Come the Rain by Shannon Smiley

Author:Shannon Smiley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Shannon Smiley

Chapter Twelve

Soul Ryder failed to show up to run the circuit Monday morning. He failed to show up for school. Tuesday morning cardio, same story. Anastasija waited around, tying then retying her sneakers. She crouched on one knee by the trailhead, her eyes scanning the tree line, the alley, the gaps between buildings where he might slip through, make a last minute appearance. To no avail. Bothered, she ran the course, anyway. She pondered over his absence, wondered if it could be blamed on their conversation at church. Be blamed on her mouth.

Unloading books into her locker at school, she kept her head angled so that Camron’s locker stood in her direct line of vision. She didn’t see Jacey approach.

“Notice anything different?”

Anastasija startled. She banged her elbow against the metal door and turned to her bouncy newcomer, looked the girl up and down. “You’re not wearing your boot.”

“It came off this morning,” Jacey smiled. “Can we say, ‘freedom?’” She laughed, looping an arm around Anastasija’s tense shoulders. “Upside is, now I can go through all of the attractions at Scare Creek. Downside, I don’t have an excuse for getting out of basketball.”

“Basketball?” Anastasija tried to jump track.

“You haven’t heard? Mr. Armbrust dropped his coffee cup on the pool deck this morning. Glass went everywhere. Standard city op’ rules say he’s gotta drain the pool. He’s livid, what with all of the problems we’ve had. He’s decided to just cut Aquatics short and start our next Phys Ed segment. Basketball.”

For once, Anastasija didn’t have to orchestrate some elaborate plan. It seemed like the ‘pool gods’ had finally looked upon her with mercy. And basketball? Sure she was down an arm—wearing a brace—but still. She’d been known to throw a few hoops now and then.

“I’ll meet up with you in the locker room,” Jacey said, walking backwards. “I’ve gotta hit the computer lab.”

Anastasija finished stuffing her backpack. She shut her locker door with her foot right as warning bell rang for third period. She had five minutes to make it to class. Never one to feel the pinch, though, she took her time.

She sauntered past the science wing, wondered briefly if Soul Ryder would make it to chemistry, then stopped to get a drink at a water fountain. Leaning down, she saw a pair of lime green hightops skid to a stop beside her. Hightops with orange paint splatter.

“Funny how no one seems to know you and Corbin are dating.”

Anastasija wiped her mouth before standing back up. She faced Bryce, her eyebrow raised in annoyance. “Funny how you care. What’s your problem?”

“My problem?” He shirked. “I don’t have a problem.” He shook out his arms like he could shake off his obvious embarrassment. “Did Corbin say that?”

She heard the hardened edge to his voice, witnessed the flush redden his cheeks. She stepped forward. “You seem to also have a hearing problem. Who said anything about Camron?”

For a second, Bryce’s face contorted in anger—his steely gray eyes narrowed, his thin lips pressed together in a tight line—but then some inner thought clipped his mood.

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