“Yeah. She’s a miracle worker.”
She didn’t mean it sarcastically either. Kate’s tutelage not only pulled Abby out of her academic hole but motivated her. Abby studied and worked long hours at home after the library, fearful of letting Kate down or looking stupid. With Mick tipsy, Abby dared the question she’d pondered endlessly.
“What’s the deal with her boyfriend?” She glared at Mick’s grin. “What?”
“Nothing, I just didn’t think you’d care,” she said, still smiling.
Abby’s shoulders hitched up to her ears. “I don’t. It’s a question, Mick.”
“Relax, I’m fucking with you.” Mick slid out a beer from her ski jacket and cracked it open. “Kate and Blake have been together since freshman year. He’s fine. A real golden boy. You know, football player, baseball player, declaring for the MLB draft this year.”
“I didn’t know he was that good.” Abby ground her teeth with the same unexplainable jealousy that overcame her when they met outside the library.
“Yeah, leave it to Hutch to date the best ball player in school history.” Mick sipped her drink and handed it to Abby. “They met at CAC.”
“What’s that?”
“Collegiate Athletes for Christ. You didn’t have it at UCLA? It’s like a club for Christians. Church, Bible study, volunteering, and they sign a purity contract.”
Abby choked. “Really?”
“You didn’t know? Don’t you two talk?” Mick looked at her incredulously. “Kate’s family is super religious. She has like a million siblings and was raised really sheltered. She hadn’t even been on a plane before our freshman season.”
The information overwhelmed her. She suspected Kate a touch prudish but attributed it to her perfectionist ways. This left her head spinning. It didn’t, shouldn’t, matter to her. Just like it shouldn’t matter that she was with Blake. Kate was her teammate, not even her friend. Yet Abby grimaced as though betrayed.
“She’s not bigoted though, if that’s what you’re worried about. I mean, half the team is queer,” Mick said, unprompted. “What’s your deal anyway?”
Abby took a drag from her cigarette. “You know me. I’m a switch-hitter.”
“I knew it. My gaydar is great, but my sense for bisexuals is off the charts.”
Abby laughed. “What about you? Are you seeing anyone?”
“No. You interested?” Mick winked.
“God, no.” Abby smiled.
Mick finished her beer. “Come on, let’s find girls to kiss at midnight.”
Abby followed her, disappointed for a reason she couldn’t place, but simultaneously elated. For the first time since coming to Insley, she had a friend. While they failed to find a midnight kiss, Mick, staggering on the way home, her arm draped over Abby’s shoulder, gifted her optimism for the New Year. “You’re pretty cool, Cruz,” she said.
“You too, Mick.” Abby’s dimples sprouted, so unused lately that her cheeks twinged.
Even after Mick’s revelation, Abby counted the days until Kate returned from break. She arrived in the locker room early that first day back, knee bouncing until Mick arrived with her roommates in tow.
“What up, Cruzer?” Mick slapped her shoulder in a hug.
The other players observed bewildered. Jill nodded at her next, patted her back on the way to her locker, and then Kate appeared. Abby shuddered when their eyes met. She didn’t recall her gaze shining so blue. The type of eyes that reflected storms and seasons. She cleared her throat. “Hi.”
“Hey,” Kate said, already suited up in her pristine practice uniform.
“I um.” Abby stopped before blurting she missed her. Stopped before mentioning their fight and apologizing like she intended to. “How was your break?”
“Good. Yours?”
“Good.”
They lingered. Kate bit her lip and released a small noise that resembled a laugh, but Abby couldn’t be sure.
