Head to Head (On Pointe Book 2)

by Penelope Freed

  How could that never have occurred to me before? Hunter is extremely popular at school. He hangs out with Tyler and Andrew Park, all the most sought-after boys at our school. How can I possibly think that he notices me as anything other than a friend? Not when he’s surrounded by every popular girl at school. My heart stutters and almost stops. On the small chance I’m right, and he is interested in me, how are all those girls who hang around them going to react? Hannah told us all about her confrontation with Allyson, Megan, and Madison. Do I want to get involved in something like that?

  I really don’t.

  We’re halfway through class when I have another epiphany. Hunter must feel as much like an outsider in his family as I do in mine. I’ve always felt like I wasn’t quite what my parents wanted me to be. I do well in school because I put work into it, and I’m smart enough that I don’t struggle. But I don’t love school the way my parents did, the way Ray does. I don’t get a thrill when I see straight A’s on my report cards, I feel relief. Relief that they won’t have a reason to take ballet away from me.

  I keep dancing, thoughts of Hunter and the track meet this weekend pinging around in my brain, distracting me from the class. “Lisa!” Ms. Parker calls across the room, a hint of frustration in her voice. “We’re starting on the left now.” I look around, everyone else has the opposite leg to me crossed in front, ready to begin.

  “Sorry.” I quickly switch feet to match the rest of the class. Ugh, this is why Hannah is right. No more boys. No more Hunter. I can’t afford to be distracted like this. I have enough going on in my brain all the time, the last thing I need is Hunter with his sweet eyes and intoxicating laugh invading my brain when I should be concentrating.

  The whole class I struggle to keep my usual focus. By the time we do our reverence and curtsy to finish, I’m beyond frustrated at myself for not being able to push Hunter from my mind. I work so hard to make sure my parents can’t take dance away from me and I’ve wasted an entire class being distracted by him. I snatch my water bottle and sweats off the floor, turning to follow Hannah out the door.

  “Lisa?” Ms. Parker gestures to me to come closer. Crap.

  “Yes?” I squirm under her gaze.

  “Are you okay, sweetie? You seemed distracted in class today.” Ms. Parker looks me up and down, concern in her eyes. I notice the way her eyes linger on my face. I know the dark circles under my eyes are bad, but I didn’t think they were that bad.

  I slump, too tired to hide from her how exhausted I am. “I’m sorry, Ms. Parker. I just haven’t been getting a lot of sleep lately. If I want my parents to let me go to PSB, I have to keep my grades up.” I leave out the fact that it was Hunter who had me distracted during class tonight, more than my exhaustion.

  Gathering up her things, Ms. Parker walks towards the door with me, we were the last class of the night and the studio is already quiet. I can hear Hannah doing her usual rounds in the lobby, emptying trash cans and tidying up. “I don’t know how you’re juggling everything, but make sure you’re getting enough rest. It’s important for both your body and your brain to get enough sleep. I don’t want you burning out on me because you’re trying to do too much at once.”

  “I’m trying.” I shrug.

  “Well, hopefully tonight you can go to bed early, especially since there’s no school tomorrow. Do you need to take the morning off tomorrow so you can sleep in?”

  Sleeping in? What is sleeping in? I think the last time I slept past seven was over Winter Break when I had a cold. “No, I’m fine. I don’t want to miss class.” I already wasted today’s class, there’s no way I’m missing out on class tomorrow.

  Ms. Parker eyes me skeptically. I muster up a mostly sincere smile and stand a little straighter, doing my best to convince her I’m fine. “Let me know if you ever do need to take a day off. I know you’re burning the candle at both ends, it’s okay to admit you need a break every once in a while.”

  I smile and nod. “Thanks. I’ll let you know if I ever do. But I’ll be here in the morning, promise.” I wave to Hannah before I head out, eyes peeled for my mom’s car in the parking lot. Spotting it, I jog over and quickly slide in, pulling the door closed gently before buckling my seatbelt.

