The Rulebreaker

I turn and run the route I’ve run thousands of times at practice, but the opponent won’t leave me open for long. I side-step, waiting near the goal, then run to the open spot in front of it when Ashley takes control of the ball and kicks it in my direction—a long, high drive that sends it up, but not far enough to score it. I jump up, my opponent jumps with me, crashing into my shoulder, but my attention is just on the ball. I head butt it as hard as I can, and come down crashing, my opponent beneath me. I hear the yells and cheers and I know somehow, in the midst of the chaos, I scored the goal. I lay there catching my breath. My opponent starts to get up.

“You good?”

“Yeah.” I nod just as Leyla runs over to help me up with Ashley, Morgan, and a few others running behind them screaming.

“You did that,” Leyla screams. “You fucking did that.”

“Did it look good? I couldn’t even see.” I laugh.

“It was ESPN worthy,” Morgan says laughing.

We only have a second to enjoy it because we have to get right back to it. The game ends one to zero. Afterward, Coach has words for us, and when she’s done, I soak in one of the ice-filled tubs alongside Leyla and Morgan, who are talking about tonight’s Halloween bash.

“I’m going as a pirate,” I say. “I got this costume last year after Halloween, and I’ve been looking forward to wearing it since.”

“I’m going as Peter Pan,” Leyla says and continues talking when Morgan and I laugh loudly. “I’m not kidding. It’s cute!”

“I’m going as a sexy flight attendant, you know, since we couldn’t fly last year,” Morgan says.

“I’m not sure what that has to do with your costume,” I say, “but I’m sure you’ll look great.”

“What’s Ashley going as?” Morgan asks.

“No idea,” I say.

“Ummm . . . I wanna say she’s going as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz.” Leyla shrugs. “I don’t know.”

“Are Maverick and Colson going?” Morgan asks.

“I think so.” I close my eyes. “I’m dying to get out of here already.”

“Same.” Leyla laughs.

“So, you and Maverick,” Morgan says. “Are the rumors true?”

“What rumors?” My eyes pop open. I glance over at Morgan.

“I heard you were sort of seeing each other.” She smiles. “Which, I mean, freaking finally, right?”

“Excuse me, you didn’t tell me this,” Leyla says. “Since when?”

“Since never.” I take a breath and exhale loudly. “We hooked up but it doesn’t mean anything. I mean, it does, but it doesn’t, you know?”

“No, I don’t know.” Leyla places both arms on the side of her tub and looks at me expectantly.

“What does that mean?” Morgan faces me as well.

“It means I’m probably going to be in love with my best friend until I find someone else to fall in love with.”

The two of them exchange looks, then look at me again.

“I mean . . . ” Morgan starts, looking unsure.

“You need to start by moving out and staying away from him for a while.”

“Yeah, I’ll start next week. I’m supposed to go to Charlotte next weekend with his family for Jagger’s football game.” I wipe my face and with a groan, I realize that I’m actually crying.

“Shit,” Morgan says. “I’m sorry, Keke.”

“It’s fine. I mean, it’s not like there’s a solution, right?”

Not a winning solution, anyway, but ignoring him seems like the only viable option right now and that’s what I’m going to try to do. It just absolutely sucks to ignore your best friend.

Chapter Twenty-Six

I look down at my phone and see a fourth text from Maverick.

Mav: What the hell is up? You haven’t responded to my texts. I’m about to call you.

Me: Been busy.

Mav: You coming to the party?

Me: Yeah, I’ll be there.

I stuff the phone in my black fanny pack and zip it back up. I’m not lying about being busy after my game and I am buzzing with the news but I want to tell Maverick in person, not via text or phone call or FaceTime. In person. I walk out of the bathroom and into Leyla and Ashley’s living room, where they’re both waiting for me, looking at their phones.

“Um, hello, how does this look?” I ask after a moment.

“Hot,” Leyla says.

“So hot, but I would definitely break the stockings a little more,” Ashley says, walking over to me and crouching down to rip holes into my already holey stockings. “There.”

“Thanks.” I smile as I look down.

The skirt is extremely short, but that’s the point of Halloween, right? Ashley and Leyla grab their purses and follow me outside, locking the door behind us. We decide to take an Uber, rather than drive, just in case any of us decides to drink tonight. We can usually bet on Ashley drinking, but Leyla and I are in celebration mode right now, so who knows what will happen.