Luke

“HEY, DONOVAN!”

“Hi, Luke!

Barely acknowledging the greetings coming at me like waves during a storm, I slam my locker closed and stalk down the hall toward the cafeteria. Word has gotten out about my spot on the Junior National Team, and I haven’t had a break from people all day. My jaw clenches. “Golden Boy?”

Yeah, real clever. Who comes up with this shit? So, on top of my dad’s constant pressure to be the best, now my peers are giving it to me both barrels.

Go for the Gold.

I have to talk to Colt. The guy spent most of his teen years operating under intense pressure—albeit for different reasons. Still, he’s the only person who would understand how I’m feeling right now. Besides, I should let him know how Penny’s first day of high school went, right?

I scan the hall and frown. How in the hell can I do that? I haven’t seen her all day. She’s not in any of my classes, but that isn’t surprising since she isn’t eligible for half the AP courses I’m taking. Still, I thought I’d see her between bells.

Just more shit to worry about.

“Lukey!” Christy meets me at the cafeteria entrance. Wrapping her arms around my waist, she pecks me on the cheek. “Where do you want to go for lunch?”

Lacing my fingers with hers, I sigh. The sophomores are allowed to go off campus for lunch and she’s been excited about us eating out this year. But I don’t have much money to be blowing it on fast food right now.

I hike a thumb toward the kitchens. “We’d better stick around.”

“Or we could sit outside in the courtyard. It’s beautiful today. Come on! Let’s go!”

Her hazel eyes sparkle as she sings it like a cheer, and I can’t help but laugh. It’s hard to be down when my girl is in good spirits.

I brush my thumb against her cheek. “I guess that’s why you’re captain this year, huh?”

She winks. “You’d better believe it.” Linking her arm with mine, she walks next to me like a proud peacock. We pass a few students from the senior class. As the girls smile and flirt with me, Christy leans closer and clutches my arm. The older girls roll their eyes, and I grin. Don’t mess with Christy Mefford. She’s possessive as hell.

Forking her fingers through my hair, she kisses my cheek. “Why don’t you find us a seat near the fountain? I’ll get lunch.”

Passing her a ten-dollar bill, I grin. It’s like she can read my mind. “Thanks, babe. I’ll be out front.”

Exiting the double doors at the end of the senior hall, I dodge a few more flirty classmates and give one of my swimming buds a fist bump. Settling upon the farthest bench from the doors, I grab my English syllabus from a folder and shuffle through it.

Between AP History, English, and Physics—not to mention my intense training schedule—this year is going to suck. Why did my mom talk me into this shit? Worse, I’ll have to take the tests at the end of the year to get college credits for them right around the time I’ll be training for Nationals. I love my mom, and I like school okay. But this is just one more pressure I don’t need this year.

Laughter filters on the breeze, and I glance up. Catching a hint of familiar, golden curls in my peripheral vision, I throw my syllabus in my folder and burst off the bench.

Thank God she’s okay.

As I zip my backpack, I zero in on the commotion near the underclassmen’s entrance. With her head down, Penny has her books slammed against her chest like a shield as she tries to dodge two girls in dance squad skirts. Pushing past them, she says something. They dog her steps. The red-haired girl slams Penny from behind.

Fire erupts from every orifice I own as snickers emanate from the crowd. The conversation between Penny and her bullies intensifies, and Penny’s face turns a brilliant shade of crimson.

Jumping in front of her, the girls stand side by side with their legs spread wide and their arms crossed over their chests. Penny’s shoulders slump. She tries to push through them once more, but they won’t let her pass.

Abandoning my bag, I storm toward them, fury blasting through me like a pyroclastic cloud. What the fuck? These girls have balls, for sure. Blatantly bullying someone in broad daylight... and on the first day of school? No fucking way.

“Hey!” I push my way through the lingering onlookers.

The girls glance up, their eyes widening to slits as I barrel toward them. Like the scared little freshman they are, they turn and flee toward the underclassmen’s wing.

With tears in her eyes, Penny barely gives me a glance as she ducks her head and runs in the opposite direction.

“Pen, wait!”

“Luke! Are you okay? I have our lunches.” Christy runs up to me and points at the bench where I’d dumped my bag. Right now, I could give a shit about my things.

I search the crowd for Penny, turning in every direction. Where the hell did she go? Jesus, she’s like a stealth ninja that disappears into the shadows without leaving behind a trace of her presence.

“Fuck!” I slam my foot into a nearby trash receptacle. “I need to find Penny. She’s upset.”

Christy’s nails dig into my skin as she clutches my elbow and pulls me toward the fountain. “I’m sure she’s fine. Come on. I got pizza.”

Scanning the courtyard one more time, I take her hand and sigh. There are too many people milling around for me to even know where to begin looking. “Yeah, okay.” As Christy and I settle down with our lunches, my mind is elsewhere.

