Changing Lanes (Lake Park University Book 1)

by Christina Escue

  “Al, help a guy out. You’ve known her forever. You have to know her middle name,” Xander says in a pleading voice and I shake my head.

  “Don’t pull me into this. She already hates me, and I’m not making it worse,” I say and look at her. “She hates her middle name, and I can’t blame her.”

  “Why?” Joy asks, and Gray’s smile falls from her face.

  “I don’t hate you,” she says then looks at the others. “I hate my middle name, because, like my first name, it signifies that my dad wanted boys when my sister and I were born. Mine and Gav’s names are alternate spellings of names that are typically given to males.”

  “I like your name,” Ryder says and looks at me for a second before focusing on her again. “It’s unique.”

  “Yeah, and the uniqueness of it got me bullied all through elementary and middle school,” she says, and I look at her. I got into more than one fight defending her and Gav against bullies.

  “Kids are cruel,” Jaylen says and looks at the table.

  “Some are,” she responds and looks at me. “And others get suspended from school for slamming their heads into lockers.”

  I shrug and look away from her as Bea walks over with our drinks.

  “Here you go,” she says and starts passing drinks around. I look at Gray as Bea hands over her water, and I smile. She stopped drinking soda when she was twelve and a girl in her class told her she was getting fat. She’s far from fat, then and now, but I couldn’t convince her of that when she was twelve, and I doubt I would do any better at trying to convince her now, either. She’s absolutely gorgeous, and has curves in all the right places, but until she sees it for herself, nothing anyone says will convince her of this.

  “So, you’re a vegetarian, you don’t drink soda, and you hate your middle name. What other things should we know about you?” Brennon asks, and I look at Gray. I see a thoughtful expression form on her face before she grins.

  “I’ve bowled a perfect game twice,” she tells them and everyone, including myself, gasps.

  “What? When?” Xander asks.

  “Rico remembers the first one,” she says, and I nod when they all look at me. “It was at a Road to Gold tournament. I was fourteen, and this was the last tournament before Junior Gold that year. It was three weeks before Gav was killed.”

  “It was the second game, and she’d thrown a really bad game the first game. She was pissed at herself, and Gavyn and I were trying to get her to calm down. She snapped at us, then shut down. She didn’t say anything, or acknowledge anyone, not even our coaches, during that second game. She was golden. By the eighth frame a crowd had formed, and every eye in the house was on her,” I take over when she stops talking. “When she threw the second ball of the tenth frame, we all held our breath. She was off her mark by half a board, and I knew she’d missed, but somehow, some way, her ball hooked right into the pocket. When she threw that last strike, the house erupted in cheers, and the JG officials all came over to congratulate her.”

  “Holy hell,” Wren says with her eyes wide. “No wonder coach recruited you.”

  “Right?” Joy says and looks at Gray. “What about the second time?”

  “It was during state last season. It’s what clinched the win for me,” she answers and grins.

  “You’re my new hero,” Xander says and everyone chuckles.

  Before anyone can say anything, Bea walks out, followed by three other waitresses, and our pizzas are placed on the table.

  I watch as Gray picks up a slice and bites in. Her eyes close as the taste hits her tongue, and I smile. Seeing her, being close to her again, is going to drive me insane, but I am so glad fate has put her back in my life. Maybe with time, she will learn to like me again. I bite into a slice of my perfectly made pizza and smile. Maybe, if I’m lucky, she will learn to more than like me.

  Chapter Five

  Graycen

  I open my eyes and look at the clock beside my bed. I’ve only been asleep for four hours and have no idea why I’m awake now, but I am, and I may as well make the most of my early morning start.

  It’s been two weeks since I came face to face with Rico again, and I’ve yet to tell my parents. I’m going to see my mom today, and I know she’s going to question me about practices. I can keep the truth from her for a while longer, but I know I’ll have to tell her eventually.

