Full Court Press (12 page)

Beck took the paper back. “None of your business.”

“Uh huh, you know, this is a pretty elaborate scheme to get into her pants. Seriously, I don’t think you need it. She seems pretty interested—”

“Thank you, Kendall.” Car cut her friend off. “We better get going and your practice starts soon, so Sunday, right? Good, see ya!” She pulled Kendall into the locker room before she could get another word out.

Kendall laughed as they shut the door on Beck. “He’s such a tightass. So what’s the deal? You do his homework?”

“No, I just write his accounting homework out for him. He does all the work. And now I’m going to be actually going to class with him.”

“Ahh, he can’t write or something?” Kendall asked, pulling her sweaty T-shirt off her torso.

“No, he can...it’s just, it’s difficult for him. He has a...thing. I dunno what it’s called. It’s sort of...private to him though.”

“Yeah, yeah, mouth’s sealed.”

“He actually didn’t seem that concerned that you read that paper even though he’s obviously upset that anyone else could find out.”

“Yeah, well...he and I go way back, since elementary school, and that’s nothing compared to his other secret I got hanging out up here.” Kendall tapped her forehead.

Car wanted to know the secret but knew it was none of her business, so she tamped down the urge to ask.

“So you’re seeing him again on Sunday?” Kendall asked as they both changed into dry clothes.

“Just homework.”

“Uh huh.” Kendall nudged her with an elbow and wiggled her eyebrows. “Come on, I can tell that there’s something going on between you two.”

Carmondy shut her locker and picked up her cell phone, turning it over in her hands. “You don’t think...I mean, I’m not like the other girls, am I? That Beck has sex with? I mean, I know he doesn’t have feelings for me or anything but I’m not like... a slut for it, am I?”

“No way. You are nothing like those girls. Those girls practically beg him for sex and then they flaunt it all over the school the next day, plus, he never talks to them again. But you’re different, I mean...as far as I can tell it was more a...mutual thing than what he normally does, and you’re not flaunting it, and he seems...almost interested in you. Not like...I’ve never actually seen Beck like a girl but it’s pretty obvious he wants to do you again, that’s gotta count for something, right?” Kendall shrugged. “Look at the bright side, at least you know that you’re great in bed, ‘cause otherwise Beck wouldn’t bother.”

Car laughed. “Yeah, that’s a little comforting, I guess.”

“Yep, cheer up. We’re young. Just have fun and try not to make a big deal out of it.”

“So did you and Anderson…”

Kendall shook her head. “Oh, no. I’m saving myself for marriage.”

Car almost laughed, but then she saw that Kendall was being truthful.

“Wait so...you dated Anderson for how long?”

“About five months.”

“Wow, and Anderson went that long without sex?”

“Yeah.” Kendall sighed. “Yeah that’s sort of... why we broke up.”

“He broke up with you for that?”

“No, I broke up with him. Well, it was kind of mutual? I don’t know.”

“I don’t get it.”

“I didn’t think it was fair...for him. We still did other stuff and he said that it wasn’t a problem but...” Kendall shrugged. “I felt bad so I told him that I didn’t like him like that anymore.”

“But...you lied to him, Kendall. You do still like him.”

“He doesn’t know that.”

“You can’t do that! That’s not fair to him. He deserved to know the truth at least,” Car argued.

“Well, we’d talked about it, a lot, and he had insisted that it wasn’t an issue, that he didn’t mind not having sex. He never would have accepted it if I told him the truth.”

“Well, if he said it wasn’t a problem then you should have trusted him.”

“I did trust him but he’s a hot, popular, athletic teenager. Who am I to stand between him and sex?”

“Umm, his girlfriend? What if he loved you?”

Kendall flinched. “He told me that he did.”

“Did you love him back?”

She didn’t answer.

“Kendall! How could you! You have to tell him!”

She shook her head stubbornly. “No, it was a long time ago. He probably doesn’t even like me anymore.”

Carmondy was dumbstruck. Kendall’s logic didn’t make sense to her. If they had been in love then they shouldn’t have broken up at all.

Kendall sat down on the bench, looking upset.

“Kendall, you should tell him. You never know, maybe he wants to give it another shot? It’s worth a try, isn’t it?”

“No, because the problem is still there, Anderson isn’t the kind of guy to go without sex.”

“It sounded like he was, for five months.”

