Chapter 31

Renee’s POV

“C’mon mom, we’re going to be late!” Debbie says using one hand to pull my arm and another to tug on her jacket.

“Hang on, Debbie I’m on the phone,” I tell her while Emily laughs on the other line. “We’re not even going to be late,” I reassure her as Debbie stomps her foot on the ground. I glance at the clock on my phone, in fact we’re going to be early even if we left in the next ten minutes.

Debbie’s just excited to get to her soccer game because ever since Eric has been their couch, the team has really been improving. Debbie is convinced today will be the day her team wins, and I hope so.

The poor kindergarten class has only one win this entire season and it was against the only other team in the entire district that’s worse than they are. The score was zero to one, not really much of a steal.

“It’s just a little too much don’t you think?” I say to Emily. As far as Debbie knows, Emily and I are discussing cooking recipes which is our code for Eric meddling too much in our lives.

“Yes,” Emily agrees. “But, he hasn’t said anything about your real identity even with all this extra time around him,”

“No,” I hesitate and glance at Debbie who stares at me annoyed. The attitude on this girl. “But, don’t you think it’s only a matter of time before someone else figures out this secret ingredient?” Debbie raises her eyebrows at me.

“The more you worry about it, the more your desperation is going to come off in your scent and only raise his suspicions. Just keep pretending to be indifferent about his presence and the whole situation will blow over before you know it,” Emily reassures me.

“Yeah,” I sigh. “I can do that, but I’m not the best actor- I mean cook,” I quickly correct myself and hope Debbie didn’t pick up on my slip up.

“What?” Emily yells into the phone so loudly that I have to pull it away from my ear. “You’re the best cook I’ve ever met!” Now Debbie’s attention is fully on us.

“Emily must not go out to eat very often,” Debbie says and give her a pointed look. I put my palm over the phone and lower it down to my waist.

“Go wait in the car,” I tell Debbie.

“Finally,” she says.

“Em, I have to go. I’ll call you later and let you know how things progress,” With that I hang up the phone and take a deep breath. The only issue is, when Eric is near every fiber of my body is hyper aware of his every move. It’s intoxicating.

Pretending not to care about Eric’s presence is proving to be the most challenging thing about keeping a secret identity.

The parking lot is full. Jam-packed. People are parking on the grass. Debbie anxiously taps on the window in the back seat. “There’s a spot! Take it! Take it!” Debbie shouts as her breath fogs up the window.

“Debbie that’s handicapped, I can’t park there.” I tell her.

Debbie slumps back in her seat. “I told you we were going to be late!”

“I didn’t know we needed gas!” I argue back with her. Debbie grunts. “Besides, I can’t take a handicapped spot when you’re going to be running around on the field. How do you explain that to a cop?”

We loop through the lot twice more. Debbie is on the verge of tears. I give up. I park in the damn handicapped spot. I’ll just add it to the list of my wrong doings in life.

The car is barely in park before Debbie jumps out and dashes to where her teammates are huddled in a circle.

I take my time, carrying the bag I’m filled with snacks, water, an extra pair of cleats, towels, emergency band aids, and whatever lucky stuff animal Debbie deemed necessary for today’s event.

Despite the cold weather, by the time I reach the bleachers sweat is rolling down my back.

There’s no place to sit on the bleachers, like the parking lot, it’s full. Every seat is taken. I consider standing my punishment.

The game has just started. From what I hear the opposing team is the best in the district, they even have a first grader on the team according to Debbie. I look at the group of kindergarteners and we don’t look that threatening.

Eric blows the whistle and it takes a minute for some of the children to jump into action. Not Debbie, though. She starts booking it towards the ball. I smile. She gets her determinism from her dad. My smile falls from my face. I can’t believe I just thought that.

I have to stop spending so much time with Eric. If that thought suddenly popped in my head; who’s to say I won’t accidentally blurt it out next time.

