I shrug.
“Tell me you weren’t a massive jerk to her.” Sarah jabs me in the arm. “Is your ego so fragile you had to scare her off on the first day?”
I lift my hands in surrender and explain that we barely made it a half a mile into our run before she gave up and turned around.
Sarah eyes me suspiciously. “If she quits…”
I think about the determination on Ella’s face when we were arguing. As much as I can’t stand her, I admire her determination. For better or worse, I know the truth. “She’s not going to quit.”
“Ifshe does”—Sarah jabs me in the arm again—“you’re going to convince her to come back.”
I nod absent-mindedly as Ella and Coach continue to talk in the distance. Ella waves her arms and then looks over at me. Coach does, too. I turn back to Sarah, mostly to avoid being under their accusing gazes. “She’s not going to quit.”
“She better not,” Sarah says before walking off.
I hope I’m right because I don’t want to beg Ella to stay. I already don’t want her to do cross country. She’s ruining everything. But this team is important to me. I like Sarah, and I want her to get to compete in the district meet this year even if it means Ella being here. I close my eyes and send up a silent prayer that Ella decides to come back tomorrow.
7
MOST NOSTALGIC
The scentof coffee fills the air as I read over David’s essay for the second time. I’m having a hard time concentrating today. My mind keeps wandering to everything on my to-do list. It’s never-ending—and I still have much more to add to it.
I’m desperately trying to read the words in front of me, but when the barista calls out an order over the gentle chatter of the coffee shop, I lose my train of thought. Again. I set his essay down on the table in defeat. Condensation from my glass of water instantly wets the side of the papers. I groan as I pick them back up and try to wipe the water from the pages.
David looks up from his phone. “Is everything okay?”
I close my eyes and shake my head. “Not really.”
“What’s wrong?”
I use a napkin to wipe the water around my glass as I try to formulate a reply.
David and I have been meeting at the same coffee shop for the last year for tutoring. And while I wouldn’t call us friends, it’s impossible to spend that much time with someone and not have a relationship of some sort. The fact that David is one of the kindest people I’ve ever met also doesn't hurt.
Of course, I’ve always had to be somewhat guarded with him since his entire family hates me for what my dad did. I don’t want to take a misstep and lose the only source of income I have.
After thinking about it for a moment, I eventually land on an answer that is both vague and honest. “I’m just tired.”
“Cross country?”
I raise my brows at him.
David finds some remaining water on the table and runs his finger across it. There’s a slight upward tilt to his lips. “I may have overheard my brother talking about it.”
My breath catches. We’ve always pretended like Connor doesn’t exist during our sessions. It’s been an unspoken rule since we started this. Even when we agreed to meet at this particular coffee shop, one that’s twenty minutes from school, we didn’t actually vocalize the reason we’d chosen it. We never said it was because we didn’t want to risk Connor, or anyone else, finding out who David’s school-appointed tutor was. The school handles every aspect of it, from hiring to paying me, so his parents don’t know I’m the one meeting with David. If his parents ever found out, they’d be sure to put an end to it.
My toe taps against the exposed cement floors of thesmall shop. I’m dying to take the bait. I want to know what Connor has said about me, but I don’t want to ruin the good thing we have going either.
When I look up at David, I can tell he wants to say it as badly as I want to hear it. I lose any semblance of nonchalance as I lean forward and ask, “What did he say?”
David folds his hands together on the table. “Just that he was sure that you were going to quit, and that he was glad you didn’t.”
I laugh. “I’m sorry, but your brother did not say that. Maybe the part about me quitting, I almost did. But he’s definitely not glad I stayed.” All I can think about is that first day when he tried to scare me away. Even though it’s been several weeks since he was forced to run with me, I doubt his tune has changed that much.
David makes an X motion on his chest with his fingers. “Cross my heart.”
“Why would Connor want me to stay on the team?” I’ve seen the way he looks at me at practice, like he wishes he could make me disappear. “That doesn’t make sense.”
