Page 1 of The Kid Sister

Chapter 1

Sierra

The moment my foothit the ground, I knew I’d twisted my ankle. A surge of pain flared, but I couldn’t acknowledge it. The water bottles had to be delivered. The team needed hydration!

Running onto the field was something I did constantly, in training, at the game, back and forth carrying the water. Why my leg buckled or slipped or rotated wrong, I’ll never know, but the ungraceful landing sent peals of laughter from the boys who were awaiting my arrival.

Grimacing from embarrassment, I’d risen in a flash to see Millie Conway, the team reporter, frantically gathering the bottles that had flown from my basket.

“Sierra, are you okay?” she asked.

“Argh, I think so,” I mumbled, annoyed at my clumsiness. Typical, the day you try to do your best you end up flat on your face. Oh well, it probably served me right, rushing too much and not watching my feet.

As Millie distributed the bottles to the thirsty boys, I heard Cullen, the team captain, speaking in a low voice. From my position, it was indistinguishable, but his glance in my direction indicated I’d been a distraction. One did not want to be a distraction when the Chargers were in training.

The Hydration Expert job was one I’d coveted since I was a young girl, having spent hours upon hours watching my brothers wear the Chargers jersey. My oldest brother, Reilly had been the Charger’s quarterback back in the day, and Grayson, he’d been the running back. The team had less than stellar results back then, but nonetheless, the atmosphere had always been electric. When Sawyer, my older brother by a year, made the varsity football team in his sophomore year, that’s when I seriously thought about making my dream come to fruition. Granted, Sawyer didn’t get much playing time that first season, but he reveled in the environment. And I wanted some if it. There was something about the thrill, the excitement, the camaraderie of a football team that seemed to fire me up, bring me to life in a way that nothing else could.

Mom had suggested I become a cheerleader. That was so obvious. Cheerleaders were vital to the football team, a natural way for a girl to be involved. But Mom, Dad and my three older brothers knew I was not the cheerleader type. I didn’t dance or do gymnastics, and I just wasn’t the pom-pom twirling type of girl.

There was no rhyme or reason as to why I was so dedicated to the position of Water Girl, which was what most of the boys called me, but my commitment to the team was absolute. Delivering water bottles was my calling.

But now I’d messed up.

Thankful that Millie had come to my aid and the boys weren’t going to die of dehydration, I bit down on my lower lip, anticipating a sharp gasp as I put weight on my injured ankle. Looking down, it was already in the first stages of puffiness.

I huffed out a heavy breath. This was the worst timing ever. I couldn’t be injured for this week’s game against Lake View Academy. Whoever heard of such a ludicrous situation—the Hydration Expert needing a substitute! I’d be letting the whole team down.

I took a tentative step which was more like a hop. I’d been around enough football games to have seen plenty of sprained ankles and pulled hamstrings, so I knew that speedy treatment was paramount to a quick recovery. I needed an ice pack straight away.

But as I was about to hobble to the sideline, I caught a glimpse of Cullen Mercer heading toward me. Argh, he’d want to know why I’d disrupted the drinks break, why my bottles were scattered across the field. He’d complain to his father, the Head Coach, that I was inadequate with my water delivery, and I’d be fired from my position.

“Sierra.” Cullen’s voice was one of authority, the football captain asserting his power role, and I braced myself for a telling off. My foot didn’t allow me to move with any speed so I stood on one leg, barely allowing my throbbing ankle to touch the ground.

“I’m sorry,” I said, watching him approach with long strides. “I must’ve caught my toe in the stupid grass.” It was a lame excuse. Sprinting too quickly, I’d outright tripped, though it sounded better if I blamed the turf. That made it the groundkeeper’s fault.

Cullen’s helmet was pushed back off his face and his eyes narrowed as he surveyed me, from the top of my head in a Chargers’ cap, over the lime green fluorescent vest I wore for safety purposes, down to my useless foot that I held at an awkward angle. Then he quickly looked behind to where Millie was collecting up the bottles—doing my job.

Expecting the wrath of the Chargers’ captain, I blinked when he asked softly, “Does it hurt?”

Not wanting to appear weak, or to be replaced, I stuttered. “Uh, um...it’s okay. I think.” And to prove a point, I rested the foot on the ground and took a step.

The force jarred my leg and it buckled. In one swift motion, Cullen had maneuvered my arm up around his shoulder while he swept his around my waist. Tucked in beside him, there was no awareness of pain. None at all. There was only an all encompassing rush of something that was alien to me—a shiver, a jolt, a tingle in the roof of my mouth.

Cullen Mercer had exerted some magical power over me that had sent all my senses into overload.

“You gotta be more careful,” Cullen lowered his head toward me, his words a lullaby in my ear. In that moment he was my hero, my savior, the boy of my dreams. I could have walked a hundred miles with him beside me, holding me up. The star quarterback, the team captain.

And my brother’s best friend.

“Mom!” Cullen’s call alerted Mrs. Mercer, who broke into a run. Mrs. Mercer attended most training sessions, usually helping the athletic trainers, though she’d often assist me with mixing the sports drinks.

“Ooh, Sierra, what have you done?” The Mercers were nice people, heck, great people.

Since his instatement as Head Coach four years ago, the Covington Chargers had gone from strength to strength, all working toward this season being the one where we’d go all the way to the state championship.

With Sawyer in his senior year, the same as Cullen and his other best friend, Tennessee Jackson, the boys were hoping they would go out with a bang in their final high school season. All the years of training, sacrifice and hard work were about to pay off.

And I wanted to be there amongst it.

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