Unbroken: The Loss Mission: Book 3 (Soulmates)

by Jay T

  “Yes, please.”

  “Thank you for the other night,” she says.

  “Oh, it’s no problem.”

  “It’s been a lot better since he’s been gone. It’s actually kind of nice here now.”

  I nod. “Good. I’m glad to hear that.”

  “You don’t spend a lot of time here.”

  “No, I try and make myself scarce.”

  “I don’t think we have to do that anymore. She’s actually been pretty cool. She even bought me a pair of gym shoes the other day.”

  “She’s supposed to do that,” I tell her.

  “I know, but I didn’t have to ask, she just offered.”

  I smile and take a sip of coffee.

  I look at the clock. I have a few hours before I need to be at rehearsal. I decide it would be nice of me to help clean up the cabin after the party. I shower and wrap my ribs loosely, get dressed, and head to Sterling.

  It looks like a tornado came through. There are Solo cups everywhere as well as cans and bottles of every shape and color. Inside, guys and girls are sleeping everywhere, on the couches, chairs, tables and floors. I grab a trash bag out from under the kitchen sink and try to clean up around them. Soon, Ryan emerges from a room upstairs with a girl under his arm. “What are you doing?” he asks me.

  “Cleaning.”

  “That’s the freshmen’s job.” Louder he yells, “Freshmen, get up! Do your job!”

  Most of them stir and a few actually get up and start moving around.

  “I’ll call you later, alright?” Ryan says to the girl as he pats her butt and sends her out the front door. When she’s gone, he says, “She was fun.”

  “I don’t want to know,” I reply.

  The freshmen clean up the place and before I know it, it’s time to head to Kenai.

  Brent is already there setting up the equipment. “Hey, there you guys are. I think we’re set to go. I was up half the night stripping everyone else off this tape but I think I got it. If not, you guys will just sound like crap.”

  “You better not sound like crap.” Sondra comes up behind him. “We’re practicing in the gym on the mats. Come on, we need to get started.”

  We follow her in and find a woman just inside the doors. Sondra goes to talk to her. By the way they’re talking, it’s obvious they’re fighting over something.

  “What’s up with?” I ask Brent since he’s been there the longest.

  “Oh, that’s her mom, also their coach,” he says.

  “What are they fighting about?”

  “Us, basically, her mom got a recruiter to come watch today and she’s upset that the spotlight won’t be on her. Sondra’s trying to convince her you guys will only help her cause.” He looks over at me. “So, no pressure. It’s not just our future on the line.”

  Great.

  Inside the gym, we go over where I’m supposed to be and what my moves are.

  “Are you sure all this is necessary?” I ask Brent when we stop for water. “It seems a bit, I don’t know, sexual.”

  Brent makes a face. “Yeah, I know,” he says, “But sex sells.”

  “I would lose my shit if Eva was doing this,” I whisper to him.

  “Man, you gotta put that aside. This is a performance. You’re putting on a show. If you can’t convince a couple hundred high school kids that we’re the shit, we’re dead in the water and so are they.” He points to the cheerleaders. “Robert doesn’t want to be a roustabout forever and Tristan is going to have to transfer to Anchorage for college next semester. This is it. Our last chance to video this and send it off or we’re going to disappear forever.”

  He’s right. We’re all going to disburse and go off to do our own things if we don’t pull this off. “Maybe she doesn’t need to come?” I ask Brent.

  “I already texted Amy, don’t worry about her man. She’ll be alright. She’s been through worse than a PG-rated pep rally.”

  I go back to practice. This is the part that I’ve been walking through, but haven’t wanted actually do it. The girls are going to throw Sondra in the air and I’m supposed to catch her with very badly broken ribs. I grind my jaw but tell them I’m ready. They toss her once and she doesn’t go the right way. She lands on her feet before falling to the floor. They line up and try it again. This time they overthrow her and take me out. I grab her but I fall all the way to the ground and she’s lands on top of me. I wheeze and can’t catch my breath. Sondra’s eyes go big; her hands on my ribs have found the bandage. She rips up my shirt and points at my side as I continue to struggle for air.

