Freeing Carter (18 page)

"
Eighteen and they were all for you
,
kid.
"
I set her down as
Mom
hugs me.

"
Good game
,
you.
"

"
Thanks
,
Ma.
"
Just like every day since that one night
,
her eyes are crystal clear. Her scent untainted.

"
We have to go. Bill
'
s expecting Sara. I suppose you
'
re going out?
"

I nod my reply.

"
Be good and be home by curfew.
"
She gives me a quick kiss.
"
I
'
m proud of you.
"

Left and right people come up
,
congratulating me. Before the locker room. After.

Mel and Trina are bouncing up and down in the car
,
making me wonder why I thought it would be a good idea to ride with two girls to a party. After we get out of the car
,
I grab Mel
'
s hand and pull her to me.
"
We
'
ll be right there
,
Trin
,"
I call to her.

I
'
m standing here
,
holding her around the waist and I realize I don
'
t remember the last time I kissed my girlfriend.
"
Are you going to tell me congratulations?
"
I ask and lean toward her. It
'
s nothing but a quick press of our lips before we both pull away.

"
Congrats
,
Carter.
"

I step away
,
and then another step. Wow
...
I got nothing. What does this mean? Maybe the bigger question is what do I do now?

Mel doesn
'
t give me a chance to figure it out.
"
Oh! I love this song! Come on
,
Carter. Let
'
s go inside.
"
 

She whirls away and runs inside
,
not looking back. I don
'
t try to catch up.

Chapter Eight

I
'
ve been here almost two hours and I
'
ve only seen a ghost of Mel here and there. We talk for five seconds and then she
'
s gone again
,
which is okay
,
because I
'
ve been with Travis most of the night. He
'
s got a beer in his hand and me a soda. It
'
s not always easy to explain my no-drinking thing. Travis has never asked me about it
,
but I
'
m sure he wonders. Other people give me crap
,
but I make up BS excuses every time
.
I
'
ve seen enough of what that shit does to know not to put a drop of it in my system.

Grandpa was an alcoholic.

Mom was/is an alcoholic.

Yeah
,
totally not going there.

"
This party is kind of lame
,"
Travis yells
,
downing the rest of the beer in his bottle.

"
For sure. Better than being home
,
though.
"

Travis has been quiet most of the night
,
drumming on his legs like he
'
s been doing a lot lately. If it wasn
'
t for ball
,
he
'
d be in a band. He has drums in his garage that he
'
s always screwing around with.

"
What
'
s up? You
'
ve been weird.
"

Travis shrugs
,
without giving anything away. He twists his hat around so it
'
s facing frontward.

"
You still think it was the right thing to break it off with
,
Trina?
"
I ask. Part of me wonders if that
'
s what
'
s bothering him
,
but the other part wants to know for myself. Will I regret it if I end it with Mel?

"
Yep. I know it was. I
'
ve met like three different girls since then!
"

He sounds like Travis when he
'
s speaking
,
but something is different. His face is sort of tight. Maybe it
'
s just that he hardly ever wears his hat like that.

"
Oh
,
Orange. Twelve o
'
clock.
"
He nods his head behind me. I turn and see the top of an orange head above the crowd. It
'
s faded a lot since yesterday. I
'
m assuming she spent like three hours in the shower trying to get that crap out. Now it
'
s more like an orangish-brown leaf instead of a carrot.

No matter what color it is
,
she
'
s not tall enough for her head to be over the crowd like that.
"
What
'
s she doing?
"
I ask
,
as if Travis knows more than I do.

"
Don
'
t know. Let
'
s find out.
"
He starts weaving his way through the crowd with me at his heels. The closer we get I realize she
'
s standing on a coffee table. Standing isn
'
t the right word
,
she
'
s
dancing
up there
,
like she
'
s in her own little world. It
'
s not really a fast song
,
but not a slow song either
,
but her body is swaying back and forth to the music. Her eyes are closed
,
so lost in what she
'
s doing that I wonder if she
'
s made herself think she
'
s alone. I could never do that—block everyone else out like that. Well
,
I guess I kind of do when I
'
m playing
,
but it
'
s different.

Kira turns
,
puts her arms above her head and shimmies. There
'
s a group of people standing around the table
,
watching her
,
but I know she
'
s not doing it for them. She
'
s doing it for herself.

She
'
s wearing a leather-looking skirt and a short shirt. A sliver of caramel skin on her stomach shows when she lifts her arms.

"
Wow
..."
Travis says from beside me.

I can
'
t find the words to reply.

A guy jumps up behind her
,
wraps his arms around her waist to try and dance with her. My feet start to carry me forward
,
but I stop when she pushes him down
,
then gets right back to what she
'
s doing.

The song fades into something louder
,
harder. She jumps up and down to the beat a couple times and then leaps to the floor. All the people around her are talking to her
,
but I can
'
t hear what they
'
re saying. She smiles at them all
,
replies to a few
,
but starts walking our way.

Once she gets through her crowd of admirers her eyes scan the people before landing on us. Or me. Or us. I
'
m not sure.

"
Fancy seeing you here.
"
I
'
m not sure if she
'
s talking to me or Travis
,
but I
'
m hoping it
'
s me. She wipes her forehead and I swear
,
it
'
s never been so sexy to see a girl sweat before.
Back up
,
Shaw. You still have a girl. Stop calling this girl sexy.

"
It
'
s a party. Not like we
'
d miss it.
"
Travis answers her. She turns to me.

"
Are you a party animal
,
Carter? You don
'
t seem the type.
"
Her voice is light
,
flirty.

I hold up my soda.
"
Nope. I
'
m benched.
"

She smiles
,
grabs the soda out of my hand and drains it.
"
Thanks
,
Sleepy. Though I
'
m not sure I can call you that anymore. I
'
ll have to think of a new name for you.
"

I
'
m struck dumb. I can
'
t think of anything to say. My name is Carter? Why do you need to come up with a new name for me? All of it makes me sound like a loser so I nod
,
which I
'
m pretty sure has the same affect.

"
Good game
,
guys. Congrats on your first win.
"

"
Thanks.
"

Travis has suddenly started talking to someone else who walks up. It shouldn
'
t
,
but it
makes me happy. I’m not sure why
,
but
I want this girl all to myself right now. Which is all kinds of dumb. Might make me an asshole too since my girlfriend is somewhere at this party
,
but it
'
s not like I
'
m doing anything wrong.

"
So does that mean you
'
re going to come to the games? Now that you know we won
'
t embarrass you?
"

"
Ugh! I guess. Thanks a lot. Normally I
'
m not really a sporty-kind-of-girl
,
but I actually enjoyed it a little. Now you
'
re giving me a personality complex.
"

I
'
m pretty sure she
'
s always had one. It
'
s on the tip of my tongue to ask her what kind of girl she is. She
'
s not a sporty girl
,
not a cheerleader. She dances on tables and would rather walk than get a ride. She doesn
'
t even dress in the same style two days in a row or keep the same hairstyle or color for long. Does she know who she is? I
'
m dying to find out.

"
Everyone should love basketball. You should be happy I
'
m making you love it. It
'
s the only place in the world I can totally lose myself.
"

Holy crap. I can
'
t believe I just said that.

She puts her hand on her hip
,
looking thoughtful.
"
And why would you need to lose yourself
,
Carter Shaw?
"