CHAPTER 10
*PAST*
“Indifferent”
Maya
Aaron and I had come to an understanding without talking. He stayed in his line, and I remained in mine. After the Headmistress spoke with us and we played down what happened, they let us go. She was trying to be nice to Aaron.
Aaron was starting to have a group of friends, Christine included.
I didn’t like the girl way before Aaron came to the school. She had always acted like she was better than me, and I knew that she helped Aaron by telling our class and everyone who heard that I was a thief. I was mad at them but decided that acting like they didn’t exist was the best solution. I wouldn’t want to befriend mean people like her and Aaron.
I’d fallen for his tricks. I’d thought he was a good boy, and for a moment, I’d thought he was the nicest person I had ever met. He and his family looked and acted like one of those wealthy families on TV. They lied, gossiped, and acted like the town was their plaything.
I was sad as Dad and I watched a contest show. Dad won our game, but I knew three answers. Dad was proud.
Today, when I got home from school, I parked my bike and put the lock on. Dad said it was for nothing and that if people wanted it, the lock wouldn’t deter them, but I thought it helped. When I entered home, a weird smell came and I decided to open the windows while I cleaned the dishes in the sink and put things in their places.
Mom and Dad worked until late today, and I had the house to myself. I made myself a cheese sandwich and started with homework. My mind was not focused today, and I kept thinking about what Aaron was doing right now—probably in his big room in his mansion after his mom made him a snack.
Then I remembered him saying that sometimes he wished the house was quieter. Mine was right now. I could hear some neighbors from far away, but mine was quiet.
He had many siblings, which had to be fantastic when you wanted to play with someone, but I bet it wasn’t that nice when you had to share things and when you wanted alone time.
I could play with my friends and then come home to my quiet alone time. I felt sorry for him, playing games and mistreating people. My classmates didn’t realize it yet, but soon, they would stop kissing where he walked.
They were blindsided by his wealth and newness to town, but once he played with them as he did with me, they would stop hanging out with him. Then, he would beg me to be his friend again, and I would laugh in his face.
I’m sure he had already found the book, or maybe it wasn’t even lost in the first place.
The pen broke in my hands. I hadn’t realized I was holding it that hard. I threw it in the trash and cleaned the mess that it made. I needed it to forget about him and stop caring what he was doing.
Dad always told me, fake it until you make it. I was faking that I didn’t care about him, that he didn’t exist in my life at school, and that soon I would be indifferent towards him.
That was the word that Dad had said the other day. I looked it in the dictionary, and it had two definitions:
1. Having no particular interest or sympathy; unconcerned.
2. Neither good nor bad; mediocre.
That was the word that I chose to think of after reading the meaning; I would be indifferent towards Aaron Willow. I wouldn’t care about anything that he did.
I focused on my homework, and every time my mind tried to think of him, I repeated the word. Indifferent. When it didn’t work, I decided to write it down using the typewriter that the Academy gave us to learn how to type with them.
I’m indifferent towards Aaron Willow.
I started slowly, savoring each click made by the machine.
I’m indifferent towards Aaron Willow.
Click.
I’m indifferent towards Aaron Willow.
Click.
I stopped when I had typed the whole paper; there was no more space on the paper or in my brain for him. I would not waste more ink for him.
Dad came home hours later and was too tired to make dinner. He was so exhausted that he stumbled a couple of times before falling face-down on the couch. I put a blanket on top of him, and the strong smell that came out of him surprised me.
Maybe he had eaten something at work with a strong thing. I boiled some pasta and added tomato sauce on top. I boiled extra in case Dad wanted some. I had dinner watching Dad sleeping on the sofa, snoring.
I went to bed and fell asleep watching the moon by my window.
I heard Mom coming home at some point in the night. She woke up Dad and asked him why he smelled like a distillery. I didn’t know that word. I wanted to wake up and search for it in my dictionary, but they were fighting, and I didn’t want them to hear me wake up.
“I’m too tired for this,”
my mom sobbed. My dad was talking too low and soft to hear, but it seemed they were okay again. I got out of bed and peeked around my door. They were hugging, and Mom was sobbing softly on his chest.
