by Kate Brian
The ball dropped and Hailey got control. She dribbled upfield and Megan ran up behind her. Her blood was pumping so fast she felt like she’d drunk an entire Starbucks stockroom on her way to the field. She wasn’t going to let Hailey get downfield. She just wasn’t going to.
Hailey set up to pass and Megan slid to the ground, kicking her right leg out at the precise moment Hailey reached her foot back for the kick. Megan’s cleat got there first and the ball careened off downfield, right to Lisa Bronson, Megan’s fullback. Lisa looked almost as surprised as Hailey did, but she recovered quickly and brought the ball back. Megan clamored to her feet and raced downfield again, relishing the burning in her lungs and throat. She was feeling good. For the first time since her encounter with Evan and Hailey, she was feeling damn good.
Lisa passed to Aimee, who was instantly rushed by Kathy Cash.
“Center!” Megan shouted. “Center!”
Aimee booted the ball up and over Kathy’s head, executing a perfect pass that landed right at Megan’s feet. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Hailey gunning for her. Megan dribbled toward the goal and braced for impact. Hailey slammed right into her side, attempting to knock her off her feet and steal the ball. Megan grunted and shoved and struggled for control. Hailey’s hand was in her face; her elbow was in her gut. Megan closed her eyes to keep from losing one to a wayward finger. She booted the ball, hip-checked Hailey away, and looked up again. The ball had trickled a few feet away into open field.
Both Ria and Jessica were running for it, but Megan was still closest. She ran for the ball and kicked it as hard as she could to Aimee, all the way across the field. Aimee stopped the ball and Megan ran right in front of the goal. Deena’s attention was on Aimee. Megan caught Deena’s eye and Aimee popped the ball across to Megan. Deena reacted, but not in time. Megan jumped and headed the ball right into the center of the goal.
“Dammit!” Hailey shouted, getting right up in the goalie’s face. “Deena! What the hell are you doing? Use your head!”
Deena brushed the dirt off her side and slowly turned her back to Hailey.
“We’re not gonna win games without defense, people!” Hailey shouted. “She’s not that good!”
Megan laughed and walked back upfield. She wasn’t sure if anyone was paying attention to Hailey, but she didn’t much care. Two goals in less than two minutes was a record for her. It felt good.
The whistle blew and Coach Leonard clapped, bringing the team to attention. “All right, let’s get back to it!” she shouted. “Nice one, Meade. When you show up, you really show up!”
“Thanks, Coach,” Megan replied.
“Now, come on, team, let’s see if anyone can stop her!” Coach called out, blowing her whistle again. “Show me something out there!”
Megan jogged to the center of the field again and Aimee came over to wrap her arm around her shoulders.
“Let’s get it on!” she said.
“You know it,” Megan replied.
She lined up across from Hailey, and for the first time in days, Hailey was staring her down. Megan grinned at Hailey’s determined sneer. This was going to be fun.
* * *
Megan sat in a circle of her teammates on the floor of the main gym. Hanging on the walls all around her were the burgundy-and-gold banners touting district, county, and state championships in all sports for the past several years. Megan stared up at the girls’ soccer banner just above the caged clock. The last county championship had been won in 1996.
That’s all going to change this year, Megan thought, leaning back on her elbows. She was feeling cocky and she liked it.
“All right, ladies, you know how it works,” Coach Leonard said, passing out slips of paper and pencils. “First you take nominations and then you’ll take an anonymous vote. I’ve asked Pearl to count the votes when you’re done. If you have any questions, I’ll be in my office.”
“You don’t want to stay to witness democracy in action?” Ria joked, earning a round of chuckles from the team.
“I think you girls can handle it,” Coach replied. “I have some game tape to watch from last year. The new captain should come see me before she leaves. Good luck.”
Coach turned and headed for the athletic offices on the other side of the gym. When the door closed, Megan looked around the circle. Everyone else was doing the same. They were all surveying each other.
“Okay, well, I guess we should do nominations,” Pearl said finally.