I’m not sure what the hell just happened, but I can’t let this go. I promised Colt I’d look after his sister. But I don’t recognize her bullies. That’s not surprising. I don’t know many of the freshman or sophomores. The only thing I’m sure about is they’re both on the dance team.

I stare at Chris intently. Swallowing a bite of pizza, I ask, “Do you know any of the girls on the dance squad?”

Her eyebrow arches as she nibbles on the edge of her slice before taking a sip of water. “We practice with them sometimes, especially right before pep assemblies. Why?”

I give her a sidelong glance. “Can you get me their roster? Two of them are picking on Penny.”

Her eyes narrow as she stops mid-bite. “What?”

“Yep. Right before you came out. I put my bag down, and people were laughing.” Removing the cap from my sports drink, I chug it. “Two girls blocked Pen from the freshman doors like they were bouncers at some night club. They wouldn’t let her pass. One of them has red hair.”

Christy sets her pizza aside and sighs. “Luke...”

Clenching my fists around my napkin,  I growl, “Nope. We aren’t having this argument again. I told you a month ago that I have to look after her. She’s my best friend’s sister, and he isn’t here. They aren’t going to get away with this shit!”

She grabs my hands. “I love that you want to be a hero. But don’t you think the girl needs to learn to take care of herself?”

With a roll of my eyes, I snort. We’ve fought about this more than once. After I invited Penny to party with us the night of the pool staff picnic, Christy accused me of being in love with my best friend’s sister—which is totally stupid.

Chris blew up. She told me if I cared about her, I’d ditch Penny and go to Bridges’ party instead. Like a pussy, I blew Pen off and took my girlfriend to the fucking party. I felt like the biggest asshole. Totally ruined the night. I didn’t talk to Chris for three days.

Now, she’s got a different strategy, it seems. Problem is Chris doesn’t know a damn thing about Penny Ramsay.

“Pen’s really shy. She doesn’t have anyone. I just want her to be safe.” I wrinkle my nose. “And I don’t have a fucking hero complex.”

Laying her head on my shoulder, Christy smiles. “Yes, you do. That isn’t a bad thing. But she needs to spread her wings on her own. She’ll find her place. You’ll see.” She steals one of my carrots and dips it in the open ranch dressing, completely oblivious.

Staring across the lawn, I shake my head. The ignorance of people is amazing. My mom has the same attitude about Penny as Christy does, and it drives me crazy.

Can’t anybody see this is a real problem? The fucking name-calling is bad enough. But physically blocking a person from entering the building? Why in the hell do these girls hate Penny so much?

There’s no way I can feel better about this situation without knowing who they are. And I will find out.

I cross my arms and jut out my chin. “I still want their names.”

Christy’s top lip curls up as she rolls her eyes. “Fine. I’ll ask my cousin. She’s on the JV cheer squad.”

“Thank you.” Satisfied, I fold my pizza in half and take a large bite. Relief settles through me. I don’t care if Christy pouts until she’s blue in the face. I’ll be damned if Pen gets bullied on my watch.

This stops now.

*****

“HEY, MAN. I GOT YOUR message. What’s up?”

Slamming my history book shut, I say, “Hold on a minute, Colt.” I turn down The Fray singing How to Save a Life and put my phone on speaker. I tried to call Colt three hours ago after practice, and I’ve been feeling anxious ever since.

Lying back, I heave a sigh. “Sorry to bother you. I know you’re busy.”

“Naw, don’t worry about it. I just got off work. Everything going okay?”

I sit up. What the hell? The guy’s worked two jobs for years, and here he is killing himself while going to college? Screw that.

Circus. Monkeys. Got it.

I clear my throat. “Yeah. I just thought I’d let you know how Pen’s day went.” I rub the back of my neck and wince. Holy crap, that sounded strange. She isn’t a toddler in daycare.

Colt barks a laugh. “Seriously? I mean, okay. Um, how did she do?”

Should I tell him the truth? Picking at my navy-blue comforter, I hesitate. “I think it went okay. I took her to school, but I’m not sure she really wants me to. She, um, missed the bus. And I only saw her once throughout the day. I guess she’s settling in.”

“Jesus, Donovan. I know I asked you to look out for her, but you don’t have to take her everywhere and shit. Just have her back, you know?”

Guilt ripples across my neck. “Sure. Sorry, man.”

Colton hums. “That can’t be it. What’s really goin’ on?”

Standing, I throw my book on my bed and mutter, “What isn’t? My girlfriend is being a pain. My mother’s pressuring me about my grades. And my fucking father is driving me insane.”

A sigh hisses through the speaker. “Understood. What’s up?”

