Keeping Score - 3 (Patreon)

And we're back!

Keeping Score - part 1 of Abbie's story - is going to be told in 4 parts. So, part 1 (the high school years) will be wrapping up after next month :) Then, we get to move onto the college years! Which I am thrilled about. Elliston prep (aka, Abbie and Rose's first interaction) has officially been moved into the collection for The Game Plan, along with the other parts of Keeping Score, as well.

---------- keeping score ------------

Abbie groaned at the bright light streaming in through her bedroom window, waking her up.

She grabbed the side of her pillow and rolled with it until she was laying on her stomach, effectively blocking out the light as best she could. Keeping her eyes squeezed shut, she blindly reached toward her nightstand, feeling around for her phone.

Ah – got it.

Satisfied, she squinted her eyes open down at the screen, only for shock to race through her when she saw the time reading 8:37AM.

It was after 8, and neither her mom nor Caroline woke her up?! The sleepiness fled from her quickly and she tossed the pillow away from her –

Only to remember the freaking snow. It was a snow day!

It was a snow day, and Rose had spent the night here with her.

Rose had spent the night with her, and she definitely wasn’t in Abbie’s bed, anymore.

Yep, any trace of languid tiredness zapped out of her body, and she sharply sat up, searching around her room.

Which was empty. There was no trace of Rose at all, though all of her stuff was neatly stacked on the side of Abbie’s desk, so she knew she hadn’t left yet. No sign of her even in the bathroom, as Abbie could see that the door was cracked open, and the light was off.

Ohhh, she didn’t like this. She didn’t like this at all.

Scrambling to get the blankets off, Abbie hopped out of bed. She went to double-check the bathroom, pulling the door wide open and sticking her head in to search, just in case. Nope. Coast was clear.

Abbie essentially kicked her feet into her moccasin slippers, not taking the time to properly pull them on her feet as she nearly tripped over herself in her hurry to get to the door.

Having Rose in her house and around her parents was stressful enough for Abbie, even when Abbie made sure not to leave Rose’s side. Knowing that Rose was roaming about unattended? Nope, no way. It made Abbie feel sick to her stomach. Who knew what she was saying or what she was looking at?!

Even the smell of her mom’s homemade cinnamon rolls – a snow day classic – that reached Abbie as she ran down the stairs didn’t make her feel any better.

Through the large archway into the kitchen, Abbie could see the back of her mom’s head as she stood at the sink, and she doubled her pace.

“Mom? Do you know–” Abbie cut herself off, skidding to a stop once she entered into the kitchen.

As she clearly saw Rose sitting there, on one of the stools at the kitchen island.

For a long moment, Abbie could only stare, incredulously.

Yes, she’d obviously known Rose had spent all of yesterday afternoon and night here. Yes, she knew Rose had slept over with her.

But waking up and coming downstairs on a snow day while smelling her mom’s cinnamon rolls, being able to see her mom at the kitchen sink, and seeing Rose Elliston sitting here?

The wires simply were not connecting in her mind.

Yet, it was true.

Rose was sitting on the stool closest to the window – Abbie’s stool, not that Rose knew that – with her laptop in front of her. She sat in Abbie’s kitchen ten feet away from her mother, with her annoyingly perfect posture – spine drawn straight up, shoulders back – and her dark hair was already brushed and twisted into one of her immaculate braids.

“Sorry, honey, what were you asking?” Her mom’s voice pulled her out of her stare.

Which was great, because Rose had turned to look back at her, that stupidly perfect eyebrow arching up in silent question, asking what the fuck are you staring at?

Abbie swung her gaze to her mom, shaking her head slightly. “Uh… nothing. Morning.”

Her mom smiled warmly at her. “Good morning. How’d you sleep?”

Abbie shrugged, unable to keep herself from sliding another glance toward Rose. Who had turned her eyes back to her laptop, but Abbie could tell that her attention was focused on Abbie and her mom.

“Fine,” she managed to answer, dragging her own attention to her mother.

She could ignore Rose; in fact, she’d gotten fairly good at ignoring Rose in the last year and a half. Even if she’d never done it in her house before, she could do it.

“I didn’t think you were going to have time to make the cinnamon rolls this morning,” she commented, walking over to the counter her mom was at, peering down at the perfectly golden-brown sweets, clearly having been taking out of the oven only minutes ago. “Because I know you’re working on that big project and all.”

Her mom smiled at her, her gray eyes crinkling at the sides. “I am, but I always have time for our traditions.”

Abbie returned the smile, only to drag her gaze critically over her mom with concern. She knew Caroline had affirmed that her mom was fine last night before bed, but… still. “And you feel okay?”

