day.
After school, Violet drags me off to the mall once again to look for prom dresses. She’s far too into the whole dress shopping thing. Dan and she are still planning on going together. They seem to be getting closer and more open about what their relationship actually means. I like him a lot. He’s good for her. Dan tends to keep her under control. I didn’t even know that was a possibility.
We wander into shop after shop until we end up at Macy’s. I’m not picky, but Violet on the other hand couldn’t choose one dress if a million were thrust into her arms. I could have found us both dresses at any of the shops that we have been in today. Violet insists that they have to be the closest to perfection. Since I can really care less, I play along with her trying on a handful of dresses. Violet springs from the dressing room wearing the most gorgeous sequined teal dress. The dress has a full length skirt with a sweetheart neckline that hugs at her hips just right.
“Holy crap, that’s the one,” I shout with excitement a tad too loud jumping up from the chair that I’ve been sitting in patiently waiting for my best friend to find ‘The Dress’. Violet turns to look in the mirror. A huge smile spreads across her gorgeous face. I knew she would agree once she saw herself.
“Now that we found mine let’s go find yours.” Violet turns to strip out of her winning dress before the door even shuts behind her revealing her lace thong. Shaking my head, I sit back down.
“Too late, I already found it.” I hold up a long black satin strapless mermaid style dress just as Violet’s stepping out of her fitting room fully clothed thankfully. My perfect dress has a straight neckline, but dips low in the back with beautiful diamond embellishments along the entire back seam.
“Where did you find that one?” Violet tries to grab it from my hand.
“Oh no, this one’s mine. I found it first.” I smile pulling the fabric out of her grasp.
“Fine,” she throws her hands up in defense. “Graham won’t be able to keep his hands off of you in that.”
“That’s sort of the point.” I wink at her. Her mouth falls open nearly hitting the floor. Violet still isn’t used to the new “me”, as in the new non-virgin side of me.
After finding the perfect shoes and jewelry we decide to take our bags out to Violet’s car before grabbing something to eat. It’s already seven and I’m starving after walking the length of the mall a few dozen times. We head to our usual place. There’s a short wait. Neither of us really care. They have the best spinach and artichoke dip that is well worth the twenty minutes standing around.
The hostess sits us in a far back corner booth. After handing us our menus, she scurries off to her other tables. She doesn’t know that Violet and I both know what we intend on ordering. We come here far too often that we can practically recite the menu front to back. Violet and I are lost in our conversation that we don’t notice someone walking up to our table. We both glance over at the same time to see Craig standing over us wearing a uniform. I had no idea he worked here. This place is officially ruined for me.
“Hey Violet, Kennedy,” Craig snarls. He’s short with his pleasantries, but emphasizes my name a little too seductively. “What can I get you two to drink? I told Candice I’d take over your table. You know, since we are friends from school and other things.”
“Coke,” Violet’s answer is short and the farthest thing from sweet. By the look in her eyes she’s debating on how she can kick him in the balls at the angle she’s sitting.
“I’ll have water. Thanks,” I answer politely. I don’t want to cause a scene.
Violet glares at me from across the table as Craig walks a few steps away before she says anything.
“Don’t be nice to him. He doesn’t deserve it,” she chastises. I glance at his receding body hoping he didn’t hear her. He stops walking as if he can feel my eyes on him. He had to have heard what she said.
Crap!
I turn back towards Violet who’s resting her elbows on the table looking pissed off. “I know. I know. Just don’t want to cause any trouble. That’s all.”
Craig shows up a few minutes later with our drinks. He takes our orders. I thought that maybe it would be possible to have a meal without him saying something crude or inappropriate to me. I was wrong.
Craig leans in too closely to me when he drops off our dip. His fingers run down my arm causing bile to rise up in my throat. This seems to be my body’s natural reaction to him.
“You look beautiful. Maybe once you’re sick of fucking Graham then you can come be with someone who can actually get you off like you deserve,” he turns and walks away. I didn’t even have a chance to stand up and protect myself.
