He looks at me. “I guess not.”
“You can talk to me about anything.”
“Really?”
“Sure. As long as you don’t tell my daughter. I’m not exactly one of her favourite people at the moment.”
“That makes two of us.”
Maybe that’s why I get along so well with this kid.
“I don’t think Skylar would be impressed by anyone sporty.”
“No?”
“She doesn’t seem like that kind of girl: the kind who follows fame, goes after the most popular guy at school.”
Hmm.Reminds me of someone.
“Besides, I’m really bad.”
“But you’ve never tried!”
“I already know I’ll suck. Everyone will laugh at me even more than they do now.”
“Why don’t you just come to one session? Get to know the team, learn the rules, maybe sit on the bench until you feel ready to join in?”
“It’s a waste of time.”
“Time you could spend doing what, exactly?”
“My own thing.”
“Comics, video games? Porn?”
He jumps at the final word, horrified. Maybe I took it too far – he’s only sixteen, though. What else would a sixteen-year-old boy do in his spare time?
“Well, anyway. Training is on Thursdays after school. You could always pop in.”
“I don’t know.”
“Just think about it. You could make some new friends.”
“Are you saying I don’t have any?”
I look condescendingly at him as I pull up in the street in front ofO’Heirs.
“Friends in the chess club?”
“There is no chess club.”
“Debating, then? School paper? Maybe from Maths club. Maybe you take part in those Olympic-style competitions…”
“You watch too many American films, Coach K.”
“Maybe…but I’m right, aren’t I?”
“I’m not part of any clubs. I like my own company.”