“Don’t worry, honey. I’m taking care of everything. I’m fine. We’re fine. You’re too tense. Do you need a massage? I’m very good with my hands.”
Mom laughed softly and shook her head with a smile on her lips. Dad kissed her tears.
“It would be only a massage, honey. Where’s your head at, Mrs. Amery?”
“You’re incorrigible,”
my mom said with a laugh.
“I’m not,”
my dad said seriously. “You’re the most important person in my life, the only one I would change for.”
Then, he lowered his head and kissed my mom on her lips. I looked down.
They were fixed, and there were no more fights, but I still had a knot in my stomach. I got in bed and closed my eyes. I heard footsteps, and my mom entered my room. I pretended I was asleep. She made sure my blanket was covering me and kissed my head.
“Good dreams, my Mai.”
I could feel that Dad was in my room, too.
“Come on, Mrs. Amery, I have a massage to do. Can’t if she’s woken up.”
I heard them leave my room and enter theirs, closing their door behind them.
You’re the most important person in my life.
That was good. They were in love, and they were married. Of course, my mom was the most important one.
And for my mom, was my dad the most important one?
It made sense, but I couldn’t sleep well that night.
When I woke up, it was about sunrise. I saw the sky changing colors from my window. I had a couple of hours before leaving for school, so I read a book I had picked up at the library a week ago, the day before the first day of school. I needed to take it back to the library soon, and I hadn’t been able to focus.
The book was about a group of friends on a space mission. Aaron would like this book, I thought. I shook my head.
Indifferent.
I finished the book, went to the bathroom as quietly as possible, and changed. When I opened the fridge to decide what to eat for breakfast, I heard my parents’ door open.
“Sorry, I didn’t want to wake you up, Mom,”
I said as she approached me with a relaxed smile and kissed my head.
“Good morning, Mai.”
“Good morning, Mom. Why don’t you go back to sleep?”
“I want to pass the time with my favorite girl.”
My heart skipped a beat.
“Oh.”
“Only if she wants, obviously.”
“I want to!”
I replied, and she smiled at me. I closed the fridge door and she got the flour.
“Pancakes sound good?”
I nodded effusively. “Wonderful. How has school been?”
I got next to her to help her make the batter.
“Good. I joined the chess club, the debate team, the book club, the volleyball team, and the spelling team.”
“Wow, don’t you think you’ll have too little free time?”
I raised and lowered my shoulders. “If it’s what you want, Mai.”
She flinched, then cleared her throat. “How much is each one?”
“Nothing,”
I said with a big smile.
“Nothing? That’s not possible,”
she said, and I smiled big at her.
“It is. I talked with my teachers; it would be free if I helped them take care of things. They would even give me a new uniform for volleyball to help the coach.”
“That’s good. Yours is too small. And how late would it be?”
“I would be home before it’s late. I asked them, too.”
“I see you have it all under control.”
I nodded again. “My little girl is growing up so fast.”
“Mom…”
“I know, I know. I’m very proud of the young lady you’re becoming. Being very smart and going after what you want.”
I felt my cheeks getting red. “So, no problems at school?”
I wasn’t going to tell her about the Aaron incident. Usually, when I got in trouble, they called my dad because Mom was working, and he didn’t tell her about it. We both took care of the problem, so Mom didn’t have to worry about it. But luckily, this time, they didn’t involve the parents.
“No problems,”
I said while mixing the wet ingredients.
“Of course, there aren’t,”
my dad said from their bedroom’s door. I looked at him, and he didn’t look the best. His eyes were bloodshot and his hair was messy, but he smelled good and had a smile. He got close to Mom and hugged her from behind, kissing her head.
“Good morning, my beautiful girls,”
he said with a raspy voice. I said good morning. He ruffled my hair and sat on a chair by the table.
“We’re making pancakes,”
I told him.
“I can smell it.”
“We were talking about Maya’s school. She signed herself up to a bunch of activities and made them free by helping the teachers.”
“Good deal, my Maya. This girl is going to places, I told you, honey.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
“No thanks, it’s just the fucking truth.”
“Language,”
my mom scolded. He raised his arms.
“What about that rich boy?”
