Page 38 of Goalie Lessons

“Astrid?” Grayson answers breathlessly, like he had to run to the phone to get to it. Then, in the background, I hear a wail that can only belong to Athena. To Grayson’s credit, he doesn’t hesitate in asking, “Is everything okay?”

“Actually—” I stop, hearing another wail, and pull the phone from my ear a bit. “I mean, is everything okay withyou? What is going on there?”

“Oh,” he forces a laugh, which comes out shaky, and says, “that. It’s—uh. It’s Athena. She’s crying.”

“Why is she crying?”

“I’m not sure,” Grayson says. “Well, actually, this is kind of her routine. She cries at night. But she’s also upset about going to school tomorrow.”

That’s right—today was Labor Day. Callie and Athena will start school tomorrow. This is the worst possible time I could be calling him. Another heart-wrenching wail comes from Athena in the background, and it rings alarm bells inside me. The poor girl.

Then, I hear a voice I recognize ask, “Who is that? Who are you talking to?”

“One second, Callie,” Grayson says, and there’s the sound of her shifting, turning away.

Distantly, I hear her say something back that sounds scathing, but I can’t make out the specific words.

“I’m so sorry,” I say, shaking my head, even though he can’t see me. I’m calling the night before school starts. I’m an asshole. “It sounds like you have enough on your plate right now. I can figure out something else—”

“Astrid,” Grayson says. “Where are you? Are you okay?”

“Just a dead battery—”

“At the community center?”

“Yes, but—”

“We’ll be there in ten minutes.”

***

True to his word, Grayson pulls into the center’s parking lot exactly nine minutes later. As he turns his car into the spot beside mine, I catch sight of Athena in the backseat, her face pressed to the window as she looks out. There are tears down her cheeks, and her eyes are red, but she doesn’t appear to be actively crying.

“Hey,” I say, uncrossing my arms and stepping toward him when he gets out. “I’m sorry—”

“Ms. Foster!”

Callie is coming around the side of the car, her face lit up when she sees me. Grayson stares at her for a second like he doesn’t recognize her.

“Callie, I told you to stay in the car,” Grayson says, at the same time I say, “Callie, you can call me Astrid.”

A beat passes where she looks between us, like she’s waiting to see who is going to win out. Thinking about her starting school tomorrow, I smile at her. “Here, why don’t I walk you back to the other side?”

Callie frowns, but nods and walks with me. I open the other door and help her inside as Grayson goes to the back, opening it and grabbing out a thick set of wires with clamps on the ends. Jumper cables—of course he has exactly what I need.

“It’s nice to see you,” I say to Callie as she climbs into the car.

“I’m starting school tomorrow,” she says, then, glancing at her sister. “We both are. But in different buildings.”

I try to give her a sympathetic expression. As an only child, I try to imagine what it would be like—to be Callie and feel responsible for her little sister while knowing she couldn’t be with her every second of the day.

“That sucks,” I say, which makes Athena giggle. It sounds dangerously watery. Focusing on Callie, I ask, “Is there anything about it that sounds good to you?”

She looks surprised, thinks for a second, then says, “I guess my school will have fast food in the cafeteria. That’s kind of cool.”

I bite back my first thought, which is that she definitely shouldn’t be having fast food for lunch every day. But I push that to the side—if it makes her excited about school, it’s a good sign.

“That is cool. I think we should talk about school more later. But right now, my car battery is dead, and I imagine it’s not super safe out there right now. Can you wait in here with Athena, make sure she stays safe?”

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