Rival Love

by Natalie Decker

  I chew on my lower lip while preparing the beef.

  “In Chamberlin’s office, you said you had stuff to do on Thursdays, so we can’t study on those days right?” Lance asks.

  “Yeah, is that going to be an issue? We can double up times on another day if you need all the extra help you can get. It’s just I’ve got a commitment on those days.”

  I’m not going to tell him what it is I do on Thursdays. Not that it’s anything terrible, but some people, like my friends, don’t really understand my need to volunteer at the local youth center. Or on Sundays when I go to the local soup kitchens and help out. It’s not considered “cool,” but I don’t do it to be cool. I do it because I love helping out people in need. I think that’s part of the reason I agreed to these tutoring sessions.

  Lance smiles. “It’s fine. We’ve got late practices on Thursdays.” He places his spoon off to the side. “How come you haven’t outed Caleb yet?”

  I shrug. “I’ve thought about it, but there’s no point. Outing Caleb means losing my safety zone. I’m stuck here.”

  “You know I’d probably get my ass kicked for admitting this but you aren’t so bad, Bulldog. I actually admire you for protecting Caleb.”

  Caleb…ugh. The last thing I want to talk about is him or what he’s currently dating. I’m not even sure why it bothers me so much that he’s attracted to such God-awful girls, but seriously, it’s like if they’ve got tits and no brains he’s all over it. So again, why does the very thought of him getting intimate with Danielle or someone equally as stupid make me so ticked off? “I’m not doing any of this for him.” A part of me knows this is not exactly true. But I’m also protecting him because I believe in fair competition. If I were to out Caleb, his team would turn on him, and the season would be over. And Harris Academy wouldn’t win because of wits and speed, a thing every game should be. “Those vegetables starting to soften?”

  He stirs them and shakes his head. “Few more minutes.”

  “Good. How about we let that simmer a little more while we go over the history assignment?”

  He nods. “Sounds good.” He slaps the spoon a few times against the pot and sets it aside. Swaggering his way toward me, he slumps down onto the barstool next to mine. A packet of papers as well as a thick textbook and a notebook keeps our arms from touching. “Boston Tea Party, it is.”

  “When did it take place?”

  He shrugs and skims the textbook. “Um, 1773.”

  “That’s the year, but what about the day and month?”

  Lance scrunches his face and mutters, “December twenty-fourth?”

  “Nope. It’s the sixteenth. Here’s an easy way to remember: on the sweet sixteenth of December 1773, Boston threw some tea in the harbor and called it a party,” I sing and Lance smiles.

  “Nice, but I don’t think I’d remember all that. That’s what my problem is, remembering the facts.”

  I nod. “Okay. Well, how do you remember plays?”

  He cocks his head to the side. “I don’t think you want to know that.”

  “Ah, so it’s dirty. Well, try to think of some dirty collaboration using December sixteenth, 1773, and British tea being tossed into the Boston harbor.”

  Lance laughs. “All right give me a second.” Pausing for longer than a second, he smiles. “I got it. One thousand seven hundred and seventy-three naked chicks wanted beer but instead got British tea so they tossed it all into the Boston harbor on December sixteenth.”

  As much as I don’t want to crack a smile, I do. We move on to the next set of questions for the next ten minutes. Taking a break, I return to the stove, stirring the beef while Lance tends to the vegetables.

  About an hour later everything is done and that’s when Caleb decides to grace us with his presence. I narrow my stare at him and Danielle. “Hey bro, Sky and I were in here busting our asses off, while you two were probably doing the dirty upstairs.” I cringe at Lance’s remark.

  Caleb lifts the lid to the stew, and Danielle sneers, “I don’t eat meat.”

  “Well, there’s the door,” I snarl right back.

  Lance and Caleb both laugh but Danielle shoots a glare at me. I grab my bowl and head to the dining room. It’s so much easier to ignore her than to continue bickering with her. Lance walks into the room, taking a seat across from me. “You don’t make it easy on yourself do you, Bulldog?”