Dad asked.
“Aaron?”
He nodded. “Nothing. He has his friends, and I have mine. I’m indifferent towards him.”
My dad nodded proudly. “Atta, girl. You hear that, Mom? She’s indifferent towards the boy.”
“I heard that. Did he try to apologize or something?”
“He didn’t. He—”
Was I going to explain to them what he’d said about my family? No. That would hurt my mom’s feelings, and my dad would be furious. It was best if I didn’t tell them anything.
“He what? Did he try to hurt you? Say something bad?”
He raised his voice.
I shook my head. “No, nothing. He’s just another classmate, not my friend.”
“Good to hear you’re nailing the indifferent part. Bet that makes him angry. Those rich folks don’t know how it is to not have someone eating from their hands.”
“He’s just a boy,”
Mom reminded him, while adding the batter to a hot pan.
“That doesn’t justify his actions. He thought Maya was a thief. This family’s better without them,”
my dad said, tasting the batter. My mom shook her head. “What, honey? Are you trying to justify this boy? He tried to hurt your daughter’s reputation. I would say fuc—”
“I’m not justifying him,” Mom said.
“You didn’t hear what they were saying about her. It wasn’t just the boy—the parents, too. We left Maya with them, we had dinner with them, and then they acted like that. Unforgivable. This family has worked too hard for a bunch of rich folks to come and act like that.”
I had heard this part before.
“Let’s leave it at that, honey. Let’s have a peaceful breakfast. We can only be together for a little, so let’s enjoy it,”
my mom said, putting a big plate of warm pancakes in the middle of our small kitchen table.
“I more than enjoyed it, alright,”
Dad said with a mouth full of pancakes. My mom’s cheeks reddened, and I looked at my dad with big eyes. I didn’t understand what was going on. He kissed my mom’s cheeks. “You’re still blushing after all these years? What a cutie.”
“Stop it,”
my mom said, hitting my dad with a cloth.
I grabbed some milk and put it on the table. The pancakes were delicious. My mom was a fantastic cook. She worked in a restaurant and was able to help with whatever they needed from her, but that also made her boss give her extra hours. At least she was paid a little more.
We finished breakfast, and I helped Mom with the dishes. I still had time to go to school on time.
“Do you want us to take you to school, Mai?”
my mom asked.
“She can go by herself. She’s an independent girl,”
Dad said with his hands around my Mom’s waist. “It’s better if she goes on her bike, isn’t that right, Maya? And Mom can sleep more before work.”
I nodded along. “Yes, it’s better like this, Mom.”
I kissed them goodbye and left with my bike. My mom packed more pancakes in my lunchbox for today. I also grabbed a couple of apples, in case I had to share my lunch with Carlo again.
After the first day, he started bringing a lunchbox with him. We didn’t talk much but shared our lunches and kept each other company.
But that would soon stop. His robotics team would start on Monday, and he would make more friends and probably spend lunch in their team’s class. But he was friendly—not like his brother. I didn’t think Aaron knew about it; if he did, he would forbid his brother from hanging out with a thief like me.
I didn’t ask Carlo anything about his family, and he didn’t ask about mine. I didn’t care if he thought I’d stolen the book. After finding him hiding in the girls’ bathroom, I didn’t ask many questions.
He realized he had come into the wrong bathroom, but his breath and heartbeat were too loud to pay attention, so I showed him where I spent my lunch most of the time.
Sometimes, someone from my friend group would come and go, but they respected that he liked to be alone most of the time. I wanted to see his face when he tried my mom’s pancakes. I’d bet it was better than what he ate at his house.
I got to school, but it was still a little early. I should have slept more today; I had a long day ahead. I decided to check the library first. There was a teacher already there, and I picked another adventure book. This was in a desert. I returned the space one, and I left with the new one.
“Oh, Maya, by the way, more books are coming next week. A lot of adventure ones—and there are a lot of new books. We’re still receiving more and putting the stickers on.”
“Really?”
I asked with too much emotion. She laughed.
“Yes, we received a big donation.”
“Thank you so much, Mrs. Spencer.”
“You’re welcome, Miss Amery,”
she said, laughing. “I needed to tell my most efficient reader.”
