“Friday,” I promise.
Chapter Nineteen
“Hey, I heard you’re coming to the scrimmage today,” Hailey, one of Hannah’s teammates, says. She leans against the locker next to mine, her field hockey bag slung over her shoulder, the hook of her stick poking out.
“Yeah, Hannah invited me,” I say, having practically memorized my excuse for coming to the game. “I figure since you guys are showing up and supporting the festival committee, the least I can do is return the favor.”
“Aww, Clarity! You’re welcome at every game, VIP,” Hailey says.
We cut through the few students between mine and Hannah’s lockers, joining more girls from the team as Hannah shoulders her bag. I recognize Rowena and Olivia. Hannah flashes me a smile, one that I mirror while quietly thanking the Lord it’s hard to see when I blush with my skin tone.
“Did you hear that the scrimmage got changed to a game?” Rowena asks Hailey.
“What are you talking about?”
“The coaches decided to make this game count. It’s not justfor practice,” Hannah explains, focusing on Hailey but glancing at me.
“Is that good or bad?” I ask, noticing the way Hannah subtly moves to stand next to me.
Olivia opens her mouth, but Hannah jumps to answer first. “It’s good because it means this could get us one step closer to playoffs, but it’s bad because we didn’t spend this week’s practices preparing strategies against Twinsburg.”
“We’re gonna dofine,” Rowena assures everyone. “We’re way better than Twinsburg.”
“You’re in for a good game, Clarity,” Olivia tells me. I smile back at her, happy to be included, impending first date aside.
“Clarity!”
I jump, the sound of Kristen’s voice shocking me out of the moment. I turn toward her, aware of the rest of the girls following suit.
She shuffles down the hall, passing the thinning crowd as students leave, eager to start their weekends. When she reaches us, she’s a little out of breath. She pauses to look at everyone. I catch the way she lingers on Hannah before focusing on me.
“Where’s the fire?” I ask.
“I was… getting stuff… from the… photography… room,” she huffs, holding up a finger so she can suck in one final deep breath. “Anyhoo, I wanted to see if you need a ride home.”
I blink, momentarily confused. She didn’t say anything about a ride or hanging out when we were just in history together. Butafter Tuesday, even if I did need a ride, I’m not in the mood for any surprises today.
“Actually, I’m going to the field hockey game,” I say.
“You can come if you want,” Hannah adds.
No no no.
“But I understand if you don’t want to,” I say quickly. “I mean, I know school sports aren’t really your thing.”
“Well, I have homework I can do,” Kristen says, twisting her mouth the way she does when she’s doing an internal mental debate.
“There will be baked goods,” Hailey interjects, bobbing her eyebrows at Kristen.
“Baked goods?” Kristen asks.
“The first wave of homemade desserts for the festival committee bake sale,” Hailey explains. “My mom made some so we could catch the scrimmage crowd. They’re all fall themed.”
Kristen, being a fellow baker herself, considers this with an impressed expression. She nods at Hailey before telling me, “I’m in.”
“Great! We’d better get going,” Hannah says, turning and leading the way toward the girls’ locker room.
Kristen and I fall a few steps behind them as we head down the hall. We part ways when they go to change, and Kristen and I push on the double doors and step outside at the back of the school, facing the fields.