  I sigh as I get up. We don’t have practice again until Monday, so I could just stay at home tonight, but I don’t want to. Being there, being around mom as sad as she is, isn’t healthy for me. I know she needs me, I need her too, but this past year was horrible. She walked around in a trance most of the time, and when she wasn’t like that she was crying. Losing Gav broke something inside her, inside all of us, but whatever it was that broke within her, never repaired.

  I love my mom to the moon and back, but if it wasn’t for my aunt and uncle, we’d have been homeless. Aunt Margie and Uncle James built us a small house on their property and made sure we always had what we needed. Dad paid for all my bowling stuff, even though he never came to anything after my freshman year, and I worked once I was old enough to get a job, but mom was never the same. It’s like she forgot she had another child. That is, until I signed with LPU. She was there, supporting me the entire time during the signing, and after she seemed happy for me. The day I packed to leave home she broke again. She said me leaving was like losing Gavyn all over again, and she couldn’t bear for me to go.

  I left anyway after assuring her I’d be home at least twice a month, if not more. I’ve called her daily, and she seems to be okay, but I’m concerned she’s going to break down when I leave tonight.

  Pushing aside my thoughts, I grab my bathroom caddy and walk to my closet. I grab my favorite jean shorts, and an LPU tank top, then head out to the communal showers. Thankfully, only athletes are on campus until next week, so I have the showers to myself right now.

  After I shower and dress, I pull my hair back into a braid, and apply my usual mascara and lip gloss.

  “Good enough,” I mutter and sigh. I’m just going to see my mom, and in this late August heat, anything else I do will just sweat off.

  As I walk back to my room, my phone dings and I glance at the screen. It’s a text from Xander.

  XANDER: Meet me for breakfast?

  ME: Going to my mom’s today.

  XANDER: Damn.

  Want company?

  ME: You’re up to meeting my mom?

  XANDER: If it means I get to spend time with you, then sure.

  I chuckle at his response then answer him.

  ME: Be ready in twenty.

  XANDER: I’ll be ready in fifteen.

  I chuckle again and slide my phone in my back pocket. Xander and I have hung out a few times over the past two weeks, and I’ve discovered I really like him. He’s a great guy and makes me smile more than anyone else has in a long time. But I’m not sure I’m ready to put a label on what we are.

  I set my bathroom caddy on my dresser then grab my wallet and keys from my desk. If I leave right now I’ll have time to grab us some breakfast and coffee for the road. It’s only about a forty minute drive, and as early as we’re leaving, we shouldn’t hit much traffic.

  Fifteen minutes later, I pull into the Sadler’s driveway and smile when I see Xander waiting on the porch. I have to admit he looks great in shorts and a t-shirt.

  When I see Joy appear behind him, I get out of my car and walk toward them.

  “Hey,” she greets me with a smile. “Xan tells me you’re heading out to see your mom.”

  “Yeah,” I answer and look beyond them to where their dad is standing. I smile and wave at him. “Hey Mr. Sadler.”

  “Nice to see you again, Graycen,” he greets me. I met him the first night I hung out with the team. Joy and Micah went off somewhere together, and I took Xander home that afternoon. “Where are you two off to today?”

  “I’m heading home for the day,” I tell him and look at Xander. �
��Xander asked if he could join me.”

  “Sounds like fun,” he responds and looks at Xander. “Don’t forget we have a dinner tonight.”

  “What time do I need to have him back?” I ask, thinking this is the perfect excuse to not stay the night at my mom’s.

  “The dinner starts at seven,” Mr. Sadler answers.

  “I’ll have him back by five,” I promise, and smile at them all. “My mom only lives about forty minutes from here in a town called Newberry.”

  “I know the town well,” Mr. Sadler tells me. “That’s where I was born, and my sister still lives there with her husband and kids.”

  “Small world,” I mutter. “We only moved there after my parents divorced, but my mom is from there, and her brother owns a pretty big watermelon farm. We live on the farm with them.”

  “What’s your uncle’s name?” Joy asks.

