23. Leo
Leo
When I walk up to my house, I spot my sister Zoey’s car out front.
I step up to the driver’s side window. She’s frowning down at her phone. I smack my hand on the glass and yell, “Hey!”
She screams and drops her phone. She glares at me, but she’s also fighting a smile.
She steps out of the car and smacks my arm. “What the hell, you scared the crap out of me.”
I’m laughing. “You should have seen your face.”
“You’re such a little shit.”
I pull her into a hug. “What are you doing here?”
She ducks back into her car and pulls out a big plastic container. “I made you some cookie dough protein balls as a thank you for helping me with my car the other week.”
I open the container and stuff one into my mouth. “Thanks, sis. Damn, these are good.”
“They’re the one healthy food that doesn’t taste healthy.”
“That’s why I love them.” I devour another one. “You wanna come in for a sec? I need some milk with these.”
She follows me into the house.
“Where are the guys?” she asks, dropping her purse on the couch and following me into the kitchen.
“They all have class right now.”
I pour myself a glass of almond milk and sit down at the counter. I eat another protein ball and guzzle the milk.
My sister elbows me. “Some host you are, serving yourself before you serve me,” she teases.
I roll my eyes. “I’m not waiting on my big sister. Grab whatever you want.”
She just laughs as she grabs a sparkling water from the fridge. A second later, Wally comes running down the stairs. My sister runs over to pet him.
“You guys got a dog?”
He licks her hand and face before falling on his back. She scratches his belly.
“Kind of. Wally belongs to our new roommate.”
“Aww, Wally is such a cute name.” Zoey scratches his tummy harder, and his tail goes crazy. She looks up at me. “Wait, you got a new roommate? Is it another one of your teammates?”
“No, she’s someone I met off campus.”
Zoey frowns. “She?”
I sigh. “Yes. She.”
“Don’t tell me you moved in with a girl you’re hooking up with?”
I toss a protein ball at her, and she makes a face. “Of course I didn’t.” I huff out a breath. “It’s a long story.”
Zoey crosses her legs as she sits on the floor, still petting Wally. “I’m listening.”
“I met her randomly. She works at the diner that the guys and I go to all the time. She’s homeless.”
Zoey’s brow hits her hairline. “Wait, you just met this person?”
I huff out a breath, annoyed at her reaction.
“Where’s she staying? There are only four bedrooms in this place.”
“I let her have my bedroom. I sleep on the couch or in one of the guys’ rooms when they’re over at their girlfriends’ place.”
Zoey’s mouth hangs open in shock. “What? Leo, that’s crazy. Why are you letting a person you barely know move into your bedroom? Aren’t you worried that she’s taking advantage of you?”
I exhale sharply. I hate when Zoey pulls the big sister act on me, like she knows better than I do.
“She’s not taking advantage of me. I offered to help her. And it’s just for a little while, until she finds a place of her own.”
She tugs at her ponytail. “Leo, don’t be naive. This sounds like a textbook situation of someone getting taken advantage of. What if she’s planning to squat here forever? Do you have any idea what a pain it’s going to be to evict her?”
“She’s not like that. She’s a good person. Even just trying to help her is like pulling teeth because she refuses to accept help.”
“Leo, come on. What if that’s an act to get sympathy from you?”
I grit my teeth. “It’s not an act.”
My sister starts talking some more, but I cut her off.
“I got her fired, Zoey.”
She leans back. “What?”
“She got fired because of me. She lost her job because of me.”
I tell her about that morning at the coffee shop, how I was pissed after meeting with our dad, so when they messed up my order, I complained to the manager.
“He fired her right on the spot.”
“Crap,” Zoey mutters.
“I saw her working at the diner, so I thought everything was okay. But then her car got towed, and that’s when I found out just how shitty things were for her.
And I’m the reason why.” I push away my empty glass.
“Because of me, she lost her job. Because of me, she got that other job at the diner, where the parking is shitty, and then she got towed.” My shoulders slump.
I still feel guilty about all that. “I owe it to her to help her out.”
Zoey’s quiet for a second. She watches Wally as he turns on his side and rests his head in her lap. She smiles softly at him before looking up at me. “You’re right. You do owe her. Sorry I went into big sister mode on you.”
“I’ve spent my whole life dealing with you bossing me around. I’m used to it.”
She grabs the protein ball from the floor and tosses it at me. I catch it easily, laughing.
She sticks her tongue out at me, but a second later, her expression turns warm. “You’re really sweet for helping her out.”
“I’m just trying to be a good person.”
My sister flashes a warm smile. “You’re just like Grandpa. He would have done the same thing.”
A comforting feeling swoops through me hearing her say that. “Yeah, he would have.”
“Remember how on Thanksgiving, he’d always make us volunteer with him at the soup kitchen?”
“That was fun. The people were nice.”
“And how he’d make the whole family donate to the toy drive for low-income kids every Christmas?”
“He was really generous. I’m trying to be like him.”
My sister gently scoots Wally’s head off her lap and onto the floor. Then she stands up and pats my shoulder. “He’d be really proud of you.” She checks the time. “I should get back to work.”
I walk with her out of the house and to her car.
“You’re going to the gala next weekend, right?” she asks.
I tug a hand through my hair. “I really don’t want to.”
She stops at her driver’s side door. “You know Dad will raise hell if you don’t.”
“I’d prefer that over having to pretend that we’re a happy family in front of a bunch of strangers.” I tug a hand through my hair. “Is Mom going?”
“Yeah. Even though she and Dad are separated, you know how important family stuff is for her.”
I don’t understand why my mom is willing to go out of her way for him. He hardly ever paid attention to her when they were married.
“Fine. I’ll go for her, not him.”
My sister hugs me and hops into her car. She drives off, and I head back into the house. When I check my phone and see a text from Coach Tremblay, my bad mood evaporates instantly.
Good news. I talked to the physios, and they agreed to meet with your friend. When is she free to come in for an interview?