  She screeches, “What the hell is that?” She points to my torso.

  Robert comes running over and helps Sondra off me. I yank my shirt back down and take a few more breaths. Robert holds out his hand and pulls me to my feet.

  Sondra’s mom yells, “It’s time!”

  Brent comes running in, grabs some cords, and goes running back outside.

  “My mom pulled every string she has to get the recruiter to come and watch today,” Sondra says. “I have a lot riding on this.”

  “I heard.”

  “We haven’t even done it right once! There’s no way this is going to turn out!” her voice is shrill.

  “I’ll catch you,” I assure her.

  “You didn’t tell me you were hurt. You should have told me.”

  “It’ll be fine.”

  “Ladies, let’s move it,” her mom calls.

  She looks at me one more time before sighing and taking off.

  We don’t go out until after they have the crowd warmed up.

  “Alright, gents. Knock ‘em dead,” Brent announces when it’s time to go. I start to walk past and he whispers, “She’s here. Amy’s got it though. Just focus on the job. You know, actors kiss other people for a living. I think you can handle a dance.”

  “Yeah, alright.”

  He hands me a few Advil and some water. I take them gratefully.

  “Got anything stronger?” I mutter.

  “Not on me.”

  I start to walk away.

  “Hey man?” he calls.

  I look back at him.

  “Be convincing.”

  I nod.

  We make our way to the center of the field. I know right where Eva is. Dead center. The first song is easy. It’s just us.

  Then Sondra stands and faces me, with her back to the crowd.

  “Look at me,” she says to get my attention. She looks scared but she’s trying to pull it together. “Do.Not.Drop.Me.”

  The music starts and my resolve burns deep. Not only do we have a lot riding on this, so does she. I didn’t take her seriously before and it’s on me now to fix this and do it up right. I try to push Eva from my thoughts, but I know she’ll never really leave.

  I perform like our future and my friend’s futures depend on it. It might be just a silly pep rally, but there are things at work here that run deeper than that.

  As Sondra comes flying at me, I brace, catch her, and let her slide as we move in sync with the music. That hurt like hell. I’m taking short breaths and trying to get enough oxygen as the music plays around us. The crowd is far away to see my actual lips although I still try to move them accordingly. Sondra accidently bumps me and whispers, “Sorry,” as she walks around. I smile and go with it.

  She wraps her leg around me and I whisper, “I told you I’d catch you. Now smile.” She turns and bends in front of me as the song continues. I raise my hands but put them back on her to push her forward without it being obvious.

  “Now who needs to loosen up?” she jokes back when she comes back up.

  The song ends and the crowd cheers and hollers. I don’t need to look at Eva to know that she’s not happy. I head straight off the field.

  “Nailed it,” Brent sings.

  I huff on my fingers and rub them on my shirt, “Did you really have any doubt?”

  “Uh yeah. I did, when you couldn’t breathe not that long ago.”

&
nbsp; I shake my head and chuckle.

  “That’s going to bring out the babes,” Ryan jokes.

  “Don’t you already have a babe?” I ask.

  “I have many.” He winks.

  I shake my head. Eva’s walking past and I’m not ready to see the look on her face so I keep talking.

  “Thanks for not dropping me,” I hear Sondra say behind me.

  “I was warned not to.” I chuckle.

  “Seriously, that couldn’t have gone better. Thank you, guys. It means a lot.”

  “Shiiit, we got you, girl,” Liam says.

  Sondra’s mom comes by. She has another woman with her. She waves for Sondra to join them.

  “Wish me luck,” Sondra whispers.

  “Luck,” I whisper back.

  When the bleachers have cleared out and the main football field is filling up, we go break down the equipment and walk it up to the van. We’re just finishing when kickoff happens.

  “Come on, let’s see if the ladies saved us some seats,” Brent says.

  We make our way up the bleachers and my stomach twists when I see Eva sitting close to the guy from last night, Andre the hockey captain.