  “James May,” I answer and Xander chuckles. “What?”

  “Looks like I’ll be visiting Aunt Margie,” he says and my jaw drops. “It really is a small world.”

  “Wait, my uncle is married to your aunt?”

  “So it seems,” Mr. Sadler says, and I hear something in his voice that gives me pause.

  “Don’t, dad,” Joy says, and we all look at her.

  “No, say what you’re thinking, please,” I say and Xander snaps his head toward me.

  “Let’s go, Gray,” Xander says and grabs my hand, but I shake my head.

  “In a minute,” I tell him then turn my focus back to his dad. “Mr. Sadler?”

  “Margie told me about your mother,” he responds, and I narrow my eyes at him.

  “What about my mother?”

  “That she’s been living off them for the past four years. She doesn’t work, she doesn’t do anything except mope around the house that they built for her and her daughter. For her and, apparently, you.”

  “My mother had a child die, then lost her husband a month later,” I say, my voice growing with each word. “Uncle James invited us to stay with them. Uncle James insisted on building the house for us. On the day I turned fifteen, I got a job. I worked and I paid them rent on the house they built. When I wasn’t in school or bowling, I was working. Before I was able to get a job legally, I worked in the fields with Uncle James. My mother may not work, and she may mope around, but that’s because Uncle James lets her. I pushed her to get better, but I can’t force it to happen, despite my best efforts.”

  “Gray,” Xander says softly when I stop to take a breath.

  “No, Xander,” I say and shake my head. “I think I’ll go visit my mom alone.”

  I pull my hand from his and start toward my car. I hear him talking to his dad just before I open my door, and I pause.

  “That’s just great, dad. The one girl I actually like, and you have to treat her like that.”

  “Alexander,” he responds in a warning tone.

  “Just stop, dad,” Joy nearly yells at him. “Just stop being a judgmental ass.”

  I shake my head and climb into my car, not wanting to hear what he says next. I can’t stay here and now I don’t want to go home because apparently Aunt Margie isn’t the person I thought she is.

  “Gray, wait,” Xander calls out, but I start my car and start out of the driveway. As much as I like Xander, I don’t want to cause issues within his family.

  Driving around, I spot a coffee shop and sigh. The coffee and veggie breakfast burritos I picked up for Xander and I are no longer edible, and my stomach growls loudly, so I pull into an empty parking spot and kill the engine.

  Sighing, I get out of my SUV and grab the bag and cups from the fast food place. I toss them all in the trashcan beside the door of the coffee shop then walk inside. The scent of coffee hits my nose as soon as I step inside and I smile. I started drinking coffee about two years ago, when I was working, going to school, and bowling all the time, but not sleeping much, and it became my addiction.

  “Welcome to Mean Bean, how may I help you?” A voice I’d recognize anywhere asks without turning from what he’s doing.

  “Rico?” I ask even though I know it’s him.

  He turns, and when his eyes land on me, he grins. “Hey Gray, welcome to Mean Bean.”

  “Shit,” I say softly, and his grin fades.

  “Sorry,” he says. I shake my head and move to walk from the shop when he comes from behind the counter and gently grabs my arm. “Come on. Seeing me here isn’t bad enough to make you skip breakfast, is it?”

  “It’s already been a shit morning,” I mutter then shake my head and sigh. “But I do need coffee and food.”

  “Come on then,” he responds and nods toward the counter.

  “Okay,” I relent and look at his hand on my arm. He immediately releases me and takes a step back.

  “Wanna talk about your shit morning?” He asks as he walks back behind the counter and washes his hands.

  “Not really,” I respond and shrug. “Just found out someone isn’t who I originally thought they were.”

  “I know we aren’t friends any longer, Gray, but I want you to remember that I will always care about you. If someone’s hurt you, I’d like to help.”