Jessica raised her hand. “I nominate Hailey Farmer,” she said before anyone could acknowledge her.
There’s a big shock, Megan thought.
“Okay. Hailey, do you accept the nomination?” Pearl asked.
“Yes, I do,” Hailey said gravely.
“She totally rehearsed that,” Ria said in Megan’s ear.
“Anyone else?” Pearl asked.
Ria sat up straight and raised her hand. Everyone looked surprised.
“Ria?” Pearl asked.
“I nominate Megan Meade.”
Megan’s heart slammed against her rib cage.
“What?” Hailey blurted. “Are you on something?”
Everyone started talking at once. Megan pulled her knees up under her chin, hugging her legs to her. Captain. Why would Ria nominate her for captain of a team she’d just joined? Could she do it? Did she even want to?
A smile crept across Megan’s face.
“Hey, hey, hey!” Ria said, throwing her arms up. “Let’s just vote, okay? Whatever happens, happens.”
Hailey stared her down from across the circle. The air was so still Megan could hear her own heartbeat.
“Well, are there any other nominations?” Pearl asked tentatively.
The silence continued.
“Okay, then let’s vote,” Pearl said.
Hailey scrawled something on her slip of paper, got up, and handed it to Pearl. She walked confidently back to her place in the circle and sat down. She crossed her legs at the ankle and leaned back on her hands. One by one, everyone turned in their votes. Megan stared at her name on her own slip of paper.
Once Pearl had all the votes, she walked away from the group and tallied them up on a pad of paper. Megan couldn’t watch the proceedings since Pearl was behind her, so all she could do was wait.
Finally Pearl edged her way back over to the circle. “Um . . . it’s a tie.”
“You have to be kidding me,” Hailey said.
“No . . . it’s seven votes to seven,” Pearl said, looking down at her tally.
“Who voted for her?” Hailey said, pulling her legs up and leaning forward. “I’m serious. Who voted for her?”
“Uh . . . I have a name,” Megan said, nonplussed.
“I’m not talking to you,” Hailey snapped, shooting Megan a look. “I want to know who voted for her after what she did. You all know what she did. I’ve been on this team with you people for three years and seven of you voted for her?”
“I did!” Ria announced happily.
“We know you did,” Hailey said. “What about the rest of you? Too scared to admit that you voted for a backstabbing whore for your captain?”
Megan couldn’t take it anymore. Where did this girl get off?
“All right! That’s it!”
Megan looked up as Aimee sprang to her feet.
“What’re you doing?” Hailey asked her.
“I can’t take this anymore,” Aimee said, her hands shaking. “I can’t sit here while you just lie like this. Megan didn’t do anything, all right? She didn’t fool around with Evan. She didn’t even tell you that she fooled around with Evan. Whatever version of the story any of you have heard, it’s all a lie.”
Hailey’s face went ashen. She looked around uncertainly before finally recovering her balance. “Aimee, sit down.”
“No, I’m not gonna sit down,” Aimee said, squeezing her eyes closed. Megan could tell it was taking a ton of effort for Aimee to stand up to her big sister. “I heard yo
u, all right? I heard you telling Jessica what you did.” Aimee looked around at the rest of the team. “Hailey made it all up. She was drunk and jealous and so she told Doug that Megan and Evan had hooked up when they hadn’t. And then after she was done fooling around with Doug and she realized how screwed she was, she told Evan that Megan had told her that the two of them had hooked up so that she’d look less guilty herself. But it was all a lie. She was jealous of Megan so she blamed it all on her, when the truth is, Megan didn’t do anything.”
The rest of the team was looking at Hailey and Aimee in shock. Megan could hardly breathe.
“She’s lying,” Hailey said, lifting her shoulders and laughing a bit hysterically. “She’s clearly had some kind of psychotic break.”
“God, Hailey, give it up already,” Aimee said, turning on her sister. “I swear, sometimes I can’t even believe we came from the same womb.”
A few people giggled.
