A Rival to Steal Her Heart

by Annie Claydon

  She found him in the kitchen, wearing a dark green Hastings Hustlers sweatshirt, the white lettering on the back beginning to crack from having been washed and worn.

  ‘Morning. Did you sleep well?’

  ‘Yes, thanks.’ Curled up in the bed, wearing borrowed sweatpants and a T-shirt that somehow bore his scent even though they were fresh out of the washing machine. Maybe that had been just in her dreams. There was only one thing that would have been better, and that was on the other side of the boundaries they’d set.

  ‘I’ve got eggs, bacon, toast... Um, coffee, bananas, peanut butter...’

  ‘Sounds great. Everything but the peanut butter. I’ll take the banana for later.’

  He gave her a smiling nod. ‘I was rather hoping you wouldn’t go for a sliver of toast with a dash of low-calorie marmalade. Not that I have any low-calorie marmalade.’

  ‘You have regular marmalade, though?’

  ‘I have honey. The bread’s from a local bakery and the eggs and bacon are from the farm shop.’ He smiled. ‘They could probably tell you the name of the hen that laid the egg, but that’s a little too personal for my taste. I have absolutely no idea who grew the banana.’

  ‘Sounds delicious.’

  * * *

  An hour later, after a leisurely breakfast that tasted of the countryside instead of the supermarket, they were on the road. Jamie drove into the centre of Hastings, parking the car on the edge of a small park, where a line of basketball courts was currently filled with kids in Hastings Hustlers sweatshirts.

  Two older boys were already practising, hotly contesting possession of the ball. There were girls and boys of all ages, and Anna wondered how that was all going to work when it came to picking teams. Jamie seemed satisfied with the turnout, though, and when he got out of the car and they walked over to the basketball courts, everyone crowded around.

  ‘This is Anna, everyone.’ A chorus of hellos followed and Anna gave a smile and a small wave. ‘Shall we pick teams?’

  Everyone knew what to do. The two older boys were the team captains and everyone else lined up in order of size. Jamie settled an argument between two girls about who was taller than the other, and then went down the line, dividing everyone up into two teams. He produced a printed chart from his pocket, and started to note down who was playing where.

  Callum appeared from the crush, taking off one of his fingerless gloves and displaying the back of his hand. A few black lines still remained and the skin looked a little red, but the letters and shapes of the tattoos could no longer be made out. Anna smiled at him.

  ‘That’s looking great, Callum. You’ve obviously been taking good care of it.’

  ‘Yeah. Can we do some more now?’

  Anna laughed. ‘When the inflammation’s gone right down. We’ll book an appointment soon.’

  ‘Great.’ Callum turned to Jamie. ‘Shall I go with Freddie?’

  ‘Yep, that would be great.’ Jamie turned his attention back to the chart, while Callum sauntered over to a young boy in a wheelchair, who was sitting on one side. The two exchanged a high-five and Callum pushed the wheelchair onto the court.

  ‘Callum with two “l”s.’ A girl of around seventeen with orange hair and a matching sweatshirt was looking over Jamie’s shoulder.

  ‘Ah. Yes.’ Jamie squinted at the chart and then passed it over to the girl. ‘Do me a favour, Jen...’

  The girl nodded, and took over, writing everyone’s names in the positions that Jamie assigned to them. Jamie clearly didn’t mind asking for help here, and Anna guessed that it was all part of the culture amongst the group. Everyone helped everyone else.

  ‘You said I could play...’ She tugged at Jamie’s sleeve, and he turned, smiling.

  ‘I didn’t forget. We’re going to have a throw-around first, though. You might like to sit that out, to get an idea of the rules.’

  Something told her that the rules probably weren’t in any book. Anna nodded, walking over to one of the benches by the side of the court as the teams took up their positions. A middling-sized boy in glasses blew the whistle that hung around his neck, and play started.

  It didn’t make a lot of sense to Anna. The team captains were engaged in their own private tussle for the ball, but when it was passed to a younger child, they stood back. There was a group of mothers standing on the other side of the court, and Anna wondered whether she might go and introduce herself and ask for an explanation.