“It must have been terrible for him, and it’s my fault. No, I won’t do that to him again.”

Car wasn’t accepting it. “You’re my friend even if we’ve only known each other a week, and I’m not letting this happen. If he doesn’t have feelings for you then yeah, that’s fine, but you obviously miss him and maybe he misses you too. I’m going to find out, okay? I’ll talk to him. I’ll find out.”

“It won’t matter. I’m not going there again.”

“Yeah, well, if I find out he still likes you then I’m going to tell him the truth, and you’ll have him to deal with. And if he knows half as much about girls as Beck does, you’ll be back with him before you could blink.”

Kendall groaned. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”

Car grinned. “That’s what friends are for!”

What kind of coach scheduled practice for Saturday mornings? 9:00 wasn’t that bad, but on a Saturday? Car rolled off the warm couch that had become her bed and wondered what time Anderson’s practice was. She checked her phone and dragged on some practice clothes before stumbling down the stairs.

The last person she wanted to see was sitting at the kitchen table.

Beck.

She groaned, not up for this right now. “Ugh, what are you doing here?”

He didn’t look to be in a good mood. “Chill, I’m not here to see you.”

“Anderson’s not up yet.” She noticed the medical file sitting on the table. “Oh, you—”

Anderson’s mom walked in from the living room. “Good morning...Carmondy, right?”

“Yeah, good morning.”

The woman smiled pleasantly at her before turning to Beck. “Why don’t we talk in the living room?”

Beck nodded and stood up with the file, not looking at Carmondy as he left the room.

She poured herself a glass of organic orange juice and tried not to hear what they were saying. The house was quiet though, so it wasn’t hard to hear them.

Anderson’s mother had a clear, high voice while Beck’s was deeper and quieter.

“Well, the vitals look good, unchanged, normal.” Papers rustled as Anderson’s mom spoke. “How many episodes did she have this week?”

“Only six.”

“That’s good, a slight decline.”

“Yeah, what I didn’t understand was this...” More paper rustling.

The woman’s voice sounded knowing. “Ah, yes, numerical results from the MRI. They must have a new machine. That’s why it looks different. It pretty much just says that the deterioration hasn’t stayed constant. It accelerates and then decelerates. It seems to correspond with the number of episodes she has, but sometimes it changes on its own.”

“What about the EEG? They said there was a problem.”

More papers rustling. “Yes, well...let’s see...ah, these results aren’t accurate. They must have not been able to get her to hold still, so they’ll have to do another.”

“So how does it look overall?”

“Overall? Not a lot of change. Her vitals are strong. That’s good, but the neurological damage is the same as always. Some of it might be able to be repaired with the therapy they are currently giving her. But some of it is irreparable and anything that can be fixed is going to take a long time. We’re talking years. Of course, over the years the science of medicine is going to progress and they might have a breakthrough but...these things are unpredictable. You’ve heard all this before though. This isn’t news.”

“I know...but, emotionally she’s still the same, right?”

“According to the psychologist’s report, she’s happy even though she doesn’t understand most things. Strong or negative emotions still trigger her episodes, but the schedule regime seems to be helping. She had three less episodes this week. That’s a great improvement.”

“In behavior, but that doesn’t mean the damage is healing?”

“No, just that they are finding ways to more effectively manage her behavior, which is a good thing for her. It improves her quality of life.” Her voice was reassuring.

“The meds they are giving her, any bad side effects?”

“Well, let’s see...some to manage her seizures, those can make her dizzy if she’s real active but I’m sure they keep an eye on her. The meds to slow the deterioration can make her nauseous but again, they know what they’re doing. I’m sure that they’re careful. The sedatives obviously sedate her but no harmful side effects there. Other than that, they are just giving her vitamins and IV fluids once a week to keep her white count up. Everything seems normal for her. She’s doing fine.”

“So there’s nothing I should be—”

“Beck, you ask this every week and my answer is always the same. You’re doing everything you can. There isn’t much to do. Any improvement that she can make is going to take a long time. You know that she will never be normal, so all that you can do is stick to the schedule and visit her. Just listen to the doctors, okay?”

Car didn’t hear an answer but Beck must have nodded.

The front door opened and closed and Carmondy took a deep breath. She wasn’t exactly sure what was wrong with Beck’s sister, but the concern in his voice had melted her heart. This side of him, so caring, was the most dangerous side of him she’d seen yet.

