I still had plenty of gas left in my system, so I took my time until I got to the halfway mark, and then I sprinted. I darted past one girl who was sweating so much she looked like she was having a shower. And I was only a few paces behind the girl in front of me as we both passed the finish line.
“Well done,” she said, her breath coming out in pants. It was obvious she was used to running like this.
“Thanks,” I replied and planted my hands on my hips, slowing down to a walk so I didn’t shock my muscles with stopping dead.
“I didn’t know you could run like that.” I finally took a proper look at her. I recognized her as a junior who had transferred here last year. She was at least four inches taller than me, and her legs were definitely that of a runner. Her short black hair was held off her face with a headband, and her straight nose led to dark-brown eyes. “You should have tried out sooner.”
I shrugged, not really wanting to overshare. “I normally only run for me.”
She nodded like she understood, but she couldn’t. No one ever could. “I get that.” She held her hand out to me. “I’m Reagan.”
I placed my hand in hers. “Aria.”
“Girls!” Cade shouted, and we both turned to look at him. He waved his arm, indicating for us to come back to him, so Reagan and I walked side by side toward him. I couldn’t help but beam at the grin on his face.
“You can both get changed and meet me in my office.”
The smile dropped from my face, a frown replacing it as I wondered what that meant. There were still girls trying out, and we were being sent to get changed. It didn’t make sense.
“But—”
Reagan grabbed my arm and pulled me with her as she walked away from him and across the field. “It’s a good thing,” she told me.
“It is?” I asked as we entered the locker rooms. I was only using them because it was after school, but had I known Jasmine was trying out, I would have gone to the bathrooms instead.
“Yeah.” Reagan moved toward a locker on the right side of the room. “It means he doesn’t need to see anything else from us.” She grinned and pulled her running shorts off. “It means we’re in.”
“Really?” I couldn’t help but stare at her like she had two heads. I’d never been chosen for anything, but maybe that was because I’d never tried out. I’d kept myself locked away, preferring to disappear into the shadows. That way, I could go by unnoticed.
“Yep.” Reagan walked by me and into the showers, leaving me standing in the middle of the locker room with my mouth opening and closing like a fish. “Get changed!” Reagan shouted at me. “He wants to see us in his office.”
Right. Yeah. I shook my head and opened up the locker I was using. I forwent the shower, not wanting to expose myself to anyone, and changed back into my jeans and T-shirt. I was pushing my running shoes into my backpack when the doors opened and all the other girls filed in, including Jasmine.
I didn’t give her the chance to say anything. Instead, I slung my backpack over my shoulder and walked out. Reagan was waiting outside Cade’s office, and as I got a couple of feet away, Cade came in off the field.
“Come in, girls,” he said, his rough voice washing over me. We followed him inside, and Cade pointed to the seats against the back wall, but I opted to stand as he leaned against his desk. His hand curled around the edge, his long fingers drumming against the wood. “You’re both on the team.” Cade didn’t look at me as he said it, and I couldn’t help but wonder why. Why was he staring at Reagan and giving her all his attention? And more importantly, why was I noticing?
“Thanks, Coach,” Reagan said, but I couldn’t get my mouth to work.
“The schedule isn’t going to be easy,” Cade warned, “but that’s because I know you can make it to state.”
“We can?” I asked, my words coming out broken.
Cade nodded and stood, but still, he didn’t look at me. “You can. I’ll get your class schedule tonight and work out training times. Pick them up from me tomorrow.”
Reagan nodded and stood, walking by me, accepting his dismissal. I started to turn to follow her out, but Cade calling out, “Aria?” stopped me.
“Yeah?” I slid my gaze to his, and for the first time since I entered his office, I felt like I could breathe.
“You did amazing.” His lips lifted into a genuine smile, and I felt it all the way down to my toes. My stomach fluttered with butterflies at the way he was looking at me, and I remembered the way he’d stared down at me in his room. Something had happened in that moment. I wasn’t sure what, but it was something.
“I did?”
“Yeah.” He tilted his head to the side, his teeth now showing because his smile was so big. “You fuckin’ did.”
I quirked my lips and pulled my bag tighter against my shoulders. “Thanks, Coach.”
His features screwed up. “Not sure what I hate more coming out of your mouth: sir or coach.”
I laughed, feeling all of the tension I’d been carrying evaporate. “How about Coach Cade?”
He shook his head and looked down at his desk, shuffling through some papers. “Get out of here, you terror. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Aye aye, Captain.”
His groan was the last thing I heard as I practically skipped out of his office and out of school.
* * *
CADE
It felt weird to sit in a teachers’ lounge. Part of me felt like I was an intruder, and still the eighteen-year-old kid I used to be, which was why I spent most of my free time working in my office near the gym.
But today, I’d needed a change. I needed to switch it up.
As soon as I poured myself a coffee and sat down, Willow Simmons was on me. I wanted to tell her she was coming on mighty strong, but part of me liked the attention.
