the room, greeting everybody, being the perfect hostess.
I realized there was a line of people there to talk to me. I felt like it was a funeral for my football career, with people offering their condo-lences. Even though the guys kept tel ing me I’d be fine, I was the one who was speaking to the doctors. They’d confirmed it was going to take several months to get back to somewhat normal, and even
then it would be hard for me to pivot and switch directions easily. The best hope I had for senior year was track. Running straight should be fine. At least I hoped it would be.
I was itching to run so I could clear my mind. And if there was a time in my life when I needed to get focused, work out issues, it was now.
I smiled politely and thanked everybody who came up to me and
told me they hoped I felt better and that I’d be back to running in no time.
All I could do was sit there. Stacey had disappeared, probably
talking to someone else in the kitchen.
I real y needed that glass of water.
“Hey there,” Macal an said, setting a glass of water and a plate of brownies on the end table. She sat down next to me. “Enjoying your audience?”
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“Oh, I am so happy to see you.”
“You’re happy to see my brownies.”
I’d been hesitant when Stacey brought up the idea for the party.
In the middle of me giving her reasons for why it wasn’t a good idea (I wouldn’t be up to it, I didn’t want people feeling sorry for me, they’d see me in a few days, I didn’t want a big deal made out of it), she cut me off with “Macal an will be there. She thinks it’s a great idea.” She didn’t say it in a way that led me believe she resented Macal an.
She had always understood about my relationship. She knew how
things were with us.
Wel , she didn’t know everything about us.
But Macal an knew Stacey loved her double-fudge brownies.
“This is fun.” Macal an tried to cheer me up.
“I guess.”
“Oh, pardon me.” She sighed exaggeratedly. “Everybody wanted to get together to celebrate that your surgery went wel , and they’re happy to see you. It must be so hard to get up in the morning.”
“Actual y, it is hard to get up in the morning.” I gestured at my leg brace.
She stood up. “I think I’m going to talk to anybody or anything that isn’t so negative. That wall looks tempting.”
I reached out my hand. “Please don’t go.”
Stacey came bounding for the couch. “You made it!” she said to
Macallan.
“Yeah, I brought you these.” Macal an gestured to the brownies. I grabbed two more before Stacey took the plate.
“Yu-um!” Stacey exclaimed. “Thanks so much!”
“You’re welcome.”
They looked at each other, neither sure what to say next.
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“Um . . .” I stammered.
“Hey!” Stacey said brightly to Macal an. “I hear you’re going to the dance with Alex. That’s so cool!”
“Yeah, it should be fun,” Macal an offered.
“Awesome!” Stacey looked like she was going to explode from
either happiness or nerves. I could never read her right.
“Is that food?” Keith came over, then stopped in his tracks when he noticed Macal an next to me.
“Macal an made brownies!” Stacey exclaimed. She held them out
to Keith, who clearly had no clue what to do next.
“Relax,” Macal an said. “I didn’t poison them.”
He took a bite.
Macal an continued. “However, I knew you’d be eating them, so I
put in a secret ingredient. . . .”
Keith stopped chewing.
Macal an stood up and faced Keith. Every nerve in my body was
on edge.
She shook her head. “Keith, I work too hard on my food to waste
it on you. Plus” — she leaned in so she was only inches from his face — “you and I both know I don’t need to bake to do damage.”
She turned on her foot and went to the kitchen.
Keith was flustered. “Man, that girl. She just . . . I think I’d be madly in love with her if she didn’t scare me so much. But maybe that’s why I like her. Not like I like like her.” Keith gave up trying to make sense of what happened and walked away, first toward the kitchen, then thinking better of it and heading in the opposite
direction.
Stacey laughed. “Wouldn’t they make a fun couple?”
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I came so close to blurting out, Wouldn’t they WHAT? but stopped myself.
Apparently my disgust was evident without words. “Calm down!”
Stacey’s eyes were wide. “I was just joking.”
The doorbell rang and Stacey excused herself, leaving me alone
at a party that was in my honor.
I thought about what Keith had said. About how Macal an
scared him.
I knew exactly what he meant. Because she also scared me.
She scared me because I loved her.
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On a scale from one to ten, how much of a pain was I after my injury?
And please be honest.
Do you think I would hold back on you?
Unfortunately, no.
On a scale from one to ten? Thirteen.
Fair enough.
Now I have a question for you. On a scale from one to ten,