That’s all I am to him.
It’s all I ever was.
Noneof the impactful moments I remember from my delusional, one-sided romance means anything to him. That one time I got hurt playing at the park and he carried me, piggyback style, all the way home. Or that time he went after the little boys who called me pizza face for my acne—it was just him taking up for Chris’s little sister.
I should have faced Nathan the first day I saw him in Lucky Falls. I was ducking and hiding, thinking that I’d be the same awkward little girl in front of him. Thinking old feelings would burst back to life.
As if.
Years have gone by, but I’m the only one who’s changed.
Nat hasn’t.
He’s still treating me like a clueless little girl.
“So you grew up with Nathan Campbell?” Jimmy is grinning from ear to ear. “What was it like?”
“Where are Carlos and Blade?” I grumble, checking my watch and dodging the question.
“They’ll probably turn up soon.”
That’s not the answer I’m looking for. I expect the mechanics to be here by seven a.m.
It is now eight fifteen. Unacceptable.
“Jimmy, since you’re here, let me show you the logbooks we’ll be using. From now on, I want you to log every task and bring it to me to sign off.”
“Whatever you want, boss.”
Jimmy follows me as I walk to my ‘office’. It’s a cramped room in the back with a file cabinet and a desk, no windows, and no pictures on the wall. It’s fine though, as I don’t plan on spending a lot of time here. I want to be right on the floor with my crew.
“A bummer what happened to his leg, no?” Jimmy shakes his head.
I have no idea what he’s talking about first.
“Campbell?” Jimmy clarifies.
I tighten my fingers on the logbook as memories of that awful day fill my head.
I heard the news about Nat’s accident along with the rest of the country and my entire world blinked out of focus.
Chris flew straight out and spent a solid week in the hospital with Nat. He told me that Nat kept smiling and telling everybody that he’d play hockey again, but the doctors were very skeptical. It’s a miracle that he’s back in skates.
“Sad that he’ll have to retire soon too,” Jimmy says. “He hadsuchpotential.”
“Who told you Nat’s retiring?”
When I was lightly stalking, I mean… looking him up online yesterday, I found an article about Nat and the Lucky Striker’s training camp. Once the training is over, he’ll get to play hockey alongside a big name like Chance McLanely.
“It’s obvious he won’t get picked,” Jimmy says.
I shoot to my feet. “Obvious to whom?”
“Ah, no one. Forget I said anything.” Jimmy glances away and scratches his nose.
“Why wouldn’t the Lucky Strikers draft Nathan? He’s an incredible player with tons of experience. He’s the only one on the training roster who’s been drafted to the league.”
“Yeah but that wasbefore. Before his accident. Before rehab. Before his entire leg got messed up.”