  “How was class?” she asks as we pull out of the parking space and head home. “Did you work hard?” she adds, switching to Japanese. My parents have a habit of switching from English to Japanese and back through a conversation. I’ve never figured out if it’s because they like to speak in both, if they’re testing Ray and I on our Japanese, or if it’s because they can’t think of the word in English.

  I answer back in Japanese. “Class was good. Of course I worked hard, I always do. How was work?” I debate with myself while my mom tells me about the programming bug she’s been working on all week. Should I ask now if I can go to Hunter’s track meet on Sunday? Maybe I should wait until tomorrow? No, I should ask now, that gives me more time to prepare an argument if she only says maybe.

  “Mom?” I interrupt.

  “Yes?”

  “Katy invited Hannah and I to go watch her brother’s track meet on Sunday morning. Since I don’t start until two, is it okay if I go? I’ll leave in time to get to school, I promise.” Katy inviting me is a little white lie, but there is no way I’m going to say that Hunter invited me, my mom would never let me go.

  “Why do you want to go watch a track meet? Isn’t that just a bunch of running? Are you caught up on your studying?” Of course my mom answers my question with more questions.

  “We wanted to have a chance to hang out together, but Katy has to go to the meet to support her brothers. We figured we would add to their cheering section and have a chance to hang out at the same time. I am all caught up with my studies, and I promise I will go over my notes and get all my homework done for the weekend by tomorrow night.”

  I want her to say yes so badly—I didn’t realize how much I wanted a chance to relax with my friends until now. Plus, an excuse to see Hunter outside of school isn’t going to come around often, I need to take advantage of it. “Please?” I add, hopefully when she doesn’t say no right away.

  “You’ll have all your homework done?”

  “Yes, absolutely.”

  “Well, as long as that’s so, then I suppose you may go.”

  I spend the rest of the ride home mentally making a checklist of everything I need to get done tonight and tomorrow in order to make sure I can go to the track meet on Sunday. I’m determined to make this happen.

  Chapter Seven

  Hannah

  Katy’s laughter echoes out over the nearly empty stadium, earning us a curious look from her mom and more than a few glances from everyone sitting in the bleachers near us. I duck my head, not wanting to be the focus of all these looks. I feel awkward enough being here as it is, I don’t particularly want to be noticed by the entire crowd. Not that it’s easy to be inconspicuous when I’m sitting with the Quinns. They go all out.

  Mr. and Mrs. Quinn are wearing hoodies in our school colors of navy blue and mustard yellow with the words “CHS MOM” and “CHS DAD” plastered across the chest. Jack is wearing his letterman jacket and holding a giant sign with the words “Go Hunter!” written in giant blue letters, while Katy has her hair done up in twin French braids to keep it out of the face paint on her cheeks that matches the mustard and navy hoodie she obviously stole from one of her brothers.

  When she told Lisa and I to wear our school colors, I had to hunt through my closet to find anything remotely close. I don’t actually own any official school merchandise, but I do have an oversize navy sweater which I paired with my trusty black leggings and a pair of yellow Chucks I found hiding in the back of my closet. Lisa and I are wearing almost matching outfits, although her shoes are a sensible white and her leggings have a thigh pocket for her phone that I’m eyeing with envy. My phone is tucked precariously in the waistba
nd of my leggings.

  This is the first time Lisa and I have set foot in our high school’s stadium since our required PE class freshman year. Just my luck, the one time I come to watch some kind of sporting event, I come with the world’s most enthusiastic cheer section. I mean, I’ve never witnessed our school’s cheerleaders in action, but I have to imagine the Quinn family gives them a run for their money.

  “Five bucks says the guy from South Oaks is going to knock over at least…” Jack pauses, eyeing the runner down on the track thoughtfully. “I’m going with two hurdles.” Sitting a row below us, he leans back on his hands and looks up at us, a smug expression on his face. A look that transforms into a grimace as Mrs. Quinn swats him in the back of his head from her seat next to him.

  “No money!”

  I can’t contain my giggles as she scolds him.

  “You know the rule, Jack. No betting with money.”

  “Ow! Geez, Mom. Why’d you hit me so hard?” Jack complains, rubbing the back of his head. “Fine. I bet doing the dishes tonight?” he offers up to Katy with a glance at his mom to make sure she isn’t going to smack him again.

