Page 10 of The Perfect Catch

Thoughts ran through my mind as I stared at the empty wall in the dark. Did she even remember it? Or was she so popular that it was just another kiss to Kate? I didn’t need to have this worry pressing on my mind since I already had enough on my plate with taking care of my brother, sister, and grandma.

Kate had been the third girl I’d ever kissed. My first kiss was with Bethany Summers in eighth grade when she’d attacked me after a group meeting we’d had. Girl number two was a dare from Nate at the beginning of junior year. Most of the rumors about me being some bigshot player were lies I’d made up to avoid people looking too closely at my life. The only person who knew more of the real me was Jake, but there were still some secrets I kept to myself.

I tried to portray myself as the old Jake, the one who didn’t care what people thought and the one to make out with every girl. Penny was good to change all that. In reality, I was more like Ben, a little awkward and shy around girls, but more because of my real life than any speech problems.

But then there was Kate.

She was the first girl I’d kissed because I wanted to, because I’d finally gotten up the guts. Since the first day of junior year when she’d sat on the other side of the room in history, twirling her blond hair around her fingers with a bright wide smile on her face, I’d held a torch for her. There was something about her that sparked all the attraction senses in me, and whenever I saw her in the halls, I had to pretend I didn’t care.

Because when in the real world did a guy like me from the wrong side of the tracks have even the slightest chance at a girl who had it all: looks, personality, and the perfect life? What did I have to offer a girl like that besides callouses and grease?

A floorboard creaked, and I turned to glance over at the hallway, seeing a silhouette walk toward me. Bree sat and curled up next to me, her thumb in her mouth and the old doll in her other hand.

“Bree,” I whispered. “What are you doing up? It’s nine o’clock.”

“I just wanted to say good night.” She only removed her thumb long enough to say the words before it went right back in, the soft sound easing some of the tension in my upper back.

More footsteps came down the hall, and I looked up to see Karsten taking a blanket and wrapping it around himself before sitting down next to me.

“Everyone having trouble sleeping?” I asked, chuckling a bit.

“How was work?” Karsten asked, his voice deeper than normal and his eyes barely open.

I sighed and leaned forward, taking off my ball cap with one hand and scratching at my crown with the other. “It was good. I got to work on this specialty car, a Ferrari, cherry red. I wish you could have seen it.” I paused, sobering some. “Doc said I’ll be getting a raise soon. That should help with all the little fees coming up. You have soccer practice tomorrow, right?”

Karsten nodded, his chest rising and falling as he took in a deep breath. “We’ve got a scrimmage against the other team in our club.” The dread in his voice made me want to both laugh and cry.

“You’ll kill them just like you did the last time. How was Noni? Is she feeling okay?” I glanced between both my brother and sister, trying to gauge the truth of their words through their body language.

“She’s not doing good, Dax,” Bree said, sitting up and pulling her doll tighter against her side. “She threw up the medicine.”

I nodded, knowing our grandmother had been going downhill for a while, and this bout of flu wasn’t helping. Her doctor had said that the illness was aggravating her diabetes, but I couldn’t think of her dying just yet. I needed to figure out a plan for what I would do with my siblings while I worked once that happened. My dad was only home about eight to ten days out of the month, meaning most of the parenting fell to me and my grandmother.

“We’ll be fine. We’re the Three Musketeers, and we stick together. Right?” I looked first at Bree and then over at Karsten, who both nodded with a small smile. “Okay, let’s get to bed, and we’ll go from there. One more day until the weekend. We’ll have to do something fun to celebrate. Maybe the park or something?”

Bree perked up even more, nodding her head so quickly I thought she was going to pull a muscle. She leaned over and hugged my arm before scampering off down the dark hall again.

“I’ve tried looking for jobs to pay for soccer. No one will hire a thirteen-year-old, though.” Karsten’s words rang through the silence, and I bit the side of my cheek, focusing on the pain there rather than the fact that my siblings had to live like this. We’d had a normal upbringing until our mother’s death, and now with my grandmother’s health declining, it felt like when Mom died all over again.

Our father gave us money for food after each paycheck, but all the other fees for school and sports had to be figured out by the three of us. Money for clothing was hit-and-miss.

“I’ve got enough to cover your fees. Do any of my old cleats fit you? You said something about the ones you have hurting your feet.”

“They do, but I can’t move like I need to in high-top baseball cleats.” The whine in his voice was slight, and although it would be easier to just reuse the cleats I’d grown out of a few years back, I knew what it was like to not have comfortable equipment. It was the reason I’d splurged on all my own catching gear when I first got a job at the garage.

I nodded, scooting forward. “Okay. I don’t work until later tomorrow. We can go to the store first thing and get you some.”

Karsten grinned, his large buckteeth showing through as he headed back to his bed.

My mind drifted back to Kate’s package that lay face down on the ground. A thrill of excitement shot through me, as if giving a shot of hope that I wasn’t destined to stay in this trailer park for the rest of my life. With a raise from Doc at the mechanic shop where I worked, it would help my family get through the fall, and I might be able to save enough for a decent Christmas for the three of us.

For a moment, I longed for the Christmases of the past, my mother doing everything she could to make the holiday special for us. My dad was a lot different back then, happier. Less alcohol and heartbreak.

Shaking my head, I knew I couldn’t dwell on it too long. Forward. I had to keep pushing forward or we’d all drown.

Before I checked on the kids, I walked into my grandmother’s room in the back. Her breathing had turned raspy over the past few days, her cough rattling from deep in her chest, and she was hardly eating anything. Our neighbor had offered to check in on her while we were at school, but the bowl of broth sat on the small rickety nightstand next to the bed, still full.

“Noni?” I whispered, touching her shoulder. “Noni, can I get you anything?”

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