Page 48 of The Comeback

“You’re welcome.”

We eat in silence for a couple of minutes, and then she sucks the frosting off her fingers. “Do you think I can go back to playing sports?”

“I don’t know. But I wouldn’t be surprised. My first doctor said I’d never be able to walk without intense pain and an obvious limp. In less than a year, I ran a marathon. I’m not going to lie. My knee hurts when it rains and is stiff in the morning, which gets on my nerves.” I shrug. “But I can deal with that.”

“I hear you. My hips kill me, but it’s bearable compared to right after the injury.”

“Do you have nightmares?” I box up the trash and close the lid.

“No.” She shakes her head. “Not really. I don’t remember the accident. I was unconscious after being hit and didn’t wake up until I was getting sedated for surgery. Then, after the medication started working, I didn’t feel a thing.”

I tilt my head. “Why didn’t you go back to school?”

She looks down at the floor. “By the time I was out of rehab, all my friends had moved on. One friend was dating the boy I’d crushed on since third grade, and she knew it. And the other was playing my spot on the soccer team. Any time I called them; they were too busy to talk.”

I grab her hands. “I’m sorry. Being a teenage girl sucks ass as it is. I’m not going to lie. I’ve been dumped more times than I can count. Guys are not into competitive girls, and with three brothers, there was no way I was going to grow up being a pushover. I’ve never lasted longer than a couple of months dating a guy. And friends….” I shrug. “I lost a lot of friends over the years whenever we moved. Including the last time when I moved here to Kansas City. But I’m still close to one friend that I’ve had since I was a kid.”

She tilts her head and studies me. “Do you still keep in contact with her?”

“We’ve always talked. No matter how far apart we lived. We’d talk on the phone. Get together in the summer. Play online video games with each other. She moved here ten years ago.” I smile while thinking about Tara. She’s one of the good ones. Or maybe that’s all we’re guaranteed–one or two good friends over the years.

“You were lucky.” She gnaws on her bottom lip, drags her hands back to her side of the table, and lays them in her lap. “I’ve been thinking about going back in the fall. At least here I won’t know anyone, and my brother is on the team, so that might get me a few brownie points.”

“I bet it does. The team has rock star status here in town.” Clothes. Girls need clothes. I raise my eyebrows. “School starts in a few weeks. We should go shopping.”

“Now?” Her eyes fill with panic.

“Yes.” I grab the boxes and stand, causing the chair legs to scrap on the floor. “Now. Let’s go shopping. I know the cutest stores.”

“I don’t want to look like you.” She matches my stance and pushes her chair under the table.

“Fine.” I glare. What’s wrong with my look? She’s making me feel out of style. “I won’t force you to wear boots with shorts.” I spin in a circle. “Although, I feel like I look pretty good. I’m not getting any complaints from your brother.”

“If you force me to wear what you’re wearing, I’m putting you in goth.” She waves her open hand toward me. “You’re all light and cheery. That’s too much. I need something toned down a few notches.”

This is going to be so much fun. I force myself not to jump up and down in excitement. “Okay. Try not to get freaked out and run away or anything, but I’ve always wanted a sister, and the thought of going shopping with you is kind of geeking me out. I have three smelly, obnoxious brothers that think shopping is buying ten pairs of the same shorts and T-shirts, all in the same color and size.”

“Wonderful.” She feigns annoyance and then gives me an enthusiastic hug. “I like you. You are kind of cool, and I’m glad my brother is dating you. You’re way nicer than Helena. She intentionally ran into me on the way out of Weston’s hospital room. Shoulder check and everything.”

“That bitch.” My eyes narrow into slits. “We should tape down all the keys on her remote.”

“Yeah, we should.” She giggles, and we walk into the sunshine arm and arm. “Or put Saran Wrap over her toilet.”

“Good one.” I wink with a smirk on my lips. “I’ve got all kinds of pranks. From bets to pranks, I’ve got it all.”

Although we’re joking, it’s fun to run down all the silly crap my brothers and I have pulled on each other. When was the last time we did a food challenge? Too long.

“One time I bet my brothers over who could peel a boiled egg faster. But the eggs weren’t boiled. It was so funny watching them try to skin pieces off. They ended up cracking them instead. There were yolk and egg whites everywhere.”

We need to do that again. Next time, I might even let them peel boiled eggs.

Chapter Twenty-Five

A Few Days Later

Weston

As I stand in a runner’s stance on the endzone, Coach Rowland blows the whistle, and I shoot off the line, running at full speed to the 5-yard line, stop, touch the ground, spin around, and return to the starting point.

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