Ten minutes later, I pulled into my driveway. The weariness of the day finally hit. Crowbar slid off the couch to greet me. I let him out one last time and crawled into bed. My limbs felt heavy. I crawled into bed with Parker on my mind, but sleep overtook me before I could play out any scenario that could have happened before her parents showed up.

Chapter Twenty-five—First Meeting

Past

“Do you get a cheerleader assigned to you or was that a lie from the movie?”

I laughed at Hayley’s reference to the movie we’d watched last week. I was torturing her with every sports-themed film in existence. “Maybe that happens in Texas, but not here. We’re not that important. Football isn’t life in Oak Grove.” It was my life, but not the blood of a town like so many movies portrayed. Hayley and I were hanging out in the bleachers watching the new squad figure out basic cheers. Varsity and junior varsity cheer teams were on the field. There were ten cheerleaders on varsity and about fifteen on JV. “They look so young,” I said.

Hayley grabbed my cheeks. “You look younger than they do.”

I pulled away. She loved doing that to me. “I look like I’m supposed to. They look twelve. Look at the JV team.”

“Some of them are freshmen. That makes them about fourteen. Maybe they’re like the Olympic gymnasts and never hit puberty,” Hayley said.

“That’s rude.” I scowled at her. I hit puberty at ten. It was a nightmare. Hayley didn’t start her period until she was fourteen. Also, a nightmare. She was the last of her friends to start. The stress of worrying there was something wrong didn’t help.

“You know what I mean.”

“How come you never tried out for cheerleading? You’ve got the energy for it.”

She snarled at me. “That’s offensive. I’m not going to be any football player’s doormat except for yours.”

“Damn straight.” I loved her. I would always love her. Even if time made us drift apart later in life, I knew we would always be able to pick up where we left off. True friends and siblings could do that. Hayley was the closest thing to a sister I had. I couldn’t imagine my life without her in it. “Promise me we’ll always be friends. Even if you run off and get married. Promise me we’ll always be close.” She linked her arm around mine.

“I will love you more than my husband and six kids.”

“Six? Wow. That’s a lot.”

“I’ll have my own basketball team and one substitution.” She nodded and I believed her.

“Except you’re really short and unless you date the Incredible Hulk or Thor, your children will be genetically disposed to be soccer players or horse jockeys.”