Page 46 of Quarterback Crush
“I think it was all due to me waving my placard, right?” She stopped the wheelchair on the track, some distance from my father and stood beside me.
“Absolutely,” I said. “I barely watched the game, too distracted by you.”
She scrunched her nose up and sneered in a cute way. But then her voice softened as she crouched down to my level, “Are you okay, Oliver? I know it’s hard that you weren’t out there today.”
I reached for her hand and squeezed it. “You know what? It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I really didn’t mind. You know, I’m proud of the boys, they deserve the win. But I realized that I truly don’t wanna play college football.” Maya squeezed my hand harder. “The only thing I regret is kind of not knowing that last week was my last high school football game. I might’ve gone out with a bit of a bang if I’d known.” I attempted a smile but it was more a grimace. “So, now I have to tell my Dad. And he’s already livid.”
“I hope he understands,” Maya said and she kissed me gently on the cheek. “I’m here for you.”
“Hey,” I teased, “you can do better than that, can’t you?” I pouted my lips. “State champions, I think I deserve a real kiss?”
Maya frowned, like I was being a jerk, but in my peripheral vision I could see Savannah and a bunch of cheerleaders. I guessed she could see them too.
Savannah hesitated, but left the squad to approach us. Maya tensed and removed her hand from mine and held the back of the wheelchair like she was ready to push me somewhere.
“Hey, Ollie,” Savannah said, her eyes flitting to Maya. “Hi Maya. Uh, thanks for helping the squad today. I know it can’t have been easy with your sprained ankle, but we appreciate your contribution.”
It sounded like a rehearsed statement, but Maya, gracious as ever, replied with a bright, “You’re welcome. It was a great result.”
I wasn’t quite so accommodating, my hostility rampant. “You tried to sabotage our relationship.” I wasn’t holding back. “You made it look like we were together again after I told you we were done.”
Maya’s fingers brushed the side of my neck, a subtle motion that immediately calmed me. Here and now wasn’t the time to have a go at Savannah.
It was Rose who had told Maya that Savannah had doctored the pictures of us to make it look like we were together. She’d taken the photos from the week before, changed the background, used the Olivannah hashtag and made it look as if we were hanging out, making Maya and the whole cheer squad believe we were back together.
I doubted I could ever forgive her for that.
“I...I...I’m sorry,” Savannah said, unable to make eye contact with me. She shrugged, for once in her life not full of confidence. “I didn’t mean to...”—she broke into a mumble—“and I’m sorry you couldn’t play today.”
“Yeah, okay,” I said in a dismissive way. I was done with Savannah and I didn’t want to dwell on the past anymore. I wanted to move forward. The trajectory of my life had changed and I was filled with the raw energy of facing the unknown, though aware that I had to weather a storm first—the rage that was my father. It was not something I was looking forward to, but I hoped with my brothers around, it might be easier.
“Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me!” George came bounding toward the wheelchair, but his eyes were fixed on Maya. “Maya Shelton? Lizzie’s little sister? Hey! Wow!”
George ignored me and hugged Maya like she was a long lost friend. “Haven’t seen you in years. When we moved from Cherry Lane? When was that? Four or five years?”
“Four,” I piped up, feeling invisible and overlooked in my seated position.
George interrogated Maya on all things Lizzie, disappointed to hear she hadn’t come back for the game and was dating a guy called Keiran.
That’s when he turned to me. “You must be tired, Ollie? You ready to go?”
“Yeah, my leg is sore,” I said, pain and fatigue settling in. It had been a long day and I was starting to think I should’ve listened to the doctor. “Maya, do you need a ride, or are you going back on the bus?”
“Yeah, I came on the bus. It looks like I should get back to the team,” she said.
“You guys have fun,” I said. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”
Maya nodded and we smiled at each other, and I wanted to kiss her but with George standing right there, I knew he’d be a jerk and make fun of me. Maybe it was just as well Rose came over and whisked Maya away.
“So? Maya Shelton?” George grinned before he started pushing me. “Who would’ve thought?”
“She’s pretty great,” I said, my heart swelling with pride, though everything about my leg was hurting.
“Yeah, well, gotta admit I was pretty surprised when Mom told me,” George said, turning pensive. “I miss that house in Cherry Lane. It was cool living there. The stark white walls of Maple Heights just don’t have that homely feel.”
“But the granite kitchen counter top is pretty amazing,” I said.
“If cooking’s your thing, I guess it is,” he said.
