Page 9 of The Perfect Steal

How could she know him that soon since he’d just come into class? Then again, most people in this town knew who the Evertons were.

My focus came back to the present as the other line got to the end of the court, running on their way back. My insides squeezed, not sure if I was ready for another round of running.

“Come on, Josie!” I called, trying to push against the anxiety building. “Push! You’re almost done.”

Josie made it through the line and threw her arms up, intertwining her fingers and resting them behind her head as her chest rose and fell. A minute later, after the end of the group finished, Coach Adams blew his whistle again.

I took off, willing my now wobbly legs to move back and forth across the court. But my brain kept going over the little things that had happened to me the past few days. Nate’s face when Josie had spoken to him about working hard and running, Mrs. Rhodes telling me to give him a chance. He deserved that much. And from all the different sides I’d seen, there might be more underlying the cocky underachiever persona. He’d been more excited to go looking for houses and cars than I’d thought he would be.

We finished tryouts with more than half of the girls lying on the floor of the court. It took a few more minutes before my head stopped spinning from the extra exertion, but we came together and ended practice with a loud Royals cheer.

“I’m proud of all of you today. If you can finish that, you can do anything you set your mind to.” Coach Adams was grinning from ear to ear, and while I was grateful for the motivational comment, I was too tired to even muster a smile.

Basketball was in full swing, but then again, so was my homework schedule. I’d just have to make it work with all the things on my plate and make sure to do it well so I could head off to college and leave this town behind.

That meant a lot of late nights, but who needed sleep anyway?

5

Nate

I met up with the guys after school in the parking lot on Friday. Jake had suggested we get some batting practice in before our game that night, which seemed like overkill until he told me we were playing Seaton. They were one of the major players in our league, and anything we could do to get a win was leverage for the following spring.

And then I’d been designated to return all the equipment to the baseball closet.

At least the jerks hadn’t left the parking lot until I got back from getting the key from Coach Maddox.

“What's wrong with you, man? You look like you just lost a puppy or something,” Colt said, shoving me in the shoulder.

“Just thinking about an assignment I have,” I said, still going over Brynn’s reactions to my comments when I walked past the basketball girls in the hall. There were a few moments when I felt sorry for her, glad it wasn’t tryouts for baseball yet. We might not have to run as much as they did in a normal game, but we definitely got near the puking range when it came to tryouts.And some practices.

Brynn hadn’t said anything, and I think there had even been a moment of pity in her eyes. That wasn’t usual when other students at Rosemont spoke to me. They liked to act like they knew who I was, some spoiled rich kid who used his dad’s name to his advantage.

Some of that was true, and I played it up a bit more than I probably should, but sometimes it was better to fake something I wasn’t than show people the real me behind it all.

Brynn wasn’t thrilled we were partners, that much I could guess from class. But even though I’d always thought she was the quietest of the bunch of girls she hung out with, she still had some spunk in her. When she asked for my phone number and I’d joked about dating someone to see how she’d react, she hadn’t even hesitated to say she wasn’t interested.

Was that why I couldn’t stop thinking about her?

Jake laughed. “You’re thinking about school? I think that’s a first.”

I shook my head. “You were just as bad, or worse even, before you started hanging out with Penny.”

He shrugged. “Yeah, but now I’m actually eligible to go to college. I’ll take that as a win.”

That reminded me of my dad’s prodding for me to go to Cornell. He wanted me to be one of the Legacy students there, the ones who descend from Cornell Alumni.

Wasn’t going to happen.

As much as I missed the time when we did just about everything together, I didn’t need him constantly on my tail about schoolwork and if I’d put in plenty of time studying.

But I could probably put in a little more effort, especially because Brynn thought I’d screw it all up even before we’d started the assignment.

“You playing video games tonight after the game?” Logan asked, walking next to Jake. We’d been playing off and on for the past couple of weeks at my house, and while it had been fun, I was getting bored of beating him all the time. Okay, maybe half the time.

“No, I should get some homework done. I got paired up with Brynn for that Life Skills class project, and she's basically threatened me with my life.”

Jake laughed next to me. “She's pretty much a younger version of Penny, although a little more intense lately, I've noticed.”

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