  Robert sits directly behind her and I’m behind her to her right. My ribs are throbbing and I don’t want to be here because I can hardly breathe or get comfortable on the hard bleachers. Eva starts to shiver when a cold wind blows and before I know it, Andre has his letterman’s jacket draped around her shoulders. My hands turn to fists but when his hand rests on her like he’s trying to claim her, I really have to talk myself down. The longer I sit here and she doesn’t move his hands, the madder I get.

  “I’m out,” I finally say. “I’ll see you guys later.”

  I get up and so does Tristan. We climb over Ryan and Liam with Robert following us. I feel a lot of eyes on us as we depart but I don’t want to think about why.

  Shortly after, Brent yells for us to hold up, but I don’t wait for him. I stomp up to the car.

  “Leaving so soon?” a girl asks. Sondra.

  “Yeah, I’ve had my fill of drama for the day.”

  “I saw Eva getting chummy with Andre. I’m sorry.”

  I shrug.

  “Well, you know where to find me if things between you guys don’t end up working out,” she says.

  “Thank you Sondra, we’ll remember that,” Robert says.

  She rolls her eyes at him and waves at me one finger at a time while biting her lower lip.

  I get in the car and close the door. Robert taps on the top the roof twice and I use the manual window opener and roll down the window.

  “If the cabin isn’t cleaned up when we get there, you’ll have some serious freshmen hazing to do.”

  The thought that I get to participate in that brings a smile to my face. “So, to the cabin?”

  “To the cabin. We’ll see you there.”

  “Oh hey, I need to stop first to check on Ethan. I’ll meet you guys there when I’m done.”

  Robert nods and gets in his truck with Tristan; Brent follows in his own truck.

  ***

  I knock on Kami’s door and she opens it. “Hi.”

  “Hi,” I reply.

  “I thought you guys had a pep rally and a football game tonight.”

  “Pep rally’s over and I couldn’t watch the game anymore.”

  Kami raises an eyebrow and opens the door further for me to come in.

  “Is that Anny?” I hear Ethan call.

  “Hey, buddy.”

  “Hey, I thought you weren’t coming by until later,” he says as he runs over and gives me a hug.

  “I was going to go over to a friend’s house but I wanted to check on you first. What have you been up to?”

  “We went to the store and Kami got me a new toothbrush!”

  “She did? What kind did you pick?”

  “Avengers!”

  “Oohh I love the Avengers. Thor is my favorite. Who’s your favorite?”

  “Iron Man!”

  “Oh, well, he’s my second favorite. Who’s your second favorite?”

  “The Hulk!”

  “The Hulk?”

  “Yeah, he’s strong like you. He beats up the bad guys.”

  I look at him for a moment before I pull him to me for a hug.

  “What are you watching?” I ask him.

  “We’re watching Paw Patrol but I’m getting kind of tired of it.”

  “Well, I’m sure you can find something else to watch if you wanted.”

  Ethan goes back to the couch and starts flipping through the channels. “Is everything alright?” Kami asks me.

  “Yeah, no it’s good. I’m headed out to Sterling. The band and I are going to maybe work on some new songs.”

  “Do you want to stay for dinner? Have you eaten today?”

  “Yeah, I went home last night. I had a sandwich before I left.”

  “That was how many hours ago? I have lasagna in the fridge. Just take it with you and heat it up when you get there. I don’t want you to live off those Hot Pockets, they can’t be good for you.” She’s already opening the fridge and pulling out Tupperware. “Just take it for my sake, alright?”

  I agree.

  “What’s going on with you and Eva?” she asks.

  I sigh. “I don’t know. I’m waiting to find that out myself.” I need to get out of here before she asks too many questions. “Thanks for this.” To Ethan I yell, “I’m going to take off, little man. I’ll see you another time, alright?”

  He doesn’t look up from Spongebob but yells, “Yeah!” and waves bye over his head.

  “It didn’t take him long to settle in did it?” I ask.

  Kami smiles big. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  I smile back. “Good. Have a good night.”

  “You too. Be safe.”