  ‘Hi. I’m Jen.’ The girl with the orange hair had made a beeline for where she was sitting, and sat down next to her. On the other side they were joined by a girl with heavy black make-up around her eyes, dyed black hair and a black sweatshirt.

  ‘Hi, I’m Anna.’

  ‘Yes, we know. That’s Spark.’ Jen gestured towards her companion. The two girls were sitting close on either side of her, and Anna had the feeling that she’d been ambushed. Maybe they were the two head girls in the group, and had decided to let her know about it.

  ‘You came with Jamie?’ Spark fixed her with a not-too-welcoming look.

  ‘Yes, I work with him.’

  ‘In London?’ This time Jen asked the question.

  ‘Yes, that’s right.’

  The two girls exchanged looks. Clearly this was an ambush of some kind.

  ‘You’re going out with him?’ Jen asked.

  Spark gave a knowing nod. ‘Out here on a Sunday morning? They’re going out.’

  ‘No, we’re just friends.’

  Jen flashed her a disbelieving look. ‘Okay, if that’s the way you want it. Just friends.’

  How did you explain the difference between pretending you were just friends and being just friends? Jen and Spark had clearly decided the question between themselves, and Anna had to admit that Spark had a point. Being here this early on a Sunday morning did raise a few questions about the nature of her relationship with Jamie.

  She wondered what Jamie would have wanted her to say, and the answer came straight away. Be honest. Anna took a breath.

  ‘You know, the kind of just friends where you’re really going out together but you don’t want anyone to know.’

  Jen’s lips curved in an expression of triumph. ‘Yeah, we know.’

  ‘Well, Jamie and I aren’t that kind of just friends. We’re really just friends.’

  ‘Oh.’ Jen gave her a searching look and Anna returned her gaze. Clearly that convinced her and she nodded. ‘Well, we just thought...’

  ‘And you decided to look me over?’ Anna smiled. That was okay. It was actually quite nice that the girls cared enough to do it, however challenging they seemed.

  ‘We didn’t much like the other one, did we?’ Spark wrinkled her nose.

  Jen shook her head. ‘Nah. She turned out to be a nasty piece of work.’

  ‘He never gave her a sweatshirt.’

  ‘Just as well. She didn’t play... And after what she did, I’d have ripped it off her back.’ Jen’s lip curled.

  ‘You and whose army?’ Spark gave her friend a dismissive look. ‘You were going to get on a plane and find her, were you?’

  ‘Wait...’ Anna shouldn’t interfere, but she wanted to know. ‘You know what happened?’

  ‘Yeah, ’course we do.’ Spark rolled her eyes. ‘She went off with his brother. Jamie looked proper sorry for himself for a while.’

  ‘He told you about it?’

  ‘No, we saw pictures of them on the internet. Jamie didn’t say anything.’ Jen wrinkled her nose. ‘We made him fairy cakes.’

  ‘Oh. Well, it was nice of you to go to the trouble...’

  ‘We bought the cakes,’ Spark corrected her friend. ‘Then we iced them. I put black icing and a skull and crossbones on mine. He didn’t want to talk about it, but I reckon he got the message.’

  ‘Yes, I expect he did.’ Anna wasn’t so s
ure, but the girls meant well. ‘I’m sure it cheered him up.’

  The ref’s whistle sounded, and she looked up at the players. Jamie had turned towards the bench, and he frowned suddenly. ‘Hey. Spark, Jen, aren’t you playing?’ Clearly he recognised an ambush when he saw one.

  ‘Nah, we’re explaining to the rules to your friend.’ Jen’s words didn’t seem to reassure him at all and he shot Anna a questioning look.

  ‘We won’t be a minute. I think I’m getting the hang of this,’ Anna called across to him, and he nodded, turning back to the other players.

  ‘So what are the rules, then?’

  Jen grinned. Clearly Anna had proved herself with the girls. ‘You can only try and get the ball if the person who’s already got it is the same size as you. You can pass it to someone who’s bigger or smaller, but you can’t take it from anyone smaller than you.’

  Anna frowned. ‘Doesn’t that mean that those two bigger boys just hog the ball to themselves, though?’

