Her Teen Dream (21 page)

Lesley’s heartfelt apology to Reese had
initially been rejected, but seemed to be gaining traction as time
passed, with Karin trying her best to smooth the waters between
them as much as possible while hoping they could all somehow get
past this. Karin’s strained friendship with Lesley was back on the
right track, but she still felt it would take time before things
could get back to the way they were and for Lesley to regain her
trust.

For the most part, the student body of
Elmwood High had gone about their business, sympathetic to the
issue of child sexual abuse and its effects on the victim. But some
had ridiculed Lesley and made her the butt of jokes for falsely
accusing Reese of a sexual assault. Lesley had dealt with it and
tried to fit back in with her friends.

Shelly and Lesley were going to family
counseling for sexual abuse and Lesley was seeing a substance abuse
therapist.

“My shrink says that my ‘problems’ are a
manifestation of still trying to cope with the loss of my Dad,”
Lesley muttered skeptically.

“Maybe they are,” Karin suggested, though
admittedly she considered it a stretch to connect his death with
everything that had happened. “Things affect different people in
different ways.”

“Oh,
pleeease
!” scoffed Lesley. “Yeah,
I really miss him and miss seeing my Dad and Mom living together to
a ripe old age, but that had nothing to do with my Mom being
attracted to a child molester or my making Reese out to be
something he wasn’t. Let’s face it. What I did was a really
stupid
thing and not a crazy in the head one!”

“I know,” agreed Karin sympathetically. “At
least you came clean before things got any worse.”

“Yeah, I should pat myself on the back for
doing the right thing.” Lesley rolled her eyes sarcastically.
“Maybe if I had used my head instead of letting Edgar intimidate
me, I would never have done the wrong thing.”

Karin patted her knee. “You did something
right, Lesley. We both did. We knew we weren’t ready for sex and
didn’t let Reese or Marcus convince us otherwise.”

“True,” Lesley said. “But that didn’t stop
Edgar from trying.” She paused. “Mom made me take a pregnancy and
HIV test, even though he never got in and she’d slept with him. She
said they’d always used condoms. Thank goodness there was no
pregnancy and the HIV test has been negative so far.”

“Hopefully that won’t change,” Karin said,
the thought of AIDS terrifying to her, especially if someone close
to her got it.

“Yeah.” Lesley made a face.

The girls turned their attention back to the
game as Marcus drove down the lane and scored.

“Oh, he’s still soooo cute,” cooed Lesley,
cheering for him.

Things had cooled off between Lesley and
Marcus ever since Jayne’s party, neither suggesting it had anything
to do with what happened afterwards.

“So why don’t you guys settle your
differences?” questioned Karin. After all, she and Reese had. Or at
least they had agreed to disagree on certain matters, while
respecting each other’s point of view, and trying to focus on the
good things that made them work.

“The problem is we’re just way too much
alike,” Lesley said. “And that could only end up getting us into
hot water down the line. I think some people are just better off as
friends.”

And some are better off as girlfriend and
boyfriend, Karin thought. She believed that she and Reese fit into
that category. Only time would tell whether or not they had staying
power.

She thrust to her feet, along with just about
everyone else in the bleachers, as Reese nailed another buzzer
beater from the top of the key and the Spartans were
victorious.

* * *

Karin waited outside the boys’ locker room
for the game’s hero to emerge. The Spartans had lived to see
another day and were within one game of the championship. But their
next challenger would be the toughest test yet. No one was making
any predictions, though everyone believed the Spartans had what it
took to go all the way.

When she saw Reese, Karin beamed. He looked a
bit weary, but happy to be on the winning side.

“Hey, you,” he said with a half smile.

“Hey, Mr. Clutch Shot!”

“Just doing my job, baby.”

“And you do it very well,” she declared.

“Sometimes.” Reese leaned down and kissed her
on the lips. “Nice,” he said, tasting the kiss.

Karin agreed as he held her hand, their
fingers entwined. They began walking down the hall, ignoring the
other players mingling about.