If there was one thing Abbie knew, it was that an ache could feel an awfully lot worse the day after it happened. She’d taken a lot of spills during games and not felt the effects until the next morning.

Her mom reached out, wrapping an arm around Abbie’s shoulders and pulling her in close. “I feel absolutely fine, hon. A few bumps and bruises. Caroline has triple checked.”

Abbie first felt comforted by that, before she thought about the fact that Caroline “triple-checking” probably meant full-body nudity, and she wrinkled her nose. “Gross… but good.”

Her mom laughed, exasperatedly, rolling her eyes, as she squeezed Abbie’s shoulders. “Thank you for that.”

Abbie sent her a cheeky smile. “What else am I good for in this house? Other than keeping you two current on sports and tv shows and movies, and providing unwavering love and support from the younger generation, giving you my sharp commentary is one of my best attributes.”

“Undoubtedly,” her mom agreed, sliding her arm from Abbie to step forward and peer down at the cinnamon rolls. “I want to let these cool for another few minutes. But I made the icing for them, already.” She gestured at the mixing bowl further down the counter. “Would you mind assembling everything? I do have that project I’d like to jump in to for a couple of hours, so I can take a break when the roads are clear and drive Rose back to Elliston.”

Abbie nodded. “I’m definitely capable of that.”

Abbie didn’t want to brag, but she was fairly certain her own icing had surpassed her mom’s; she was more than capable of putting it all together.

A smile flit over her mom’s face. “Wonderful. I’ll be in my office upstairs if you need anything, and Caroline’s working from home today in her office, too.” She looked over Abbie’s shoulder toward Rose. “Thank you for keeping me company this morning, Rose.”

Abbie quickly turned, too, finding that Rose’s attentive stare was already focused on them. She reeled back slightly, clearly shocked that she was being addressed. “Um – of course.”

Abbie watched her mom leave, waiting until she was safely out of earshot, before she wheeled around to face Rose. “What are you up to?”

Rose’s eyebrows shot up high on her head, disdain filtering over her expression. “What in the world are you talking about, Lemon?”

She gestured to the room around them. “How long were you up and about? How long were you hanging out with my mom? What did you talk about?” She demanded to know.

Rose’s nose wrinkled at her as she rolled her eyes. “You sound insane.”

Abbie shrugged; like she cared. Rose already didn’t like her, so what did it matter?

“Did you say anything weird or rude to my mom?” She asked, walking closer toward Rose, until she was directly across the island from her.

Rose huffed out an exasperated sigh. “Yes, Lemon. I told your mother that she has raised the weirdest person I know and I asked to know how much money she was given for adopting you from the circus.”

Abbie set her jaw, unamused.

Dark eyes rolled at her again. “What the hell do you think I said to her?”

Abbie tossed her hands into the air. “How should I know! But just yesterday, you told me that you thought I was poor because my moms are gay, so I don’t really think you can blame me for being a little suspicious.”

Rose folded her arms across her chest. “I barely spoke to your mom. I woke up over an hour ago, because some of us don’t sleep the day away–”

“It’s a snow day,” Abbie interjected, defensively. “What kind of teenager doesn’t sleep in on snow days?”

“People that like to keep an orderly schedule?” Rose challenged. “People who are aware we are still working on our project outline and want to get it finished as soon as possible?” She swept a hand pointedly toward her laptop. “What did you want me to do? I could have woken you up, but I felt like you’d have taken some personal offense at that.”

Abbie felt her cheeks heat because, well, she wasn’t a liar, and she imagined that she might have potentially been a little grumbly if Rose had woken her up super early on a snow day.

“I barely spoke to your mom, for the record.” Rose shot Abbie a dour look. “She was baking, and I worked on our outline. Now, don’t you feel a little silly for being so crazy?”

“I don’t really think you can blame me,” Abbie muttered as she turned around and walked toward the cinnamon rolls. If she had to spend the rest of the morning with Rose, this was a necessity.

“Anyway, I came up with a tentative schedule to go over with you,” Rose announced, clearing her throat as if to silently inform Abbie they were moving on from this subject.

“Amazing,” Abbie muttered, drizzling the icing over the rolls. “I love talking about homework after being awake for only ten minutes on a day where we don’t have school.”

She deliberately said it loud enough for Rose to hear, even though she was making the comment for herself.

“Maybe if you’d been awake earlier, it wouldn’t feel so jarring,” Rose returned, using the same tone.

Touché.

***

Abbie had never been so relieved in her life to finish an outline for a school project.

By the time noon rolled around, though, she and Rose finalized making their plan. They both knew what source materials they were going to use, and they both knew what their individual responsibilities were. They’d agreed to email one another everything they worked on, and they’d planned two in-person check-ins – one being the day before their project was due, and the other being the mid-point between then and now.