Carmondy didn’t want to get hit on during the car ride to practice so she decided to start up her own topic.

“So, Anderson, why don’t you have a girlfriend?”

“Okay...random question. I dunno. I just don’t.” He turned his blinker on to turn off his street.

“Why’d you and Kendall break up?” She wasn’t being as sneaky about this as she had planned.

“She wanted to, said it wasn’t working.”

“And you agreed?”

“No, but what...why are you asking me this stuff?”

She shrugged. “Just curious. So you didn’t want to break up?”

“No. Kendall is great, and she was an amazing girlfriend,” he said sincerely.

“She tells me she’s saving herself for marriage.”

“You mean sex? Yeah, she is, so what?”

“Do you think that got in the way of your relationship?”

“What? Car, what’s with the third degree? Seriously.”

“Nothing, I’m just curious is all. So you didn’t mind, the not having sex?”

“No, I mean sex is great but it’s not everything, and she knew it wasn’t an issue. Besides, she was down for lots of other stuff.” He smiled fondly. “Stuff that other girls wouldn’t be down for.”

“It sounds like you liked her a lot.”

“I loved her,” he snapped as he whipped into a parking space at the high school. “But she didn’t reciprocate. She wanted to end it so she did.”

“She didn’t love you back?”

He frowned. She was starting to hit a nerve. “If she did then she wouldn’t have ended it, now would she?” He got out of the car and slammed the door, stalking into the school without looking back at her.

“Oh...” Car said to herself. Interesting. These two had loved each other but had broken up over a non-issue. She needed to find a way for them both to see it.

She hurried out of the car and jogged to catch up with Anderson, not wanting him to be in a bad mood when he went to practice.

She grabbed his arm as he opened the door. “Anderson.”

He let go of the door and turned to her, looking hurt. She had dug up some painful memories for him.

“I didn’t mean to upset you.” She squeezed his arm and looked into his eyes, hoping he wasn’t too upset.

He shook his head. “You didn’t...it’s just the whole thing...kinda sucks to talk about.”

She nodded. “I’m sorry.” She wrapped both arms around his waist and gave him a hug.

He sighed and hugged her back. “Ooh, maybe I should get upset more often.” His hands slipped down to her ass.

“Hey, now.” She pushed him away but smiled. At least he was back to normal.

He grinned and grabbed her hand. “Come on, lover, time for practice.”

Car smiled as they walked hand in hand into the school. “Ooh, lover is it?”

“Yep. I see it like, you’re doing Beck but keeping it secret. You’re not doing me so we have to pretend like we are. Keep my rep up, you know?”

Car laughed. “Who says I’m doing Beck?”

Anderson laughed and spun her around by the hand. “You think I’m stupid? I’m Beck’s best friend. I can read him like a book. And you,” he laughed harder, “it’s so obvious. I’m surprised that more people haven’t caught on.”

“You knew yet you were still hitting on me? What happened to not doing girls that he did?”

Anderson shrugged. “All rules have exceptions. So how about it?”

She shook her head. “Sorry, Anderson. But if it makes you feel better, I’m not going to be doing anything with Beck anymore.”

“Sure.”

“No one believes me, but it’s true!”

“Uh huh. I’ll believe it when I see it...or...not that I want to see you two getting it on...gross. You know what I would pay to see?”

“What?”

“You and Kendall.” He nodded approvingly and surveyed her body. “Uh huh, that would be nice.”

“Where the heck did that come from?”

He shrugged. “She’s hot, you’re hot, simple. I’m picturing like...naked oil wrestling or maybe a kinky roleplay thing. How do you feel about handcuffs?”

Car was thrown at first but then saw the humor, so she decided to mess with him a little. She stepped forward and ran a hand down his chest. “Actually, I have always fantasized about getting dominated by a girl...or guy.” She looked at him pointedly and lowered her voice. “In my fantasy, you would put a collar on me and get me all dressed up in one of those corsets that don’t cover my breasts, but just pushes them up. And...ooh, crotchless panties? For easy access, you know.” She trailed a hand down her body. “And you would have one of those sex furniture things that you can strap me down on? So I’d be open to you...helpless.” She touched his chest again, this time with both hands. “You could do whatever you wanted...you could have me however...you wanted...but you’d make me ask for it. And I would...I would beg for it. And if I was good,” she spoke into his ear now, “would you let me touch myself?”