Rival Love

by Natalie Decker

  “Where are you going?” she asks.

  “None of your damn business. And if you follow me, I swear I’ll murder you and make it look like a typical street mugging gone wrong.” Not that I know how to do that, but she’s pushed me so far at this point that I wouldn’t put it past myself to accomplish that.

  Once outside, I hail a cab and take it to the local school’s pool. I enter the school and follow the scent of the chlorine, which sounds silly but there are no signs leading to the natatorium area. An old woman sits at a desk and smiles at me. “Hello. How may I help you?”

  “Hi. I wanted to do the open swim. Is there a lane open?”

  “There sure is, that’ll be five dollars.”

  I pay the woman and head to the locker room. As soon as I’m changed, I toss my things in a locker and lock it. Then I go out to the pool area. After a good two-hour workout, I decide to call it quits and end up taking a trip to the house of one of my aunts. She’s not really my aunt; she used to be my babysitter back when I had to visit my dad when he first decided to stay in NYC. She lets me use her extra loft space, which is really her dance studio, as my own personal music room.

  I ring the buzzer. “Yeah?”

  “Hey, Richella. It’s me, Sky.”

  “Sky sweetie! I’m buzzing you up.”

  I reach her loft and hug the small Italian lady with dark hair and cherry lips. “Oh, Sky, you really must start visiting your papa more. Look at how you’ve grown. Oh.” She twirls me around. “How’s everything? Your hair is wet. Were you swimming?”

  “I’m okay. I was swimming.” I set down my bag near the door and take in her space. She still has the mirrors and dance bar in the corner. “Any new ballets?”

  “I’m actually directing one. I see you brought your guitar; were you going to play for me?”

  I nod. I gather up my guitar and take a seat on her couch, then start playing this new song that’s been in my head ever since I kissed Caleb.

  ***

  Caleb comes by my house around dinnertime; I let Lidia answer the door. I also pretend I’m not home when she calls up to me. Of course someone trails up the stairs, so I take the liberty of hiding out in my closet like a scared schoolgirl. “Sky, I know you’re in here,” Caleb calls out.

  “She isn’t here. What do you want with her anyway? You know she’s a total loser. She’s all dedicated to her sports and is probably a dike.”

  “Look, Lidia, a few months ago I would have done things with you. A few months ago, I would have agreed that Sky is a total nerd, but I like her. I like her for who she is and who she doesn’t pretend to be.”

  “But I…”

  My heart is hammering inside my chest. Can it really be true, or is he saying that because he actually finds Lidia annoying?

  “Sorry.” I hear a door shut. Then I hear my bed squeak followed by a deep laugh. “Nice.”

  I’m about to open the closet door, but I’m not sure I want to know the truth yet. What if he did kiss Lidia and is going back to his old player routine? Then that would mean he doesn’t really like me, he just said that to get her to quit chasing him. Meanwhile my heart will ache over the truth that he’s not into me and never has been. I mean, I know I said we’d pretend, but lately, it’s almost as if he does have feelings for me. But then again he could be the greatest actor of all and I’m just stupid enough to fall for it.

  His singing brings me out of my thoughts and back to the present situation, which is me in a closet, debating whether to leave it now or wait until he’s out of my room. “Nice collection, Fletch.” Oh man, does he know I’m in here or is he talking to himself? I hope he’s talking to himself. “Hmm, ATC list?”

  Crap! That’s my playlist about him.—“All Things Caleb”—from the first of the year to now. He won’t figure that out, will he? I told him I wasn’t into him. And he’s all into my sister, who’s clearly his type, not me. So he can’t find out how I feel. I’ll just die, especially if I have to be around him and he knows something like that. My face burns with embarrassment.

  He starts to read off some of the songs and then he says, “‘Distance’?”

  Ah, such a good song. It reminds me of Caleb when he was outside the coffee shop with me, and Kevin and I had our fight about his cheating. And then again when Danielle showed up in Caleb’s life.

  I crouch down to the floor and wait in silence for Caleb to finally leave my room. It feels like ten years have gone by before he finally gives up and leaves the house. My bladder has never been more relieved either, because if I had to wait another second I think it might have exploded.

