Crossing the Barrier (9 page)

But no. She was so desperate she had to come along. She must be a glutton for pain.

“Elizabeth dear, I think you know Zoe from school. Would you entertain her while I speak with her mother about business?” Beatrice said, smiling sweetly at Lily.

Beatrice had to be kidding. Zoe threw Lily a grin that made Lily’s dislike of her grow even more, if that were at all possible.

“Of course,” she answered. “Zoe,” she greeted the popular girl with a nod.

“Elizabeth.”

Lily didn’t like to be called Elizabeth, but coming from her visitor, she liked it even less. With an internal sigh, she made her way to the living room, and Zoe followed.

“You have a nice house.”

Lily knew Zoe didn’t mean a word of it; she was only making sure their mothers would think she was being friendly. All Lily felt from the girl was jealousy and meanness.

“So,” the blonde said, taking a seat on the sofa and crossing her legs elegantly. “I hear you like Malakai.”

The white sofa was a sharp contrast to her sleeveless red dress.

“I’m sorry, Zoe, it’s none of your business,” Lily said, keeping the fake smile on her face.

Lily was puzzled. She hadn’t known Zoe knew of her. Apparently not only did she, but she’d also found out Lily liked Malakai somehow. It just didn’t make sense, especially since Lily had told only Sandra, and Sandra would never have told anyone, especially not Zoe.

As Lily looked up, she saw Beatrice through her office door. Luckily for Zoe, she was not facing that way and didn’t have to play pretend anymore.

“That’s where you’re wrong,” she said, looking at her perfectly manicured red nails as if something were stuck under them. “Everything that has to do with the football team is
my
business.”

Lily raised an eyebrow, amused. She knew what Zoe felt, and it was so pathetic it was actually funny.

Zoe was afraid. Not only was she afraid her own little world would change and recognize her for who she was, but she was afraid Lily would be part of that destruction. And Lily understood the weakest point in Zoe’s little world was, in fact, Malakai.

Independent Malakai. Malakai, whom Zoe could not control as she wanted.

“Well, Zoe, sorry to disappoint you, but I do what I want, and so does Malakai.”

“Yes, he does,” Zoe said, a fake pout on her ruby red lips. “That’s why I’m here. To warn you. As a friend. See, Malakai, he likes to use, then get rid of, quickly. Besides, he’s with Andrea now, so he doesn’t need the likes of you hanging around.”

Lily didn’t have to be an empath to know Zoe was lying. But what she was lying about exactly, she didn’t know. And what was this thing about Andrea? Lily had never seen him with the cheerleader, but then again, it didn’t mean he wasn’t seeing her. After all, rumors were flying around school about his seeing someone. Lily would have to ask Sandra if she knew anything about it.

“Oh, really? Since we’re such good friends, why are you warning me again?”

Zoe stood up and took Lily’s hand in hers. All but Zoe’s hatred and despair were blocked from Lily’s perception.

“Because, Elizabeth, I don’t want you to get hurt,” Zoe said with puppy dog eyes.

That’s what Lily saw in Zoe’s mind: guys, with eyes as innocent as puppies, following her around with their tongues rolling out of their mouths.

Lily couldn’t help herself. She laughed.

“You should take me seriously,” Zoe said coldly, squeezing Lily’s small hand with her delicate fingers.

Zoe was squeezing so hard Lily’s bones ground together. Since Lily couldn’t shake her hand free, she dug her short nails into the other girl’s palm. Zoe finally let go, bringing her hand to her chest, a nasty glare to her eyes.

“I don’t like when losers mess with my crowd,” she hissed, taking a step toward Lily. The socialite towered over her by a good six inches. “I’m giving you a warning: stay away or pay the consequences.”

Lily felt the emptiness of Zoe’s threat. She understood the girl only hoped to scare Lily enough for her to back off because, in reality, Zoe had no idea how to go after her. After all, Lily was a popular girl in her own circle, and her circle was a lot bigger and more cohesive than Zoe’s.

Lily smiled at the girl as if they had had the nicest conversation.

“And I will do as I please,” Lily said as the sound of her mother’s heels reverberated through the passageway.

Zoe placarded a smile on her face and turned around as their mothers walked into the living room.

Chapter Sixteen

MALAKAI

When the alarm
sounded the next day, Malakai’s first thoughts were of Lily, as they were most of the time lately. He had three classes with her, and the few minutes he got to talk to her before the lectures were grossly inadequate. He just wanted to spend hours with her, not mere minutes.

And she smelled so good. Green tea. He would have to buy some the next time he was at the grocery store.

Still half asleep, Malakai walked out of his room and stopped when he saw his father sitting at the kitchen table, eating breakfast and reading the newspaper. He was already dressed in his uniform, his hat sitting on the table next to him.

“Sergeant,” Malakai greeted.

“Junior.”

Malakai went to the coffeepot and poured himself a cup.

“When did you come in?” he asked after a sip.

“About two hours ago. I’ll be in town for a few days.”

“Will you be at the game Friday?”

The previous year, his father had attended only four of his games, which had greatly disappointed Malakai.

“Yes, I will. I have to spend today and tomorrow in Austin, but I’ll be back on time. I’ll be leaving first thing Saturday morning, however.”

Malakai smiled. His father wasn’t a warm man by any stretch of the imagination, but he had missed having him around.

“Who will you be playing?” the sergeant asked, folding his newspaper and putting it down.

Malakai gave him the name of the school and all the statistics he knew about the rival team.

“What’s their biggest strength?”

“Their running backs,” Malakai answered.

“And yours?”

“Our offense teamwork.”