“Where’s Lesley?”

“She had to go straight home after the game.
She’s still grounded outside of school events for a while.”

“Yeah, right.” He rubbed his chin
thoughtfully.

Karin squeezed his hand a little tighter. She
knew he was still struggling with Lesley’s false accusation and how
too many people were quick to believe Reese was guilty before the
facts came out. It had even nearly derailed their attempt to get
back together, even if Karin had never allowed herself to believe
wholeheartedly that Reese was guilty of anything. She believed that
everything they had gone through had only made them stronger as a
couple.

They came upon Coach Cleaver, who was
surrounded by reporters in an impromptu news conference. He saw
them and immediately sidestepped the others. “That’s all for now,”
he said as he brushed the media aside.

“Coach,” Reese greeted him.

The coach patted him on the back. “McKenzie,
I don’t know if we could’ve pulled through without you.”

“I think we would’ve won no matter who took
the last shot,” said Reese unconvincingly.

Coach Cleaver grinned. “You just keep
believing that, son.”

Karin waited for him to look at her. When he
did, she felt tongue-tied, but determined to take a big step
forward.

“Ms. Blanch,” he spoke from the side of his
mouth. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you’ve been avoiding
me.”

She chuckled, embarrassed, while knowing it
was true. “Actually, Coach Cleaver, I wanted to ask you if it was
too late to try out for the girls’ track team.”

Reese looked at her with surprise. Karin
hadn’t told him of her decision, as it was only now that she felt
totally comfortable with it.

The coach responded, “It’s never too late to
try out, Karin. We’re always looking for natural runners year
round.”

She smiled. “Then I’d like to try out.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure,” Karin answered.

He touched her shoulder and crinkled his
eyes. “Good. Why don’t you come to my office tomorrow morning and
we’ll schedule a time for you to show me what you’ve got?”

“Will do,” she promised.

Coach Cleaver turned his face to Reese.
“Looks like that winning attitude you instill is catching,
McKenzie.”

“Yeah, I guess so,” he grinned, looking at
Karin and back again.

Once the coach had gone, Reese put his arm
around Karin’s shoulder and said as they resumed walking, “You’re
just full of surprises.”

“Isn’t that better than being too
predictable?” she teased.

“Much better.”

“Thought so.” Karin lifted her chin and
kissed him. “Not all things are unpredictable.”

He laughed. “You won’t see me
complaining.”

“You’d better not.”

This time Reese leaned down and kissed her,
which Karin warmly received.

“Do you want to go get something to eat?”
Karin asked once they were outside. Spring was definitely in the
night air and she wasn’t ready to go home yet.

“Yeah, that sounds good,” Reese said.
“Especially to my stomach.”

“Where to?”

“You pick.”

Karin smiled. Her parents had backed off a
little for now in wanting them to end things, but she remained on
an eleven o’clock weekday curfew and was still subject to twenty
questions from her mother. But it was small price to pay to be with
the boy she loved today.

Tomorrow she fully expected to feel the same
way.

# # #

Following is a bonus excerpt of Devon Vaughn
Archer's novel,
HIS TEEN DREAM
. Now available in Kindle,
Nook, iTunes, and Smashwords

ONE

Lex Haskell stared vacantly out the window as
his mom drove him to school. It was like the third time they had
moved in five years and he wasn't very happy about it. This time it
was to some place called Lake Charmanie in Northern California. His
stepdad had gotten a new job there as district sales manager for a
software firm, forcing them to leave San Bernardino behind, along
with his friends. Though his mom swore this was the last time they
would move before he went off to college, Lex had heard it all
before. And since he was only sixteen, it could be agonizing
waiting to see if he would be pulled out of another school for who
knew where.

"I know it will take some time, but you'll
like it here," his mom, Linda Montoya, promised, as though reading
his mind.

