I patted her arm, and we watched in silence as Jamie and Spence lined up at the start to race each other. They streaked down the wood floor, their arms and legs pumping so fast they looked blurred.
“Whoa,” Sara whispered as the pair halted at the padded wall, touched it, then whirled around to run back the other way. As they neared the finish they both strained with effort, leaning forward, neither yielding to the other. They crossed the finish line neck and neck, and I swore Spence edged Jamie out by a toe, but the other guys declared a tie.
The two boys bent double to catch their breath, then Spence reached out a hand and Jamie slapped it good-naturedly. At that moment Spence seemed to notice us and he stood up tall again to walk limply over.
“Hey!” he said, taking a seat and wiping his sweaty brow with his arm.
“Hi, sweetie,” I said, surreptitiously motioning to Sara to let us have a moment alone together.
She nodded and leaned in to whisper, “Remember, if he says anything stupid, my army and I will smack some sense into him.” I giggled and pushed at her. She laughed, too, and added loudly, “Gee, maybe I’ll go waaaay over there and listen to some music.” Then she put on her Walkman and strolled casually up to the top of the bleachers.
“Did I miss something?” Spence asked.
My palms were sweaty with nerves. “No. I wanted to talk to you in private. I need to tell you something.”
Spence cocked a curious eyebrow. “What’s up, Bambi?”
Spence’s new favorite nickname for me was Ambi-Bambi. I liked it, but not in public. “I got an acceptance letter this week.”
“You did?” he said. “Wow, that was fast.”
“Yeah. I was surprised, too.”
“Actually, I’m not,” he said, wrapping an arm around my shoulders for a sideways hug. “With your grades and SAT scores there’s no way UVA would pass you up.”
I bit my lip. This was the hard part. “Actually,” I said. “The acceptance letter was from UCLA.”
Spence pulled his head back in surprise. “UCLA? You mean, California’s UCLA?”
“Yeah. Their school is one of the best for psychiatric studies.”
Spence’s eyes pinched at the corners. “I didn’t know you’d applied there.”
“It was a last-minute thing,” I told him. “I sent it in the same time I applied to UVA. I just got the letter. I’m in.”
Spence studied me for a minute and then he suddenly broke into a grin. “Congratulations!” he said, and pulled me up to my feet for a real hug.
I was so relieved I started crying.
“Hey.” He leaned back to look at me and stroked a tear from my cheek. “Bambi, what’s the matter?”
“I don’t want to leave you,” I confessed. “Spence, I really want to go, but I don’t know how I can go to a school on the other side of the country from you.”
“Are they still taking applications?” he asked as we both sat down again.
I gazed hopefully at him. “Yes, until the end of this month. You’d have to hurry.”
“Can I get in?” he asked next, and I knew he was worried that his aptitude test scores wouldn’t be high enough.
“You’d probably have to retake your SATs,” I said honestly. “But, I was going to try to talk you into applying anyway, so I’ve already looked into it. There’s an SAT exam at the end of the month, and, according to the UCLA admission guidelines, as long as you’ve taken the test before sending in your application, they’ll wait on the test results before they make their final decision. Your grades are good enough, though, Spence. As long as your SATs come up you could totally get in.”
“Will you help me study for the exam?”
I put both hands on his chest, never more in love with him. “Yes, I’ll help you study, absolutely.”
“Well, okay, then,” he said. “We’ll work on the application this weekend and I’ll sign up for the SAT at the end of the month. I’ll also talk to Coach and ask him to send out a letter to their coach right away. They’ve got a bitchin’ team, Bambi. I could play for them.”
“Oh my God, Spence, you mean it?”
“Shit yeah,” he said, cupping my cheeks. “We’re in this together, remember? You and me. Forever.”
My eyes blurred with fresh tears. “What about your mom and Stacey?”
I knew it was the one thing that could break the spell, but it wouldn’t do me any good to give into the fantasy if it never had a chance of happening. The only way that Spence’s family had been able to make ends meet was with the addition of Spence’s income from all the lawns he mowed. His plan had been to go to UVA and live at home to help his mom cover expenses.
“Mom’s been talking about picking up a couple of extra houses now that Spunky can stay home by herself,” he said. “And I can always work a job out there and send money back. As long as I can get a football scholarship, we could make it work.”