“Yes,” the sergeant agreed with a nod of his shaved head. “And don’t you forget it,” he added with a smile.

Malakai smiled back at him, then turned around, and put a couple pieces of bread in the toaster.

“So, South Texas, hey?” his father asked after a few moments of silence.

Malakai turned and looked at him, with his mouth open. He didn’t know the sergeant had received his message. Quickly regaining his composure, Malakai swallowed and nodded.

“Anywhere else?”

The
bing
of the toaster reminded Malakai of his breakfast, and he turned around to retrieve his toast.

“No, but does it matter?” Malakai asked.

“Well, I was hoping you would consider one of the military academies...”

Malakai’s knife clunked loudly against his plate. He closed his eyes and slowly counted to three.

The sergeant couldn’t seriously think Malakai would go anywhere near anything that had to do with the military. The way his father had run the household and the fact the military had basically stolen him away was enough to convince Malakai he would never, ever consider that lifestyle.

“Dad, the military is your life,” he said so quietly he didn’t know if his father had heard him. “It will never be mine.”

“It’s not all bad.”

Malakai turned around and glared at the sergeant, something he would surely have been reprimanded for has his father seen it, but his father was looking down at a pile of eight-and-a-half-by-eleven envelopes on the table next to him. Slowly, he picked them up and handed them to Malakai. Hesitantly, Malakai took them. They had the logos of different military academies on the upper left corners.

“What’s this?” Malakai asked, keeping his expression as neutral as possible. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer.

“Applications. I spoke to the academies and the coaches, and sent them your school records. They all want to talk to you. They all want you to apply.”

“You must be kidding me.”

“Junior, please, consider it.”

Malakai gently deposited the unopened envelopes on the counter and looked at his father, clenching his fists at his side.

“I’m going to be late for school.”

His coffee and toast forgotten, Malakai walked into his room and quietly closed the door behind him.

Chapter Seventeen

MALAKAI

For the fourth
time during practice later that day, Wes deliberately threw the pass ridiculously too high for Malakai to catch, and Malakai was getting frustrated. The quarterback had practiced poorly ever since they had fought over Lily, and Malakai didn’t find it amusing in the least.

Coach blew his whistle and called the quarterbacks, running backs, and wide receivers to him.

“Where’s your head at, Hamilton?”

Wes opened his mouth to reply, but Coach raised a hand to silence him.

“I don’t want to hear it. Every time you throw to Thomas, you do it badly. If you’ve got issues with him, take them outside the field. Here, you have no issues, got it?”

Wes remained quiet.

“Now’s the time to speak, Hamilton!”

“Yes, sir!”

“Good. Now go back and throw like you belong on this team.”

By the end of practice, things had improved, but Malakai was still frustrated. The quarterback was not only ruining practice for himself, but for the team too, and all that because of Zoe.

Malakai was walking out of the locker room after his shower when Wes finally came to him.

“Sorry, dude, I shouldn’t have taken it out on you like this,” he said, falling in step with Malakai.

“No, you shouldn’t have,” Malakai said, as he continued walking toward the school exit. “Like you said, drama needs to stay out of the field.”

“Yeah, I should practice what I preach,” Wes said with a chuckle. “Wanna grab a bite?”

Just like that, Wes was moving on, but Malakai hesitated a moment, debating if he should continue the discussion or let it drop.

“I have to go to the ATM first, then I can meet you somewhere,” he said, dropping it, for now.

“Okay. See you at seven? Our usual place?”

Malakai nodded, then walked out of the school and to his jeep. He didn’t really want to go out, but Wes had tried to bury the hatchet in his own way, and Malakai owed it to him to make an effort.

Half an hour later, he pulled into the parking lot of their usual burger joint and walked into the restaurant. He looked around and spotted Wes with Zoe and Andrea, sitting at a table along the window. He should have known this was a setup, especially since he was now showing interest in someone Zoe didn’t approve of.

He considered leaving, but before he could, Andrea looked up and smiled. With no other choice, Malakai slowly made his way to them. The girl must have a sixth sense; she always seemed to know when he was around.

“Hi, Malakai,” Andrea said bubbly, waving her hand in greeting as he approached.

Malakai took the empty seat next to her. Andrea was pretty tonight, and her shirt ran low to show some cleavage. Any guy would be blind not to see how cute she was, but something wasn’t clicking with her.

“Hi,” he said, then turned and looked pointedly at Wes across the table.

Wes was grinning. “Zoe and Andrea wanted to join. I couldn’t say no.”

Déjà vu all over again.

Of course you couldn’t
, Malakai thought.

All throughout dinner, Andrea was her usual self: bubbly and fun again, but Malakai wished Lily was the one sitting next to him instead, and David sitting across from him. He wondered for a moment which girl would be sitting next to the friendly and uncomplicated junior.

Once dinner was over, Malakai walked Andrea to her car. Again, he knew the news of their going out would be all over school by tomorrow. He only hoped when Lily heard, she wouldn’t think anything of it. Because he was certain she would hear. Someone would make sure she did.

Once they got to Andrea’s car, she opened the driver’s side door and turned to face him.

“I had a great time,” she said.

“Good,” Malakai said, at a lack of what else to say.

He couldn’t very well say he had a great time too as it would have been a lie, especially since all throughout dinner, he had thought of Lily.

“Maybe we should go by ourselves some time.”

Before Malakai could formulate a response, Andrea did something he had not expected. She stood on her tiptoes, put her arms around his neck, and pulled him toward her. In the next moment, her lips were on his, and Malakai was too surprised to pull away. She did smell good, strawberries and cream, but she didn’t smell right.