  Katy eyes the runner he pointed out, the South Oaks runner is a little shorter than the other runners in his heat, his purple and silver jersey standing out in the sea of colors on the track. “Hmmm. Okay, you’re on.” They shake on it while Lisa and I eye each other in wonder. What on earth is happening? Who is this Katy?

  Katy being snarky isn’t anything new, but I’ve never seen this competitive streak in her. It’s only ten o’clock in the morning and she’s been jumping around and cheering for all the runners from our school since we got here an hour ago, screaming at the top of her lungs. It’s kind of impressive, but also a little terrifying.

  “Are you a little scared of Katy right now too?” Lisa whispers in my ear we watch her and Jack argue over the details of their bet.

  “One hundred percent yes.” I nod. Lisa and I are huddled together on the bleacher next to Katy, her parents and Jack sitting in the row below us. A cool breeze is blowing and the typical California May gray morning has me thankful for my sweater. It’s not quite May yet, but the last weekend of April is close enough to count. The cold metal of the stadium seat seeps into my muscles, both numbing the soreness from yesterday’s rehearsals and making me stiff all over. I stretch my legs out in front of me, pointing and flexing my ankles, working out of some of the stiffness and the cramping in my left calf. A buzzing at the small of my back has me reaching for my phone before it slips too far inside the waistband of my leggings. I definitely need pockets next time.

  Trevor: Morning TT, how’s it going?

  I smile at Trevor’s message. I glance around, Katy and Jack are still arguing, and Lisa is absorbed in watching the guys lining up for the race. I sneak a photo of the stadium and send it to Trevor.

  Me: I’m at a high school sporting event for the first time in my life. Not sure how I feel about it. There’s a lot of waiting around for something to happen. You really do this all the time?

  Trevor answers almost immediately.

  Trevor: Kind of? Cross country meets aren’t at stadiums, usually parks or somewhere like that. Why are you there? What is this mysterious sporting event you’re attending?

  Me: Katy’s brother’s track meet. She invited us to come and keep her company.

  Trevor: Us?

  Me: Me and Lisa.

  There’s a tap on my shoulder and I look up in time for Katy to pluck my phone out of my hand. “Hey!” I reach for my phone, but Katy is already tapping away on the screen. “Don’t you dare text him, Katy!”

  She just throws a grin over her shoulder at me. “Smile!” Lisa leans in over my shoulder as Katy leans back, holding my phone out at arm’s length, trying to fit all three of us in the screen. I’m opening my mouth to protest when she snaps a picture, which of course makes me look like a lunatic. “Smile for real Hannah, or I’ll send him that one,” Katy threatens before lining up the camera again. This time I smile for real as Katy snaps the photo. Before I have a chance to move, Lisa pokes her fingers in my ribs, tickling me, startling a laugh out of me as Katy snaps one last picture. She smirks as she hands back my phone.

  “You’re welcome. I know, I’m such a good friend, no need to tell me. What on earth would you do without me?” Katy laughs as I flip through the photos she took. I immediately delete the first one, but the second and the third are actually really cute photos of the three of us.

  “Maybe next time you can say ‘let’s take a picture’ instead of ambushing me? But they’re super cute, so thank you,” I admit.

  “Um, aren’t you going to send them to Trevor?” Lisa asks as I’m about to slide my phone back into my waistband. “And send them to us while you’re at it, Han.”

  “Duh, that was the whole point. Send that picture to your boy right this instant,” Katy adds, waving her hands threateningly towards my phone. Her words send a flush of embarrassed heat to my cheeks. He’s not “my boy,” I think.

  I push her grabby hands away and make a show of sending the picture to Trevor, Lisa leaning over my shoulder to make sure I send it to him before sending it to them. A flurry of activity down on the track has us all pausing to watch what’s happening. Groups of guys, including Hunter, are lining up for a race. We know it’s going to be a hurdles race because they’re set up on the track, but other than that I have absolutely no idea what’s going on. It’s not like there’s a program to look at or anything.