  “If you’re talking about making friends with that twit, then I guess not.” I scoop up a spoonful of stew and put it in my mouth. Lance continues to stare as if there were more to my answer. I swallow my food and ask, “What?”

  “Don’t take this the wrong way, but it wouldn’t hurt to make some friends.”

  “Well, don’t take this the wrong way, but I’d rather hang myself, or purposely drive into the worst section of town and get shot, than make friends with that girl.”

  That answer must be sufficient enough since he remains completely silent during the rest of the meal. Caleb eventually joins us after Danielle finally departs. The rest of the evening, however, is disturbing. Not because of the awkward silence between the three of us, but because a deep pain resides in my chest every time I look over at Caleb. And I hate it so much that I force myself to gaze at anything but him.

  Chapter 26

  Caleb

  It’s been three days since Skylar spoke to me. It’s been two days since she’s even looked at me. And I should be happy. It’s what I wanted—for each of us to pretend the other didn’t exist and whatever—but now, I hate it.

  For days now, she and Lance have been working on shit, and she laughs and makes jokes that are really funny. But once I step into the room, she clams up, and if I ask her a question, Jesus, it’s like pulling teeth to get an answer. The whole thing is pissing me off.

  If she wants to play this game, fine. I’ll get her to talk. After football practice, I come home to an empty house. I check the time and hurry up to Skylar’s room. Everything in her room has a spot, and there’s not a speck of dust in here. Her closet is screaming, “I’ve got OCD.” Every one of her shirts hangs in some color-coded scheme. Her pants are in the same order, and her shoes are just as bad, ranging in color and height.

  The first thing I do is mess up all her shirts, hanging them in different orders. And it’s enough to make her mad, but I need her to physically scream at me. The only way to do that is to get her really pissed off, so I rearrange her pants and shoes. But I’m not done. I go downstairs and grab a package of superglue from the all-purpose drawer in the kitchen and head back to her room.

  About ten minutes later, I’ve superglued every pair of Skylar’s shoes to the floor, all in a different order. I’d admire my handiwork a little longer, but the sound of a car pulling into the driveway causes me to leave. I toss the glue into the bottom of the trash can in my room and then set off for the shower.

  While I’m in the shower, I spot a bottle of shampoo, conditioner, and body wash I’ve never noticed before. “Orange peels with ginger, hmm.” I open it and her scent fills the room. So this is what makes her smell so freaking amazing. Next thing I know, I’m using her flipping body wash along with her shampoo and conditioner. I totally handed in my man card on this stunt. The sad part is this, I actually don’t give a rat’s ass if I smell like a girl or not.

  After my shower, I make my way down to the kitchen. I expect Skylar to be home, but it’s Erin and my uncle. “Hi Caleb, how was school today?” Erin asks with a huge smile on her face.

  “It was good. What are you guys doing in here?”

  “Oh, um, it’s a surprise for Liv. She’s been so mad lately and I think this might cheer her up.”

  I come closer to the island and peer down at what my uncle and Erin are looking at. It’s a white envelope with some plane tickets popping out. “So, where are you sending her?” And when? But I leave this part out. I don’t want to seem desperate.

  My uncle makes his way to the fridge. He reaches in for a water or something while m
umbling, “New York. She’s going to visit her dad for Thanksgiving. Actually, Erin thought we should all go.”

  “To look at the colleges, do some shopping, and I feel like Liv would fare better if she has another escape route. Has Liv told you anything about her father, Julie, and Lidia?”

  I shake my head.

  “Well, I guess we don’t really like bringing them up. Liv’s father left me for the woman he was having an affair with. They had a child together; she’s a year younger than Liv and her name’s Lidia. Anyway, when Liv visits she usually comes back a little withdrawn. I figured if we’re there, she can have another outlet to escape to.”

  “Why does she go, then, if she’s always miserable?” I didn’t mean to ask this out loud.

  Erin smiles. “Because despite everything, she says she’s got to try and forgive him.” The front door opens and shuts. “Liv, is that you?”

  “Yeah, give me a second,” Skylar answers.

  “We’re in the kitchen.” Erin looks over at my uncle. “She’s going to be so excited.”

