Three

Robin

Ryan had been acting weird all week. Add to that, my teammates had backed out of going to the game, and I was dreading tonight.

One of Carla’s friends was picking us up, and she’d be here any minute to take us to the game. I’m not sure why they insisted I ride with them. It’s not like I couldn’t find a huge high school all by myself. But I wouldn’t be by myself because Ryan was coming.

Except he was late. I sent him a text to hurry up that they’d be here any minute, and I got an immediate response that something had come up, and he couldn’t go.

I stared at the screen. He’d never stood me up before. Ever. It just added to the list of weird things that had been happening.

Carla texted me to come outside, and I put away my phone and yelled to my mother that I was leaving. I reluctantly walked down the steps of our porch just as a bright red sports car pulled up. The driver barely cracked her window and said, “Where’s your friend?”

“He can’t come.”

“Good,” she said. “Get in.”

The passenger door opened, and Carla jumped out so that I could squeeze into the barely existent back seat of the car.

“This is even better,” Carla said to her friend.

“Yes. No guy to get in the way.”

“In the way of what?” I asked, though I knew I’d regret it.

“Meeting Aaron,” the blond behind the wheel said. “You’re cute enough. You should be able to get him away from that nasty group.”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Carla said. “He’s gorgeous and a fantastic ball player. You’re perfect for each other.”

“I’m just here to watch the game,” I insisted.

“Well,” my cousin laughed, “you keep your eyes glued to the game, and you’ll be watching our boy in action. Just wait until you see how gorgeous he is.”

I wanted to protest again, but it seemed useless. Instead, I let the girls gossip about people I didn’t know and didn’t care about. Apparently, they hated some girl named Megan and were mad at some guy named Eli. And for some reason, if I dated Aaron, it would be the perfect revenge. They mentioned something about a pool party that Desiree was hosting, and I had a bad feeling Carla planned to drag me to that as well.

I rolled my eyes. They didn’t know me at all. And dating a stranger wasn’t going to happen, especially not if our only interaction was during one of his basketball games.

We pulled into a parking lot and joined the throng of students filling the auditorium. Carla paid for my ticket, and I followed her to a section behind the players’ bench. They were already on the court warming up, and Carla pointed to a tall, dark-haired guy. “That’s him. Aaron San Angelo.”

The guy was very handsome. I had to agree with her there. But what impressed me most was the way he handled the basketball. It was like he held a power over the inanimate object. It flowed from his fingers and obeyed every command. Every shot was nothing but net, every pass was smooth and quick.

The boy had some serious skills.

He dominated the game, though his team struggled against their opponent. They’d finally pulled out their victory when Aaron scored the winning basket. The crowd cheered and chanted his name. I was glad he’d won. He deserved it.

I wondered if he was struggling with the same situation I had—carrying a team who didn’t have the skill or desire to win their games. I didn’t want to go to prom with the guy, but maybe he could give me some pointers on how to get my team into the right mindset.

Carla’s friend, Desiree, left the bleachers, and I began to follow her. “Hold up,” Carla placed her hand on my arm. “Let’s wait and congratulate Aaron on a great game.”

Here it came. The dreaded awkward introduction. But we’d get it over quickly and then go home.

The gym quickly emptied, and Desiree hadn’t returned. I assumed she was waiting for us in her car or hanging with people outside. After a few minutes, Aaron emerged from the back.

My cousin introduced us, and we congratulated him on his game. I expected it to end at that, but apparently Carla had other plans. She said we were going to the team’s afterparty and needed a ride because Desiree deserted us.

I glanced at Carla in surprise. Desiree had left us here. We were begging a ride from this guy I had just met. I didn’t think I could be more mortified. But I was wrong. Aaron agreed to take us to Pizza-rama where the team was eating, and on the entire ride over there, Carla went on and on about my pathetic home-schooled life and how important it was to find me a date to prom.

I got the impression that Aaron wasn’t listening to her or was completely bored with the conversation. I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me whole.

When we got to the pizza place, the mortification didn’t end. Desiree was sitting at the table with the basketball team, and she ordered them to change seats so that Aaron was forced to sit in between me and Carla. I tried making small talk with him, but I couldn’t bring up the question about his team with all the guys sitting there.

