I shake my head. “I don’t want special liberties. I want to earn my achievements on my own merit. And I don’t want one of those.” I point to the girls. “What makes them any better, huh?”
“They’re here getting an education.”
“So? Josie’s going to college.”
He scoffs. “She’s waiting until the right moment to get pregnant so you have to support her for the next eighteen years.” He walks away before I can give a rebuttal, which is probably for the best because the next thing out of my mouth would’ve been, “so what if she is” and something tells me that Sterling wouldn’t appreciate that too much.
Chapter 13
Being called out of class and told to report to the principal’s office is never a good feeling. I rack my brain as I walk to the office. I know I’m passing all my classes and all my absences from this week have been excused. I can’t imagine that I’ve done something so wrong that I’d have to meet with the principal.
I open the door to the office and stand at the counter while the secretary files her nails. She looks up, snapping her lips as if she’s moving her false teeth back and forth. Why they keep her around is beyond me. You can’t understand her when she talks and her hearing is too far gone to hear the phone ring. She motions for me to go into the office, not even calling the principal and tell her I’m coming.
I knock once and open the door. Mrs. Craft is sitting behind her desk, her head down and fingers flipping through a magazine. “Mrs. Craft I got a message to see you.”
She looks up and smiles. “Oh yes, Liam, come in and sit down.” I do as she asks. I bite my lip and wait for her to deliver the bad news. Only she doesn’t. She continues to look through her magazine while I sit across from her not knowing what’s going on.
The door opens. I turn and see my coach walk in. He’s not smiling and that puts me on edge. His normal smile when he sees me is gone. I don’t even know what to think or what I’ve done to be called down here. He nods in my direction and steps aside so a man in a dark blue business suit can enter.
“What’s going on?” I ask, my nerves on edge.
“Liam,” Mrs. Craft says. “Coach Randall has some news.”
I turn in my chair and look at my coach for some help here. He smiles and while that would normally put me at ease, it doesn’t help with my anxiety. “Liam, I’ve never had a player like you and I probably never will. Last year you came so close to making the cover of Sports Illustrated that when they called this year I did everything I could to make it happen. Son, let me introduce you to Chris Bailey, he’s a sports writer and he’s here to interview you.”
I stand and shake his hand, probably a bit too eagerly. This has been a dream of mine since they started profiling high school students.
“It’s very nice to meet you, Mr. Bailey.”
“You too, Liam, but please call me Chris. Do you need your parents here while we do the interview?”
Hell no, I want to yell, but don’t. “No, Sir, Coach can stay.”
“All right well let’s get started, shall we?”
The three of us move Mrs. Craft’s chairs into a circle and start talking. I like that coach stayed here with me and made sure I didn’t answer anything I wasn’t supposed to. To be honest, I was nervous the whole time, but when Mr. Bailey said he had everything and would be sending a photographer to take my pictures I think I smiled so big that I stretched the muscles in my face to permanently look like this.
As soon as I leave the office, the class bell rings. I rush to meet Josie. I’m excited to share the news with her.
“Guess what?” I say as I wrap my arms around her. I nuzzle her neck, disrupting her attempt at putting her books away.
“What?”
“Someone is going to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated.”
Josie pauses and turns slowly. Her face lights up as her arms come around my neck. “I’m so proud of you.”
“I couldn’t have done it without my girl,” I say, kissing her full on the lips. She tenses, afraid to get caught, but I’ll take the blame if we do. They can suspend me for all I care. I need to kiss my girl.
“We should go celebrate,” she says, pulling away.
“What are you thinking?” I ask, raising my eyebrows. She smacks me in the chest. I can’t help it. She’s sexy and she turns me on. But she wants it too. She shrugs and pushes her fingers into my hair, adding more pressure where my hair was recently shaved. I close my eyes and relish in the massage she’s giving me.
“Are your parents’ home?” I look into her blue eyes and see the answer before she shakes her head. I don’t say anything as I slam her locker shut and pull her down the hall.
“Want to go meet Mason and Katelyn?” Josie plays with the hair on my arm, her fingers rubbing up and down along my skin.
“I guess we should do something before your parents get home.”