myself.
Luckily, Grace’s nails digging into my arm was enoughto keep me moving.
“We came to rescue you. That looked painful,” she said softly as she dragged me towards the café.
Leia gave me that preschool-teacher-in-training smile of hers. “Someone has a crush,” she said in a singsong voice. “You were so red, I thought you were going to combust.” She and Grace had been dating since Grace’s sweet sixteen that summer and Leia seemed to assume all of us instantly became her friends, too. From the minute Leia first met me and said in her sing-song voice that my “little knitting hobby” was just so “archaically adorable,” her voice always grated on me. Being around her was like knitting with bargain bin acrylic yarn.
I wanted to punch her. Maeve probably would. “Flirt-fest, Leia? Really?”
“It’s so
adorable
how you wouldn’t even look at him.” I never really knew if Leia took me seriously. She always made it sound like everything I did was little-kid-like, as if I was the baby of the group. It was annoying, like she thought of herself as so sophisticated compared to me. “You’re just so cute sometimes.”
We reached Em and the table. I widened my eyes in a pleading look at Em and reluctantly took the latte she held out. “
Help
,” I mouthed silently at her.
“So, did you ask him out?” Leia slipped into the seat next to mine.
“No! I can’t do that.” I didn’t need Leia jumping into my personal life, too. Em and Grace were bad enough.
Leia pat me on the arm and said, “You should—”
Em poked Leia in the arm with a still-wrapped straw. “I’m tired of talking about Phoebe and Dev. She’s hopeless,” she said, emphasizing “hopeless” and rolling her eyes in an over-the-top way. “Let’s talk about something else, okay? I need your opinions on what I’m thinking of getting Wilhelm for Christmas.”
My eyes met Em’s and a tiny smile flitted across her lips. It was nice having a best friend.
16
My arrow skimmed the top of the target and slammed into the fabric backdrop we’d hung up on the far wall of the gym before practice. I grimaced and nocked another arrow. I couldn’t even get a group of arrows to cluster all practice long, much less get anything to land anywhere remotely near the ten point circle.
Coach Rentz came up behind me and I could feel her gaze move over me, taking in my positioning.
“You need to relax your grip. That’s why your arrows are all over the place.” When I looked over at her, she was focused on my bow hand. “You’ve been practicing with that other bow again, haven’t you?”
I almost said yes, but then decided not to since she’d probably confiscate my wonderfully Maeve-y carved bow until after my next competition. “No…I just can’t focus today.” At least that was the truth. Another disastrous lunch period, where I’d ended up stumbling in the heels I’d worn in an attempt to be more Marissa-like and barely missed dumping my lunch on Dev by inches kept haunting me, popping up when I needed to focus.
Coach Rentz raised one eyebrow and shook her head,letting me know she didn’t buy my excuse, then tapped my hand before moving over to fix another archer’s stance. “Relax that grip,” she said to me over her shoulder.
I shook out my bow hand, then took a deep breath and aimed, my arms shaking the tiniest bit as I tried to get my sight perfectly dead center. My bowl of southwestern quinoa salad landing right next to Dev’s feet popped into my head again and I lost focus as I released the arrow. It wasn’t a huge surprise that it almost missed the target altogether. I needed a break to clear my head. I stepped off the line and tried to look like I was checking my bow.
“Phoebe, do you have a minute?”
I paused midway through adjusting my sight and smiled up at Coach Rentz. “Sorry, I promise I’ll do better at tomorrow’s practice. I’m just a little distracted today.”
Coach shook her head, but
Luckily, Grace’s nails digging into my arm was enoughto keep me moving.
“We came to rescue you. That looked painful,” she said softly as she dragged me towards the café.
Leia gave me that preschool-teacher-in-training smile of hers. “Someone has a crush,” she said in a singsong voice. “You were so red, I thought you were going to combust.” She and Grace had been dating since Grace’s sweet sixteen that summer and Leia seemed to assume all of us instantly became her friends, too. From the minute Leia first met me and said in her sing-song voice that my “little knitting hobby” was just so “archaically adorable,” her voice always grated on me. Being around her was like knitting with bargain bin acrylic yarn.
I wanted to punch her. Maeve probably would. “Flirt-fest, Leia? Really?”
“It’s so
adorable
how you wouldn’t even look at him.” I never really knew if Leia took me seriously. She always made it sound like everything I did was little-kid-like, as if I was the baby of the group. It was annoying, like she thought of herself as so sophisticated compared to me. “You’re just so cute sometimes.”
We reached Em and the table. I widened my eyes in a pleading look at Em and reluctantly took the latte she held out. “
Help
,” I mouthed silently at her.
“So, did you ask him out?” Leia slipped into the seat next to mine.
“No! I can’t do that.” I didn’t need Leia jumping into my personal life, too. Em and Grace were bad enough.
Leia pat me on the arm and said, “You should—”
Em poked Leia in the arm with a still-wrapped straw. “I’m tired of talking about Phoebe and Dev. She’s hopeless,” she said, emphasizing “hopeless” and rolling her eyes in an over-the-top way. “Let’s talk about something else, okay? I need your opinions on what I’m thinking of getting Wilhelm for Christmas.”
My eyes met Em’s and a tiny smile flitted across her lips. It was nice having a best friend.
16
My arrow skimmed the top of the target and slammed into the fabric backdrop we’d hung up on the far wall of the gym before practice. I grimaced and nocked another arrow. I couldn’t even get a group of arrows to cluster all practice long, much less get anything to land anywhere remotely near the ten point circle.
Coach Rentz came up behind me and I could feel her gaze move over me, taking in my positioning.
“You need to relax your grip. That’s why your arrows are all over the place.” When I looked over at her, she was focused on my bow hand. “You’ve been practicing with that other bow again, haven’t you?”
I almost said yes, but then decided not to since she’d probably confiscate my wonderfully Maeve-y carved bow until after my next competition. “No…I just can’t focus today.” At least that was the truth. Another disastrous lunch period, where I’d ended up stumbling in the heels I’d worn in an attempt to be more Marissa-like and barely missed dumping my lunch on Dev by inches kept haunting me, popping up when I needed to focus.
Coach Rentz raised one eyebrow and shook her head,letting me know she didn’t buy my excuse, then tapped my hand before moving over to fix another archer’s stance. “Relax that grip,” she said to me over her shoulder.
I shook out my bow hand, then took a deep breath and aimed, my arms shaking the tiniest bit as I tried to get my sight perfectly dead center. My bowl of southwestern quinoa salad landing right next to Dev’s feet popped into my head again and I lost focus as I released the arrow. It wasn’t a huge surprise that it almost missed the target altogether. I needed a break to clear my head. I stepped off the line and tried to look like I was checking my bow.
“Phoebe, do you have a minute?”
I paused midway through adjusting my sight and smiled up at Coach Rentz. “Sorry, I promise I’ll do better at tomorrow’s practice. I’m just a little distracted today.”
Coach shook her head, but
Similar Books