“She made it all up!” Hailey cried. “You guys don’t believe her, do you? Jessica, tell them!”
Jessica went white and looked around the circle. “I . . . uh . . .”
A couple of other players exchanged a look.
“I don’t think anyone could have made up that story, Hailey,” Ria said. “Except maybe you,” she added under her breath.
“I’m sorry I didn’t say anything before this, Megan,” Aimee said finally, turning to her. “I didn’t know what to do.”
“It’s okay,” Megan said with a small smile.
Whatever Hailey had done wrong, she was still Aimee’s sister. Megan herself had defended Doug when she knew he had done something wrong. She could only imagine how hard it had been for Aimee to come out with the truth at all.
“I think we should re-vote,” Deena said, breaking a loaded silence.
“What?” Hailey said, whirling on her. “Deena!”
But Deena just stared at Hailey. Hailey let out an indignant breath and looked around the circle. Everyone else averted their eyes. Megan watched Hailey as she realized that she was on her own. There was a panicked look in her eyes. She had just had her entire world yanked out from under her. It wasn’t that long ago that Megan had experienced exactly the same sensation.
“You guys, I don’t think that this should have anything to do with the captainship,” Megan said.
“Huh?” Ria asked.
“This vote is about leadership of the team,” Megan said. “Not who fooled around with who or who lied about it.”
Everyone just stared at her for a moment.
“Okay, we’re re-voting,” Ria said.
“We’d have to anyway,” Pearl told Megan matter-of-factly. “There was a tie.”
“Yeah, because half of you people are clearly insane,” Hailey snapped. But her expression didn’t support her tough words. She looked pale and scared and sick.
Pearl walked around the circle and handed out new slips of paper. Slowly everyone wrote down their choice. Megan’s heart skipped around in her chest. She had no idea what to hope for.
Once again Hailey was the first to hand her vote in, and this time she stayed on her feet as Pearl counted the votes. It took half the time it had before. Megan held her breath.
“The final count is three for Hailey, eleven for Megan,” Pearl said. “Megan Meade is our new captain.”
* * *
Megan skidded to a stop right in front of the shed. She pushed open the door of Finn’s little studio, grinning like a madwoman.
“Hey! What’s going on?” Finn asked, smiling.
“I got captain! I won captain!” Megan said breathlessly. She still couldn’t seem to wrap her brain around it herself.
“What? You’re kidding!” Finn said, his whole face lighting up. “That’s awesome!”
“Oh my God, it was so cool!” Megan said, walking over and pulling him down on the bench by his sleeve. “First we voted, and there was a tie. And then Hailey freaks out saying I’m like this huge liar, so then Aimee gets up and she tells everybody that Hailey’s the liar.”
“Wow. Seriously?” Finn asked.
“Yeah! It was this whole huge deal,” Megan said. “But then we re-voted and I won! I still can’t believe it.”
“Well, congratulations,” Finn said.
“Thanks. I couldn’t wait to tell you,” Megan said, grinning at him. “You should have seen her face. It was like . . .”
Megan stopped suddenly—Finn’s face had gone all weird. He wasn’t smiling anymore. It seemed like he had stopped breathing.
“What?” Megan said, her heart skipping a beat. He was studying her. Taking in every line of her face from her jaw to her cheekbone to her flyaway hair.
Finn reached over and ran his hand quickly over her hair, brushing it back. “This,” he said.
And then he leaned forward and kissed her. For an infinitesimal moment, Megan froze. She had no idea what to do with herself. No idea where to put her hands or whether to move her lips or how to even breathe.
Kiss him back, for God’s sake! she told herself.
Then she stifled a surprised, embarrassed, happy laugh and did as she was told. She returned his pressure and reached up to grab awkwardly at his sleeve. Finn’s hand cupped the back of her head and his other hand lightly touched her knee. Megan’s skin was on fire. Finn was kissing her. Finn was kissing her!
He pulled back, out of nowhere, and looked her in the eyes. “Is this okay?” he asked.
