Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
ADAM
Iwas not reading into things.
The rest of the Christmas break passed, with Danny making snowmen, us going to bed at ten p.m. on New Year’s Eve, and texts from Faith that were vague and distant. I even asked Faith if she wanted to spend New Year’s Day with us. She said she had plans, but didn’t elaborate.
I needed to constantly remind myself that until Faith was ready to be honest with me, space was best.
Maybe I had, in fact, just been lonely.
Stupid Christmas.
After a week of no practice between Christmas and New Year, bellies full of junk food, and what I could only assume were very late nights, the other team was outrunning us with a full-court press. Having a game two days after break was brutal.
I gestured to the passing referee that I wanted a time-out. He blew his whistle, and they stopped the clock. I had thirty seconds. I gestured for the benched players to stand and let the other players sit for a second.
Danny ran to the boys and handed out water bottles.
“All right, let’s go zone, they are beating us man to man.” I made eye contact with Jacob. He nodded his head in agreement.
“Connor, I want you under the basket. Remember to set your feet. Maybe we can draw the foul.” He took another drink. “There’s only three minutes left. Let’s give it all.” I made eye contact with each of them, and they nodded.
The buzzer sounded, causing Danny to flinch and drop a water bottle. “It’s all right, Champ.” I tossed him a towel and turned my focus to the team.
Mustang number 12 drove in for the layup, and Connor set his feet and got the foul.
“Yes!” I punched my fist. “Come on, Connor.” I whispered under my breath.
Nothing but net.
“Atta boy, one more.”
He missed, but Jackson got the rebound and put it in for two.
“Nice!” I gestured for the team. “Get back. Go zone.”
We were still down by three, and with two minutes left, the other team might try to stall.
They passed the ball back and forth above the three point line.
Minute thirty left. Jacob rushed at the pass, misjudging the position.
The other team’s guard cut to the basket.
The ref started counting off the seconds in the key.
The Mustangs kicked it out to the side. Twenty-four shot a three. It bounced off the rim.
“Come on,” I muttered. “Get the rebound.”
We missed it. Mustangs went up for a shot at the top of the key and they made it.
We grabbed the ball and ran out of bounds to throw it in. Under a minute left. The team rushed down the court, calling that they were open and trying to set up the Danny play. The team was working hard to get open, setting up screens and cutting to the basket.
“Okay, now kick it out,” I muttered, willing them a perfect play.
Connor ran through the key, Jackson setting up the screen. Jacob kicked it out to him as soon as he hit the three-point line. Under twenty seconds. He took his shot. The crowd held their breath as the ball flew through the air and erupted into cheers when it sank through the net.
We were down by two.
The Mustangs had the ball with ten seconds left. The Eagles started running back.
“Man to man!” Jacob called, and everyone scrambled to find their man. He was right to switch, otherwise, the other team might have stalled. The point guard pressed hard to the basket, then kicked it out.
Five seconds left.
They passed to their post player. He dribbled, leaned hard trying to draw the foul and went up. He made it. Connor did good. Kept his feet, and raised his hands high. The buzzer sounded.
The team worked hard, but in the end we lost by four.
They met in a circle after the buzzer.
“Hey that’s all right! You can’t win them all.” I shrugged. “I’m very proud of all of you. You guys keep up the hard work, and we might see these guys again at State.” I smiled.
“Yeah, we will totally get them next time,” Jacob confirmed. “All right, Eagles on three. One…two…three.”
“Eagles.”
We went through the line and congratulated the other players and the coach. Back at the bench, I called out. “All right, boys, practice tomorrow. I know it’s been a long night, but it’s time to get back to work.”
They wiped off the sweat, grabbed their warm-ups, and headed to the locker rooms.
I went over to help Danny with the water bottles. He was setting them in the wire carriers. I knew better than to fill in the spaces; instead, I handed the water bottles to Danny one at a time so he could put them away according to his system.
“Coach.” I felt the tap on my shoulder as the female voice reached my ear.
I looked up to see the cheer team coach, Brandy, and her pointy high heels.
“Good game.” She placed her hands on her hips. “I really thought the boys might pull it off.”
I nodded as I grabbed Danny’s shoes. I’m not sure when he had taken them off. “Yeah, it was close.” I gestured Danny to sit, and I squatted in front of him.
“I wanted to remind you that this Saturday is the dance.” She tilted her head toward me.
Ahh crap! I forgot. “Uh…”
“And don’t forget, you need to bring a date.” She gave a small wave and rushed away.
I growled. “Great.” I tied Danny’s shoe tighter than necessary. His eyebrows scrunched together, and he looked at the floor. Great. Danny picked up on my negative energy. He shot a questioning look my way.
“Sorry about my shoes. I am faster without them.”
I rolled my eyes and ruffled his hair. “I don’t know about that, but I’m not upset about it.” I let him see my face and that I meant it. “I’m not frustrated with you, bud, it’s other things.”
