Page 87 of Puck You
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Sebastian
Grace Gillman was going to give me an aneurysm.It had been less than twenty-four hours since I'd watched her faint, and despite my urgings to take more than a day to recuperate, she was waiting outside my Econ class where we usually met up on Monday afternoons.Her stubbornness was unmatched.She needed more rest, but asking her to take a break was like asking the Hulk to calm down: extremely ill-advised.
“You didn’t sleep much last night,” I said, taking in the dark circles under her eyes.
“Are you telling me I look horrible?”
I bit back the urge to remind her that she’d quite literally collapsed before my eyes.Seeing her crumple like that had been one of the scariest moments in my life.She might be willing to act like nothing had happened, but I wasn’t going to let it slide that easily.
“You scared me yesterday, and it’s not just that,” I said, stopping myself short as I tried to think of the best way to approach my concerns.
“Are you still upset about Matt?”she asked.
I shook my head.“No, this isn’t about him.It’s about how weird you’ve been acting since that phone call with your dad.Iknow something’s up, and I just want to help.”
“I appreciate that,” she said, reaching out to take my hand.“The call took me by surprise.It’s more of the same.Gabby hates me, and my dad won’t do anything even though she’s clearly in distress and acting out.”
“Is there anyone else who might be able to persuade her to go to therapy?”
Something incomprehensible flickered behind Grace’s eyes.“I don’t think so.I was going to see if Sam could—” Grace sucked in a breath, as if just remembering something painful.“I appreciate that you’re worried about me, I really do, but there isn’t anything you can do to help.At least not directly.”
I knew that she was holding back.There was more to the conversation with her father—I’d listened to bits and pieces of their discussion, heard the pain in her voice through the wall of books between us.Why couldn’t she be honest with me?
“Come on, we’ll be late for lunch,” she said, grabbing my hand and setting off down the hall.
Be patient, I reminded myself.It was hard to accept that she wasn’t ready to tell me everything, but instead of pushing, I let her lead the way to lunch in stilted silence.The usual suspects were spread around our regular table, and everyone seemed to be talking at once.It wasn’t until we sat down that I noticed Lydia and Caroline hunched over a laptop.
“Did we miss anything?”Grace asked.
Caroline spoke before anyone else could, eyes darting up from her computer screen.“I’ve been calculating the numbers.Are you two interested to see where you stand in the bet?”
For a moment, I had no idea what she was talking about.But before I could voice my confusion, Grace let out a surprisingshriek of excitement, exclaiming, “Yes!Please tell me I’m winning.”
“Not exactly,” Caroline said with a tilt of her head.“It’s more of a tie at this point.You’re up in assists, but Sebastian is up in goals, and you’re pretty much tied in face-offs.”
“Pretty much tied.How is that possible?”I asked.
“Well, technically Grace has one over you, Seb, but you’re up higher in goals than she is in assists.It evens things out.”
It had been weeks since a thought about the bet had even crossed my mind.To be honest, it didn’t matter to me at this point.I was tempted to suggest calling it off and tell Grace I’d make the donation happen no matter what, but I didn’t.Something told me that Grace would be disappointed if she didn’t have the chance to beat me herself.And from the eager gleam in her eyes, letting her stay focused on the bet could be a much-needed distraction from the stuff going on at home.
“As I was going through the stats, I did happen upon a potential logistical issue.If both teams make it all the way to the Frozen Four, the men will have played more games than us, which gives Seb the advantage.”
“Wow, confident, are we?”Kent teased.
“Oh, come on, there’s no need to be humble.We’re leading our conference, and you guys are neck and neck with Denver.The only other team in the NCAA that’s close to your stats is Western Michigan.Even if you lose to Denver in the conference championship, you’ll still progress to regionals,” Caroline said.
“Okay, if that happens, then we can count the games with his best stats and put that against the number of games Grace plays,” Bryce suggested.
It wasn’t the best solution, given I’d have more chances to rack up better stats than she would, but Grace didn’t complain.
“That’s not really fair, though,” I pointed out.
Grace nudged me in the side with her elbow.“I’m not worried about it.”
“But—”