I want to get sick. Violet curses under her breath coming to sit by my side. She keeps whispering that everything will be okay. I just hate that Craig is capable of making me feel vulnerable and unsafe. This isn’t the first time he’s made a point of harassing me. He always manages to do it when I’m alone and Graham is nowhere to be found. He cornered me in the girl’s bathroom pinning me to the walls of one of the stalls the other day threatening to finish the “job” and accusing me of wanting him. There’s not much more that I can take. Violet doesn’t know about all the others. Tonight is his first attempt to do confront me in front of anyone else.
“He’s a prick just trying to get a rise out of you. You need to stay away from him,” Violet urges.
Violet has no idea how badly I need to stay away from him. I think a part of me wants to believe that he’s just trying to get a rise out of me, trying to see how I will react. Like by pushing the boundaries he’s somehow getting something from me.
I’m most bothered by the fact that Craig doesn’t seem afraid of what will happen if I were to tell someone. A person who isn’t afraid of repercussions is someone to fear. They act as if they have nothing to lose.
“Can we just get our check and leave?” I flag down a different waitress demanding to get our check. She looks at me with concern. I’m sure I look like I saw a ghost. I turn back to my best friend. “Violet, you can’t tell Graham about this.”
“I don’t like it, Kennedy. He should know what that dickhead is saying to you.” Violet pays for our meal after demanding that it’s on her. “You need to promise me that you’ll at least tell me if he approaches you again?”
I eventually give in to her demand. Graham’s usually around me and Craig wouldn’t dream of saying something in front of him. Graham wouldn’t be able to hold himself back. I’ve already had to remind him that I want to put it in my past. Technically nothing happened.
When I get home I crash onto my bed grabbing my cell phone to text Graham. He had practice, but he should be home by now, hopefully doing his homework.
Me: Hey, how was practice?
Graham: Had trouble pitchin with my damn eye all swollen. its gone down a lot. by Friday i should be good to go.
Me: That’s good. I found my dress.
Graham: u did?
Me: I have a feeling you’re going to love it.
Graham: Babe, if ur wearing it im sure i will.
Me: I wish you were here. I sleep a lot better when you are.
Graham: Want me to sneak in your window again?
Me: I wish
Graham: im gonna finish homework then go to bed. im exhausted. heres ur last chance 2 let me sneak in that window of urs.
Me: Not tonight. Is your Dad gone?
Graham: Yea u dont need to worry about me 2night, Ken.
Me: I always worry about you.
Graham: I love you & I’ll see you in the morning. I’m picking you up, right?
Me: Yes and I love you too.
I fall asleep just as I have every night since the ac
cident---thinking about Graham. In the beginning my thoughts were superficial. They were about the way he looked at me and how he made me feel like no one ever has before. Now they are deeper than just how damn gorgeous he is or the way his shirt clings to his chest. I’m not going to lie those aren’t bad thoughts to have. Now whenever my mind wanders to Graham, I think about how he’s going to change the world with his determination and how he’s teaching me that people aren’t always what they seem to be in the best way possible.
I want to think that my choices have bettered Graham in some way. That by telling someone his biggest secret that he’ll be better off and be able to be a better person because of it. I’d like to believe that losing him will be worth saving his life if it ever came down to that.
Chapter Forty-Eight
-Graham-
The big day finally arrives. I had to wait two weeks to get Georgia’s coach to be here. Today could be the day that my future starts to be mapped out. I still have another year until I can commit to a University, but this is one of the biggest steps of making my dreams come true. If I can prove to them that I’m a worthy ball player then maybe the majors aren’t too far off for me. It can all be within my grasp.
“What are you thinking about?” Kennedy slides up next to my locker. It’s Friday morning. It’s game day.
“What if I blow it?” I worry out loud to her. She looks at me as if I said something completely ridiculous. Maybe I’m overreacting.
“You’ll be amazing just as you always are. It’s actually rather annoying.” Kennedy leans into me kissing me on the ridge of my jawline before prancing down the hallway towards Violet’s locker. I watch her walk noticing Craig’s eyes lingering on her legs.
God, give me five minutes alone in a room with him and I will destroy him. I’d give my left nut to beat the shit out of him.
After school I head to Coaches office to talk to him about what to expect before I’m due to show up at the field. He tells me just to play like I have been all year long and I should be fine. I notice him looking at my arms and face quickly looking elsewhere pretending to fiddle with papers when he realizes he’s been caught.
When Our Worlds Collide Page 31