A Good Enough Reason (14 page)

“Yeah, you know how Coach is. We can’t be late.” They looked nervous, and more than one of them was avoiding looking at Ellis. Maybe some of them did have a conscience after all, but it obviously wasn’t strong enough to actually make them help.

Mark sneered, and his hand tightened around Ellis’s arm. It hurt, but Ellis bit his lower lip and held on. He didn’t want Mark to know how much it hurt, though Ellis suspected it would leave a bruise.

“What’s going on here?”

Mark’s hand was suddenly gone, and Ellis tumbled forward. He put his hands up to stop the fall and ended up right in Mark’s arms. Mark growled and pushed him away, and Ellis fell backward. He landed on his ass and hands. “Oww.”

“I’m waiting for an explanation, boys.”

Ellis looked at Mr. Snyder. He wasn’t about to rat Mark out, even though he knew he should. Not that Mr. Snyder would be the right person to tell about Mark’s bullying anyway. If anything, he’d probably help Mark rather than Ellis, and Ellis couldn’t afford to get on the bad side of a teacher, no matter which one. At least he didn’t have European History this year.

“He fell, Mr. Snyder.”

“I saw that. What are you all doing here? Don’t you have somewhere to be?” The man clearly wanted them out of his hair, and Ellis didn’t mind one bit.

“We were heading to practice, and we saw Ellis, so we stopped to chat.”

“That’s it?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Well, go to practice, then, and stop loitering around. Mr. Aylmer, are you going to practice too?”

One of the guys in Mark’s group snorted. Mr. Snyder looked at them, but he couldn’t tell who it’d been.

Ellis scrambled to his feet while the man was distracted, and avoided looking at Mark and his friends more than necessary. He could hear them laughing as they walked away.

“Still here, Mr. Aylmer?”

“I’m going, sir. Good-bye.”

Ellis didn’t wait for an answer and walked away as fast as he could without breaking into a run. His arm throbbed where Mark had held him, and his palms stung. He’d held them backward when he fell, and they were scraped and a bit bloody.

Once he was sure he was out of Mr. Snyder’s sight, Ellis ran. He needed to put as much distance as possible between Mark and himself, but it wouldn’t be enough. It never was, not when he had to go back to school and face him again the next day.

A drop landed on Ellis’s cheek, and he swept his hand against it. He was surprised by the dampness on his face and unsure whether it was there because of the light rain or because of the tears he was crying.

His hands pulsed, and his arm hurt every time he moved it, reminding him how weak he was. Ellis couldn’t stand up to Mark. He wasn’t able to, not without help. How could he tell anyone, though? How could he be the one snitch in school?

Ellis’s feet followed the familiar path home, and he realized he’d arrived only once he was standing right in front of the door. After sliding his backpack off his shoulder, he rooted in it to find his keys, hissing at the pain that shot through his hands.

He didn’t stop to check if anyone was home. He ran up the stairs as soon as the front door closed behind him and let his bag fall, uncaring of where it landed.

Ellis threw himself on his bed and hugged his pillow. He let the soft fabric absorb his cries and his tears until both dried up.

He took a deep breath, then another, and another, until he felt strong enough to be able to stand up. It wasn’t easy pulling himself together again, but there was no one who could do it for him. Ellis wasn’t even sure he’d have let someone help him. It was stupid, but he didn’t want to be pitied, by anyone.

He bit his lower lip against the pain when he forgot the state his hands were in and used them to push himself up. Sitting on the edge of the mattress, Ellis looked at his hands.

There were gashes on both of them because of the asphalt he’d fallen on. Dirt and tiny pebbles were embedded in dried blood. The skin felt tight around the wounds, but they were scratches. Painful but not too bad.

He rose from his bed and carefully took off his jacket and the sweater under it. Once he was dressed only in his T-shirt and jeans, Ellis looked at his upper arm. The skin was already starting to color, and he knew he was going to have a hand-shaped bruise there. At least it wasn’t summer, and if he were careful not to be only in a T-shirt at home, no one would see it.

Ellis toed his shoes off, then headed to the bathroom. He avoided the mirror, knowing all too well what he looked like after a good cry. He washed his hands and face, wincing the entire time, then took care of the wounds on his palms.

