I sighed and shook my head. “Not great.”
“Figured as much. That’s why I waited for you, to help you get up the stairs. I thought it might be tough for you, with your ankle and carrying your gym bag and books and stuff...”
“Aw, thanks. You're the bestest friend ever,” I told her.
“I know,” she chirped as she helped me with my bags and books. Thanks to her, we got upstairs without too much trouble. After I'd put my stuff away, we sat down on the sofa, and Leena brought me the food I’d picked up for us, along with a bottle of water.
“So you think you were tripped up, huh?” she asked.
I glared at her hard. “How did you know that?”
“Coach pulled me aside and asked if I’d seen anything.”
I acknowledged and continued. “Well, I don't think it – I know it. Someone kicked my ankles together hard from behind. It was a deliberate blow, I'm sure of it. It wasn't just someone running too close to me. There was a solid force behind that kick.”
She nodded. “Yeah, I suspected as much. And, I think I have a pretty good idea of who it might have been.”
“Let me guess,” I said. “Starts with a 'T' and ends with a 'Y.'”
“You got it,” she agreed.
I sighed and shook my head. “I think everyone knows it was her. The problem is, there's no way for me to prove it. So, without proof, what can I do about it?”
“Well, here's the thing, Eryn – I think there might actually be proof.”
She caught me a little off guard. “What? How?”
“Wade. He was determined to get to the bottom of what happened, so he put his phone on audio record and had the cleaning lady hide it in the locker room where Tammy and Kelly's lockers are. So, if they said anything to each other about tripping you up, he'll have it as proof.”
A surge of something rushed through me. I didn’t know what to say or how to feel. I couldn't believe he'd done that. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
“Wow!” was all I could say. I was a little taken back. “Well, I hope he catches them, I really do...because I don't know what else to do.”
I was about to ask Leena what she thought I should do if Wade’s phone hadn’t picked up anything concrete when my own phone buzzed. Leena handed me my purse from the table and I rifled through it to see who had messaged me. It was from Wade.
Hi, Eryn. Hope your ankle’s doing okay. I have some information about who tripped you in practice. I was hoping I could come over and talk to you and Leena about it this evening?
I looked up at Leena. “He's found out something. Said he has some information.”
“Oh my God! He didn’t say what it is?”
“No, but he wants to come over here to talk to us about it.”
“Well, I want to know what the hell is going on. Tell him to come right now!” she said.
I typed out a quick reply.
Hey, Wade. Ankle is the same. I’m curious about the information. You can come over now, if that's all right. Leena will meet you downstairs.
I got a reply a few seconds later.
Sounds good; see you in about 20.
When he arrived, Leena met him outside and led him up to our apartment. It felt a little awkward having him in my home. Even if we wanted to pretend nothing had happened, it had and we both knew it. The tense glances back and forth were proof that it had definitely not been forgotten. And sitting there with Leena being totally clueless about the invisible tension crackling in the air made the situation all the more uneasy.
He said a friendly hello to me as he followed Leena into the living room.
“Hi, Wade,” I replied and tried to keep the heat I was feeling from showing in my cheeks. “Have a seat,” I added hastily, pointing at the easy chair opposite the sofa.