I laughed a little.
“Do you need help with the books? I can learn how to do it.”
“I know, sweetheart. Thanks, but that’s not necessary. Focus on reading so you can return all the books and pick new ones.”
“That I’ll do, Mrs. Spencer.”
She laughed again, and I left. I felt so happy.
What new books would be on the list?
I knew a dozen new ones I wanted to read and was waiting for my birthday, but maybe they would be from the donations she told me about. This was fantastic news. I was happy that I couldn’t sleep well last night; if not, I would not have had time to finish a book, have a lovely breakfast with my parents, pick a new book, and know about new books coming next week. The day was starting amazingly.
I entered the class and found Aaron already seated in the class. No one else was there. That was fine; not even he could ruin this perfect day for me. I sat down and started to read the new book. He was making noise with his foot.
Does he have to do that?
He was clearly trying to annoy me, but I didn’t care. I tried to focus on the book, but I couldn’t enjoy it that much. I didn’t care; I would reread my homework to make sure that I hadn’t misspelled anything. I opened my notebook, and a piece of paper fell from it. Before I could go to get it, Aaron grabbed it.
“This has fallen from your—”
He saw the note, and my heart fell. He read over and over again the same sentence that I wrote yesterday.
“Give it back.”
I got the note, and Aaron kept looking at me, but I put it inside my bag and focused on my homework.
“If you are indifferent towards me, you wouldn’t write it over and over again, but everyone lies to themselves how they like.”
“I’m not lying. I don’t care about you,”
I said, my head high, avoiding looking into his blue eyes.
“I’m sure you don’t,”
he said with an edge.
“Stop it. I was having an amazing day, and you won’t be able to ruin it, Willow.”
“Ruin it?”
“Yes, I don’t care what you do.”
“I’m sure you don’t,”
he said with his jaw tensed.
“You already said that.”
“Memorizing my words is not a very indifferent thing to do,”
he muttered.
I was angry.
I’m having a fantastic day.
I’m having a fantastic day.
I’m having a fantastic day.
“Now you’re silent?”
he taunted. I acted like I didn’t hear him. “So mature.”
“You’re the one talking.”
Crap, why did I reply? Now he knew that I cared.
“Me?”
he asked, his body moving, facing me.
“Yes, you!”
I pointed at him.
“Tell me something that I did that wasn’t mature.”
I laughed. He looked at me with too much attention. “I’m waiting,”
he said with his arms crossed, while I kept laughing.
“Keep waiting; I’m not going to give you the satisfaction. You keep in your line, and I keep in mine; we don’t have to talk.”
“Indifference. I know the meaning, Amery.”
“Since when do you call me Amery?”
“Don’t you call me Willow now?”
“Now who remembers everything the other said?”
I taunted back, getting closer to him.
“Of course I do.”
I looked at him without understanding what he wanted to say. Was he recognizing that he thinks about me? He hesitated before continuing. “I thought we were best friends. You’re the first person who has been my friend outside my family, and now you’re acting like this. Of course, you affect me; you have hurt me, Maya,”
he said, covering his heart with his hand.
“What about you? You have hurt me, too, Aaron.”
“I didn’t want to—”
he started.
“Oh, but you wanted it. Don’t play the victim, you—”
“But I am the victim,”
he said, his lips turned down. Sad eyes.
“You aren’t; that’s your problem.”
“You said that you hate my family, that you hate me,” he said.
“Because I do.”
He looked at me with venom.
“You made that clear the other day,”
he said angrily.
“You said I’m a thief.”
“I didn’t—”
He hesitated.
“Don’t lie. You believe my family is below you, that we are this evil thing, stealing from the poor rich, and worse—you were feeling sorry for me.”
“I do feel sorry for you.”
“You made that clear the other day, Mr. I’m So Mature. I don’t want your pity.”
“Well, you have it. Your family—”
he started.
“Don’t you dare talk about my family.”
“Why not? Everyone else does.”
I was speechless.
“Come on, Maya, you must have heard them.”
He sighed. Someone entered the room. “Maya, I—”
People were talking about my family. He kept feeding those rumors.
