Page 73 of I Don't Need Your Love
“I bet it will.”
“Will not.”
“Will too.” He places his hands on either side of my face and looks into my eyes. Everywhere he touches me tingles. “You don’t even realize just how talented you are, do you?”
“If I was so talented, we would have placed higher at the competition.”
He groans. “Carly. Do I need to call Coach over here so she’ll tell you herself? And she’s the expert, so she’ll know.”
“No.”
His mouth lifts into a crooked smile. “Because you know she’ll say you’ve got a gift, right?” He nods at his painting. “Just look at her. She’s incredible. The person, I mean, not the painting.”
I’ve been hard on myself because we got last place, but I need to stop wallowing in the past. We have to win our next competition and the only way we’ll do that is if we have a confident choreographer.
“Okay, thank you for the compliments.”
He lowers his head. “Anytime, Cap’n.”
The bell rings, and many kids fly out of the classroom because they’re done with school for the day.
“You know, Coach was right,” Ryder says to me as we head to the gym for practice. “Art really does help with stress. I feel like I’m ready to focus on practice today. I promise I won’t suck like I did yesterday. Got a clear head and my heart is into it.”
“That’s good.”
“Ryder!” Girls from the team surround him when we’re a few feet away from the gym. They talk about different things, once again dragging him with them just like they did on the bus.
Sometimes I forget that he is who he is. When we’re together, it’s just me and him. Friends who are becoming closer. It’s like we’re in a bubble. But then it pops and I remember we’re in the real world. And in the real world, Ryder loves attention from girls.
I stop walking when he yanks himself away from them and makes his way to me. “Sorry. What were we talking about?”
“Ryder!” the girls chant. A few aren’t from the team and have come to watch him practice.
I shrug. “I don’t even remember.” His family stuff and stress, but I don’t want to bring it up because I don’t want to hurt him.
His face falls. “Oh, too bad. Anyway, let’s go inside. The team is waiting for their captain.”
We walk side by side as we enter the gym. Ryder stares ahead, but he must feel me looking at him because he turns his head and smiles. I return it.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Carly
On Wednesday’s practice, the team is more determined than it’s ever been. This routine is far more complicated than our previous one, and it’ll take many long hours and blood, sweat, and tears to get it right. I feel bad for working my team so hard, but they constantly tell me they want to do this routine.
I’m struggling with some parts, too, which makes me wonder if we’re trying to achieve the impossible. But a person never knows what he or she is capable of until they really push themselves. I believe in my team and know we can pull this off.
“Break for five!” Coach Moreno calls after we’ve been rehearsing for half an hour. I internally cringe when I realize we’re all so sweaty. Some of my teammates are huffing and puffing like they ran a marathon. But that determination hasn’t left their eyes. I bet if I asked everyone to stop for today, they would want to burn me at the stake. They want to win the next competition just as much as I do. And isn’t there a thing that a group that suffers together grows together? We definitely feel tighter than we did a month ago.
I meet Addie where we stashed our backpacks on the bleachers and say, “I’m so freakin’ thirsty.”
“Me, too.” She rummages in her bag and produces her water bottle. “You worked us to the bone.”
“Sor—”
“No. We already told you not to apologize. We need you to work us until our limbs fall off. It’s the only way we have a shot at winning the competition.”
I also fish my water bottle out of my bag, and then we chug them down. I finish my entire bottle in one go, probably less than thirty seconds.