  I make it to Sterling to a spotless cabin and Tristan slides me a drink across the counter. “To Anny, for not beating the loving shit out of Andre at the game today.” Everyone cheers and I mutter curse words under my breath.

  38 eva

  “You’re coming to hell when you die.” I jerk awake.

  “Uhg,” I groan and look at the clock. I can get in a run before school. I get dressed and head down to the garage.

  I walk into class moments before the first bell. The bell rings and a few seconds later, a coffee cup is deposited onto my desk. I look up and Evan doesn’t look at me. He makes his way to his seat and gets his own books out. He still looks stiff but I think he’s improving every day. He hasn’t shaved since the fight, so I can’t even see what his bruise looks like. He’s got a full beard going on. It’s kind of hot.

  He sneaks a few peeks at me today but not nearly as many as I steal of him.

  When lunchtime rolls around, Evan still hasn’t talked to me. I need a way to drive home the point that I’m pissed off at him. I walk into the lunchroom and there’s an empty seat next to Andre. He looks up at me, smiles, and pats the seat. I walk past Ryan and Liam sitting alone and watch their jaws drop.

  I hear Liam say, “Oh shit, she didn’t.” I look back at them. They lean way back in their seats and put their feet up on the table and take bites of their chips like its popcorn. I look at Andre who’s chuckling. I smirk and sit down, my back to them.

  “Causing waves already today huh?” he asks me.

  I smile and say, “Just proving a point.”

  “I’m happy to oblige. Just let me know when he’s looking again.”

  I open my salad. “You knew?”

  He laughs. “I was kind of afraid he was going to take my head off. He was seriously not happy at the game.”

  “Well, I was seriously not happy at that pep rally.”

  “I figured.”

  There’s a hush that washes over the lunchroom. I don’t need to turn around to know that Evan’s just walked in. It’s quiet for a little while longer. The guy across from us says through his teeth, “He’s sitting down. He’s opening his l
unch. Now he’s looking around. Shit. He sees you.”

  I sit up straighter.

  Andre whispers, “Is it showtime?”

  “No, just wait to see what he does,” I say.

  “He’s getting up, no wait, Brent told him to sit down. Amy just walked in. Amy’s looking for you.” The guy across from us narrates the action from behind his fork. He’s another friend of Chad’s from the hockey team. “Brent is pointing at you. Amy’s laughing.” The whole room is watching but trying not to be obvious about it. I don’t like being the center of attention but I guess it’s really Evan they’re watching. “Amy and Brent are leaving to go suck face in the hallway since you’re not there.” I laugh at the monotone play by play.

  “Put me in, coach, put me in.” Andre jokes beside me.

  I laugh and smile at him. “I really appreciate you.”

  “Chad was a good friend of mine. I’d do pretty much anything you ask me to.” He reaches over and pats my leg in a totally platonic way.

  “Shit, he saw that. He’s getting up. He’s walking over, hello.” the guy across from us says.

  A shadow falls over me as I feel Evan at my back. “Can I speak with you, Eva?” he says.

  I look down at my half-eaten salad; I’m not hungry anyway. I look over at Andre who winks at me and I smile back. I pick up my garbage, stand up, drop it in the trash can, and follow Evan to the hallway. As soon as we’re out of sight, it sounds like the lunchroom is back to business as usual.

  We go up to the senior hallway and I lean against my locker. He stands in front of me. He reaches out his right hand to take my left. I let him.

  He sighs and says, “I’m sorry I hurt you.”

  His words hang in the air as I try to work out how to respond. There it is. The words I’ve been waiting to hear from him since the pep rally two days ago. I don’t want to meet his eyes so I keep mine down.

  “Eva,” he pleads. “Will you look at me?” His hand finds my cheek and my breath catches as he pleads with me to face him.

  I finally meet his eyes and I can see he’s sincere. I release the breath I was holding and try to breath evenly.

  “Please don’t give up on us,” he says

  “I didn’t know there was an us,” I finally respond.

  He looks hurt.

  “Please tell me you know that I love you.”