Chapter 5 #3
Reese spoke next, her voice soft, looking down at her blue paddle. “Time just keeps speeding up, the older you get. I thought I’d be in a different place in my life than I am right now.”
“Like what?” Emma asked. “What do you wish you had?”
“I love running my studio,” Reese said. “And I look back on my ballet career fondly. But I thought I’d be married by now. Have kids.”
“Why don’t you?” Julia asked.
“I haven’t met the right man, I guess,” Reese said.
Roan swallowed against the ache in his throat.
“You’re so pretty,” Emma said. “I bet half the single men in this town want to date you.”
Reese smiled. “Thanks, Emma. You’re sweet to say so.
But that may be the problem. There aren’t that many single men in Sugarville Grove.
” She paused for a moment, splaying her hands over her knees.
“Okay, answer a lighter question. Would you rather be able to fly or be invisible? A is fly, B is invisible.”
The energy shifted. Paddles went up. Marcus said flying would be amazing unless you thought about bugs hitting your face at altitude, which made Emma wrinkle her nose in disgust. Cody chose invisibility so he could spy on his enemies and use it against them.
“Do you have a lot of enemies?” Emma asked.
“Doesn’t everyone?” Cody asked.
“I have one,” Julia said. “And he’s at college right now, just living his best life as a frat boy while I’m here getting fatter by the day.”
“You’re not fat,” Emma said quickly. “Just pregnant.”
“I’ve been bullied a lot,” Marcus said. “Because I’m so small. They’re all my enemies, but I don’t want to spy on them.”
“Who? I’ll take care of them,” Cody said.
“Thanks, but it’s okay. I can take care of myself.” Marcus looked over at Emma. “Do you have any enemies?”
“I guess the mean girls at school are mine,” Emma said. “But I don’t want to spy on them either. I don’t want to hear what they say about me.”
“That’s something that doesn’t seem to change, no matter what generation you’re in,” Reese said. “There are always mean girls.”
“Ask another one,” Marcus said. “This is fun.”
“Would you rather get everything on your wish list or give someone else everything on theirs?” Reese asked.
Everyone but Cody raised a blue paddle.
“Tell us, Emma, why you would choose to give?” Reese asked.
Emma looked down at the paddle now resting on her lap. “Because I’d like to be able to make someone happy. Especially my mom.”
“Can gifts make someone happy if they aren’t already?” Julia asked.
“Depends on what they were needing, maybe,” Marcus said. “Like if they need food or a place to live or whatever—it would make a huge difference.”
“Is that why you chose giving?” Roan asked Marcus.
“Yeah. I mean, I wish I had someone to give a gift to and the money to buy them whatever they wanted,” Marcus said. “But right now, I’d rather have the gifts myself.”
“You will someday,” Reese said softly. “Even if it doesn’t feel that way now.”
Marcus studied her with his dark, soulful eyes. Eyes that had seen too much for a boy of fourteen. By the way he clutched the backpack, like everything he owned was stuffed inside, told a story of an abandoned kid with nothing and no one.
“How about you, Julia?” Reese asked. “Why would you choose to give instead of receive.”
“I would’ve chosen to receive before. I love clothes and makeup and all the girly stuff.” She plucked at the front of her sweatshirt. “But now I just want to have enough to give the baby whatever she needs.”
“Cody, tell us why you’d like to receive gifts instead of give,” Reese said.
“Because I need things,” Cody said simply. “These people I live with now don’t have jobs. They make money by being foster parents.”
“Are they bad?” Emma asked, forehead creased. “Do they hurt you?”
Cody blinked, taking his hands out of the pocket of his hoodie. “What? No. I mean, not really. They’re not that bad. But they don’t care about me. No one does.”
“We do,” Reese said.
Cody brushed his dark hair off his forehead. “You don’t even know me. You’re just doing this to make yourself feel like a good person.”
Reese seemed temporarily flummoxed.
Roan leaned forward, resting his hands on his thighs. “It’s not as simple as that.”
“What is it then?” Cody asked.
“It’s true that helping people, especially kids, makes us feel useful.
And my mom always told us to be useful to others whenever possible.
” Roan shifted in his chair, crossing one ankle over a knee.
“But also, because I went through some hard things when I was a teenager, I’d like to help if I can. ”
Reese looked at her watch. “It’s almost seven thirty already. We should probably get everything cleaned up. Roan needs this gym for his clients in the morning.”
“What kind of stuff do you do here?” Cody asked.
“It's functional fitness,” Roan said. “Movements that make you strong at real-life stuff, not just looking good in a mirror.
“Like what do you do?” Emma asked.
“It’s kind of a combo of weightlifting, cardio, and gymnastics,” Roan said. “Every day is different. And everyone scales to their level—you don't have to be fit to start."
“Could we come here?” Marcus asked. “Maybe if I got stronger, the bullies would back off.”
“Is that something anyone else is interested in?” Roan asked, trying not to smile with delight. This was exactly what he’d hoped would happen.
“I’d come, if it was free,” Cody said.
“I don’t think I can do any of that stuff,” Julia said.
Roan shook his head. “Actually, there are quite a few things you could do safely, as long as your doctor's cleared you for exercise. Have they said anything about that?"
“She said I should stay active but nothing too intense,” Julia said.
“Excellent. If you guys want to come after school, I’ll train you as a group,” Roan said. “And yes, it’s on the house.”
“I’m not sure,” Emma said. “It sounds hard.”
“We can start slow,” Roan said.
Emma glanced over at Reese. “I’d rather take dance. That’s what I love to do. I used to take dance when I was younger, but my dad said he wouldn’t pay for them any longer.”
“Let’s talk,” Reese said. “I think we can figure something out.”
That drew a smile from Emma. “Okay. Cool.”
“I’d like to try dance too,” Marcus said.
Reese smiled back at him. “Sure. If you guys want, Roan and I can put our heads together and come up with a schedule. One day CrossFit, the next dance?”
“I’m not dancing,” Cody said. “Not a chance.”
Reese laughed, that bubbly sound that used to warm Roan’s belly. Now, it shot a dart right through his heart. “Okay, you can stick here with Roan. But if the rest of you are interested, I can make time in the schedule for you to take class with me.”
“I’m kind of an ox right now, but I’d like to dance,” Julia said.
“Great. You guys come by after school tomorrow,” Roan said. “Can you be here by three?”
“Yeah. School lets out at two-thirty,” Emma said. “We can walk here from the high school.”
“How will we get home?” Julia asked.
“I’ll take anyone home who needs a ride,” Roan said.
“I still don’t get why you guys are being so nice to us,” Julia said. “But I’m in.”
The other kids nodded.
“All right, great,” Reese said. “We’ll see you tomorrow.”
Soon, they had packed up the leftover pizza, giving everyone leftovers to take home. Emma gave hers to Marcus.
A small gesture of kindness. One that made Roan’s eyes scratchy as he watched the kids file out of the room.