She closed her laptop and glanced at Rose, who was still typing as she stared intensely down at her screen. Her eyebrows were furrowed in concentration as she bit her bottom lip, her fingers flying over her keyboard.

Rose had changed into a pair of Abbie’s leggings and one of her sweatshirts when they’d returned upstairs from breakfast. She’d pointedly stared at Abbie, who’d started laying out their work area as soon as she’d entered the room, before clearing her throat.

“Are we going to wear pajamas all day?” She’d asked, gesturing at the two of them.

Abbie honestly hadn’t even registered that fact, looking down at herself, then back at Rose. Who was, indeed, still wearing Abbie’s short-shorts and tight tank top, and at that moment, Abbie had blushed, sharply averting her eyes from Rose all together.

“Um… well, what do you want to wear?” She’d muttered, turning toward her dresser.

“Anything that would protect me from frostbite,” Rose returned, smartly.

Abbie had rolled her eyes at that, even as she’d quickly fished out some clothing – including underwear. Rose was wearing her underwear! Which was a whole, weird, incomprehensible feeling in the pit of Abbie’s stomach – before shoving the bundle into Rose’s arms.

She’d been tempted to suggest Rose put her uniform from yesterday back on, only she knew without a single doubt that her mom would give her a reproachful look/comment about her lack of manners for her guest.

Even if Abbie could somewhat settle in with the fact that Rose had existed in her home with her for nearly an entire day, it didn’t feel normal to look up and see Rose wearing her clothing.

Feeling herself blush, she placed her stuff on the ground and pushed herself up, stretching her arms over her head.

She groaned in relief at stretching out her back. “Ugh, why have we been sitting on the floor all morning?”

Rose didn’t respond for several moments. Not until Abbie dropped her arms back to her sides and looked down, seeing that Rose hadn’t, actually, been ignoring her. She was staring up at Abbie, her eyebrows high on her forehead, before they locked eyes and Rose clenched her jaw.

Immediately, Rose looked back down at her laptop. “Well, if you didn’t sit hunched over like a gremlin, you’d probably feel fine.”

Abbie glared down at her. “On that note, I’m going to go find my mom or Caroline and see what the plan is. I think the roads should be fine; it hasn’t been snowing for hours.”

Rose didn’t look back up, merely waving her hand regally at Abbie. “I’m going to finish up my notes, but I’m more than ready to go home. Do you have any post-its?”

Abbie didn’t stop on her way to her bedroom door. “Yeah, they’re in my desk drawer. Go wild.”

She continued, walking down the hall to peek into her mom’s office… empty.

Humming to herself, she made her way down the stairs and knocked on Caroline’s closed office door. No response.

That was weird.

She leaned in, putting her ear against the wood, trying to make out any sound of Caroline being in a meeting or something. Nothing.

She knocked once more, then opened it when she didn’t receive a response. “Helloooo?”

Empty. But Caroline’s laptop was sitting on her desk, so… hmm. Curious.

Abbie wandered to the front door, noting that the chest in which they stored their hats, scarves, and gloves in the mudroom was open. Pulling open the front door, she spotted two shovels propped up on the railing at the bottom of the porch stairs. Everything was cleared off – stairs, porch, walkway…

Ah.

There they were.

Caroline had her mom pressed against Caroline’s cleared-off SUV, her gloves on Hannah’s hips as their faces were only centimeters away from one another. They weren’t kissing – right now – but they were saying something far too quietly for Abbie to hear, both smiling into each other’s faces.

Rolling her eyes with amused exasperation, Abbie loudly cleared her throat. “Oh, parents! Are you fooling around in the middle of a workday?!” She called out.

They didn’t spring apart; they hadn’t done anything like that in years. If they startled every time Abbie walked in on them being anywhere on the spectrum from lovey-dovey to nearly inappropriate, they’d have probably both had heart attacks by now.

Instead, Caroline slowly turned to look up at her, still smiling. “Oh, child! Are you grateful we didn’t ask you to assist us in shoveling?”

Abbie shrugged, sincerely. She never minded shoveling, honestly. She definitely wouldn’t have minded if they’d given her a reason not to be cooped up with Rose all morning.

“I mean, I think you forcing me to shovel counts as some form of child labor. I’d have to consult with my lawyer,” she shot back, aiming as serious a look as she could manage at Caroline.

“Hmm… I’m not sure it would really make it to court. You’d probably need to take a deal.”

Abbie couldn’t help her scoffing laugh. “Are you two almost done canoodling? Are we going to bring Rose back to Elliston soon?”