  Spark shook her head. ‘You have to pass the ball, and you get extra points depending on who you pass it to. Don’t worry about that, the ref works it out. Just don’t throw the ball to Jamie or the team captains and you’ll be fine. Everyone else is smaller than you.’

  ‘Ah. I see. I think...’ Anna watched as the teams started playing again. It was all making a bit more sense now.

  ‘You’ll get the hang of it.’ Jen stood up. ‘You wanna play?’

  ‘Yes, thank you. I’d like to very much.’ If Anna could survive Jen and Spark’s interrogation tactics, she reckoned that the Hastings Hustlers basketball rules would be a breeze.

  * * *

  Jamie had shot her another querying glance when she walked onto the court with Jen and Spark, and she’d ignored it. Anna was beginning to enjoy herself. It was just a matter of passing the ball to as many different players as possible, so that the little kids could catch it and play too. Easy.

  A howl went up as a little boy ran across to Jamie, clutching the ball to his chest, and threw it up towards him. Jamie hadn’t touched the ball yet, preferring to run up and down and encourage the others, but the ref’s whistle sounded in a signal that everyone should back off and give him a turn.

  ‘No-o-o-o!’ Jen’s shout echoed across the court, and when Anna looked round she saw both Jen and Spark flapping their arms in her direction. ‘Get him!’

  Fair enough. Anna ran towards Jamie, and he deftly avoided her. She ducked under his arm, turning to block his path, and saw him smile. He was quick, and his reach was longer than hers, but she was quicker...

  She managed to tip the ball from his grasp, but after a few bounces he got it back. She heard Jen and Spark howling with disappointment and redoubled her efforts. Finally she managed to get the ball and break free of him, bouncing the ball as she ran madly for the hoop.

  Just as she slowed, ready to take her shot, he caught her, lifting her up off the ground and over his shoulder. Anna kept a tight hold on the ball as he walked back towards the other end of the court. The ref’s whistle peeped frenetically, and Jamie ignored it.

  ‘Cheat!’

  She managed to get the word out through clenched teeth. Jamie was holding her tightly, and she resisted the temptation to kick him. Any minute now she was going to drop the ball and slide down into his arms, and that wouldn’t do. Particularly after she’d just been at such pains to make it crystal clear what kind of just friends they were.

  He reached the other end of the court and put her down, his green eyes full of mischief. The ref jogged up to him, and he backed off, grinning, as the boy waved his arms.

  ‘Penalty!’ The ref clearly took his responsibilities very seriously. ‘And you’re benched, Jamie. Ten minutes.’

  Jamie took his punishment without question. Anna only just heard his murmured words as he walked past her.

  ‘It was worth it.’

  ‘Watch this.’ Anna pulled a face at him, walking back to the other end of the court. She stopped well short of the place where he’d picked her up, in a spot behind the three-point line. Gauging the distance carefully, she reckoned she could make it. Jamie was sitting on one of the park benches now, shaking his head and motioning her closer to the hoop.

  Everyone was watching to see what she’d do. Whether she could make the shot. Anna looked round and saw Spark, who gave her a thumbs-up sign. That was it. She had to make the shot now.

  There was silence as the ball arced through the air. And then a howl of applause from both teams as it bounced against the backboard and through the hoop. Jen and Spark both careened towards her, hugging her and slapping her on the back.

  ‘You trashed him...’ Jen gestured towards Jamie, who was on his feet, applauding with all the others, seemingly unaware of his complete humiliation. The ref peeped his whistle, motioning everyone back to their places.

  She was on the team now.

  * * *

  ‘So what were Spark and Jen saying to you?’ Jamie had a feeling that the two girls had been doing a little more than just explaining the rules to Anna. The two of them could be difficult at times, but Anna had seemed to take it all in her stride.

  ‘Oh, just girl talk.’ She climbed into his car, smiling at him.

  Heaven help him. Anna was ferocious enough on her own, and Jamie wasn’t quite sure how to view a potential alliance between her and the girls.

  ‘That was a hell of a shot.’

  Anna grinned at him. ‘Wasn’t it exactly what you wanted me to do?’