Back in college, I’d loved every bit of attention the girls gave me, but the last couple of years had been different. I no longer wanted to hang out with women who didn’t mean anything to me. I didn’t want the one-night stands.
Everything had changed after that night: the way I thought, and the way I lived my life. They said everything happened for a reason, and I wasn’t going to waste the reason I was still here. The reason blood still flowed through my veins. The reason air still expanded my chest. I’d been given a second chance, and I had to live it. And not only for myself but for the three people who’d had life snatched away from them.
“Cade, right?”
I nodded and flashed Willow a smile. “Yep.”
“Mind if I sit?” Willow asked, pointing down at the chair next to me, already halfway down into the seat.
“Sure.” I waved my hand at it and took a sip of my coffee. We only had ten minutes until the first class of the day, and I was looking forward to it, unlike the other teachers in this room. As soon as I heard their murmurings about when the next vacation was, I remembered one of the reasons why I’d steered clear of this room in the first place.
“You just moved here, right?”
I raised a brow and looked at Willow. “Moved back, yeah. I grew up here. Went to this school actually.”
“Really?” Her false eyelashes fluttered as she batted her eyelids. “Wow. I can’t imagine teaching in my old high school.”
I grinned because I understood. The plan was to never come back here and teach, but life liked to throw curveballs at you. You could either stand in its way and get yourself knocked out, or you could move to the left and start over. I decided to start over, even if it was where I’d begun.
“It is what it is,” I said, not really interested in going over my life history. She only needed to know the basics.
Willow placed some of her light-brown hair behind her ear and quirked her lip on one side. I knew the signs better than anyone else. She was trying to gain my attention, but the low V cut of her blouse showcasing her cleavage didn’t do it for me.
“So I guess that means you know about Clive’s bar?”
“We all meet up there on Fridays after school. You should join us.”
“Maybe.” I flicked my gaze around the room and took stock of everyone. They ranged in age, the oldest being my old chemistry teacher who had to be pushing seventy now, and the youngest being…well, probably Willow and me. I wasn’t sure how old she was, but at twenty-five, I was the young guy—the one who “didn’t understand” what twenty years in the job did to you. I called bullshit.
“We have a blast,” Willow continued as she settled back in her seat and crossed her legs. Her skirt rode up her thigh, flashing her tan skin. “Last week Harold got so drunk we had to call his wife to come get him at nine.” She giggled. “He’s such a lightweight.”
I had no idea who Harold was.
All my old high school friends had moved away and not come back, which meant I didn’t have any real friends to just…hang out with. I was a loner, but I’d never been that way. My family surrounded me, but I needed more than that. I needed someone to go and shoot the shit with and drink a beer. I needed a social life, and this would be the start of that.
Mind made up, I stood. “What time do you meet there?”
Willow’s smile spread so wide I was sure she was going to break her face. “Between seven and eight.”
I nodded. “Okay, I’ll think about it.” I hooked my thumb over my shoulder. “Better get to class.”
Willow huffed out a breath. “Ugh, that time of day again.”
“Yep,” I replied. She was like most of the other people in this room. She didn’t want to be here, but I needed to be here, for more reasons than I liked to admit.
Chapter Six
ARIA
It wasn’t often I worked a shift in the diner, but when I got here for our weekly family dinner, and Mom told me they were two people down, I didn’t really have a choice in the matter.
I’d been put on pot duty, which meant my hands were constantly wet and covered in suds, but at least the dishwasher was working for half of my shift. I was four hours in, and it was already 9 p.m. I should have been back at the apartment doing homework and checking out my new workout schedule, but instead, I was here, in the one place I hated.
When I was a little girl, I’d come here and happily sit in a booth while people came in and out to eat food or drink a shake. But over the years, I’d started to resent the place. It was the reason my mom was at home less and less, and the reason I was alone most of the time. I wanted out of this place so I could choose something better for myself. I had no idea what that something better was, but it would be more than this. I couldn’t stay here and become my mom. I loved her more than anything, but I hated the fact she’d settled.
Even when Dad was here, he didn’t work the way Mom did. He’d have his good days and his bad days. Sometimes he wouldn’t get out of bed for four days straight, but then he would be lively for two and crash again. It meant he couldn’t hold down a job, so Mom had to be the stable one, the one providing, and it also meant she was out working more times than not.
I understood she had to do what she did, but it didn’t mean I had to like it. Dad had been gone for almost nine years, so why was she still working the way she used to? She had Sal now. She had support. But that didn’t stop her working all the hours she could. Nothing had changed, and yet everything had changed.
Maybe it wasn’t about the money. Maybe she couldn’t stand seeing my dad’s eyes every time she looked at me. Maybe staring at my face reminded her of him. My chest started to cave in, my thoughts weighing me down, and I was sure to sink at a moment’s notice.
“Hey, sweetheart,” Mom’s tired voice called as the door to the kitchen swung open. The bags under her eyes told a story of little sleep, and the way her feet dragged showed me how tired she really was. “How you getting on?”
“Good,” I said as I placed another pot in the dishwasher and closed it up. “Is it still busy out there?”
