Chapter 20
After my run home from Tabitha’s, the adrenaline is surging through me. Seeing as I’m dressed for it, I dump my backpack in the garage and scoop up my soccer ball. Time to break my juggling record.
I bounce the soccer ball from thigh to thigh, silently keeping count in my head. If I can just focus on the ball and the rising number, then I won’t have to remember the look Dr. Jones gave me.
Unimpressed.
Unamused.
Disgusted.
AKA, not good enough to share the same air as his daughter.
He already loathes my existence, and now he thinks I’m the reason Tabitha got hurt.
Okay, maybe I’m a teeny-bit responsible. She wouldn’t have been running if it wasn’t for me. But she didn’t get hurt from her run. She stepped off the curb on her own. I just pulled her backpack away from her.
But is that a crime?
My stomach twists. Ugh, I hate she got hurt. I’ve never reached for someone faster.
Can’t Dr. Jones give me credit for saving her from hitting the road? What if she smacked her head on the way down? Doesn’t he care I pulled her up to safety?
Oh, man. Holding her. That was pretty freaking sweet.
Sweet. That’s how she smells. She’s so petite and delicate. She was nothing in my arms. Heck, the bags weighed more. And then her curls brushed against my cheek as we walked into Bellview Crescent. I didn’t know hair could feel so silky.
When I get to fifty-three, nowhere near my record, my phone buzzes on the back porch. I let the ball hit the ground and dribble it toward the porch.
Tabitha is so vividly stuck in my mind. I can’t believe I want to hear from her already. I can’t believe this preppy girl listens to murder podcasts. Not what I expected when I thought her manicure was the most important thing in her life. What other layers does she have?
“I showed my mom the notes we made at the cafe, and she actually said she’s proud of me!! Thank you, Kai!! You’re a lifesaver!!”
I grin at the message and feel a new kind of adrenaline rush. “Glad I could help.”
“She looked so happy. This is incredible!”
“You sound happy.”
“I am. And I’m even more relieved after getting out of that trashed uniform and showering. Never let me run in my full uniform again.”
I smirk, remembering how cute she looked, pacing up the hill. “Okay, I won’t. And maybe you try a running track next time. No curbs in sight.”
“I can’t believe how my dad went off on you. And I can’t believe you already knew him!”
I blow out a breath, Dr. Jones’s sourness creeping back into my mind. “It’s not by choice, believe me.”
“So, those stitches you got? Did my dad do them?”
I tap the soccer ball along the grass as I text her back. “No, but he checked them before I was discharged. Then he gave me another one of his lectures.”
“Lol. He doesn’t seem to be your biggest fan.”
As if on cue, my stitches itch. “Is that a problem for you?”
“It’s a bigger problem for you than me. He doesn’t like to take people off the hook easily.”
“And he won’t care that we’re studying together?”
“No. It’s for school, and he thinks school comes first. Besides, I’m the innocent girl in all this. You’re the troublemaker.”
“I resent that.”
“No, you don’t. You love it.”
“Well, you’re not all that innocent.”
“Lol. To my dad I am.”
“Oh, I get it. Daddy’s little girl, huh?”
“Bingo.”
“So, your mom gives you a hard time, and your dad hounds your brothers?”
“Just Drew. Freddy can do no wrong. And Corbin’s the baby.”
My head jerks back as I read that last part, and I kick the ball away. ”You have a third brother?”
“Yeah, he’s ten.”
“Whoa. Had no idea. Your house must be crowded.”
“Ah, yeah. We’re overcrowded with big personalities. It’s why I hide out in my bedroom.”
Something strange stirs inside me. “Is that where you are now? Your bedroom?”
“Yes. Why do you want to know?”
I jog up to the soccer ball, faking left, then side tap the ball to the right. “No reason.”
“Are you in your bedroom?”
I spin around on the ball, slide my foot over it, and flick it up behind my calf. “Not yet. Do you want me to be?”
“LOL! What is this conversation???”
I crack up laughing, letting the ball roll away from me. “I dunno, but it feels easy.”
“Yeah, it does. I like it.”
“Me too.”
I can’t help sighing after I send it.
“Kai!” Milo calls, sliding open the back door. “Dad wants you to help rotate the mattress in the guest room.”
My lip upturns. “Why do I have to do it?”
Alfred, Milo’s ginger cat, does a figure-eight around his legs. Milo picks him up and replies, “I’m busy, and he wants you.”
“And it needs to happen right now?”
“Mom wants to freshen up the room before Grandma and Grandpa come to visit.”
Milo walks away, leaving the front door open.
I slide my foot under the soccer ball and flick it into the air and catch it.
I make my way into the house, knowing Milo will have a fit if I leave the door open and his precious feline wanders out of the house.
He only leaves the door open when he wants me to hurry up.