  Chapter 44

  Caleb

  It’s beyond freezing outside and instead of going someplace warm, I stand outside of Skylar’s brownstone. People pass me, some eye me up, others I’m pretty sure have no idea I’m even standing here. I need to quit standing outside her place.

  I feel like a stalker. She’s been ignoring me this whole trip though. She has every right to, really she does. But that kiss. That freaking amazing kiss that I didn’t want to break myself away from, the one that’s constantly on my mind, was not supposed to happen there. Not in front of that crowd.

  Just as I’m about to walk away, the door opens, and a girl with a frilly hat on and a black wool coat comes out. Sky’s holding a guitar case with a crap ton of stickers pasted on it. She glances back at the door and then hurries down the steps. She heads north up the sidewalk and walks as if she’s in a race.

  It’s about five, maybe six blocks, before she stops and enters a building. There’s a chalkboard sign outside that says: Open Mic Night.

  Is she going to play? I’m curious because she wouldn’t play for me when we were in her room. I slip inside the place. There’s a large stage in front where most of the lighting happens to be focused. The rest of the place is dim. I head to the back and sit down at a table.

  Quickly, my answer to why no one has filled this seat comes to me when the round table wobbles. It’s also covered in some kind of sticky film. I stare at the stage, and watch as a few people perform. Then my heart starts to speed up, ‘cause entering the stage is Sky. And if I thought she was drop-dead gorgeous at the championship game, then she’s beyond sexy now, if that even exists.

  She removes that girly hat and pulls on the sleeves on her gray top. Sky adjusts her guitar in front of her and sits down on the stool. Her fingers touch the microphone, lowering it down to her level.

  Her fingers return to the head of the guitar while the other is at the base. “Hi, I’m Skylar and I’ll be playing ‘My Sweet Enemy.’”

  She strums a few chords, which are actually pretty freaking good so far, and then she leans to the mic and sings, “…Who signed me up for this torture test? Can I still fit this mold? I’m about to lose myself, this shit is getting out of control. ‘Cause here I am trying to be strong, trying to show him I won’t break…But my heart’s broken.”

  Skylar stands up, tapping her foot while her fingers continue to strum the strings. “Oh boy, you’ve got me so twisted. I’m a goddamn mess and I must confess…I hate to love you. I love to hate you. I’m sick of failing and yet here I am…Falling for the enemy, ooo my sweet enemy.”

  “…Here are the demons that haunt me every night. They want me to fall. They want me to break. These words are turning the key, winding me up, only to be the puppet on their strings. But will anyone see beyond this…Will he ever see beyond this…” Her voice is raspy and whispering, it’s turning me on in so many ways, I almost can’t contain myself to remain sitting so far back from the stage.

  And her lyrics are getting to me. She’s avoided seeing me for most of this trip, but this song…it sounds as if I’ve got a shot. Like she lied about not liking me, and that amazing kiss was the real deal. I hope that’s the case. “…Oh boy, you’ve got me so twisted. I’m a goddamn mess and I must confess…I hate to love you. I love to hate you. I’m sick of failing and yet here I am…ooo I’ve fallen for the enemy, ooouuu…my swe
et enemy.”

  She sits back down on her stool. Her voice grows soft. “…Here we are. Will you ever trust in me? Oooh enemy. See me. Oooh enemy. Love me. Ooooh enemy. I'm yours…”

  Everyone in the place, including me, stands up and cheers. She smiles at the crowd, dips her head, and then takes her things offstage. I make my way to her, so does every other dude in this place. My determination has no bounds though. Some of these guys are bigger than me, waist-wise and in arm size. But my ego, and pride, and want to be with her, is luring me to her. I shift around a few hefty guys crowding around her and staring her down.

  Sky just gets talking to someone when she turns, probably to the growling sound which is currently being made by the body-building-looking dude who I just cut in this so-called line. Sky’s eyes lock with mine and she blinks a few times. “Caleb? What are you doing here?”