“Dad won’t lay off me. I have three fucking AP classes this year, and he’s talking about extending my practices to include Sundays. I’m at that pool six days a week as it is. All I’m doing is practicing and studying. I only see Christy a few nights a week.” Which is probably why she’s been overly possessive lately.

“What’s your mom say about everything?”

I laugh dryly. “What can she say? Dad won’t listen to her. He thinks she babies me. His words.” I pack my books in my bag. “I’m worried about Nationals, man. My dad’s been on the phone with a few Olympic trainers from MSU. It’ll only get worse before it gets better.”

“I hear ya. College level classes on top of swimming? Damn, I can’t imagine. What do you want?”

“I don’t know. I mean, do I love the competition enough to take it all the way? I don’t have any feelings one way or the other.”

“I think that’s your answer.”

I shake my head. “It doesn’t matter. Joe Donovan won’t allow any of his sons to be anything less than something big and grand.”

With a scoff, Colt mutters, “Glad I’m not you.”

I glance at the clock sitting next to my bed and sigh. I’m such a pussy. Colt doesn’t want to hear this shit. He’s got enough of his own crap going on. “Thanks for listening, bro. Sorry... it’s gotta be crazy over there. How are classes?”

“Pretty good. I met someone.”

I grin. “Yeah? That didn’t take long.”

Colt chuckles. “It’s a little different being on my own. I hate to say it, but I’m loving the freedom.”

“Can’t wait,” I mutter. And I can’t. It’s the reason I’m pushing myself with all these AP classes. I want to get the hell out of Rochester Hills, too. “That’s awesome. You sound happy.”

“Getting there, man.”

“I’d better go. I gotta get up at the ass-crack of dawn for practice.”

“Hey, Donovan?”

“Yeah?”

“You’d let me know if something was up with my sister, right? She’s, er, not answering the phone when I call.”

I plop into my desk chair. Penny isn’t talking to Colt? What the fuck? “Of course. What’re friends for?”

“See ya, man.”

Settling on my bed, I rub my aching temples. Why the hell did I promise Colt something I can’t deliver? Penny isn’t communicating with her brother, and I haven’t had a decent conversation with her since summer. That isn’t a good sign. She isn’t acting like my typical Sunshine. And I have no freaking clue how to fix it.

Looking at my backpack full of texts, I remove my English book and sigh. “I guess I’ll just have to make more of an effort.”

*****

This is the private journal of Penny Elaine Ramsay. Do not read!!

OCTOBER 1, 2007

Is someone controlling the strings on our planet like some twisted marionette? Because I swear to God, they have it out for me. I was hoping this year might be different. But it’s the same crap, complete with a new set of mean girls who have pinned a giant target on my back. The other day, two girls from the sophomore dance squad, Addy Linbrook and Jessica —something—tripped me while half the lunch crowd looked on. I don’t even know these girls. But their message was clear. “Luke is off-limits. He has a girlfriend.”

The entire freshman class must be in on Operation Bully-Penny because nobody stepped up to help me. I don’t get the sheep mentality that drives these people, but it’s best if I just avoid all of them.

That’s easier said than done. Hannah Sparks was voted freshman class president. And she’s Christy’s cousin. Apparently, she’s been delegated to manage the pick-on-Penny campaign. I still can’t understand why they think I’m a threat. Luke Donovan is the last person on earth who would want me.

Speaking of... dude’s been so overbearing, it’s like my brother’s returned from Ann Arbor. He’s taking Colt’s promise to look after me too seriously. Picking me up for school, sitting with me at lunch—when he can find me. Why won’t he leave me alone?

He even stops by our house on Saturdays and Sundays just to make sure I’m alright. I don’t go anywhere but to my babysitting gigs. What could possibly happen to me when nobody cares about me or what I’m doing? And Luke doesn’t have time for that shit. Between extra swimming practices and his girlfriend, he’s got enough going on.

Home life isn’t much better. Since Colt’s been gone, I’ve inherited most of the household chores. Mom’s barely working and barely sober. What little money she gets from my dad’s pension goes to the liquor store.

To pay for groceries, I babysit for the Landrys and the Monroes a few times a week, and I’ve been tutoring after school to pay for lunches. Good thing about RHHS. Lots of rich kids willing to fork over twenty bucks for help, especially to keep their mommies and daddies from finding out they’re flunking.

I signed up for scholar bowl this week. Actually, Mrs. Leavey chased me down after Chemistry class and refused to take no for an answer. So now I’m on the JV-One squad. Most of the kids are cool. Geeks like me. That’s why I’ve stuck with it. It gets me out of the house, and it’s better to be with people like me than swimming with the sharks by myself.

Don’t get me wrong... I’m okay being at the bottom of the food chain. I just wish they’d leave me alone. As long as I stay away from Christy and Hannah, maybe I’ll survive.

Three years, seven months, twenty-seven days. Then I’ll be free.