Page 125 of I Blame the Rival

Stella gasps, reaching out to punch his arm, “I am not the shortest girl at Taber.”

“You’re right. Just the most competitive.”

She goes to punch him again but Cody dodges with a quick step to the side.

He shoots me another grin, “I’ll see you at the Tigers’ next game, Skylar. Apparently you’re the only one who understands lacrosse.”

Warmth seeps through my chest, the sincerity in his tone making me want to pinch myself.

Stella sighs, turning to me, “I’m not as easy going as Ellsworth, but I’ll try not to hate on your family as much. It was really thoughtful of you to apologize.”

“It was the right thing to do.”

“That doesn’t mean you had to do it.” She studies me for a moment, “You’ve come a long way, Vin. Don’t go back to keeping your head down.”

“I won’t.”

Turning on my heel, I walk out of the parking lot, leaving one less demon behind me. It doesn’t change what I did, the repercussions my silence had on the victims of Vector’s drug-fuelled temper, but it does lighten the weight in my chest.

My phone rings just as I’m walking through the front door, absolutely freezing and in desperate need of a hot shower.

“You won’t believe what I found today.”

Lacey’s excited voice echoes through the phone and suddenly I can’t think of a single thing more important than listening to her voice.

“A purple succulent?”

She laughs, “I already have one of those.”

“A new purple succulent?”

More laughter flows through my phone as I take off my shoes, giving my mom a wave as I walk through the kitchen.

“No, silly. I found the spring sign up sheet for the track team.”

I pause, “Silverwood doesn’t have a second round of tryouts.”

“That’s because it would be in Taber. I already checked and students are allowed to compete from different schools because technically it’s a club not a varsity team.”

“Flower. You realize I’m the rival.”

“You could be the Saber in disguise. Then come fall you could join the varsity team at Silverwood and kick ass.”

Laughter bursts from my chest, “You want me to trojan horse the track and field team?”

“Why not? This way there’s no pressure to keep going if you don’t enjoy it.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Good.” She blows a raspberry through the phone and hangs up. I laugh again, knowing the first thing she’ll do tonight is apologize for not saying a proper goodbye.

Movement shifts in my peripheral and I turn to see my mom staring at me with glistening eyes.

“Mom. What’s wrong?”

She limps closer, tears spilling onto her cheeks as she reaches out and touches my face.

“Nothing’s wrong, honey.”

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