Her mom nodded. “Yeah, honey, we’re ready whenever you two are. The roads are plowed.”

Truthfully, Abbie normally would have left them out there to canoodle; she didn’t actually take any joy in breaking them up. Or, she would have thrown a snowball at them and joined in on some snow day fun.

As it was, she was more than ready to get Rose out of her house and get back to normal.

“Okay, we’ll be down in a few!”

Abbie bounded back up the stairs, already feeling the knots her stomach had been perpetually tied in since yesterday afternoon starting to loosen.

As she walked back into her bedroom, though, the knots tied so tightly in her stomach – the worst they’d been ever – and she thought she might be sick.

Because Rose was standing at her desk, looking down intently at Abbie’s notebook that she’d used for calculus last term. And Abbie knew very well what was doodled in nearly every margin of that notebook.

“What do you think you’re doing!” She cried out, leaping forward to snatch the notebook out of Rose’s hands.

Embarrassed, her own hands shook a little as she snapped the notebook closed.

“Why were you going through my stuff?” She demanded, her heart racing in her chest.

Rose’s lips were curled into a contemptuous frown, as she dragged her gaze from Abbie’s notebook up to her face. “You said I could get the post-its in your desk,” she shot back, gesturing to the desk in question. “You didn’t specify which drawer, genius.”

Abbie pulled the notebook tightly against her chest, protectively. As if she could absorb it into her body and out of the physical realm via osmosis. “That one,” she pointed with her free hand at the drawer to Rose’s right.

Rose didn’t move to open the drawer. Instead, she continued to stare, narrow-eyed, at Abbie’s notebook. Which, distressingly, had not defied science and disappeared into Abbie’s body.

“Even if I didn’t give you exact instructions, I assumed that once you opened a drawer and didn’t see what you were looking for, you’d – I don’t know… hmm… close it and open a different one?”

Like, what the fuck!

“I can’t believe you have a crush on Daniele Garcia.” The disgust dripped from Rose’s voice, so scathingly that Abbie felt slapped in the face with it.

Holding the notebook impossibly tighter, Abbie glared back. “And why not?” She shot back.

Fine, she was mortified that Rose had seen the doodles in her notebook – the hearts and the initials and the feelings confessions she’d written out but never had the courage to voice. Even so, she didn’t have anything to be ashamed of by simply having a crush on Daniele.

Daniele was so pretty, and so nice, and Abbie clenched her jaw, growing stronger in her conviction that she shouldn’t be embarrassed. Even if she didn’t talk about her crush on Daniele with anyone at Elliston – not even Amaya – it wasn’t something she was ashamed of.

She eyed Rose closely, the thought occurring to her –

“Oh my god.” Rose rolled her eyes, hard. “I can literally see you thinking that I’m being, like, racist because I don’t like Daniele. Just like you think I hate poor people and gay people.”

Abbie lifted her chin into the air, defensively. “And? Again, can you blame me?”

It wasn’t like Rose had a very kind track record!

“Much like I’m not a classist or a homophobe, I’m also not a fucking racist,” Rose hissed back, dark eyes glittering. “Daniele is so bland.”

Offended on her crush’s behalf, Abbie reeled back. “She is not!”

Rose crossed her arms, mirroring Abbie. “I’ve gone to school with her since we were five; I think I’m a little more qualified than you are.”

“Clearly not, since you don’t really know her all that well,” she defended.

“And you do?” Rose snarked with a dismissive laugh.

“Yes,” she answered, definitively. She’d done a lot of paying attention to Daniele since she’d been at Elliston, after all. “And I don’t have a clue why you’d think she’s boring.”

“First, she’s on the dance team.”

“So?!” Abbie barked back, incredulously. “What’s wrong with that?”

She liked going to see the dance team performances… and Daniele in them, specifically.

“The dance team is for people that were rejected from the gymnastics team and the cheerleading squad. Obviously.”

“That’s not true!”

Rose arched a look at her. “Oh yeah? Why don’t you ask Daniele if she tried out for cheerleading, first?”

Feeling her cheeks burn, Abbie shrugged. “I don’t care if she tried out for cheerleading first.”

Rose’s bottom lip stuck out in an indecipherable pout. “She’s friends with everyone.”

“I like that about her! Because she’s nice.” Abbie couldn’t even believe what she was hearing. Could Rose, herself, understand what the hell she was saying?!

“She’s indiscriminately friendly! She has no criteria for who she’ll talk to like she’s their best friend; that’s weird and shady. And speaks to how little a personality she has,” Rose stated, authoritatively. As if her insane commentary was a fucking fact.

“You’re crazy,” Abbie stated, with just as much authority. “Why do you even care who I like?”