Someone from the other team takes a hard kick to the net, but Nilo blocks it. I clap as do other parents. I look for Mia in the stand, but I don’t see her.

A pang of sympathy twinges at my heart for Nilo. He probably wishes his mom was here, even if his mom is arguably the most annoying person in the world.

I look at Eric who shoots Nilo a thumbs up. At least Nilo has him. The realization settles sadly in my heart. Nilo has Eric, not Debbie. It doesn’t matter if Debbie takes after Eric, he isn’t her father. He gave that up a while ago, even before she was born.

The game continues, Debbie maintains her energy throughout the whole game. Right now, the two teams are tied. Two points on each side. There are only a couple minutes left in the game. I haven’t stopped sweating since I arrived.

Debbie has the ball and she runs with it. I think she’s going to make a goal just when someone from the other team sweeps in from behind and kicks the ball away from her. Debbie didn’t even notice she’s still running and then I see the anger settle over her.

She finds the person who took the ball from her and hooks her eyes on him. She runs and runs until she’s right up on his feet.

She snags the ball and gives it a hard kick. The ball soars across the field and lands directly in front of the net on the other teams’ side. One of her teammates dives after it and as she slides to hit the ball she kicks it into the net.

That’s game.

Half of the parents in the bleachers jump up and cheer. I run over to Debbie to congratulate her on her assist. The whole team is going wild and Eric stands back tall and proud, a smile growing across his face.

The whole team is clapping and cheering. They only stop when Eric tells them to go tell the other team ‘good game,’ they do as they’re told.

“Congratulations on your teams win,” I say to Eric still facing forward.

“I didn’t do anything. That was all them,” Eric says nonchalantly.

When the team returns, Debbie lights up with an idea. “Let’s go get pizza!” The team cheers in agreement.

My face falls. The last thing I want to do is spend more time with Eric, but I can’t have Debbie be the only child not attending the pizza party.

Emily’s words ring in my head to pretend that I don’t care about Eric’s presence. “Sounds good to me,” I say then another idea pops into my mind. “I’ll invite Jasper,” I tell Debbie but I’m aware of Eric’s stare.

Debbie claps her hands and returns to her teammates still basking in their winning glory.

I turn back around and see Eric narrowing his eyes at me. “Is that a problem?” I ask.

“Not at all,” Eric says his voice clipped.

I call Jasper and he readily agrees to meet us at the pizza parlor. I tell him that as far as Eric knows, we’re still dating.

“Does this mean we’re back together?” Jasper jokes and I laugh.

“Can’t be back together if we never broke up,” I say joining in with my own play on words. Technically we never really dated and technically Eric thinks we never split.

The pizza joint instantly livens as twenty sweaty and hungry kindergarteners like inside all talking over one another a mile a minute. The restaurant is warm and the smell of garlic what’s in the air. My mouth waters.

“Go sit outside,” Eric says to the team. Many of the customers inside give us annoyed glances, only the older folks look pleased to see such enthusiasm and young life. Still, the volume is too much for indoor seating.

“Can I get a soda?” Debbie asks, bouncing up and down.

“No,” Jasper, Eric, and my self all respond in unison.

Eric goes to order three large pizzas. One plain, one pepperoni, and one veggie. While we wait for the order to be made we join the kids and the other parents outside.

Jasper and I sit at an occupied table. Eric stands off to the side. He’s definitely not happy that Jasper is here, but if he wants to be upset that’s on him.

“Everything okay between you two?” Jasper asks, arching an eyebrow in Eric’s direction.

I feel myself flame with heat. I must’ve been staring.

“Yes. Nothing new,” I say and turn my back to Eric and try to give Jasper my full attention.

“So, I uh was thinking,” Jasper says moving his eyes away from Eric and back on to me. “Would you want to get dinner with me for my birthday this weekend?”

I’m not sure if that’s a good idea, but he did say it was his birthday and I can’t say no, and who knows- maybe this is fate giving me another real chance at love.