And I could not do it.
I made myself groan as I stepped away from her touch, scrubbing my face as though in annoyance. “Nothing. I can’t be tired? You and Dad. Seriously, give me a break…”
“Tired?” she said, still a little soft, but weary too. “That’s all you are?”
I’d turned around to face her again, to show my sister what her ears alone wouldn’t believe. I locked my jaw tight and pressed my back into the closet doorknob, hard. I focused on the metal digging into my flesh and willed every inch of my face into a blank stare.
She looked at me, her eyes darting between mine so many times that I welcomed the dizziness they created. At last she stopped, her shoulders slumping as she made a sound of disgust. “I can’t even tell when you’re lying anymore, Dana.”
“I’m telling you the truth.” I moved back to the bed, sitting so that I was no longer facing her head-on. “And okay, fine, I’ve been hanging out with that guy I told you about. It’s the same thing you did with Gavin and singing. You kept part of your life from me and Mom and Dad. Are you telling me you never lied about what you were doing? Mom invited you home all the time, and you had excuses for her plenty of times.”
“But I was still here. I came to your games. I didn’t blow Dad off when he wanted to spend a measly half hour with me. You almost act like you’re punishing him for something.”
I went cold inside. “What could I punish Dad for?”
“I don’t know.” She tossed one hand to the side. “Is he not paying enough attention to you? Are you mad about a call at a recent game? Are you upset because you have to share him again now that I’m here?”
I don’t know if I want him at all anymore.“Don’t be stupid.”
“Well, then I don’t know what your deal is, but enough already.” Her phone buzzed on my dresser and she twisted around to glance at the screen. “And stop lying all the time. You’re getting to be pathological, and I have no idea where you got the idea that lying to your family is okay.”
“Because everyone else in this family is a beacon of truth?” The words scraped my throat.
“Compared to you, yeah. So cut it out. I’m not going to tell Mom and Dad about your guy, but you have to be around more.” She got up to check the message and smiled at whatever she saw. “And you can start tomorrow after the game when you meet Gavin.”
CHAPTER 28
Ileaped onto Sadie’s back as Ivy and Jessalyn collided into her from the front. We were a tangle of arms and I had no idea how we stayed standing.
“No-hitter!” I yelled. “Sadie!”
She couldn’t help laughing, even under the onslaught of so many of her teammates surging to congratulate her. “I did it!”
I laughed at the surprise in her voice. “Yeah, you did.” I shook her shoulders, hugged her again from behind. We’d won our game, and not just any game, our first sectional. There were only two more until the state finals. Two more games that we had a solid shot at winning. We’d all played well, but Sadie had been unstoppable. Strike after strike after strike. It had almost been like watching Selena again. If Sadie continued to pitch half as well and the rest of us held our own, we weren’t just going to the finals—we would take the whole damn thing.
Jessalyn caught my eye, sending that live wire of elation sparking inside us. I grinned back—for the moment, nothing else mattered.
“You were amazing,” Ivy said. “I thought about just sitting down that last inning.”
“It was Coach,” Sadie said, deflecting praise the way she always did. “He and Selena practiced with me all last week.” She laughed. “I think my shoulder is going to fall off, but I don’t even care.”
I frowned, looking first at our coach, who was beaming at Sadie, and then to where Selena had been cheering in the stands. Selena had never said she and Dad were helping Sadie. I was glad for Sadie and our team—who better to finesse her pitching than the greatest pitcher our school had ever seen—but the sparking inside me dimmed.
Someone knocked hard into my shoulder, and a deafening scream passed my ear as Selena charged into the knot of girls to get to Sadie.
“No one has pitched like that since—”
“You!” Sadie said, hugging my sister.
“Okay, fine, but I wouldn’t want to have to hit your curveball. I thought Amanda’s catcher’s mitt was going to catch fire! Amazing.” Selena hugged Sadie again and whispered something in her ear that made our pitcher flush with delight.
“I will. And thank you!”
Selena joined me when I headed back to the dugout. “How about that?” She grinned in Sadie’s direction.
“Yeah. Awesome night for her.”
“For all of you.” Selena sat next to me as I unlaced my cleats.