She huffed out a breath and closed her eyes briefly. “Starting to die down now.” She gently grasped my arm. “I’m sorry you had to help out.”
“It’s okay.” I flashed her a smile, the same smile I always gave her that held secrets behind it. Secrets I would never reveal to her. “You were busy.”
“I hate that you have to do this.” She let her head drop back. “As soon as the other diner is up and running, we’ll have more time on our hands. Everything will change then.”
“Mom.” I placed my hand over hers. “It’s okay, really. I don’t mind.”
It wasn’t actually working in the diner that bothered me. It was the amount of time the diner took away from Mom and me. Growing up, we’d always been close, but the last couple of years I’d drifted away from her. It was no one’s fault, we just…had our own things going on. She thought I was doing fine, and I knew how much she loved opening up her own diner.
But today…today I witnessed the sadness in her eyes. She’d been devastated that day, and she’d managed to hide it from me over the years, but right now it was at the forefront, showing me how much she still hurt.
I couldn’t let her see my torment, though. I had to push it down and hide it away. I had to be strong for everyone around me because if I showed them exactly how weak I was, I wasn’t sure what would happen.
“How do pizza and a movie sound once I’ve finished my shift?” Mom asked, the sadness in her eyes turning to hope.
“Sounds good,” I replied, a genuine smile on my face this time. It had been too long since it was just the two of us hanging out like we used to. It was always Mom and me against the world, but somewhere along the way that had changed.
“Why don’t you head out front and get some homework done, and I’ll finish up here for you?” Mom rolled her shoulders, probably trying to wake herself up a little.
“It’s okay, I got this, Mom. If we work together, we can get out of here quicker.”
“You’re right.” She pushed some hair that had fallen out of her ponytail behind her ear. “You always were the clever one,” she commented as she started to clear away the pots as they came out of the dishwasher. “I feel like I haven’t spoken to you properly since you started senior year.”
“I know,” I murmured. “But it’s been going good.”
“Yeah?” She grinned wide and held a pan in each hand. “Any boys asked you out yet?”
“Mom.” I groaned and rolled my eyes. It was always one of the first things she asked, and I always gave her the same answer. “Of course they haven’t.”
Mom let her hands drop to her sides. “What do you mean, ‘Of course they haven’t’?” The heavy pans looked like they were weighing her down, and the apron around her red diner dress was covered in food stains, but it didn’t deter her from looking scary as hell.
“Seriously, Mom?”
“What?” She stored the pans away and planted her hands on her hips. “You’re my beautiful Aria, they’re dumbasses if they don’t ask you out.”
“So you want me to be going out on dates with horny teenage boys?” I raised a brow and pulled the lid down on the dishwasher for what felt like the hundredth time.
“Well…” She trailed off and looked away from me at the sound of the kitchen door opening.
“What are you two rambling on about in here?” Sal asked, his gruff voice cutting through the silence in the kitchen. His face was covered in a frown, but I knew it was just his normal look. Sal was scary looking, but those closest to him knew he was a giant teddy bear, one who would do anything for the people he loved.
“Mom is trying to whore me out,” I casually stated.
Mom gasped, her hand flying to her chest. “I would never!”
“Mmmmm, don’t lie, you want me out of the house and getting drunk at high school parties—”
“No parties,” Sal interrupted. “Or boyfriends.” He halted next to Mom and pointed in my direction. “Boys are trouble
.”
“Yes, they are,” Mom replied, raising her brow at him. “You being the biggest trouble of them all.”
“Me?” Sal pointed his thumb at his chest, his brows high on his forehead. “I’m a goddamn angel, Jan. An angel.”
Mom snorted and shook her head. “If you say so.”
“I do say so.” Sal stepped forward and hooked his arm around Mom’s waist to pull her against his chest.
I raised my hand and screwed up my nose. “Ew. Daughter present.”
“Tell her she should be out having fun, Sal,” Mom pleaded with him.
“Nope. If she was out having fun, what kind of teenager would she be?” Sal flicked his gaze over to me and winked. “That would make her normal.”
I pulled open the dishwasher when the two-minute cycle had finished. “You’re both so…so…”
“So what?” Mom asked.
“Ugh.” I threw my hands up in the air. “You’re driving me insane.”
“So that’s a yes to going out with Hope on Friday then?” Mom asked as her lips spread into a knowing smile. The sneaky…
“Have you been looking at my messages?” I accused, backing away from both of them. I didn’t even know why I was surprised by the fact, I’d once found messages from her to Hope trying to arrange a friend date.
“They just happened to come through while I was standing next to your cell.” Mom shrugged and wrapped her arms around Sal’s waist. “You should go out, have some normal teenage fun.”
“I don’t want ‘teenage fun.’”
This wasn’t normal. My mom shouldn’t tell me to go out on a Friday night with my best friend, especially when said friend was going to be attending a concert with her older sister and her boyfriend at some bar in town. That meant more than teenage fun. That meant bars and clubs and…
Defy Fate: Fated Duet: Book One Page 7
