Page 7 of Foul Line

Alec’s mom looks between him and me. I remember the looks she used to give me after the games when the Baller Bitches made their presence known. I’d always see her talk to Alec afterward, but it doesn’t matter. I’m not the Christopoulos’s charity case. “Alec,” she says.

Alec sighs. He turns toward me, his lips thin. “Listen, I have to help you, or my mom won’t stop bugging me about it, okay?”

My jaw tightens, but his mom smiles from ear-to-ear. “That’s my boy.”

I’m still thinking up excuses to carry my bags myself when a voice says, “Tessa?”

I turn at the sound. It isn’t a voice I thought I’d be hearing at camp. My mouth drops when I find a lacrosse clad Chase Fisher behind me. His lacrosse stick lowers as he approaches our group with a bunch of guys who are dressed just like him.

“It is you,” he says.

“Hey,” I finally say, feeling a rush of awkwardness swim through me when we just stand there. We’re not on hugging terms, we’re barely even on speaking terms. He’s asked me out. I’ve told him no. Or, should I say the Ballers told him no for me? He’s got a lot of balls approaching me with Alec in full view. If I were him, I’d be afraid the Ballers would follow through on another show of dominance to keep him away from me. Then again, he’s got himself a few friends with him now. He’s probably not afraid at all. “What are you doing here?”

He twirls the stick in his grip. “The guys on my lacrosse team and I decided to have a little guys’ trip, sports related, obviously.”

“Oh, cool. Here?”

He nods. “We rented out the cabins over there.” He points toward the path through the woods that leads to another section of cabins. “But the field is over here.” He looks me up and down and then at the bag by my feet. “Wait, are you staying here, too?”

“Yeah, it’s my dad’s basketball camp. We’re here for six weeks.”

Chase finally looks over. When he sees Alec, his face turns red and his gaze narrows. “I guess I know why these cabins were unavailable now.”

“Wait,” one of the guys he’s with says. “Is this Tessa Dale?”

My face flames. I’m in that weird position where I want people to know who I am, but at the same time, when it happens, I get super nervous. Chase confirms that it is, in fact, me.

Chase introduces his teammates after that, and all I can think is what are the odds that he’d be here now?

“This is cool,” one of his teammates says. I can see now that they’re all wearing practice jerseys with the name Huntington College in type across their chests. And then I piece together even further that Huntington is the closest town to Holly Lake. It’s not that far of a stretch to think that Chase and his lacrosse buddies would be here. It’s just a coincidence that they would be here at the same time as us. “Maybe we’ll get to hang out,” the guy says.

“Yeah, maybe,” I say, not wanting to commit to anything. I have goals for this camp, and I can’t lose focus.

I bend over to pick up my bag, but Chase moves forward to intercept me. “Let me get that.”

Alec, who’s been quietly observing the whole time, steps close to me. “Actually, I’m helping Tessa.” The way he stands, it’s almost possessive. He’s angled toward me and a little in front of me to stop Chase from moving forward any more.

I move away and pull my own bag up on my shoulder. “And I told you I could get it.”

A few of Chase’s teammates’ eyes round a little. So maybe my voice came out a little more sharply than I meant it to, but seriously, what did Alec expect to happen? He deserted me. I’m not going to play nice after that. Basketball is one thing, but friends, or more, he can kiss my ass.

“Well, I’ve got your pillow,” Roberta says. She pulls it out of my trunk before I can tell her not to. Then, she’s clutching it so tightly there’s really no room for me to say anything. Her demeanor, too, brooks no arguments.

A few of the guys laugh. “Is this your sister?”

“No,” Alec says. “That’s my sister.”

Chase comes around. He slides his hand up the strap on my bag and pulls it gently away from me. “Come on, Dale. What kind of a gentleman would I be if I didn’t help you with your bags?”

I peek back at Alec. His face is red and fuming.

I let Chase take the strap from me. Another one of his teammates grabs the other bag from my trunk until I just have a small canvas bag with some books, sunscreen, and a couple snack packs inside.

We’re just about to turn and head toward my cabin when a car pulls into the parking lot. It looks oddly familiar, but it isn’t until it passes us and Coach Bradley waves from the driver’s side window that I realize why it looks familiar. He parks the car and Ryan, Sloan, and Hayes step out.

Hayes shuts the door behind him, then glares at me. He assesses the situation, taking in the lacrosse guys surrounding us. He eyes them coolly, spending a particularly long time on Chase. I know he punched Chase, too. I don’t know why. I actually think they might get along if it weren’t…well, if it weren’t for me, apparently.

“They rode with Coach?” I ask to no one in particular.

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