  Maybe not quite. The Hastings Hustlers were a tight-knit group, and while they welcomed other teens in their number they could be wary of adults, who they saw as authority figures. He’d reckoned a little outrageous cheating might break the ice and get them on Anna’s side, and it had. But she’d outdone him.

  ‘It didn’t occur to me you were a basketball aficionado.’

  ‘I played a lot of netball at school and it’s not so different.’ Anna grinned at him. ‘And the ref did a pretty good job of putting you in your place.’

  Jamie chuckled. ‘Yeah, Andrew’s a good kid. He’s our chess player and he doesn’t much like running around with a ball, but he’s a great referee. Very impartial and he knows all the rules by heart.’

  He leaned forward, twisting the key in the ignition. ‘What do you fancy for lunch? There’s a great fish and chip restaurant down by the promenade.’

  ‘Sounds good. I’m hungry.’

  * * *

  The fish and chip restaurant had a fifties vibe, with shining chrome, tiled walls and red leather seats. They found a table by the window, and a waitress with a check apron came to take their order, putting a carousel with red sauce, brown sauce, salt, vinegar and cutlery down onto the table.

  Anna was staring out at the iron-grey sky, which merged into an iron-grey sea. It was starting to rain, and people were hurrying past, anxious to get out of the biting wind.

  ‘So you got on pretty well with Jen and Spark.’ What Jamie really wanted to know was what the girls had been saying to Anna, but that had already been asked and answered.

  ‘You just can’t let it alone, can you?’ She grinned at him.

  ‘I’m just...’ Jamie shrugged. He was actually just being protective, but Anna wouldn’t like that. ‘Just curious. They have their own agenda sometimes.’

  ‘Oh, they definitely had an agenda. They’d decided that I was your girlfriend and that they’d give me a once-over to make sure I was good enough for you.’

  Jamie winced. ‘Ouch. Sorry...’

  ‘That’s okay. I thought it was rather sweet of them.’ She paused, drawing circles with her finger on the tablecloth. ‘Did you realise that they knew about what happened when you broke up with your fiancée?’

  ‘What! No.’ Jamie felt the hairs on the back of his neck suddenly spring to attention. ‘I never mentioned it. I didn’t want any
one to know.’

  ‘Well, they’re teenagers. They know how to use the internet. What Jon does and who he’s with tends to get photographed and reported.’ Anna’s expression softened suddenly. ‘And they said that you’d seemed upset about something.’

  ‘And I thought I was doing so well.’

  She shot him a look that made his heart melt. If he’d known Anna then, he’d never have been able to keep silent.

  ‘No one can hide a broken heart. Particularly not from a bunch of kids. They see what’s going on a lot better than adults do.’

  ‘Yeah, I guess so. Especially these kids. A lot of them have good reason to be watchful, they’ve been let down by the people around them.’

  He didn’t dare ask what Spark and Jen had thought about it all. What Anna had thought. When she brushed her fingers against the back of his hand, he knew exactly what she thought. Anna was there for him in a way that he couldn’t have expected.

  ‘They said they bought you fairy cakes. They wanted to make you feel better.’

  ‘Fairy cakes?’ Jamie thought back. ‘Oh, yes, I remember now. They had enough for the whole team, and they gave me a bag to take home with me. They had black icing...’

  A lump rose suddenly in his throat. He’d felt so alone then. If he’d just opened his eyes and seen, he’d have known that he hadn’t been.

  ‘There’s nothing that says Cheer up, we’ve got your back quite like black icing and a skull and crossbones.’ Anna grinned. ‘I hope you got that message.’

  ‘I suppose I did, in general terms. I remember thinking it was very nice of them, and that things couldn’t be that bad after all.’ A thought occurred to Jamie. ‘They told you all this?’

  ‘I generally find that when people ambush me for information it’s because they’re worried about something. If I tell them what they want to know, in plain and simple terms, then they respond to that and tell me what’s bothering them. Jen and Spark think a lot of you, and they don’t want to see you hurt again.’

  Jamie was overwhelmed. No thought, just the feeling that there was so much he’d missed. So much he’d got wrong.