Page 50 of Bending Under Pressure

“No, I just know my mom will ground me for the rest of my life, and I am a little worried about that.” Although, with what Keelan is getting me into, if we’re caught, I’ll have more than my mom’s fury to worry about.

His parents return, so we stop talking about it. Instead, he asks what I’m doing this weekend.

“I’m not sure yet. I might call my dad.”

“How are you doing with that?” Octavia asks.

“Okay. He wants me to officially meet his new family, and I am going to tell him not yet. He seems like he wants to be there for me again.”

“That’s great,” she says and I nod.

“What are you doing?” I ask Keelan.

“Meeting Natalie and Keira. Keira’s been texting me all week. She’s a little annoying, but not too bad.”

“She’s annoying because she’s eager to learn about her big brother,” John interjects.

“I get that, but dang, she texts me more than all y’all combined.”

Octavia leans over and whispers, “He’s trying not to be too curious about his family.”

“I can hear you, Mom, and they aren’t my family.” He sounds annoyed with her and the last thing I want is for Keelan to go into one of his quiet moods and overthinking things. Before I can say anything, he stands. “We’re going to walk around for a bit.”

Wordlessly, I stand and lead the way until we’re off the bleachers and on the grass. Keelan takes my hand. We walk to the wall behind the end zone, stopping once we’ve found a spot where we’re about ten feet from the nearest spectators. We lean against the wall.

“Sorry,” he mumbles, his eyes on the field. “It irritates me that she insists on calling them my family. I’m tired of her pushing them on me.”

“But they are your family,” I say quietly.

He looks down at me. “No, they aren’t, Hales. By blood, yeah, but not in the way that matters. I didn’t even know I had a sister and after a week or so of texting her, I’m supposed to claim her as family?” He scoffs, shaking his head. “Do I want to get to know them? Sure. Do I like being in the situation to start with? No. Mom knows I’m struggling with balancing that and she won’t stop with the stupid family comments. Dad’s probably going to get on me for walking away like that, too.”

I squeeze his hand. “Sorry.”

Keelan releases my hand to lay an arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer. “Not your fault.”

“So, what do you really think about your sister?” I’m curious and this is the most he’s talked about it.

“I don’t know. I don’t feel like I really know her. She sends question after question for me to answer. I figured I would learn more about her this weekend.”

Not sure what else to say, I stay quiet. We’re silent as we watch the rest of the game. We don’t say much when we meet back up with his parents either, but I can tell by his dad’s stern look, he is going to hear about walking away earlier. Back at my house, Keelan walks me to the door. He finally smiles.

“Midnight,” he reminds me.

“Like I could forget about it,” I tease with a roll of my eyes.

“Just checking” he chuckles. Keelan leans forward to kiss my cheek. “I’ll see you later, Hales,” he whispers.

Mom and Walter are cuddled together on the couch in the living room.

“How was the game?” Mom asks.

“We lost. It’s been a long day. I’m going to bed.”

“Night.”

“Night,” Walter adds.

It has been a long, tiring day. First, hours of school, a three-hour practice, and then the game. After lying down on top of my covers, I set my alarm to go off ten minutes before Keelan is supposed to be here. That will give me enough time to freshen up. Right now, I just really need a nap.

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