  “I followed you. You were really incredible up there.”

  She nods. “Thanks.” Her cheeks are starting to form a blush and I smile.

  “Can I walk you back?” She’s picking up her guitar so I assume she’s leaving. I want her to say yes.

  She narrows her eyes a bit and then sighs. “I guess.”

  I go to reach for her hand but stop myself. “May I carry that for you?”

  Her fingers tighten around the handle and the only reason I know this is her knuckles are now bone-white. So I don’t ask her again. We head out of the club, and down the street. We’re walking slowly, which is a good thing because it means more time with her. “Do you want to go ice skating tomorrow?”

  “Why?” she asks while her eyes watch me.

  I shrug. “I want to do something fun with you.”

  “I’m practicing.”

  I nod. “Okay. Never mind.” She’s practiced twice a day since Tuesday evening. We’re going home in two days and you’d figure the girl would just take a break. But it’s probably because I’m asking. “Who’s the song about?”

  “The song?”

  “Yeah, the one you just sang?”

  She stops walking and rocks on her heels. “You don’t want to know that.”

  “Yes I do.”

  She looks at the ground. “It’s about someone. Someone I like but shouldn’t. It doesn’t matter.” She starts to walk off and I follow.

  “Sky, wait a sec.” She pauses again. “What I did at the game…I’m sorry. You caught me off guard. Everyone was staring. Still, that’s no excuse for what I did. Especially since all I ever do is think about it.”

  “Think about what?” she whispers.

  I close the space between us and gently touch her cheek with my fingertips. I push away some locks of hair from her face, and lower my mouth to hers. She gasps a little, right before our lips touch and we kiss. My entire body is on fire, and yeah, we’re kissing but she’s not close enough. I wrap my arm around her waist and bring her right up against me. She moans against my mouth and I let my tongue slide across hers. Jesus, she tastes so good, and the way she’s working her mouth over mine is turning me on so much more.

  I pull back a little and breathe, “That’s what I should have done that night. And that’s what I want to keep on doing.”

  “You do?”

  “Yeah Sky, I do.”

  “But I thought…”

  I kiss her again. “You thought what?” I breathe against her lips.

  “I thought you wanted Lidia. She told me you kissed her and…”

  I interrupt her. “Lidia? Hell no! Skylar, you’ve been in my head and in here”—I take her hand and put it on my chest—“for so freaking long that anyone else is not even worth my time. Just you.”

  Chapter 45

  Skylar

  To say I’ve been on a constant high, cloud-nine style since Caleb and I returned from New York would be one hundred and ten percent accurate. We’ve been down-playing it at school for a few days now. Which is actually good for me because I don’t feel so guilty about sticking to my schedule.

  Kayla slides up beside me on the way to my car. So far the swim team has been okay with me joining them—well, most of them. Amber and her group of zombies glare at me and watch me like a hawk. Actually, Amber’s stare is more like a twitching eye glare, and I really hope she doesn’t pop a blood vessel in her head or eyeball.

  “Hey, wanna come over tonight?” I ask.

  “Um…sure.”

  “Well, don’t sound so excited. You might hurt yourself,” I tease.

  She smiles quickly and gets into my car. She’s been a little down, and I think it has something to do with Lance hanging out with Amber and her flock during the break. And I was in NYC so I couldn’t exactly be there to comfort her. So, how do I propose to make this up to her and show her I care? By hooking her up with Lance, of course. The best part: neither of them knows this. She thinks Lance and I rescheduled our tutoring session and he thinks we still have a session tonight. I know, sometimes I’m still a little evil.

  I pull up to the house, and notice Caleb is here, but my mom and Brian aren’t. Double score, unless…no, I can’t jinx it.

  Once we’re in the house, I run upstairs and drop off my bag. Arms slip around me and lips caress my neck. I giggle and turn my face to meet his mouth. When we connect, my body feels like a torch has been lit inside of me while butterflies dance around in a crazy tango. I don’t want this to end, but I have to pull back.

  “I missed you,” he says as his green eyes take me in.

