Page 36 of The Sound of Us

“I had an early meeting with the prof at the law school so I only got a few hours’ sleep.”

“I got an A on that paper your essay writers did for me,” he held up his phone to show me the mark on his screen. “I’ve been telling everybody I know about it. You should consider doing more advertising…”

“It has to be word of mouth,” I said. “It falls into a gray area when it comes to academic conduct.”

“Why are you doing it then?” He grabbed his backpack and followed me out of the classroom. “Don’t you need to be squeaky-clean to get into law school? Aren’t you worried you’ll get caught?”

I was worried, but I couldn’t stop. Just like I hadn’t been able to stop myself from kissing Skye in the basement. It didn’t make sense. Money wasn’t an issue anymore. I’d managed to get scholarships that, together with the research assistant money and the gig fees from the band, were more than enough to keep me afloat. I had always wondered if I had some kind of self-sabotage gene—the same thing that had made me defy my father over and over again even though I knew I would suffer the consequences.

“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “I started out doing it for the money, and then I told myself I was helping people… now…”

“I’d tell you to shut it down, but it’s the only reason I’m getting through school.” Nick grimaced. “Does that make me a bad person?”

“I don’t think you could be a bad person if you tried.”

“Tell that to the girls,” Nick said. “It’s just one strikeout after another for me. I’m hoping Chad comes through for me tomorrow at the basketball game in the park. He’s going to introduce me to the girl who does theBollywood Mixshow. Are you coming?”

Fuck.I’d forgotten that Chad had set up a team-building basketball game for Saturday afternoon and Noah had thought it was such a great idea, he’d made it mandatory for all the volunteers. I didn’t usually show up for team-building events, but I was feeling guilty about breaking my promise to Noah about Skye and… Skye would be there.

The sensible thing—the only response—was to say no. But when I opened my mouth the word that came out was “yes.”

I wasn’t sure if it was because the station volunteers had a secret love of basketball or because Noah had made the team-building exercise mandatory, but almost everyone showed up for the basketball game on Saturday afternoon—including Skye, who had brought Isla along for moral support.

Chad split the group over three courts. I joined Skye, Nick, Haley, Siobhan, and Chad on one court playing against the hip-hop, rap, and metal show hosts, who wore matching shirts and had already come up with a team song.

“Why don’t we have a team song?” Chad complained, glaring at our team. “You’re all music people. Couldn’t you come up with something on the fly so we don’t have to just sit here when they try to intimidate us with their metal screams?”

Isla looked over at Nick with interest. “You’re a music person, too? DJ, musician, singer, or just obsessed?”

Nick brightened. He’d been down since striking out with theBollywood MixDJ on their way to the park. “I play guitar and sing, although not as well as Haley. I could write a team song.”

A smile spread across Isla’s face. “Will it have a scream at the end?”

“If you want a scream, I’ll give you a scream.” He moved to sit beside her and they spent the next ten minutes with their heads bent over his phone.

Skye went to practice hoops at the other end of the court. She wore leggings and a crop top that showed off her toned body, and my mind went somewhere it shouldn’t go when I was about to get involved in a contact sport. I grabbed a free ball to show off my signature move while everyone warmed up. It was a dribble drive with my right hand, followed by going behind my back and to my left. I finished with a reverse dunk and looked for Skye as I hung on the rim for an extra second, trying to appear as if I wasn’t showing off, even though I was.

Skye had stopped shooting hoops to watch me, so I called Chad for a pass and shot a basket from fifteen feet out on the baseline coming off the screen. I wasn’t a pro player like Skye, but I could hold my own on the court.

Her lips quivered with a smile, and she gave me the briefest of nods. Maybe she didn’t hate me for the way I’d left things after all.

We organized our team and the game started on a high after we sang our new team song, ending with a scream. We were having fun, draining jumpers like there was no tomorrow, and scoring big points. But soon, the vibe shifted. The metal/rap crew decided they didn’t like losing and started in with the trash talk and some excessive physical contact. We refused to call fouls, even when Chad took a slug to the face as he shot a jumper. Nick tripped the bastard as he ran back down the court. I stared the metal dude down when he opened his mouth to complain.

The metalheads had realized Skye was our ringer and focused their attention on her. Ben, the host of the metal show, started gratuitously touching her chest when she shot in front of him and applying hard pressure to throw her off-balance. My pulse kicked up a notch and I felt something dark stir inside me, something I’d buriedwhen Sasha died. I moved to block him and got in his face. “Touch her like that again and I’ll break your fucking nose.”

Skye glared at me as she ran past. “I’ve dealt with worse,” she said. “I can handle it.”

Nick called the foul. We resumed the game, but the dude misinterpreted my threat as a challenge and became even more aggressive, holding, pushing, and throwing elbows. The trash talk became a mix of physical intimidation and personal comments, and then Ben deliberately body slammed Skye on her way down from shooting a jumper. She flew backward, hitting the ground with a loud thud. Her left foot twisted, and she grimaced in pain.

Red sheeted my vision and my pulse surged in my ears. When I saw Haley and Isla run over to help her, I crossed the court toward Ben.

“What the fuck?” I grabbed him by the shirt and slammed him up against the chain-link fence so hard it rattled. My body vibrated with tension, and the darkness I’d held back for so long came out with a roar.

For some reason, Ben didn’t seem to sense the danger. “Hey, it’s not my fault she can’t keep up.”

I shoved my forearm into Ben’s throat. “Let’s see how you keep up when I toss you around the court.”

Ben struggled in my grip, his eyes widening with fear. “Chill, bro. It’s just a game.”

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