Megan mutely, dumbly, breathlessly nodded. She just wanted his lips on hers. He smiled and kissed her again, and this time Megan slid forward on the bench, leaning her body closer to his. What she couldn’t believe was how perfect this felt. How excited and happy and thrilling and safe all at the same time.
And then it hit her: Finn was the one.
The one she’d wanted to share her great news with. The one she could talk to. The one she always thought of when something funny or weird or interesting happened. Finn was smart and hilarious and kind and thoughtful.
Why did I waste my time thinking about Evan? Megan wondered as Finn lightly trailed a finger down her cheek. How could I have done that when Finn was right here all along?
All she wanted to do was get as close to him as possible. It was suddenly impossible to believe that she had lasted this long in life without feeling this way.
The door behind Megan let out its telltale squeak and Finn sprang away from her so fast she almost fell forward. It wasn’t fast enough, however. Regina stood in the doorway, her arms crossed tightly over her stomach.
Megan gulped in a breath and looked at Finn, who hung his head as low as it could go. Yes, Finn McGowan was a lot of great things. But now he was also a dead man.
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: OMG OMG OMG
I KISSED FINN! I KISSED FINN! OMG I KISSED FINN. WHERE ARE YOU!!!???
Sixteen
Megan sat up straight on a chair in the kitchen, hovering somewhere between ecstasy and dread. Regina and John were in the next room, talking in low tones, trying to figure out what to do with her. Megan knew she should be working out a reason for them not to throw her out of their house, but she couldn’t stop thinking about Finn. And every time she did, she shivered happily.
She still felt the sweep of Finn’s fingertip on her cheek. His hand running over her hair. Her lips were still tingly from Finn’s kiss. The way he had looked at her made her feel so beautiful. She actually felt beautiful and . . . noticed.
Regina and John walked into the room and Megan sat up even taller. She wondered if they could see her lips throbbing. Regina was clearly exhausted and John’s face was creased with concern.
“Well, I’ll be honest with you, Megan. We don’t know what to do here,” John said finally, rubbing the back of his neck. “You knew the rules and we had hoped that last week’s grounding would have resonated with you somehow, but obviously it hasn’t. So what do we do?”
Megan eyed him uncert
ainly.
Finn walked into the room behind his parents and Megan’s entire being lit up. Both Regina and John glanced around.
“Hey. I know you guys told me to wait in my room, but I have something to say,” Finn said, rubbing his hands on his jeans.
“Okay,” Regina said. She almost looked hopeful, like Finn might have come up with an explanation to erase what she had seen.
Finn cleared his throat. “It wasn’t Megan’s fault. She shouldn’t be punished, because it was me. It was all me. I kissed her, so you should really just do whatever you’re going to do . . . to me.”
“Nice try, kiddo, but it takes two to tango,” John said.
“Yeah, I know, technically,” Finn said. “But I mean, Megan didn’t even kiss me back . . . right?”
As Finn spoke, his face grew red from the neck up. He looked at Megan, his eyebrows raised, waiting for her to corroborate his story. Megan couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Had she actually done it so wrong that Finn really didn’t think she had reciprocated? Or was he just being the coolest guy ever and trying to save her butt?
“Right,” she said finally. “It kinda came out of nowhere. . . .”
Megan didn’t know what else to say, so she shut her mouth. Regina and John looked at each other, communicating silently. Finally John blew out a sigh. Megan couldn’t help but notice that they both looked relieved.
“All right, then. Finn, you knew the rules as well and you ignored them, so you’re grounded. Again,” his father said. “You’ll go to school and you’ll do your homework and that’s it. For two weeks.”
“What about the studio?” Finn asked.
“No painting either,” his father said. “Got it?”
For a second, Finn looked like he wanted to argue, but then he glanced at Megan and hung his head. “Yeah, I got it.”
“All right. Go to your room,” John said.
Finn turned and clomped up the stairs. Megan wanted to run after him and thank him, but she didn’t think that would look so great.