“I’m happy to hear that you and Christine share gossip; you two deserve each other.”
People started to enter the room, and Christine sat next to Aaron. I wasn’t going to move seats just to avoid them. I had always liked to sit in the first row, and not even they could make me change; that was what they would want.
I really wish I hadn’t ridden my bike to that stupid park that stupid day, but at least now I knew that Aaron Willow was not someone to trust.
The day kept going; I tried to think of all the good things that had happened before Aaron decided to ruin my day, but my heart felt weird. I was sad and irritated.
At lunchtime, I disappeared, and not even the idea of pancakes could make me happy. I was at our usual place when Carlo came. He sat beside me and didn’t say a word when he saw that I was reading. I was seeing through the pages; I couldn’t focus on the words. He opened his lunchbox and moved it close to me.
“My dad made me an egg sandwich. Do you want to share it?”
“No, thanks. I have pancakes.”
I peeked to see his reaction, and he just nodded.
I opened the lunchbox and started to eat my pancakes. They were delicious, even if they were a bit dry and cold. Carlo didn’t raise his head from his notebook; he was painting something. I made a sound to show him how delicious my pancakes were. He looked up.
“You love pancakes.”
“I do.”
“Aaron loves them, too.”
“Everyone loves pancakes.”
“I don’t. I liked them, but not loved them.”
“That’s because you haven’t tried my mom’s.”
He shrugged his shoulders. “Do you want to try them?”
He nodded.
“But do you want a sandwich?”
“I don’t.”
“You don’t like egg sandwiches?”
I didn’t want to say to him that what I didn’t like was that his family was the one that made the sandwich.
“They’re not my favorite.”
“Maybe because you haven’t tried this.”
I narrowed my eyes a little at him, and he looked at me with his head to the side as if he were analyzing me. He reminded me of Cassie. I hadn’t talked with her. She only said hi to me in the halls.
“Okay, I’ll try it.”
We exchanged boxes, and he grabbed a pancake. He bit into it and looked at me with surprised eyes.
“They’re not bad.”
“Imagine them warm and just made. They are the very best pancakes in the world.”
“I believe you. Maybe I’ll try them one day.”
“Maybe.”
The most probable outcome was that he would never try them, and I felt sorry for him. He didn’t know what he was missing.
He remembered me trying the sandwich.
“You all have the same lunch or…?”
“Cassie doesn’t. She wanted to eat the cafeteria food even though she said it smelled funny.”
So Aaron was eating the same. I was going to eat the same as him. I ate a bite and felt a small win. It was good, but not as good as my mom’s pancakes. These rich people may have had to have a chef after all. My lunch was better than Aaron’s, and his dear brother was hanging out with me despite my family’s reputation.
Evelyn entered and looked surprised and elated, her big doe eyes sparkling. I felt panicked, but she just smiled at me and waved hello.
Why couldn’t Aaron be like his siblings? Or maybe they were the same, but I hadn’t fallen for their tricks yet.
“This is where you go, Carlo?”
she asked. He nodded.
“Why are you here?”
he asked. Evelyn got closer, and I realized she had been crying.
“I was just looking.”
Evelyn was only seven years old, and Cassie and her looked almost like twins. Cassie wore bright colors, while Evelyn liked the color green to dress.
She had a messy pigtail, while Cassie wore two perfect ones when I saw her before lunch. Something had happened to Evelyn.
“Have you been crying, Eve?”
She shook her head with too much force.
Why did I care?
The Willows were trying to ruin my family, except that Carlo was not a bad guy, Cassie seemed nice, and Evelyn was very kind and shy. She had such beautiful, big eyes that reminded me of a doll. I felt terrible for her.
“We’re eating; you can stay if you want.”
She sat between Carlo and me.
“Thanks,”
she said softly. She was still sad, and I thought she would start to cry, but no tears fell.
“Where’s your lunch, Eve?”
Carlo asked. She hiccupped, and I saw a tear falling down her cheek even though she tried to hide it from her brother. “Did you hear me?”
Carlo asked, looking at her without understanding what happened. “Did you eat it?”
Evelyn thought about it and nodded. “And you’re still hungry?”