When his father got home, Ellis was peacefully doing his homework, and no one noticed anything was wrong with him. His father certainly didn’t.

ELLIS KEPT
his eyes on Dale as Dale ran toward the goal. They were losing, one to nothing, and the team needed him to score.

Soccer was both exactly what Ellis had imagined it would be and completely different. Yeah, it was only a bunch of guys running after a ball, but watching Dale play made up for the boredom Ellis felt. He didn’t care much about who caught the ball and who scored, so he concentrated on Dale.

Dale played and ran like it was the best thing in the world, almost never stopping, not even to rest a bit. His face was flushed, he was sweaty, yet he’d never looked so handsome and
alive
. It was the passion that did it.

Even at a distance, Ellis could see how happy Dale was to be running up and down the field. It was in the way he yelled at his teammates, in how he kept his eyes on the ball, how he was always ready to move when he needed to.

Ellis recognized that passion. It was how he felt about his writing.

Someone slumped on the bench next to him, and he looked sideways. “What are you doing here?”

Anna looked at him. “Supporting our team.”

“You don’t watch soccer.”

“Now I do. Dale’s kind of my friend, after all.”

“Kind of?”

“Yeah. Now watch the game and explain what’s happening.”

“Our team is losing by one goal.”

“What are they doing?”

Ellis scrambled for his phone in the inside pocket of his jacket. He checked the
Soccer for Dummies
book he’d downloaded earlier. “It’s called a corner.” Anna gave him a
well, duh
look, and he continued. “It means Seth is going to kick the ball toward our players in front of the goal, and they’re going to try to get the ball in.”

“Oh. And why are they doing this?”

Ellis shrugged. “No idea.”

“I thought you looked the rules up.”

“I did. It doesn’t mean I remember them well.”

It didn’t stop Ellis from holding his breath when Seth kicked the ball. It soared toward the players in front the goal and came down. Dale jumped but missed, and Ellis lost sight of it for a moment. The people around him were going crazy, yelling and cheering, making the bench vibrate under Ellis’s ass.

He saw Dale push through the throng and move toward the goal just as another teammate kicked the ball his way. Ellis held his breath and leaned forward in his seat, muttering, “Come on, come on, come on!”

Dale shifted as soon as the ball got to him and kicked it. The goalie jumped and tried to stop it, but it was too late. It soared next to the goalie’s head and hit the back of the goal.

Ellis jumped from his seat, along with most of the other spectators. “Yes! Yes! He did it, Anna! He scored! Did you see that?”

Anna laughed. “Yeah, I saw.”

“It means they only need one more goal to win!”

“I know, El. I can count.”

Ellis huffed and sat back down. He crossed his arms over his chest and scowled at his best friend. “I thought you wanted me to be more interested in sports?”

“In sports, not in the players.”

“Anna!”

“Ellis!”

The players on the grass were already done celebrating the goal, and the ball was rolling again. It got pretty boring after that. Ellis spent a lot of time Dale-watching while Anna talked his ear off.

“What did you do to your hands?”

Ellis looked away from the field. “Huh?”

“Your hands?” Anna pointed at the healing scabs on Ellis’s palms.

“Oh, I, uh, I fell. While I was walking home the other day.”

It wasn’t like Mr. Snyder or Mark were going to tell her what had really happened, and Ellis wasn’t up for another scolding on how he should talk with a teacher. Mr. Snyder was a teacher, albeit a very boring one, and he hadn’t said anything to Mark. If that was the help telling a teacher would bring him, he’d rather keep his mouth shut, thank you very much.

Anna opened her mouth, probably to scold Ellis anyway. Sometimes she was worse than his mom. Yells interrupted her before she could start, and everyone rose from their seats again. Ellis followed their lead and looked at the field.

Dale had the ball and was running toward the goal. Two players from the other team were rounding up in front of him, and it was obvious he wouldn’t get anywhere near the goal.

He didn’t even try. Dale shot the ball to the side instead. The closest teammate caught it and took advantage of the free space in front of him. He kicked the ball high. Ellis briefly thought it would be too high, but it only grazed the top goalpost, passing under it.

