Page 131 of Stealing for Keeps
In the locker room, I get dressed in my uniform while the guys do the same around me. A low chatter fills the room. I can’t wait to get out there. Sitting out the last game was torture, but I’m ready to bring it today.
Blake steps up next to me and opens his locker. He glances over and gives me a chin lift. I respond the same way, but as I glance away, something catches my eye. A black notebook and not just any notebook: my sketchbook. The torn cover and splotches of paint make me certain it’s mine.
“Where’d you get that?” I ask him, pointing to it. Confusion and unease prick my skin.
“Oh shit,” he says, reaching for it. “I completely forgot. Claire asked me to give this to you yesterday, but when I got into the locker room, you were already out on the field. Sorry.”
I hold it in my hands for a moment, a weird sensationspreading through me as I flip to the last page. She added to the drawing I did yesterday. She put a thought bubble over her head and in it wrote, “Go, Austin!” Then she scribbled out a little note next to it:
Good luck tomorrow. I’ll be cheering for you. I’m always cheering for you.
x, Claire
“Everything cool?” Blake asks, giving me a weird look. Then I realize I probably have a strange look on my face too.
She wrote back. Not just that, but she wanted to make sure I knew she would be cheering me on.
Suddenly, all I want to do is go see her. This thing between us can’t be over. It just can’t. I know that she’s figuring things out, and I am too. We can figure it all out together. Life is so much easier when people show up for you. We can be that for each other.
“Everything is great.” I close the sketchbook and put it in my locker. We have about thirty minutes until the game. Maybe she’s already here. I turn to go find her, but Coach Collins steps into the room, halting me.
“Keller,” he says.
“Hey, Coach.”
“Are you ready for today?” His hands go to his hips as he assesses me.
“Yes, sir. I could barely sleep last night.”
“I remember that feeling.” One side of his mouth quirks up a fraction. “You’re the most talented young player I’ve seen in a long time, and you’re hungry for it. That’s good. Use that grit today, huh? We’re going to need it.”
I nod, a little dumbstruck. Jude Collins, my hero, just said I was the most talented young player he’s seen. I leave off the “in a long time” as I repeat it in my head. I’m the most talented young player he’s seen. Period.
Coach pushes past me. Everyone quiets down, and he moves into the center before he starts talking. “Ralley is here.”
The mood in the locker room shifts immediately.
“They think they’ve already won,” he says. “They’re betting that we’re going to walk out there scared, thinking about our last meeting and so in our heads that we can’t pull it together. But we aren’t going to do that.”
There’s a low murmur of agreement.
“You are the better team. I believe that with every fiber of my being. But it’s going to take each of you playing your best to beat them today. They’re not going to make it easy. They are hungry for it. They want to be the team that cost Frost Lake a conference title for the first time in four years. We have to be hungrier. Play our game. Work together. We don’t win or lose alone. We are a team. Don’t let them rush you or force easy mistakes.” He stops talking and lets his gaze scan the room. “All right. Let’s walk out there with our heads held high. Show no fear.”
He tips his head to Vaughn.
“All right, boys,” Vaughn says, placing his hand up in the air.
I feel the collective shift in the mood. We all step closer, joining the circle with our hands raised next to his.
Vaughn’s voice has that ring of authority laced with inspiration. He’s a good captain. “Knights on three. One, two…”
“Knights,” we all say in unison, dropping our hands.
Chapter Forty-One
Claire
It feels like the entire town is here to watch the game. Lacey and I are standing because the bleachers were full by the time we got here. Parking was insane. Frost Lake High has gone to state the last two years, and during that time, the community support has grown, latching on to the success like it’s their own.