  “What race is this?” I lean over to ask Katy, but Jack’s the one who answers.

  “One-ten meter hurdles.”

  As if that explains anything.

  I lean over to see if Lisa has a better idea of what’s going on than I do. She’s staring down at the field where the competitors are waiting around, obviously intent on something. “First of all, do you know what one-ten meter hurdles means?” I whisper in her ear, startling a gasp from her. “And second of all, what’s so interesting down there?”

  Lisa looks around quickly, guilt written all over her face. I don’t understand what that’s all about, but I decide not to pry right now, especially with Jack and Katy’s parents listening to our conversation. “One hundred ten meters is one of the straight sides. A quarter of the track.” Lisa points out to me. “You can see the finish line over there.”

  My phone buzzes in my hand before I can ask what she was so interested in down on the field.

  Trevor: Look at you, showing school spirit and everything? I’m so proud!

  Trevor: What race is up next?

  Trevor: You look adorable, by the way

  Me: 110 meter hurdles? I know you run but I don’t actually know what you run and how that’s different from this?

  I glance over at Lisa, curious to figure out what she’s so interested in and catch her biting her lower lip as she watches the runners milling around. Just as I’m about to look back at my screen to see if Trevor’s answered, I catch Lisa wiggling her fingers, like she’s waving at someone down on the track but doesn’t want any of us to see. Who is she waving at?

  Ignoring my phone, I scan the field below us. Whoever it was must have waved to her first because I don’t see anyone responding. The group from Camarillo High are gathered along one side of the track, it looks like they’re getting ready to cheer for a couple of runners from our school who are in this next race. Heat. Whatever. But the only person I recognize on the team is Hunter. Maybe one of them is in one of Lisa’s classes? We aren’t in any classes together since hers are all Advanced Placement or Honors level. I was in the honors classes in middle school, but decided to drop them in high school so I could juggle my dance classes and my school work easier.

  My phone buzzing again distracts me enough to let it go. I wonder if Katy knows anything? They tease me for not telling them anything, but Lisa’s never talked about having a crush
on any guy outside of fictional characters.

  Trevor: So I prefer running cross country which are longer, natural terrain races, so we run on grass and dirt instead of on a track. It’s usually a 5k, but I also run longer distances for myself. I run track too since they’re opposite seasons and it’s good training for both. At a meet right now myself.

  A picture pops up on my phone below this, a selfie of Trevor in a stadium similar to ours, dressed in a racing tank and grinning. His jersey…is that what it’s called? I have no idea. I’m going with jersey for now. His jersey is green and white with a big “S” on his chest. I haven’t actually seen him since our accidental date back in January. I study his warm brown eyes, his wide smile, the little crinkles by his eyes from the sun that’s shining on his face. His curly brown hair is longer than it was in January, and his cheekbones are even more defined than I remember. I like the longer hair, it makes him look a little older. I can’t help the smile that creeps across my face at the thought that we’re both at a similar event, even if we’re a thousand miles apart.

  Wait.

  If he’s at a track meet like this, is he trying to qualify for state, like Hunter? I shouldn’t be distracting him right now, he should be focused. I don’t want him to get in trouble with his coach or anything.

  Me: Don’t you need to stay focused? I shouldn’t be distracting you, I’m sorry!

  The second I finish sending it those three gray dots appear. I wait for Trevor’s response, torn. I want to keep chatting with him, because it gives me a thrill every time, but I don’t want to be a distraction. When I’m competing I can’t afford for anything to distract me from my goal.

  Trevor: Don’t apologize. I’m finished for a while. The longest distance races are usually first up in the day, that’s what I run. Just waiting for the steeplechase at the end of the day.

  I think I’m going to need to look up what on earth Trevor is talking about. What the heck is a steeplechase? I’m pulled from my thoughts by Katy jumping up and shouting right next to me. Startled, I look up from my phone to see everyone on their feet for the runners racing down the track, pumping their arms and legs and throwing themselves over the hurdles. I quickly jump up to join in, stuffing my phone back into my waistband. The race is over so quickly I barely see anything before it’s finished. How long was that? Fifteen seconds?