The supporters’ cheers exploded around Ellis. He was clapping and smiling like a loon. Even Anna was cheering, although she was still sitting down. “We won, right?”

Ellis looked at his watch. “If our goalie manages to keep the ball out of his net for the next ten minutes, yeah.”

Ellis felt like he held his breath for those entire ten minutes. At the end of it, the referee blew his whistle, and cheers resounded around him as people started celebrating.

“Do you need a ride home?”

Ellis shook his head. “I’m going to hang around until Dale comes out of the locker room to tell him I watched. I’ll walk home.”

“Call me if you need me to pick you up.”

Ellis kissed Anna’s cheek. “You worry too much. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

She patted his cheek. “Yeah, okay.”

Ellis watched her walk away, then made his way to the back door leading to the locker rooms. There was already a small gathering of parents and other assorted people waiting, so Ellis neared the closest wall and leaned against it. He saw Stephanie and one of her friends, but he stayed away. They weren’t friends. They probably never would be, not with Ellis as jealous as he was of her.

Damn, having a crush sucked.

“GOOD JOB,
team!”

Dale beamed at the coach. They had played well, and not only because they’d scored twice after being behind for most of the game. They hadn’t lost faith they could do it, and it had worked.

The coach left them to their showers after a brief chat about what hadn’t worked during the game. Dale couldn’t wait to get out of there. He wanted to see if Ellis really had come, if he’d seen him play and score the first goal for their team.

“Are you coming to the party?”

Dale turned to Seth. “What kind of question is that? Of course I’m coming.”

“Steph’s coming with you?”

“I guess. I don’t know. I’ll have to ask her once we’re out of here.”

“We better hurry, then.”

“Where is it?”

“The party?”

“Yeah.” Dale stepped under the warm spray and let it sooth his aching muscles.

“Gary’s house. His parents told him he could organize a small party if we won.”

“Small? And they believed he’d do what they asked?”

Seth washed the shampoo out of his hair. “Looks like they trust him way more than he deserves. Remember the Christmas party last year?”

“I don’t think I’ll ever forget that one. I was sick for two days after it. My mom wanted to take me to the hospital.”

“We were young and stupid.”

“It was only a year ago.”

“Well, we were younger and stupid, then.”

Dale shook his head and rinsed the soap off his skin. He turned the water off and dried himself with his towel before wrapping it around his hips. “Yeah, well, I have no intention of being stupid this year. No more alcohol for me.”

“Please. You’ll be the first one with a beer in his hand when we get there.”

“You make me sound like an alcoholic.”

“Isn’t every eighteen-year-old guy?”

Dale didn’t actually drink much. He’d been really drunk only once, at Gary’s Christmas party. They’d all been. There was so much alcohol available.

But Dale felt so bad after it he’d sworn to himself he wouldn’t do it again. He’d limit himself to a few beers, just to get a buzz.

He pulled on his T-shirt and reached for his shoes. When he was done, he waited for Seth. “You take too long to do your hair, man.”

“I want to catch a lady, and that takes work.”

“I don’t think putting that much gel in your hair is going to help.”

“You’re in relationship bliss. You don’t understand.”

If only Seth knew what was happening in Dale’s head. It was far from bliss, and he had no idea what to do about it. “Ready?” Seth nodded. “Finally! Can we go now, or do you have to put on some makeup too?”

Seth threw a dirty sock in Dale’s direction. Dale stepped to the side, and it missed. “I’ll wait for you outside.”

“Hey! I’m coming.”

Dale laughed and shook his head, then walked to the door. He went down the hallway and got out to the parking lot. He looked around and saw Stephanie. She waved, and he smiled at her.

“You were great!”

“Aww, thanks.” She dove into his arms, and Dale kissed the top of her head, then her lips when she looked up. “We’re going to celebrate. You’re coming?”

“I can’t. You know I have that babysitting job tonight.”

“Uh, I’d forgotten it was today. Do you want me to come with you?”

Stephanie shook her head, her curls bouncing around and spreading the strawberry scent Dale associated with her. “No. The Harris’s wouldn’t be happy if I brought my boyfriend with me. Besides, you deserve to celebrate. You scored.”

“I wasn’t the only one.”

“Exactly. Go celebrate with your team, but don’t drink too much if you’re driving.”