Chapter 11 Mackenzie
I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Parker wanted me to be the Ransom Devils’ new goaltender. Fate had a messed-up sense of humor, considering he was a big part of the reason I was banned from playing hockey in the first place.
The idea was still circling endlessly in my head when I got home that afternoon.
It was crazy, right? The thought of me playing for a boys’ team.
Max had always told me I could have held my own on his teams. And he knew better than anyone, seeing as I’d practiced with him for countless hours over the years.
But suiting up for the reigning state champions in a competitive game was a little different than one-on-one pond hockey with your older brother.
I knew if I told Max about Parker’s suggestion, he’d tell me to go for it. But unfortunately, even if I wanted to consider it, I couldn’t. Not when my dad refused to let me play, and he was the one running the team.
Maybe that was for the best. It would make it easier to forget the whole thing. It didn’t matter what I wanted; it could never happen.
“Tessa, I’m home,” I called at our front door. Despite my traumatic experience with school transport before the science trip today, I’d taken the bus home.
“Hi, Kenzie. How was school?”
I followed my stepmom’s voice to the living room and found her peeking out from inside a blanket fort she’d built with my little sisters.
“Boring,” I said with a laugh. “You’ve clearly been having much more fun here.” I dropped my bag on the floor and knelt to look inside the fort. Both my sisters were huddled together under the blanket, along with almost every doll and stuffed toy they’d brought with us to Ransom.
“We’re hiding from the dragon,” Skye said in her most serious tone.
“It tried to eat my toes,” Daisy cried.
“See, it hasn’t been all fun and games,” Tessa added with a smile. “I need to start dinner. Can you take over for me? I’m guarding the entrance.”
I laughed and nodded before taking her place just inside the makeshift door of the fort.
“Be careful!” Daisy squealed at her mom.
“I will!” she called back.
I made myself as comfortable as I could on one of the cushions under the tent-like structure, which was pretty much just a blanket stretched over two chairs.
It sagged in the middle, so I had to crouch low to stop my head from hitting the roof.
One wrong move and I was sure it would all come crashing down.
“Did you see the dragon out there, Kenzie?” Skye asked.
“No, but perhaps he’s hiding somewhere else. Like his lair.”
“What about at school?” Skye continued. “Is there a dragon there?”
“Kind of.” I leaned in close. “His name is Parker. He’s big and scary and breathes fire if you look at him the wrong way.”
My sisters both gasped, their mouths hanging open, and I wondered if I’d scared them too much.
“Was he there today?”
“He was.”
“And did you run away from him?”
“No.” As if I’d give him the satisfaction.
“Why not?”
“Because being brave means standing your ground and refusing to let the dragon scare you off. Besides, I’m a Foster, and we’re not afraid of anything. The dragons should be scared of us.”
The girls’ eyes lit up, like they were little soldiers and I’d just delivered a rousing battle cry.
“You’re right.” Skye nodded firmly. “Fosters aren’t afraid!”
Together, my little sisters jumped up and charged out from under the tent, shouting as loudly as they could.
“Roar!” they both bellowed as they ran across the living room and disappeared into the hallway. They returned a few moments later and started to shout, “We did it! The dragons are scared of us.”
I played with my sisters for a while longer as Tessa prepared dinner. When my dad got home, he stuck his head into the living room to say a quick hello before he went into the kitchen to help. I could overhear him and Tessa talking and my ears pricked up when I caught mention of the Devils.
“It hasn’t been the best start,” my dad was saying. “I’m not sure what we’re going to do if tryouts don’t go well tomorrow.”
“Is the current goalie really that bad?”
I didn’t hear my dad’s response, so I had to assume he was simply nodding his head.
“What about the boy who got injured? Will he be able to play again soon?”
“Ford’s out for at least six weeks. That might be enough time to improve Anderson a little, but we can’t afford to lose many more games if we’re going to make the playoffs.”
They both fell silent for a few moments before Tessa said, “I’m sure it’ll all work out. You always seem to find a way.”
She only got a grunt in response. I couldn’t work out how to feel after what I’d heard.
My dad was desperately searching for a solution to his problem and was running out of options, yet he remained oblivious to the fact there was a perfectly good one sitting in the next room.
Okay, maybe I wasn’t a perfect option, but I was an option.