I dump the soccer ball by the closed back door and wander in behind Milo. I look down at my arms and still can’t believe I carried Tabitha. It’s weird, but I can still feel her. Maybe it’s her perfume that’s rubbed off on me.
I shake out of the thoughts, but Tabitha’s dad doesn’t budge.
I can’t even decide how I really feel about this girl, and her dad is getting in the way.
The worst thing is, if he tells me to get away from his daughter, it’ll make me want her more.
Not that I want her, but I’d do anything to spite Dr. Jones.
He called me a menace. He hasn’t even seen me at my worst.
Ha. Maybe I’ll be such a gentleman to his daughter just so I can smack that smug look off his face.
“Kai?” Milo asks, snatching me out of my thoughts. “Are you okay? You seem spacey.”
I shrug it off. “You interrupted me from breaking my juggling record. I hate when my concentration gets broken.”
“Pfft.“ Milo rolls his eyes. “Yeah, right. That’s why you’ve been patched up so many times. You have such good concentration.”
“Kai!” Dad’s voice sounds from somewhere near the guest room. “Today, please!”
Every year, our grandparents visit for our birthdays. Like always, Mom likes to make a fuss with new bedding and sprucing up the guest room. Dad tries instructing me on how to best flip the mattress, but I got it from here. I’m a lot less delicate than I was when I held Tabitha against me.
Ah. Tabitha.
“Malakai!“ Mom screeches her way into the guest bedroom, and my good mood implodes.
I drop the mattress, and Dad grunts against the extra weight. “What?”
“Don’t what me!” she yells, waving her phone in the air. “Dr. Jones just called me.”
My heart is in my stomach.
“About his stitches?” Dad asks, heaving the mattress. “Kai, grab that end.”
“No,” Mom says and then sighs roughly. “Apparently, our son injured his daughter.”
“Oh, that’s bull,” I yell, dumping the mattress.
“Kai! For goodness’ sake, give me some warning before you do that,” Dad complains.
“Sorry but not sorry,” I blurt. “Mom, Dr. Jones doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”
“So you didn’t argue with him in his driveway?” Mom asks accusingly.
“I only defended myself,” I say, stepping away from the haphazardly positioned mattress.
“I warned you about your friends following your lead,” Mom says heatedly. “Now you’ve gotten poor Tabitha Jones involved.”
“All Dr. Jones saw was me carrying her home.”
“Why were you carrying her home?” Mom asks incredulously. “You’re not supposed to do anything to damage your stitches. Gosh, Steve, why did you rope Kai into moving the mattress?”
Dad huffs. “Because I got an attitude from Milo about it.”
“Milo doesn’t have stitches.” Mom steps into the hallway. “Milo! Come in here and help your father.”
“Mom, I can move a stupid mattress,” I argue. “I already carried Tabitha and our two bags on my own.”
“Kai, are you trying to get me to take away your car?” Dad says flatly.
I throw my hands up. “How am I the bad guy? Tabitha fell off the curb, and I picked her up. Why aren’t you applauding me?”
“Because Dr. Jones told me her foot swelled up,” Mom counters, stepping back into the bedroom.
“But he didn’t take her to the hospital,” I fire back. “He just said to put ice on it. She can walk, Mom. No big deal.”
“Wrong, Kai,” Dad cuts in. “I don’t care if she gets a splinter or an open wound. That girl got hurt around you, and I would like to think my son could show some responsibility.”
“What happened?” Milo asks, stepping into the doorway.
“Butt out,” I grunt.
“Kai,” Mom scolds. “You’re the one in the wrong, not your brother.” Mom turns to Milo. “Except you should’ve been helping your father. You know Kai’s stitches are still healing.”
Milo shrugs. “What do I care if he doesn’t get a car?”
“We care,” Dad says, snapping his fingers at Milo. “He can start driving you around.”
“Pfft,“ I mutter. “We’ll see.”
“I don’t think you understand the tone Dr. Jones used with me,” Mom says gravely. “He is very displeased with you.”
I shrug, moving out of the way as Milo takes my place beside the bed. “What’s new? He’s never liked me.”
“And what’s between you and Tabitha?” Mom questions. “Since when have you two been hanging out?”
“Since we got assigned together in chemistry class.”
“So you were studying together?”
“Nailed it.”
“I know I carry all my lab partners home,” Milo says mockingly.
“Oh, shut up, you little…”
Mom cuts me off. “Enough. Go upstairs and finish your homework. No Shadow Quest tonight.”
“Seriously?”
“Cut it out, Kai,” Dad warns. “You running that stop sign is still playing in my head.”
“Man, that was one time. You know I’ve never done that before. Call my driver’s ed teacher. He’ll vouch for me. I’m a good driver.”
“It doesn’t matter if it was the first time,” Mom says. “It still happened.”
“One more complaint,” Dad continues, “and I will take the car away.”
“But…”
Milo lifts his index finger in the air. “I heard it. That’s one.”