“I don’t,” Rose vehemently disagreed, looking – once more – like she was disgusted at the very idea.

Baffled and exasperated, Abbie tossed her free hand into the air. “Then why are we even having this conversation!”

Rose spun on her heel as she shook her head and knelt to methodically pack up her backpack. “I guess I just expected more of you, Lemon.”

Abbie turned to stare down at Rose, wondering if/when she’d fallen into another dimension. “And since when would you expect more of me? I’m shocked you think I could do better than Daniele.”

Which was the honest truth. Not only was Abbie offended on Daniele’s behalf, but – Rose had never liked Abbie! It made no sense that she would think Abbie was better than Daniele?

Rose huffed out a breath, throwing her backpack over her shoulder as she stuck her nose in the air. “I’m not saying that. All I’m saying is that you actually have a personality – for better or worse – and Daniele is the blandest person I know. I’d just assumed you’d have different taste, is all.”

Abbie opened her mouth to shoot back an answer, only to snap her jaw closed. There was no reason to keep this crazy conversation going, not when she could finally have Rose out of her hair and out of her home.

She made a point of putting her notebook back into her drawer, sharply closing it as she held eye contact with Rose.

“I’d appreciate if you didn’t say anything about that. Since, you know, you shouldn’t have looked at it in the first place,” she muttered.

Rose huffed out a breath. “Who do you think I’m dying to discuss your crush with, Lemon? Contrary to what you might believe, you aren’t at the top of my interest list.”

With that, Rose turned and glided out of Abbie’s room.

Abbie watched her go, grumbling, “Could have fooled me.”

***

Abbie was genuinely shocked when it seemed that Rose actually hadn’t said anything about her crush on Daniele to anyone, over the next few days.

In fairness, Abbie wasn’t exactly sure who Rose would tell, given that Rose didn’t really have any close friends. She had kind-of friendships with other girls on the team, but – as far as Abbie could tell – no one she was close to.

As the week after their snow day drew to an end, Abbie had finally settled back into normalcy around Rose.

They were almost done with their winter soccer season, and their relationship on the field during practice was back to normal. They basically ignored one another in class or in the halls… it allowed Abbie to breathe normally.

Everything was fine.

Honestly, whenever Abbie thought about the 24-hour Rose Elliston Home Invasion, it felt so surreal, she wasn’t sure she remembered it accurately.

She –

“Hey, Abbie! What can I get for you?” Daniele’s voice pulled Abbie back to reality.

She blinked, glancing around as she realized that she was, in fact, now the first person in line at the snack bar. Daniele was one of the student managers of the cafeteria snack bar, which… was not the main reason Abbie frequented it! It was just a coincidence that she thought it was really sweet how Daniele advised the freshmen who worked in here with her.

Blushing slightly, she stepped forward. “Um… can I have a green tea, please?”

Daniele smiled at her, vibrantly, as she nodded. “Of course!”

She watched as Daniele turned on the electric kettle, giving Abbie an apologetic look. “It’ll just be a minute; someone just ordered a hot chocolate, and we used the last of the hot water.”

Quickly, Abbie shook her head. “Prob – no problem,” she stumbled slightly, breathing out a laugh. “It’s no problem. I have the time. Another…” she glanced down at her phone to check the time. “Six minutes before lunch is over, anyway.”

“Very exact; I appreciate that.” Daniele smiled at her, as she carefully placed the green tea bag in the recyclable cup.

“Yeah, I mean, that one minute could be the difference to a winning goal. Or to being late to class and getting detention.”

God, did Abbie sound as silly out loud as she did in her head, as she replayed her own words? She desperately hoped not.

If she did, though, Daniele gave no indication, as she continued to sport that cute grin.

“You’re very right. Oh, speaking of goals – your last match for the winter season is this weekend, right?”

Her heart tripped in her chest with excitement, and she eagerly nodded. “Yeah! Yes, it’s Saturday afternoon. Home game.”

“Cool. I’ll be there.”

“You will?” She asked, and… yeah, she was far too breathless at the idea.

Daniele poured the now-ready water from the kettle into the cup with Abbie’s tea. “Yeah; I was talking to some of the girls on the team, and we think it’s so crazy that the cheerleaders don’t go to your indoor games. So, we thought we’d show up for the finals and give you ladies some support.”

Abbie wasn’t sure if she was disappointed that Daniele was coming to the game as a part of her dance team and that it had literally nothing to do with Abbie, or if she crushed on Daniele even harder at the fact that Daniele was – as she’d said to Rose! – so sweet, wanting to come and support their team.