I remembered Desiree’s pool party. Maybe if he came to that we’d have a chance to talk. However, he shut me down as soon as I brought it up. Apparently, he was as fed up with this situation as I was.

He made an excuse about needing to leave and practically ran from the building. I was relieved he was gone. There was no more pressure to interact with him or talk about him. At least until we returned to Desiree’s car.

“What did you think?” Carla asked. “Isn’t Aaron hot?” She barely closed the door to the vehicle before asking me.

There was no denying how attractive the guy was. “He is. But he also has no interest in me. At all.”

“He just doesn’t know he’s interested in you yet,” Desiree said. “We’ll change his mind.”

“I’m not asking you to change his mind,” I said. “It’s okay that he’s not interested. I’m not planning to go to your prom, anyway.”

“You’re going to prom,” Desiree said. “With Aaron. It’s the perfect solution.”

I had no delusions that Carla and her friend were doing this for my benefit, and Desiree’s words confirmed it. This was some scheme they were attempting to pull me into.

I didn’t argue anymore. I had a feeling that Desiree was the kind of girl who would stop the car and make me walk home if I made her mad. So I kept quiet in the back of her car and counted the minutes until I got safely home.

As soon as I stepped out of the car, Carla said, “We’ll pick you up for the next game. I will come early to help you pick out something better than what you have on. We will help you reel him in.”

I waved and breathed a sigh of relief once they had backed out of my driveway and left the neighborhood.

There was no way I was going to the game with them or let them dress me. I wasn’t a doll that they could play around with. And I wasn’t following their orders.

I couldn’t wait to tell Ryan all about this day and give him grief for not being there with me.

Ryan

I was the worst best friend ever. Instead of going to the game with her, I was sitting in an office at Fairview High, begging to stay enrolled. And I hadn’t found the way to tell Robin what was going on. I hadn’t realized that waiting to tell her would make it even harder to explain. And now, I felt it was best for me to get some answers first.

I’d hoped this meeting with the Fairview administration would be simple. Why not let me stay for a couple more months? What would it hurt? Apparently, it wasn’t as simple as it should be. They explained that agreeing across separate school districts was more complex than just the principals saying it was okay. They had to gather information about our situation and meet with a committee who reviewed these kinds of requests.

Again, the good news was nothing would change until they decided.

So, I stood up my best friend and still had no answers or no way to explain to her what was going on.

I needed to tell her. Now. She’d be mad at me for not telling her sooner, and she’d have every right.

I paced my room, trying to occupy myself until she returned from the game. My bedroom window had a full view of her driveway, and as soon as those girls brought her home, I’d rush over there and confess everything.

It was way later than I had expected when she finally arrived, and the second I saw the car pull into the driveway I rushed down the stairs and out the back door. I didn’t want to risk my parents stopping me.

I stood behind my fence, crouching down slightly to ensure no one saw me. Then when the girls left, I would rush over to Robin’s house and beg her forgiveness.

Watching through the slats in the wooden fence, I saw Robin leave a bright red sports car. She paused when another girl began talking. I’d never met Carla, but I’d seen pictures. So I was pretty confident the girl speaking was her cousin.

I had my hand on the gate latch, ready to spring out of my backyard as soon as the girls were gone, but my grip froze around the metal when I heard Carla mention helping Robin pick out clothes.

Robin didn’t protest or argue, and a knot formed in my stomach. What did that mean?

As soon as they were gone, I chased after Robin and caught up with her at her front door.

“Hey,” I said to her. “I’m a horrible friend.”

“I can’t believe you left me all alone to face them.”

“It sounds like you had a good time.” My voice sounded angry, though there was no reason why.

“You would know if you had been there,” she said and opened her door.

“Robin, I really need to talk to you.”

“No Ryan, I don’t want to talk. I’m furious with you right now.”

I ran my hands through my hair. “I know. You have every right to be. But I seriously need to talk to you.”

“Does it have to be right now? I just want to be alone.”

I had waited over a week to tell her. I could wait one more day. “Okay, I get it. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

She went into her house without saying a word, and even though she didn’t slam her front door, the sound of it closing seemed to echo through the neighborhood.

It wasn’t her intention, and I probably deserved it.

But I felt totally shut out.