At least, I would be if he was able to stomach the idea of me in hockey gear.
“Kenzie, you’re not playing,” Daisy whined, nudging me from my thoughts.
I didn’t hear any more hockey talk coming from the kitchen after that, and there was none at dinner, but I was still eager to get to my room once I’d finished eating.
Mitts was lying on my bed as I entered, licking one of her bright white paws.
I smiled at how cute she looked but only received an irritated huff in reply.
“I’m sorry, did I interrupt you?”
Her judgmental side-eye told me everything I needed to know.
There was a loud tink as something hit my window, making Mitts scamper out the door.
It was probably just the wind or the branch of a tree.
I dismissed the sound and went to grab my paints.
My mural still wasn’t finished, and all I wanted to do tonight was block out the rest of the world and work on it.
But the tink came again, louder this time, and not so easily ignored.
I slowly approached the window to investigate, trying not to feel like the first victim in a trashy horror movie.
It was dark outside, and when I reached the glass, it took a moment for my eyes to adjust. When they did, I was almost disappointed to see it wasn’t a serial killer standing on my front lawn.
It was Parker Darling, with his arm lifted as though he was about to throw something.
I quickly opened my window. “What are you doing?”
“Throwing stones at your window.”
“Why?”
“Because we need to talk. Can you come out here?” He whispered the last bit and glanced around the lawn cautiously.
“No,” I hissed. “Go away.”
“Just for a minute?”
“Not going to happen.”
“Please?”
“Go home, Parker.”
He grinned up at me, then disappeared from view. I leaned out the window and looked down to see him grabbing the latticework that ran up the front of the house.
“Now what are you doing?”
It only took him a few seconds to scale the wall and reach my window. And his grin had only grown on the way up. “I said I want to talk to you,” he repeated, one hand now on the windowsill.
“Well, I don’t want to talk to you.” I slid the window firmly shut and stepped away.
“You know I’ll wait out here all night—” Suddenly he swore under his breath. “Shit, I might actually need some help here.” I darted back to the window to see Parker was now gripping my windowsill with both hands and there was a concerned look on his face.
“What is it?”
“I think the trellis is breaking,” he grunted in reply. “Let me in, quick.”
I hesitated.
“By all means, take your time, but I can hear the wood cracking and it’s a pretty long way down.”
“Ugh, fine.” I quickly lifted the window again, and Parker hoisted himself inside.
He smiled brightly as he stood tall, looking far too relaxed for someone who had just survived a near-death experience.
I felt the urge to look out the window and double-check whether the trellis genuinely was close to breaking, but instead, I hurried over to my door and eased it shut.
I could only imagine how angry my dad would be if he found a boy in my room, especially if that boy was Parker Darling.
The only consolation was that Parker would get in trouble too.
The thought almost had me calling out to my dad just to see what would happen.
“So, this is your bedroom,” Parker said. “It’s got a bed, at least…”
I watched as he carefully inspected his surroundings. His presence filled my mostly empty room, and even though we were standing on opposite sides of the space, my skin reacted like we were only inches apart.
“What did you expect? That I sleep in a dumpster like a raccoon?”
“I hadn’t ruled it out.”
“Can you please just explain why you’ve broken into my house?”
“I didn’t break in. You let me in. Besides, I thought having a hot guy climb up to your bedroom window was every girl’s dream? It’s very Romeo and Juliet.”
“You know they both die at the end, right?”
His eyes glinted with amusement.
“I like your painting.” He nodded toward the half-finished mural that covered the far wall. “It’s peaceful.”
Had Parker just given me a genuine compliment? I didn’t like how it warmed my chest, and I folded my arms to try and dampen the sensation. “Just tell me what you want, Parker?”
He sighed and faced me once more. “To talk.”
“There’s nothing to talk about.”
“Just hear me out,” he said, stepping across the room toward me. “I risked a lot coming here. I nearly died scaling your wall, and I can guarantee your dad will bench me for eternity if he finds me in here.”
“Then you better get out before he does.”
“I can’t do that. This is too important. The team needs you. You have to reconsider.”
“This again?” I almost laughed out loud. “Don’t you think this is all a little ironic?”
“What do you mean?”
“You asking me to play hockey when you’re the reason I can’t.”
He stared blankly at me. “Seriously, what are you talking about?”