“That’s really nice of you. Of, um, all of you,” she stressed, feeling herself flush, as she accepted her tea from Daniele. “It’s – it’s not a big deal or anything, though. The game!” She rushed to clarify. “Not the fact that you are all coming to support us; that’s amazing. Just, the winter season isn’t a real season; it doesn’t count toward us going to Nationals or anything.”

Daniele shrugged. “Still, though. You’re all talented, and you deserve the support.”

Abbie’s stomach fluttered as she smiled. “I guess so. Go Red Foxes!”

Abbie felt her own smile disappear as she cringed – inwardly and outwardly – at her own words. What did she just fucking say?!

Daniele didn’t seem to judge her, though, merely nodding with that sweet smile. “We’ll have the signs to back that up! I’ll see you then.”

“See you then,” Abbie breathed back, hurriedly stepping away from the window before she embarrassed herself even further.

She’d only taken a few steps before she heard Rose’s voice from behind her.

“Oh my god.”

The hair on the back of Abbie’s neck stood up as she shivered at the proximity of Rose. She knew, even without looking, that Rose was addressing her.

She resolutely did not stop walking, keeping her head up and moving forward even as she furiously blushed.

“Lemon, that was… that was straight-up embarrassing,” Rose continued, catching up to Abbie’s hurried strides, walking next to her.

“Why were you eavesdropping?” She muttered, refusing to look at Rose.

“I was in line behind you, listening to that painful exchange while I was waiting to buy a granola bar.” Rose waved the granola bar in front of her as if to show Abbie the proof. “Believe me, if I could have avoided hearing that, I would have.”

“Thanks, I appreciate the feedback,” she muttered, exasperatedly. “Are you following me just to remind me of how awkward I am with Daniele? Because, believe me, I know.”

She really, really knew.

“I’m not following you,” Rose smartly informed her, continuing to match her pace. “We have English next… together. Remember?”

Annoyingly, Abbie had been so flustered by Daniele and then by Rose’s presence, that she honestly hadn’t thought about that at all. “Of course I remember.”

“Do you doodle Daniele’s initials next to yours in your English notebook, too, or is that reserved for math?” Rose snarked.

Abbie whirled around to face her, sharply looking around them before she grabbed Rose’s wrist to stop her. To make sure Rose was looking her in the eye, so she could emphasize the importance of, “What is wrong with you?! Shhh!”

Rose rolled her eyes. “Come on, Lemon, we’re not in first grade.”

“I don’t care! I’m already a mess around Daniele – as you so kindly noted – and the last thing I need is for her to realize that I like her!” She whispered, leaning in closer so Rose could hear her despite their bustling classmates around them.

“If you recall from a moment ago, I didn’t exactly shout about your little crush,” Rose breathed back, her tone a lot less acerbic, and a lot less certain.

Abbie closed her eyes and took a deep, calming breath, inhaling Rose’s floral shampoo. She was very familiar with it, as Rose always brought it to the locker room. She squeezed Rose’s wrist. “While I appreciate that you aren’t screaming about my feelings, I’d appreciate even more if you didn’t bring them up in public at all.”

She held Rose’s gaze with her own, intently. Needing for her to agree.

After several long moments beat by, Rose narrowed her eyes and pulled her wrist out of Abbie’s grip.

“Fine by me, Lemon; I was just trying to be friendly. But we don’t have to talk at all.”

With that, she turned and continued on her way, gliding right out of the cafeteria.

Abbie could only stare at her retreating back, because… that had been Rose trying to be friendly?!

***

Over the next month, Abbie was relieved to find that things actually went back to normal, in regard to Rose.

They’d exchanged emails about their project updates, Rose occasionally snaked at her during practice as they ramped up for their final spring season – though, under Coach Dru’s now very watchful eye, Rose kept the mutters of Lemon to a minimum. Generally, Abbie only heard the nickname in whispered comments in passing.

“Nice save, Lemon.”

Much like that one.

Abbie turned to watch Rose as she continued her stride across the field, baffled by the comment. Because, “It was a nice save!” She called back.

She and Rose had been on the same side during their scrimmage, and Abbie had made a diving save and stopped the other team from being able to tie up the game in the last thirty seconds. Rose was so, so weird sometimes, Abbie swore.

Heaving a lofty sigh, she bit her cheek and turned to follow after Rose.  

The last thing she wanted to do right now, after a full day of classes that had included an exam in history and a long soccer practice – their last practice before their first game of the season this coming weekend – was work with Rose on their halfway-point check-up for their project.

But that was the plan, so…

“Hey, wait up!” She shouted, looking around to make sure Coach wasn’t still out on the field. Abbie was very careful to not interact with Rose at all unless utterly necessary under Dru’s attention, lest she find their interactions not up to snuff.