She shook her head.
“Evelyn, come here. You need to try my mom’s pancakes.”
She looked at me weirdly. “Do you like pancakes? Carlo told me that he just likes them.”
“I love them,”
she said slowly.
“Great, you’re on my team.”
She bit one. “They’re cold right now, but imagine when they were warm and just made.”
“They’re delicious.”
My shoulders rose and I smiled at her.
“Right?”
She nodded.
“Try now the sandwich. Compare them.”
She bit a piece of the sandwich.
“Both are good.”
“But if you have to choose one, no one would get mad; it’s just to know. Try the pancake again.”
She bit another one. “Eat the whole thing.”
When she swallowed the last bite, I told her to try the sandwich again. “Bite a bigger piece to make things even.”
Carlo looked at us.
“I like how you talk, Maya. You’re very smart.”
“Thanks. I like searching for words in the dictionary and watching those TV programs where you need to know random things to win.”
She nodded.
“Aaron loves those too,”
she said with a smile. “And pancakes,”
she added. “And he’s very smart, too.”
I looked down. I wasn’t going to start a debate with them about how their brother and I weren’t alike. At all. They thought being like him was a compliment, and I would leave it at that. I forced a smile.
“I need to go; the bell is going to sound in five minutes,”
Carlo said. He liked to leave five minutes early. I tried to explain that the bell indicated to start going to class, but he liked it better this way. It was good because I could talk with Evelyn alone.
He left after saying goodbye and touching the shoulder of his sister.
“Are you liking school so far?”
She was caught by surprise by the question.
“It’s good.”
“Sometimes I hate school, you know? Some people are just mean and try to hurt my feelings. I love to study, but they made school not great, you know?”
“Have people said bad things to you?”
If only she knew the last one was her dear brother. I just nodded.
“More than once. More than fifty times. Sometimes people are just rude. Have you watched any high school TV shows?”
“Yes.”
“And there are always some mean girls or bullies, right?”
She nodded. “Real life is the same, too. It’s hard, especially at the beginning.”
“What do you do?”
she asked.
“I don’t care.”
“How?”
she asked with a small voice.
“Fake it until you make it. Act like you don’t care about their words, and they’ll go away.”
“And if they hurt you?”
“Did they hurt you?”
She looked to the side. I thought she wasn’t going to reply at first.
“They threw my food in the trash and told me that they don’t want me living here. They pulled my hair.”
That was why it was messy. She pouted, and her eyes filled with tears.
“Hey, hey, hey, it’s okay. I can braid it for you. I know how your parents do it. I think I even have a brush with me.”
I looked in my bag and found the brush I kept for before and after volleyball. “My hair gets tangled up very easily.”
“Your hair is very pretty.”
“Thanks, Evelyn.”
“You can call me Eve or Evie. That’s what my family calls me.”
I started to brush her hair as softly as I could.
“Have you made any friends?”
I asked. She shook her head. “You can always come here, you know. Hang out with us.”
“I didn’t know Carlo was with you.”
“I think it’s better if you don’t tell your brother.”
She kept silent.
“Aaron’s mad at you?”
“We don’t get along. Who was the one that hurt you?”
“You can’t tell the teacher; they would act worse, they told me.”
“I’m not going to tell anyone. I just want to know. Was it Claire?”
I kept thinking about who was in her class who acted mean. “Maggie?”
She shook her head. “Violet?”
She went rigid under my arms. “Of course it was her. That’s Christine’s sister.”
Your brother’s best friend and the girl who’s mean to me. “You could tell your brother; he could help you.”
She shook her head.
“It’s okay. It will pass. Promise me you won’t tell him.”
“I promise.”
I was not talking with Aaron about anything. This was an easy promise. I finished her braid.
“Done.”
She touched it.
“Thanks, Maya.”
“You don’t have to thank me every time, Eve.”
“I have to say thanks every time you are nice to me.”
“Oh no. When you’re friends, it is okay to not say thanks.”
“Why?”
“Because friends do things because they are your friends, not needing the thanks.”
“I say thanks so they know that I’m…”
“Thankful. Grateful.”
“Yes.”
