Beth nodded and glared at Leah, who glared right back.
“Okay,” Cooper said. “Talk about who you want to target. Talk to each other on the line. Listen to your team leader and just try and communicate.”
He and Eli made sure that the teams were lined up properly, then stepped out of the way. Cooper raised his arm. “Ready? Game on.”
There was a mad scramble for the balls lying on the center line. One of the Serious Actresses on the other side immediately hurled a dodge ball that hit a Starlet on the leg. “Out!” she screeched.
“Hey!” the Starlet cried, rubbing her thigh. “That’s not fair!”
But apparently it was fair, because the team across from Leah was suddenly and gleefully hurling their balls, accompanied with triumphant shrieks that were lost only in the shrieks of those who were hit.
The quiet Starlet appointed to head Leah’s team turned out to be a Commando Starlet, screeching at everyone to pick up their feet and move. Leah was vaguely aware of Trudy getting hit behind her when she cried, “Shit! I just had these nails done!” But Leah was moving. She really did love dodgeball, and it was all coming back to her—how to leap to avoid being hit, how to throw on the run, how to stoop to catch a ball.
She nailed Katherine Hepburn on her first throw—that one gasped and looked confused and hurt before slinking off. Leah aimed for Beth with her second throw, just missing her. As she scrambled to pick up more balls, the Commando Starlet shouted at her to shift left, shift left, then rushed the line, hurling her ball like a missile at Tamara.
Tamara dodged it, which floored Leah, but then she sang out an uncharacteristic nanner-nanner at the Starlet, and therefore missed the red rocket coming at her from the other end of the line. A huge cheer went up from both sides when Tamara took one in the ass.
Within fifteen minutes, there were only three left on each side, and Leah was one of them. She could hear Trudy, Jamie, and Michele shouting at her from the bleachers to stay low. Leah, the Commando Starlet, and a Serious Actress huddled together, ready to leap in opposite directions.
At least that was what the Commando was telling them to do, but Leah wasn’t listening—she wanted to take Beth down. Beth had been aiming at Leah since the start of the game, firing off heated missiles like she wanted to see her dead. Leah had to keep racing up and down and diving behind her teammates to avoid being hit.
When Beth picked up two balls and threw them in rapid succession at their little group, Leah seized the opportunity to run down the line, trying to catch a ball as she went. But as she neared the entrance to the basketball court, she caught a glimpse of Jack and another guy standing just inside the door, watching the game. It was only a fraction of a second, but in that teeny tiny moment, Leah thought she’d seen a ghost.
It was enough to take her mind off the game and long enough for Beth to hurl a ball at her. And the ball did indeed find purchase—more like a two-fer sale, actually, because the ball glanced off her shoulder and then hit her in the temple. It didn’t hurt at all, but it surprised her, and her feet got tangled, and down Leah went, somehow ending up on her back.
Leah was aware of the shrill protests and boos being bellowed from her teammates, but the fall had knocked the wind out of her, and she laid there, her eyes closed, trying to get her breath back, frantically wondering if she’d really seen a ghost or if he was real.
“Okay, this is what I’m talking about. Your team leader said go right, and you went left.” That was Cooper’s voice, and presumably, Cooper’s hand on her forehead. “You gotta work like a team out there and listen to your leader, okay? Anything broken or sprained?”
Only her pride. Leah shook her head.
“Are you all right, kiddo?”
She recognized Eli’s voice. “Yes,” she sighed, and opened her eyes and pushed herself up on her elbows.
Jack’s face was looming above hers, squinting with concern as he touched her hairline and her temple. “Think we ought to call the nurse?”
“No, no, don’t call a nurse,” she said quickly, mortified by the suggestion. “I’m fine. I just had the wind knocked out of me.” She tried to get up.
“Don’t move too fast,” Jack cautioned her.
“I’m fine. I’m more embarrassed than anything else—who gets hurt playing dodgeball, for Chrissakes?”
“Good question,” Jack said.
Someone’s cell phone rang. “Hey. No cell phones!” Eli shouted. “This isn’t a break. Beth, you sit down over there.”
Leah groaned. “Let me up, will you?”
Jack moved back, and that was when her ghost came into full view. He was down on his haunches at her feet, his face as handsome as ever, his expression every bit as stunned as she felt. He stared at her hard, as if he couldn’t quite make her out, and then asked incredulously, “Leah Kleinschmidt? Is that really you?”