Dru wasn’t out on the field. No one else was out here, anymore, actually. It was both hers and Rose’s turns to gather up all the practice equipment – they were on a rotating schedule made by Dru, for equality – after practice.

Amaya had offered to wait for Abbie, but she’d done so through a shiver. Though they’d started playing outside and the field had been well-kept and prepared, it was still a little chilly when they weren’t actively playing. So, Abbie had assured her friend she’d see her back in the locker room.

Rose didn’t wait at all, though.

In fact, she seemed to walk even faster across the field, where her bag was lying on the ground. Annoyed, Abbie hustled to catch up. “Hey, I was talking to you?”

Rose arched an eyebrow at her. “Oh, I didn’t realize. Since we aren’t talking and all.”

Baffled, Abbie stared at her for several beats… before recalling the last time they’d really spoken. She rolled her eyes. “Give me a break. It’s not like I’m trying to make besties with you or anything – but we’re supposed to have our halfway check-in for the project today, and you haven’t decided where you want to meet up.” She looked at Rose, expectantly.

Rose finally slowed down and turned to face her. “Why is it up to me to decide?”

Abbie groaned, frustration welling up inside of her. “It’s up to both of us, whatever. We went to my house last time – do you want to go to your room, now? We can try the library again, if you want to chance it?”

Rose shrugged, somehow maintaining that haughty look on her face while also looking so blasé. “Whatever.”

Abbie stared, baffled and incredulous and annoyed, because this response was weird, even for Rose. Especially when it came to their capstone.

“Are you seriously being like this because I was upset about you talking about my crush on Daniele in the cafeteria?” It was the only thing she could imagine.

“I’m not being like anything,” Rose snapped back, huffing out a breath. “How about we talk about this after we’re done cleaning up and aren’t freezing?”

Abbie shivered, herself, conceding. “Fine.”

She turned on her heel, biting back any other comments. Like, why was this her lot in life? Why was this happening to her? Why was Rose so fucking confusing?

All thoughts on Rose completely disappeared, however, when she lifted her head and saw her father standing on the sideline of the field.

Wearing his expensive sunglasses even though the sky was cloudy and dreary, standing in his business suit, he looked – as always – like an absolute tool.

“What are you doing here?” She asked, her steps slowing as she approached him.

Her confusion over his presence didn’t make her any less annoyed by the sight of him. Legitimately every time she laid eyes on her stupid father, it made her so… mad. Filled with a hatred that was so strange for her, because Abbie wasn’t really a hateful person.

She hated Michael, though. She hated the way he’d treated her mom. She hated the way he talked about Caroline. She hated that he was so self-righteous. She hated – most of all – that she shared DNA with him.

“It’s Thursday,” he stated, as if that was something relevant.

She slowly arched an eyebrow at him. “Okay…?”

“Thursdays are my day with you,” he reminded her, sounding just as irritated as she was. Which was par for the course, and always made her so fucking confused! Every time they spent any time together, he acted like he was being dragged by the ear to do so, but who was dragging him? She certainly wasn’t asking for time together!

Abbie was no less bewildered. “I guess, technically, that’s what it says in the latest agreement, but you don’t ever follow the custody agreements. You haven’t come to see me on any Thursdays.”

Not a single one, since the legal custody agreement had been updated after her sixteenth birthday that allowed him the option of spending this one evening with her per week.

He heaved a put-upon shrug. “And, I’m here now. So, let’s go. Georgina wants to meet you.”

Ahhh. Abbie clicked her tongue in understanding. “Riiight. Your fiancée wants to meet me, and you don’t want her to think you’re a total deadbeat. It all makes sense, now.”

She could see the vein in his forehead start to throb the way it did when he was really starting to get pissed. She always took a satisfaction in being able to cause it.

“Just, get in the car.” He took a step closer to her.

Abbie wanted to take a step back, but she refused. Instead, she held her ground and angled her chin up at him defiantly. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

Michael walked until he stood only inches from her, towering above her as he clenched his jaw in irritation. “Legally, you have to. You’re my daughter, this is my custody day, and you’re not eighteen, yet.”

“You can’t show up here without any warning and tell me what to do! I don’t care about any custody agreement. Why should I have to follow it, when you don’t?” She challenged, because like hell was she going to get in that fucking car.

It was a question she’d asked Caroline many times over the years, and the unfortunate answer was that her father had a lot of legal connections, and even more money, so he got to skate around a lot of rules.

He reached out, wrapping his hand around her wrist. “Abigail–”

Abbie had never in her life wished that she could have an instant replay more than she did in this moment.

Because seeing the soccer ball that thwacked against the side of Michael’s head so hard she heard something crack in his neck as his head snapped back, only once in her life was not going to be enough.