  I let my finger trace his lower lip. “I missed you too. Kayla is downstairs though. You don’t mind, do you?”

  He shakes his head and laughs. “I don’t mind.” He kisses my cheek and we walk downstairs. Kayla is in the living room looking through one of the latest teen magazines my mom bought me when we were at the airport. I actually hate those things, but my mom seems to think I love to read them. I’m happy someone is enjoying them.

  “Hey, Kayla, how was swimming?” Caleb asks as he takes a seat in the La-Z-Boy.

  I try not to frown because he feels so far away from me now. But I do smile because I know what he’s doing and it’s really sweet. He’s almost perfect. I can’t believe a few months ago I loathed him.

  We’re just starting to watch the movie The Mummy when the doorbell rings. I get up off the couch and answer it. Lance stands at the door. “Hey, Sky. Should I head to the kitchen?”

  “Oh, Lance…I forgot.” I slap my forehead for a dramatic effect. “Come on in though.”

  I pull him into the living room and say, “Hey, look who came by. Well, it was my bad. I forgot to tell him that we were doing suicide intervals in swimming so I’d be too beat for the whole diving-into-history stuff.” I smile at Caleb and then look over at Kayla. “This is Kayla, you know her, right?”

  “Yeah, uh…hey. So what are you guys watching in here?” He takes a seat next to Kayla and I walk over to Caleb and sit in his lap.

  He pulls me against him and kisses my neck. “If I didn’t know any better I’d say you planned this, Fletch,” he whispers.

  I turn my gaze to him and smile. “Maybe I did. Are you complaining?”

  “You’re in my lap.” He smiles. “Definitely not complaining at all.”

  Our little bubble of happiness breaks as soon as headlights shine through the living room. Caleb and I break apart since we’re pretty sure if my mom finds out about us, she’ll ship me off to my dad’s so fast it wouldn’t be funny. Not that she doesn’t like Caleb. She does, but I’m pretty certain she’d be freaking out about what could happen with all of us living under the same roof. Like unplanned pregnancies, which is the stupidest excuse ever. Unless someone forced you to do it, then I’m sorry, I find it hard to believe a thing like a pregnancy is unplanned. When you have sex, that’s one of the things that can happen, so how is it unplanned?

  Twenty minutes later, Kayla is leaving with Lance. The two of them have been in deep conversation about movies, and yes, I believe this is the start of a hopeful relationship. And yeah, I’m taking ful
l credit for it. Once they’re gone, I grab the box of takeout that my mom brought home and head to my room.

  But I’m not in my room alone very long. A knock comes, and my door opens then closes. Caleb has his backpack in one hand and his takeout in the other. I pull the chair near my desk out for him and reach for his backpack.

  “Yeah, so remember when you and I did homework together and it was great? I sort of figured we could do that again,” he says as he hands over his bag and takes a seat next to me. “But you look like you don’t want me here. I can go.” He starts to pull himself back up and I stop him.

  “It’s not that. I’m just thinking about tomorrow. It’s my first meet, and I know this sounds completely stupid, but I’m nervous I’ll suck.”

  “What do you mean? Of course you won’t suck. And you know what?” He pauses for a second.

  I smile at him. “What?”

  “You’ll break your own times in every event. And I’ll be there in the stands watching because, you know, I’ll have to go.” We laugh and then he kisses my forehead. “But for kicks, tell me, why would you think that?”

  I shrug. “I always do. I know I’m good, could always be better, but sometimes I feel like any day I’m going to meet my match. And I’ll lose. It won’t be pretty, but it will show me one of my biggest fears, which is that I’m not a talented superstar like everyone paints me to be.”

  He places his arm over my shoulder and pulls me in for a hug. “Sky, that’s what makes you different. The fact that you can realize this makes you a very dangerous opponent. Because you know there’s always room to improve. There’s going to be someone out there with the same mentality and the same drive as you. They might be better, or damn close. Point is, you’re not letting what the talent scouts say get to your head.”

  “Do you let them get to your head?”

  He sighs. “I did. But then someone saw flaws in me.” He kisses my cheek. “Ready to start on some homework?”