Page 70 of Trick Play
This sigh is annoyed. “This is about that boy, isn’t it?”
“Yes, Mom.” My sigh is equally annoyed. No one can ever accuse me of not being my mother’s daughter. “It is about that boy. I know Gray has decided he’s the worst, and to be honest, Cal’s not Gray’s biggest fan either, but they’re both wrong about each other. And I would appreciate it if you’d trust me to make my own decisions about who I spend time with.”
“Piper, you have to understand—”
“That you think my judgment is suspect. I know. I’ve been operating under the same assumptions since last spring too. I get it. No one has beat me up for my poor choices more than me, I promise you. But Cal is different.”
“How?” The single syllable is the first volley in a rapid fire interrogation, short and to the point.
“He’s proven himself trustworthy. He won’t do to me what Brent did.”
“But how can you know that, Piper?”
I let out a choked laugh, trying to choose humor over anger or tears. “How do you know Gray wouldn’t do that, Mom?”
“Well,” she sputters, “it’s Gray, of course he wouldn’t—”
“Because you trust him, right?” I push. “You know him. He’s done things to show that he’s a trustworthy person who wouldn’t violate someone’s boundaries like that.”
She’s silent for several beats. “I suppose so.”
“Right. So has Cal.”
She mulls that over. “Will we get to meet him?”
That question catches me off guard. For some reason, I wasn’t expecting that. “Oh, um, maybe? I don’t know right now.”
This time she lets out a resigned sigh. “We’d like to meet him,” she says. “If you’re both willing to do that.”
I take a minute to think about it before answering. I feel like inviting Cal to a family dinner is like inviting him to eat in a lion’s den, but it’s not actually a ridiculous request. But if Cal comes to dinner, Gray needs to either agree to be nice or agree to be somewhere else, and I’m not sure which is possible right now.
“I’ll talk to him about it,” I finally say, deferring the decision until later.
“Alright,” Mom says. “I need to go, but, Piper?”
“Yeah, Mom?”
“I love you. And I’m glad you’ll be coming home.”
Heat and moisture gather behind my eyes. “I love you too, Mom.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Cal
Coach has given us an easier schedule for finals week. I’m not sure he has much choice since class schedules are all messed up, it’s not like we can maintain our normal workout, game tapes, and practice schedule.
Nevertheless, he makes us all gather on Tuesday evening to watch game tape of our opponents for our upcoming game. We have our first postseason game in Arizona this weekend. While everyone else on campus is looking forward to relaxing, our stress levels are only increasing.
We have three more games before we’re done, the final one just after the first of the year. Which means our break will be spent in the weight room and on the practice field regardless of the weather or whatever other normal family plans anyone might’ve made. This is the first year this has been the case, and I know my mom isn’t happy about the change. Especially since Ellie’s planning on staying at our house for most of the break as well. I think she’ll be going home for a few days when Simon and I are gone, but she’s driving back up as soon as she can get away.
I wonder what Piper’s plans are for Christmas break? We’ve mostly been focused on one day at a time, only planning the next time we can get together and what we need to accomplish before that can happen each day.
I haven’t asked her what her plans are for the break, partly because I’m afraid of the answer. I want her to spend as much time with me as possible, and for her sake, I don’t want a repeat of Thanksgiving. I’d much rather just start with the understanding that she belongs with me rather than having her show up on my doorstep crying and dragging a suitcase. I suppose even if she chooses to go home, she knows that’s an option now.
Settling into the uncomfortable ancient folding chairs in the tape room, I push aside my worries about Piper and focus on the tape. Sure, the odds of me actually playing are small, but I need to be ready just in case. Now that we’re entering the postseason, the odds of scouts showing up at games is even higher. They’ll be examining my stats not just from this season but last season as well, which is the only thing keeping me from working harder to trip up Kilpatrick.
At this point, I’ve done all I can short of injuring the guy myself, and that’s not an option. But I know that Coach Miles has been watching me closely during practices since I’ve taken Simon’s advice and stepped up, buckled down, and worked harder. No more bitching about how unfair it is that I lost my starting spot to a random transfer student the new coach brought along with him. I stillthinkthat, but I’ve stopped talking about it.
