17. McKenzie
SEVENTEEN
MCKENZIE
It’s been three days since I was essentially kicked out of the Danvers’ house. I was able to crash on another friend’s couch one night, but the other two nights, I had to sleep in my car. I did manage to clean out the back seat so I could sleep back there instead of reclining in the driver’s seat. It was a little better, I guess.
Today is the first day I’ll have to see Tyler again after the most awkward breakfast of my life. I’m actually hoping I won’t have to see him. The only reason I’m going to the field house is to get a few quotes from a few players and talk to Zach, the offensive coach. I emailed him earlier this week, and he told me to meet him on the field this afternoon during practice so that’s what I’m doing. If it wasn’t for that, I would be avoiding this place as much as possible.
“There she is.” Hayes spots me first. He always seems to see me even when I don’t want to be seen. I’m not sure if he has a general radar for girls or if it’s specifically for me. For his sake, I hope it’s all women. As much as I wish I was attracted to Hayes, I’m just not. “Where you been?”
“Busy with school and work. I’m ready for the game this weekend. Excited to see you play.” We finally have a home game this weekend, which means I’ll be on the sidelines with all the action.
“You wanna see the team play or me?” He winks.
I laugh and playfully shove him. “The team. You guys are on fire this year.”
“Hell, yes. We’re going to Nationals. Mark my words.”
“Oh, I will.” I shake my notebook. “I’m here to get quotes.”
“Make me front page, baby,” he teases. He’s probably been on the front page more than any other person in the entire four years I’ve been at La Vista.
He smiles right as Zach yells for him to get his ass on the field. Hayes turns and runs off while Zach makes his way over to me. He’s nice. Friendly enough. But he’s a busy man, and I’m sure he’d rather be doing anything other than talking to a Journalism student right now.
He crosses his arms on his chest and keeps his eyes on the field. “Hey, McKenzie. Ready to chat?”
I glance over his shoulder and see Tyler standing there. He looks away as soon as he notices me staring in his direction. Great. The rest of this semester is going to be awkward as hell.
“Yes. I won’t keep you long, Coach. First, I’d like to know how you feel the offense is doing halfway through the season.”
He tells me where he feels their strengths are and where they’re working on improving this week. We talk about the game that has stood out the most to him this season and which of his players have improved the most.
It’s quick and easy.
Once I have everything I need, he leaves me on the sidelines so I can take a few pictures of the practice with the camera I borrowed from the journalism department.
I’m kneeling down on the grass to get a shot when the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, as if someone is watching me.
“McKenzie.” I don’t need to look up to know whose voice it is.
“Hey, Coach. I’m almost done, and then I’ll be out of your hair.”
“Take your time. I just, uh.” He lowers his voice. “Just wanted to see if we needed to talk about last weekend.”
In this moment, I wish I was one of those women who could stand up to this man and say something like Hell yes, we need to talk. You did all sorts of nice things for me. Made me my favorite breakfast, stayed up late playing cards and talking, threw me a birthday party. Then you kissed me. The best kiss I’ve ever had. Only to turn around and throw me out of your house not even twelve hours later.
Unfortunately for me, I am not that woman. So instead, I keep my focus on the field and reply with a “Nope. All good, Coach.”
Thankfully, he doesn’t follow up. I don’t know if I’d be able to say anymore without my voice shaking. It takes a second, but he finally turns and walks over to his assistant coaches.
I stand, ready to get the hell out of here, and shove the camera into the bag. Hayes happens to be coming off the field as I’m leaving, so he runs over to me.
“Kenz. Party this weekend after the game. You in?”
I feel Tyler’s eyes on me, but I do my best to ignore it. “I’ll think about it.”
“I’ll take what I can get.” He smiles and winks and then runs back to his team.
With that, I turn and walk as quickly as I can out of the stadium.
The next day I meet Kylie in the food hall for lunch. We’ve been having lunch together almost every day that we can. Sometimes, other people from our classes join us, but for the most part, it’s just us.
Kylie and I get along really well. We can talk about pretty much anything, but we also have no problem sitting in silence while we do homework or study. It’s been nice to have a friend who I don’t feel like I’m constantly having to put on a show to impress. Maybe I put that pressure on myself, but it’s certainly made it hard for me to form true, genuine friendships.
Kylie slides into the chair across from me at the table that we’ve made our usual table. Her tray is full of chicken tenders and french fries. This girl eats like a five-year-old most of the time. It’s adorable.
“Guess who has a date for tomorrow night?”
My eyes go wide. “What? No way! With who?”
“This guy in my statistics class. He’s kinda nerdy but also really cute. It’s hard to explain. Anyways, he asked if I wanted to get dinner with him sometime, and I said yes, so we planned it for tomorrow.” She claps her hands with excitement. “I’m kind of nervous. I haven’t been on a date since I moved here. What if I’m boring now or something?”
I roll my eyes at that. “You’re not boring. Anyone would be lucky to hang out with you. Just be yourself. There’s no way he won’t have fun with you.”
She smiles. “You’re the best. I hope it goes well. Speaking of dates, is there anyone you’re interested in?”
I sigh and shake my head. “Honestly, I’m so tired all the time, I don’t think I even have the energy to date. And I don’t think anyone is really interested. Besides Hayes. He asked me to come to his party after the game on Saturday.”
“That boy is crushing hard on you.”
“I know. I feel bad because I’m just not interested.”
“Why not? I bet he’s great in bed.”
Now would not be a good time for me to tell her I’m not interested in Hayes because I’m hung up on her dad, who kissed the crap out of me once but otherwise has shown no interest in me romantically. “I know. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I think I might go to the party. Maybe, at the very least, he’ll let me crash there for a night.”
She groans. “I’m still so freaking mad at my dad for what he did.”
“It’s fine, Ky. I understand why he did it. Don’t be mad at him.”
“No, it was completely out of left field. I mean, just the day before he was calling me trying to plan a birthday party for you. He was being so sweet getting you the perfect cake and making you the food you wanted. He even went to Party City and got all those cheesy decorations. I don’t understand how he could go from doing that to saying you need to leave.”
I swallow hard at her words. I knew it was Tyler’s idea to throw me a little party, but I didn’t realize how involved he was. I thought Kylie did most of it. It’s like he might have feelings for me but is ashamed of them. The kiss must’ve spooked him, but I wonder what bothered him the most: the age, my relationship with his daughter, or the fact that I’m a student. Probably all of it.
“Well, I’m sure he has his reasons, and I’m going to respect them,” I tell her. “Do you want to come to the party with me on Saturday?”
“Obviously. I’m not letting you hang out with the football team without me.”
I laugh and we keep chatting about everything except for Tyler’s recent behavior. I’m grateful Kylie doesn’t try to figure out what could’ve caused his sudden change of mind. I hate having to keep this secret from her, but I have a feeling she wouldn’t be happy if she found out what really happened.