  I look at him for a second before I focus on the menu on the wall above his head. After I place my order and pay, I focus on him again. “When my parents divorced we moved back to mom’s hometown. We’ve been living on my aunt and uncle’s watermelon farm for the past four years. I discovered this morning that my aunt sees my mother as a burden, and thinks she’s taking advantage of my uncle and her.”

  “That’s crap,” he says, and my eyes widen.

  “It’s kinda true, but I never thought my aunt felt that way, or, even if she did, that she would talk to anyone other than my uncle about it,” I tell him and sigh. “Since Gav died and my parents divorced, Mom has been dealing with severe depression, and major anxiety. She hasn’t been able to work, but I worked, I made the money to pay for what we needed.”

  “How did you find out your aunt was talking to someone else?”

  I sigh again and look at the floor. “I was going to visit my mom this morning, and Xander was going to go with me. When I got to his house to pick him up, his dad was there, and I told him where we were going. Apparently, my aunt Margie is Mr. Sadler’s sister. He said some things that she’s told him, and I left without Xander. Pretty sure he and Joy are both pissed at their dad right now, and it’s all my fault.”

  “No,” Rico says, and I look back up at him. “If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s your aunt’s. If she has an issue with your mom, she needs to talk to your uncle. She shouldn’t have said anything to anyone else about it. And he should have never said anything to you about it. You cannot blame yourself for what someone else says or does, Gray.”

  “I pushed him to tell me,” I say and look at the floor again. “I heard something in his voice and pushed him to tell me what he was thinking.”

  “Still not your fault,” he tells me and it’s his turn to sigh. “Go find a table. I’ll bring you your food and coffee in a couple minutes, and I’ll take my break so we can talk more if you’d like.”

  “I think I would like that,” I hear my voice say before I can stop myself.

  “Me too,” he says and smiles at me.

  I smile back then turn from the counter and find a small table near the back of the restaurant. I can’t believe I opened up to Rico, of all people. He is the last person I would have expected myself to talk to, and the last person I would expect I’d want to continue to talk to.

  Chapter Six

  Rico

  “Here you go,” I say and sit her coffee and muffin in front of her. “Still okay with me joining you?”

  She nods, and I smile softly before I walk off and grab myself a cup of coffee. I duck my head into the back and tell them I’m taking my first break, then I walk back to the table and sit in the chair across from Gray.

  “When Gavyn was killed, we all dealt with a lot of emotions. My dad and
I both went into therapy, and have adapted to things being as they are, but Mom refused. She wouldn’t even acknowledge the fact that she needed help. I love her to the moon and back, but when Gav died, Mom acted like we both died,” she starts talking, and I sip my coffee and listen. “For nearly two years, I tried getting her to acknowledge she had another daughter, one who needed her, but didn’t get anywhere with her until I won state my sophomore year. Uncle James was there with me, and when I brought that trophy home, Mom’s eyes landed on it, and something seemed to break through the haze she’d been living in. She was almost herself until just after I signed with LPU. Then she got depressed again and started talking about how me leaving would be like losing Gav all over again. She was happy for me at first, then she tried everything to get me to turn down the scholarship and stay with her.

  “I couldn’t, though. I could not stay in that house any longer. I would have been aiding her, like Uncle James has been, and I couldn’t do that. I want my mom back too much for that.”

  “Gray,” I say softly when she stops talking and takes a sip of her coffee. “Your mom is sick and needs help.”

  “She is, and she does,” she agrees and looks at me. “I can’t force her, though. As much as I would like nothing more than to push her into therapy, she’s never going to get better until she wants to.”

  “Maybe you leaving will be good for her,” I say, and she looks at me skeptically.

  “Maybe it’s what will push her completely over the edge,” she counters. “I should probably drive up and visit her. I promised her I’d be there today, and if I don’t go, I’ll be breaking a promise.”

  “Want me to ditch work and come with you?”

  “That’s a horrible idea,” she responds. “Mom doesn’t even know we’re teammates again.”

  “Oh,” I say and look at the table. “Do you think she hates me as much as you do?”