  My uncle doesn’t look as thrilled. I’m a little excited. Maybe we can catch a game or something. It’d be totally sweet if I could see a Giants game, although technically their stadium isn’t even in New York. Hell, it’s not even in the state of New York. Nope, it’s in New Jersey. Still, I want to see a game.

  Skylar enters the kitchen. She glares at me. Arms crossed, cheeks red as cherries, and nostrils flared like a bull, she saw what I did. “What did you need?”

  “These came for you.” Erin hands Skylar the tickets.

  “Um…why do I have a ticket with Caleb’s name on it?”

  Erin smiles. “Surprise. We’re coming with you to spend Thanksgiving in New York while you visit your dad.”

  Skylar isn’t smiling. “Did Dad put you up to this?” She pulls a college brochure out of the envelope and waves it at Erin.

  “I think it’s a good idea, Liv. What’s the harm in looking?”

  Skylar throws down the envelope. “I told you and him a thousand times I’m not going to Columbia. I don’t give a damn if it’s free or not! If that’s the reason for this sudden powwow trip, forget it. I’ll just stay here for Thanksgiving.”

  My uncle starts to smile but Erin snaps, “Skylar, your father is expecting you to be there at Thanksgiving. We won’t look at schools, but it wouldn’t hurt. Besides, Caleb might want to look, did you ever think of that?”

  “Whatever.” She turns to me with a handful of school pamphlets and shoves them into my chest. “Knock yourself out.”

  She leaves the kitchen in a fiery rage. Erin shakes her head. “She’ll come around to the idea.”

  The doorbell rings, and I use this as an excuse to escape the kitchen.

  Peeking out, I see Danielle with what looks like stacks of magazines in her hand. I’d give anything to vanish into thin air. Because I’ve got a pretty solid idea what she’s going to be talking about for the next two hours and it’s going to be sheer torture for me. Dresses, shoes, and all things that come with school dances. Heads up, no guy, unless they’re not into girls, gives a crap about matching gowns with ties and all that stupid crap that chicks swear we want to know all about. We don’t.

  Cringing, I open the door and let her in. She makes herself cozy in the living room, since that’s what she does when my uncle and Erin are here. She’s cunning like a guy in that aspect, making herself look innocent in front of the parentals but knowing full well she’s far from innocent.

  “Oh, dress magazines,” Erin gushes as she enters the living room. “You know Liv never bothered looking at these. In fact, I had to force her into a gown shop to get her homecoming and prom dresses. She was on the junior court for homecoming, that’s the only reason she went to the dance.” Erin shakes her head. “If she could have worn jeans and a t-shirt she would have. Anyway, do you kids want something to drink? I was about to make some lemonade. And were you two planning on staying for dinner?”

  “I was hoping Caleb would take me out tonight, but I’d love to stay for dinner. Thanks for asking, Ms. Fletcher. And I’d really love a glass of that lemonade,” Danielle says.

  I’m sort of in a daze, oblivious to most of the events happening. Erin leaves the room, then reenters with glasses and a pitcher. She points at dresses in the magazines, and she and Danielle seem to be squealing over the pages. I’ve got to escape. “I need to use the bathroom.”

  No one seems to care, and it makes my leaving the room so much easier. Heading upstairs, I try to figure out where I can hideout. There’s the bathroom, but someone will eventually have to use it, or come check on me. There’s my own room, but if Danielle comes looking for me, she’ll try to get me to fool around with her. Normally I’m all for messing around, but this chick is blackmailing me, and it’s a complete turnoff. Last thing I want to do is satisfy her. So this leaves me with Skylar.

  Walking in, I glance around her room and find her bent over, muttering curses at her shoes. Maybe hiding out in her room isn’t the best idea after all. I try to sneak out, but her voice thunders, “You! You stupid jerk!”

  I shrug. “Well, in all fairness, you did wrap my car. And I did tell you I’d get you back.”

  “That was my payback for what you did to the toilet seat! We were totally even.” Her cheeks are tomato-red. Her plump lips are pursed, and if looks could kill, I’d be dead. I feel a little guilty for gluing her shoes to the floor. And trashing her organized closet. But it feels good that she’s talking to me.