"Yeah, whatever." He wasn't sure he would
like living anywhere that didn't include his real dad. But since
his parents had divorced two years ago, and were both remarried
now, Lex had pretty much given up hope they could put their
problems behind them and get back together.

"All I'm asking is that you give it a
chance."

"And what if I hate it?" Lex challenged her.
"Can we move back to San Bernardino? Or San Jose?" The latter was
where he'd grown up and had the most fun, even if it seemed like a
lifetime ago.

"You know we can't do that," Linda said,
frowning.

"So what difference does it make whether I
like it here or not, since my vote doesn't seem to count for
much?"

"Because I love you and want you to be happy.
Will you at least try for me?"

Lex said nothing as she pulled up in front of
the school. "I have to go."

"I'll pick you up this afternoon."

"Don't. I'll walk home," he said.

"It's a pretty good walk."

Lex shrugged. "It's no big deal." In fact,
he'd walked farther when they lived in San Jose. This would give
him a better chance to get used to his surroundings, for better or
worse.

He got out of the Subaru Legacy his mom had
bought last month and watched briefly as she drove off.

Carrying his backpack, Lex looked at the sign
on the main building: Charmanie Hills High School. It was smaller
than his last school, but had a more modern look about it.

He passed by other students, trying not to
stand out too much as the new kid in school. But he imagined that
would be difficult, given that he seemed to stand out wherever he
was. Probably because he wore his short dark hair parted on the
side and had slightly crooked brows. Or maybe it was his height,
since he was already six-two. Even his clothes, which weren't
always the most trendy, set him apart.

Still, he just wanted to fit in as much as
possible. He stepped inside the assistant principal's office.

The red-haired woman in her forties stood.
"Hi, you must be Lex Haskell."

"Yeah," he acknowledged.

"I'm Mrs. Perone, the assistant principal and
academic liaison for freshman and sophomores. I'll help you with
your schedule, and I'm also available for counseling."

Lex cracked a grin. "Looks like you do
everything."

She laughed. "Pretty much."

He got a quick orientation, having missed the
formal one, then picked up his student identification card and
schedule, got his locker information, and was ready to give it a
go.

"If you have any problems, I'm always here,"
Mrs. Perone told him.

He didn't anticipate needing her for
anything. "Okay."

In the hall, things had picked up with
students freely moving about in both directions. Lex easily joined
the flow and went to look for his locker.

He was stopped dead in his tracks when he saw
a girl approaching who looked an awful lot like Taylor Clawson, a
girl he used to know in elementary school. But that was like what,
six years ago, when he last saw her. They were both in fifth grade
and he was crazy about her, having shared two kisses and lots of
hand holding when no one else was looking.

But that all came to an end when he and his
parents moved, leaving behind Lex's first love, whom he never saw
again. So was this her? In Lake Charmanie, of all places?

If so, she had changed a lot and all for the
better. She was beautiful. He guessed she was around five-six,
definitely shapely, and had long black hair. Was it really
his
Taylor?

Or just a pretty good imitation of what she
might have looked like after six years?

Only one way to find out...

He veered off course to step in front of her.
"Excuse me, but are you Taylor Clawson?"

She batted curly lashes at him above big
sable eyes, showing no sign of recognition. "Yes, who are you?"

"It's me—Lex Haskell. We were in grade school
together."

She cocked a brow. "Sorry, I don't remember
you."

Lex found that hard to believe. Yes, he
looked different from when he was ten, but not
that
much
different. And his name hadn't changed. He was just about to try to
jar her memory when a guy about his height, but more muscular, with
a shaved head, walked up to them and put his arm around her
shoulders.

"Hey," he said to her.

She looked up at him. "Hey."

He kissed her on the mouth and glared at Lex.
"Who's he?"

"No one," she said coldly. "He thought he
knew me, that's all."

"I'll walk you to class," he told her, as
though she needed a bodyguard.

"All right." Taylor glanced briefly at Lex
before she turned and walked away with the guy.

Feeling stung, Lex wanted to go after her,
but chose not to stir up trouble on his first day at school.