“Do you say thanks to your siblings, too?”
She nodded. “Fine, but you don’t need to say thanks.”
“Because we’re friends,”
she confirmed.
“Exactly.”
She smiled big. She hugged me, and the bell rang. Her cheeks were red.
“Thanks, I mean … good.”
I smiled encouragingly. I went to her hall and left her at the door of her class. Almost no one was there yet. Good. I saw Violet and her little group entering the girls’ bathroom, and I went behind them. They needed it to learn a lesson.
After my little talk with the meanies, I went to my class and sat just in time for the teacher to start. A friend of Christine took my seat, which was wonderful. Aaron looked at me, and I avoided him.
When school finished, I stayed and ate the second lunch my mom had packed for me. When everyone left, I stayed at the stairs of the school’s door and read until it was time to change and go to my volleyball class. Just to my joy, Christine signed up too. It wasn’t shocking; she was signed up last year, too.
But it was surprising when Aaron entered the gym. It was a mixed team, but I didn’t think he would sign up for it. He’d told me he hated sports. That must have been another lie.
“Aaron, here.”
I almost rolled my eyes, hearing Christine’s voice. Seven people were in the gym now; it was not like he could lose himself. He said hi but started to talk with a guy from a class below. I felt a little smile when he stayed with him. I didn’t know why I cared.
I guessed it was nice to see that he was starting to give up on Christine’s mean group. I wanted to believe that if he knew how mean Christine’s sister was to his own sister, he would stop hanging out with her, but maybe it was wishful thinking.
The coach came, and I started to help prepare the balls. Aaron came close to me and tried to move things around.
“What are you doing, Willow?”
I asked with more strength than I wanted.
Indifference.
“Helping,”
he said with hesitation.
“That’s my job.”
“Not everything’s a competition.”
“Okay, you can do it, too.”
“You’re not the leader.”
“But I am. I’m the assistant of the coach.”
“Since always?”
“Since this year.”
“Are you good at volleying or something?”
he asked almost curiously.
“I’m very good, but it’s also my job. I help him before and after.”
“Oh.”
I realized Aaron was wearing a brand-new Darlington School Volley Team shirt. It looked a little big on him, but the blue on the shirt made his eyes bluer. He frowned, and I looked to the side.
“Okay, team, let’s do a little warm-up, and then we will have a match.”
We stretched and then separated into three teams, one against the other, and then mixed up until we all played with all the teams. The one with the most wins would be the winner.
Aaron was doing some warm-ups with his team. They were talking with each other, probably making a plan to win.
I was the leader of Team B. Aaron was on Team A, and Christine was the leader of Team C.
My first match was against Team C. It was a great way to start my fire. We ended up destroying them, which was a little embarrassing. My smile couldn’t be hidden.
“You’re not being a good winner, Maya,”
Christine said.
“I haven’t said anything,”
I replied.
“Your face says everything.”
I rolled my eyes. “It was just good luck. I need to practice more; I was skiing in France this summer, you know? Not everyone has all the time in the world to play volleyball in the park of town.”
“You’re not being a good loser, Christine; you should learn. You’re going to need it.”
I frowned. Aaron’s team also won, but with little difference. I rolled my eyes. That was just beginner’s luck.
It was on.
Now, it was our turn to play against each other.
Each team got onto their side of the court. I narrowed my eyes at Aaron. I was going to win. I was going to destroy him.
The first serve was for his team. They aced it, a clean point to his team. My rage started to simmer.
Soon the ball was again in the air, and I blocked it, just inches of touching our court, my knees scraping the floor.
I had the ball soon after, and when the ball was about to touch the ground, Aaron saved it.
I was sweating, my knees bleeding, and more focused than ever that I wasn’t going to let Aaron Willow win.
He failed the next, and I looked at him smugly. I won another point. He frowned.
“Set point,”
the coach said. My whole body was on fire. I didn’t know how I was going to ride my bike home with the pain in my knee.
The ball went to the air, and Aaron and I jumped, both hitting the ball with strength at the same time.
I fell back, hitting the ground with force. I looked from the ground; Aaron was lifting himself from the ground, the ball in his court.
I won.