  She starts working on her shoes again. Her huffs and grunts are making me feel worse. “Need some help?”

  “Haven’t you done enough?” She glances back with raised eyebrows. “And besides, aren’t you wanted for dress shopping downstairs?”

  I roll my eyes at the idea. “How did you know about that?”

  She points to the far corner of the room. I’m still clueless. She must notice because she laughs. “The vent. I heard my mother’s squeals. She only gets that giddy when a school dance is around the corner.”

  “You don’t like getting shoes and dresses?” I tease.

  “And talking about how my hair will be and what the guy is wearing?” She shakes her head. “That stuff is so overrated. It’s a dress you wear once and shoes that are impractical, because unless you’re planning on being a hooker, those shoes will never see another night out.”

  I can see why Erin said Sky would rather be in jeans and a t-shirt than in a dress. Even looking at her now, I can’t really picture Sky in a gown, let alone with her hair all done up. But I do see her being the next Carrie, especially at one of our dances. The image in my head makes me laugh, and Skylar stares at me as if I’m crazy. I take a seat next to her and start to help her undo the mess I made.

  We work quickly and mostly in silence, until Erin calls up the stairs. “Caleb, are you all right up there?”

  “I better get back down there.” I give Skylar a half smile. “If you aren’t done after my tutoring session, I’ll help you with the rest.”

  She shakes her head. “It’s fine. But just so you know, I’m going to even the score very soon.” There’s a wicked glint in her eyes, and God, it makes her sexier than ever. In fact, I’m almost welcoming her next prank.

  Chapter 27

  Skylar

  In the kitchen, I glare at my mom. “You want me to what?”

  “Oh, don’t be like that. It’s called support. Besides, I’m not leaving you in this house by yourself for a whole weekend. I wasn’t born yesterday.”

  Why do adults use this expression? We know you weren’t born yesterday. I mean, there are these things called having kids, age differences, and just common sense thrown in there, duh. “Mom, I get it. Really, I do. But you don’t have to worry about me throwing a party or whatever. Can I please stay here?”

  “No. You need to get out. Honey, this…whatever this is, well, it’s not healthy. It’s not you. I know you’re depressed about a lot of things, so I think the o
nly way to get your mind off of it is getting some air. Going on this little road trip will do you some good. Caleb’s going to be staying in the same room as Brian and you and I will be sharing a room. So there won’t be any awkwardness.” That’s what she thinks. There’s going to be a whole lot of awkwardness for me. I can’t be seen sitting with Brian. I sure as hell can’t be seen attending that game; people will jump me. And I’m not stupid. I know if I thought school was bad, this will be ten times worse.

  “Mom…”

  She shakes her head. “Skylar, I’m not changing my mind. Now go on and pack some clothes before you head off to school.” I start to walk away and she calls out, “Two nights’ worth. Oh, and leave the bag on the bed.”

  ***

  My world literature class is winding down. Most of the others are antsy for lunch, because it’s Friday, or like me, are ready to get away from the droning readings of A Separate Peace. “Ms. Norris,” someone on the intercom system calls out. “Please send Ms. Skylar Fletcher to the office.”

  Ms. Norris smirks at me. It’s safe to say she still hates me from our first meeting. And as much as it kills her, she’s been trying to find faults in everything I do. Too bad for her I’ve had nothing but perfection on every test and assignment she’s given us so far. “Gather up your things, Skylar, and head to the office.” Her voice is full of happiness.

  Inside the office, one of the secretaries hands me a slip. “Here you go. Have a good weekend.”

  I stare at the bright pink paper, an early dismissal slip. Aw man. My mom’s seriously going to make me go to this stupid game. Well, there’s no way on God’s green earth I’m sitting on the visitors’ side with them or in the student section for that matter. My butt will be on Reynoldsburg’s side of the field.

  Crossing the threshold of the main hallway leading to the parking lot, a shoulder bumps into mine causing me to look away from the slip in my hand. Lance has a huge grin on his face and says, “Guess what?”