She gives me one of those “you did good” smiles and kisses my cheek. “You got it.”

I wait a minute before following her back out. When I get there I see Olivia hunched over, but she straightens the moment she sees my mom walk out. I hear my mom ask her to come help her with something, and Olivia looks nervous but she just nods before her eyes fly to me. “I’ll be back.”

“Cool, I’m just gonna play till you get back.”

I turn the game on classic mode and try to keep from listening in on whatever is going on back there. Another fifteen minutes goes by before I hear the washing machine shut, and Olivia and my mom’s laughter echoes down the hallway. I jump up and run to the kitchen and back just as Olivia reappears.

“Hey.” She shuffles over to the couch nervously. She’s wearing different pants. I recognize them as a pair of my mom’s sweatpants. She probably thinks I’m going to mention it but I’m not. I just hand over the carton of cookies-and-cream ice cream I grabbed out of the freezer for her. I don’t know if it’s going to make her feel better, but whenever my mom has her period she always eats a whole carton in one sitting. “Oh, thank you.”

“No problem. Ready to lose again?”

Her mouth splits into a wide grin, and she takes a huge bite of her ice cream then sets it on the coffee table. “Ready.”

A few hours later, my mom and I stand by the window watching Olivia to make sure she gets inside her house okay. As she gets to her door she turns and waves to us before going inside. My mom walks over to the couch to grab the sweats she borrowed.

“She’s such a nice girl. I like her a lot. It’s so sad that her mom isn’t there for her.”

“Yeah.”

“You did good, Kai. Anything she needs, you just let me know. Okay?”

“Yes, ma’am.” She ruffles my hair and goes to her room. I start to go to my room to get ready for bed when I hear a thud outside. I go back to the window and find Olivia outside with her dad. She’s changed from her jeans to sweats and a hoodie, and she’s doing dribble warm-ups. What is going on? When she left my house, she was tired and her stomach was hurting her, so why would she be outside practicing right now?

Her dad has his back to me while she’s facing me, and as if she knows she’s being watched, she looks up and locks eyes with me. It’s written all over her face that she doesn’t want to be out there, and I feel bad. Her dad is probably making her run drills because he thinks she spent too long over here “goofing off.”

I’d do anything to put a smile on her face right now. I grab my sneakers and open the door as quietly as I can. I sit on my front step and nod my head at her to let her know I’m with her. If she has to be outside, I’ll be out here too.