Abbie gasped, delighted and shocked, as her father released her wrist and stumbled back, swearing loudly.

“What the fuck?!” He shouted, his face beet-red.

They both turned to see Rose approaching, another soccer ball in her hand. “I can kick a ball at a speed just over twenty miles an hour, and I rarely miss my target. If you touch her again, I’ll do it again before I call the police.”

“Who the hell do you think you are?” He rounded on her.

Rose paused a few feet away, bracing her hand on her hip. Honestly, Abbie didn’t think she’d ever seen anything or anyone more glorious. “I’m Rose Elliston. My family owns this property, and you’re trespassing at a girls’ soccer practice. It’s not a good look for a grown man.”

Rose waved her phone at him, 9-1-1 visible on the screen, as her thumb hovered right over the green call icon. She slid her gaze to Abbie, then, her eyebrows furrowing in… concern?

“Should I call?” She asked Abbie.

She slid her gaze to her father, who tossed his hands in the air and turned around. “Jesus christ. Not worth the fucking time,” he muttered, shooting Abbie a glare. “I’ll be talking to your mother about this.”

“Okay…?” She drawled, because – like – what the fuck did he think that was going to do?

Her mom and Caroline were going to be devastated that they’d missed this!

As he stomped across the field, she turned back to face Rose. Who’d walked closer to her, eyebrows drawn low as she stared at Abbie’s wrist.

“Thanks,” Abbie breathed, feeling a very strange combination of relief and appreciation and amazement. None of which were feelings she’d ever felt toward Rose, but she supposed people really could surprise you.

“Just because we have some issues doesn’t mean I want you to be abducted, Lemon,” Rose murmured, turning for a moment to watch as Michael got in his car as if to make sure he was really leaving, before she looked back at Abbie. Dark eyes searched her face. “Are you okay? Who the hell was that?”

“I’m fine,” Abbie assured her, and… she couldn’t help herself.

She pushed forward, wrapping her arms around Rose’s shoulders, pulling her in for a tight hug.

She could feel Rose’s heart beating in her chest and the way she sharply inhaled in surprise against Abbie’s ear. After several long moments, Abbie heard the soccer ball that Rose had firmly held drop to the ground, and then felt Rose’s arms tentatively wrap around her waist.

“Thank you, seriously. That was amazing!” She spoke softly into Rose’s ear, giving her another tight squeeze, before she drew back.

“That was… um, that was my dad. In the biological sense of the word, anyway,” she informed Rose, feeling her cheeks heat with embarrassment at that fact. She was related to that man. Ugh.

Rose’s cheeks were flushed, and her eyes widened comically large. “What?” She sent another quick stare across the field to where the parking lot was. Michael’s car was long gone now, though. Rose’s absolute bafflement was clear in her expression. “What do you mean your dad? I thought…?” She trailed off, pursing her lips.

Abbie shrugged. “Yeah. My mom – Hannah, the blonde – was married to that d-bag when I was little. Caroline’s my stepmom. I don’t go around telling people about him… for obvious reasons.”

Rose was clearly still trying to wrap her mind around the information she was being given, trying to soak it in. “Right. So. Was it illegal for him to be here?”

Abbie hesitated before she held out her hand and did the gesture for ehhh. “It doesn’t matter either way. Right now, you are my favorite person on the planet.”

Rose’s eyebrows raised high up on her forehead. “You must really hate him for that to be true.”

Still, though, Rose’s full lips curled into the hint of a very satisfied smile.

Abbie nodded, easily. “Yes, I do. And I don’t hate you, so… you outrank him on my preferred company list by a mile, even on our worst day.”

Taken aback, Rose’s smile faltered as she blinked. “You don’t hate me,” she echoed.

Abbie shook her head, scoffing incredulously. “I’ve never hated you. I mean… I might not always like you, but I know what hate feels like.” She gestured to the ghost of Michael. “And I don’t feel anything close to that with you.”

Rose rolled her lips, tightly, nodding as she accepted Abbie’s words. “Okay. Well. All right, then. That’s… good.”

Both confused and amused, Abbie slowly nodded. “Yeah, good.”

“I don’t hate you, either. For the record,” Rose said, sounding stilted.

Abbie arched her own eyebrows in surprise. “Huh. Could have fooled me.”

She wasn’t trying to be cheeky or glib or anything like that; she truly hadn’t been able to tell.

Rose shot her an exasperated, narrow-eyed look. “Don’t try to tempt me into it.”

Abbie sighed out a laugh, unable to summon even the tiniest bit of negative feelings for Rose at this moment. She bent down to retrieve her bag and slung it over her shoulder, deliberately bumping her shoulder against Rose’s.  

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