I grabbed his bright orange jacket and slid one arm through the hole. “Are you mad about the game?”
I tilted my head. “Nope, the boys played hard, and that’s all I can ask of them.”
Danny stared at the retreating cheerleader coach. “Is it about the date thing?”
“Yeah, I guess.” That and the fact I couldn’t stop thinking about Faith. I put his other arm in its sleeve. “But don’t you worry about that.”
“You could ask Ms. Faith. She isn’t a date, remember.” Danny nodded, happy with the solution he had come to.
“Yeah, maybe.” I directed him toward the gym doors. It was already past his bedtime. I helped him up into the truck and made sure he was buckled.
“Can I play on your phone on the way home?” Danny asked.
I grabbed it out of my back pocket, checking once again for any missed calls or texts. There were none. Not that I was expecting any.
I handed it over. “Please don’t download anything this time. The thing can barely handle what’s on it, and I really don’t want to have to get a new phone.”
Danny took my unlocked phone.
I walked over to my side and started the truck, cranking the heat. Pulling out of the parking lot and onto Main Street, I glanced over at Danny. He definitely wasn’t playing a game. He was scrolling through my contacts and he pressed send on Faith’s name.
“Danny!” I reached for the phone. “What are you doing?”
He leaned out of my reach. “I’m helping you not be grumpy.” He scrunched his eyebrows.
“I’m not grumpy. Now, hand the phone over.” I growled and snapped my fingers and pointed at the phone while flicking my eyes to the road.
“You are grouchy. I figured it was because you missed our friend Ms. Faith. If she goes with you to the dance thing, then you won’t be grumpy.” He held the phone out of my reach.
I sobered at his reasoning. I hadn’t realized I had been moping, and that Danny had noticed. “Look, Champ, you can’t just call Faith.”
“Why not? She was my friend first.”
I sighed. I never should have blurred the lines between teacher and more than friends.
“Hello?” I heard Faith’s faint voice from the phone in Danny’s outstretched hand. “Hello?”
Ugh!
“Hey Faith, my dad is grumpy and needs a date.”
I rubbed my hand down my face.
Great.
“I’m sorry, what?”
I cleared my throat and gestured to Danny to give me the phone. He handed it over, happy knowing he had accomplished his goal. “Hey, Faith, sorry about that. Danny called you.”
“Oh.” Her voice fell. “Sounds good, good night.”
“No, wait…” I sighed.
Danny was right. I had been grumpy since Faith had started shutting me out. Was it better to walk away right now? I wasn’t sure I could be around her and not want to be in a relationship with her. I wasn’t sure she was ready for that.
But who else would I take to the dance?
“Adam?” Faith paused. “Are you there?”
I groaned. “Yep, sorry.” I took a deep breath. Danny gave me a thumbs up and a grin.
“I was curious if I could ask you something.” One of these times I was going to ask to spend time with Faith, and it wouldn’t sound like a charity event.
“Okay, what can I do to help you and Danny?” Her voice brightened a little.
“Um…” I turned off the main road. “Well,” I huffed, “it’s not Danny that needs help.”
I sounded like such a loser.
“Oh.” Her voice was smaller.
“I need a date.”
The silence was palpable.
“Are you there?”
She cleared her throat. “Um, yep.”
“You don’t have to, but I need someone to go with me to the dance on Saturday. I have—I kind of volunteered to chaperone.”
“And you want to ask me?” Faith asked.
Part of me wanted to demand she be ready to tell me everything, and the other part of me wanted to trust.
Trust. It wasn’t my strong suit. But there was no one else. No one else I wanted to spend time with, no one else that made me feel whole.
Somehow, this quiet, resilient woman had softened my heart, and I wasn’t ready to give up the chance.
“Yes, I’m sure.”
I hadn’t wanted to fall for anyone ever again, especially someone who I barely knew. But here I was falling. Like an idiot.
“Only if you want to though. I don’t want you to do it out of some weird obligation or favor.”
She cleared her throat. “So you are asking me on a date to a high school dance?”
I chuckled. “Yep. I guess so.”
The pause stretched and pulled between us.
“I would love to go to the dance with you, Adam.”
My heart and smile needed to remember it wasn’t a big deal. It was a date.
A date.
A date I wanted to go on, not one I was set up on or tricked into. I hadn’t been this excited in a while. I kept trying to remind myself it wasn’t a big deal.
“Awesome. Can I pick you up on Saturday at six p.m.?”
“Mmhm,” Faith replied.
“All right. Night, Faith.”
“Night, Adam.”
I moved the phone away from my ear to end the call, and I’m pretty sure I heard happy squealing. My whole chest was lighter, like I could take a full breath of air for the first time in days.
“I told you that you were grumpy because you missed Ms. Faith,” Danny murmured as he looked out the window.