Shattered (Shattered #1) (2 page)

“What are you talking about?” Avery narrowed her eyes at me.

“Well…look at me. I had everything I wanted. I got away from here, was
on my way to the big leagues, then…BAM! I’m right back here stuck doing the one
thing I said I’d never do. I guess I was just never meant to leave.”

The bitterness in my voice was growing with the number of beers I had
been consuming. Coaching was never in the plans. Nick had been the one with the
coaching dreams. He was completely content with staying in Pittsford for the
rest of his life. He had everything planned out. We were going to get married,
have a family, and he was going to coach football. Everything had been going
according to plan until Coach Stallings showed up at the Conference meet.

“Hey Leah,” Coach Wilson
shouted across the field motioning me to come in his direction. He was standing
beside another man with graying hair.

“What’s up Coach,” I
panted as I jogged over and came to stop in front of him.

“I’d like you to meet
someone,” he gestured to the man beside him. “This is Tom Stallings, he’s a
scout. He heard about you and came to watch,” he grinned proudly as he watched
us shake hands.

“It’s nice to meet you
sir,” I nodded as a confused look began to spread across my features.

Mr. Stallings leaned in
closer, “I’m sure you want to know why I’m here to see you, Miss Carmichael.”
His smile widened even more, “You’ve made quite a mark in the record books. I
saw where you applied to the University of Georgia. Is college really what you
want to do?”

“Are you scouting for
scholarships?” I gasped. “I mean…to run… for the Dawgs?”

“Not exactly,” he
chuckled.

This confused me even
more, “I don’t understand.”

“I’m scouting for the
Olympic trials. I need someone to pick up the anchor in our relay team. Your
name was at the top of our list. You could leave next week, and get to our
training facility in Atlanta to start training with our coaching staff.”

My head began to spin as
I replayed the words. Leave next week? I still had three months of school left.
If I any chance of graduating, I had to finish school.

“What about graduating?”
I gasped.

“We have on site tutors.
They’d help you and you’d graduate like a homeschooled child would.”
“I really need to think about this. Can I have some time?” I swallowed. What
was I saying? This was my dream… my ticket out… my chance to follow my dream.

“I gotta go,” I placed my beer back on the bar and stood.

“Are you sure?” Avery touched my arm and gave me that look that said she
felt sorry for me.

“Yeah…I’ll see you at home?” I raised my brows.

“Nah…I’m coming with you. I’ve had enough, and we need to get you
settled in. I’ve got plenty of time to drink. Besides…I’m sure you’re not in
the mood to run in to anyone else we know, right?”

“Who do you think we would run into?” I narrowed my eyes in her
direction.

“No one,” she mumbled under her breath.

“Avery…you are a lot of things, but a good liar is not one of them. Does
he still come around here?” I swallowed pushing the uneasiness away.

“Use to,” she nodded. “Not so much anymore.”

I blew out a puff of air and groaned, “Thanks for the warning.”

“You can’t avoid him, you know that, right?” she glanced at me.

“Yep, but I can stay away from his hangouts. Mark this place in the
never come back column, Avery. Anymore places I need to stay away from?” I
peered out of the corner of my eye.

“Nah,” she shook her head.

She was hiding something, but I was too tired to dig into it now.
Morning would come soon enough, and I would figure it out then. Right now, I
just wanted to get to my new home, climb into bed, and pray that the man who
haunted my dreams would stay away for just one night.

Leah

When we pulled up to the small wood framed house, I glanced around. We
were in the middle of nowhere. Avery lived away from everybody…that was news to
me. Growing up, Avery was a party animal, she was always in the mix of
something, and this setting just didn’t look right at all.

“Whatda ya think?” she grinned as she climbed out of her truck.

“It’s nice,” I nodded. “Not what I was expecting.”

The small bungalow style home was painted a light yellow. Green shutters
framed each window, and a small porch ran along the front. She even had a white
picket fence along the front yard.

As I rounded the front end of my car, I pointed at the gate by the
sidewalk, “You went all out I see.”

“I think it’s cute,” she rolled her eyes at me. “Let’s get your stuff.
I’m sure you’re tired and want to get settled.”

“Sounds like a plan,” I sighed as I popped the trunk.

Once we brought my bags in, I practically melted into the bed. Lack of
sleep over the last several days was catching up to me, and I was going to go
over to the high school to check out my office in the morning.

“I’ll see you in the morning?” I looked over my shoulder at Avery as I
rounded the corner into what was going to be my bedroom. “I really just want to
get some sleep.”

“Yeah, in the morning,” Avery nodded before she disappeared into her
room.

ooooooooo

The next morning came much sooner than I was wanting. My room was on the
east side of the house, so I got the sunrise right in my window…not the best
way to start the day. I guess once school started and I had to get up early, it
would work in my favor.

As I stood to make my way out to the kitchen, I tossed on a hoodie and a
pair of yoga pants. I needed to go and check out my office space, and figure
out a game plan for the next morning. I would have to hold a practice tomorrow,
and I had no idea what I had to work with as far as the facilities went. No one
had sent me any info. For all I knew, I wasn’t even going to be in the athletic
facilities.

When I rounded to corner to the kitchen, Avery was leaning against the
counter. She looked like death run over backward.

“Rough night?” I smirked as I moved to pour myself a cup of coffee.

“Ha-ha,” she groaned. “You were there sunshine. You know what my night
was like.”

“Yeah, I do. I don’t think it was as bad as you’re acting. I’m planning
to go check out what I’ve got to work with. You want to come?”

“To the high school?” Avery wrinkled her forehead.

“No dummy, to the pizza shop…of course the high school. Where else would
I be talking about?”

“Ummm, I don’t know if that’s such a good idea,” Avery sighed.

“No, showing up tomorrow totally unprepared is a bad idea. What’s going
on with you?”

“Nothing,” she shook her head and turned her back to me. “You go ahead.
I think I’m going to go back to sleep. I’ll catch you later.”

“Alright…you sure you’re ok?”

“Yeah…go do your thing Leah. I’ll see you later. We’ll hang out
tonight.”

I turned to grab my keys off the counter and heard her mumble something
as she made her way down the hall. I couldn’t quite make it out, but it sounded
like a warning.

ooooooooo

The entire ride to the high school took me all of ten minutes. I didn’t
realize how close to town Avery really lived. It seemed further last night than
it actually was. I pulled up in the front parking lot, and moved my car into a
spot labeled faculty. It felt weird parking here. I’d never been anything other
than a student at Pittsford High. Now I was considered a teacher, sort of, I
think.

I shook my head… Too much analyzing this early. I began to walk in the
direction of the gym, that’s usually where the coaching staff have their
offices. I wasn’t really paying attention to the fact that there was a blue
pickup truck in the corner of the lot. It wasn’t uncommon for teachers to work
on the weekends, but I had no idea who it belonged to.

When I reached the door, I heaved it open. The smell of sweat and wood
wafted over me. Being back here…it was like I never left. I took a few steps
forward into the gym as I let my eyes wander. The same sights and smells that
were here five years ago, were still here now. I looked to the right, where the
scoreboard was housed. Right beside it, in the same spot that it was five years
ago, were the school track records. Leah Carmichael was emblazoned across the
top of three columns. I held the school’s record in the 400 meters, 200 meters,
and the 800 meters. The dates were different, but the times were still lower
than anyone in the district. No one had even come close to challenging me.
Pride swelled in my chest as tears formed in my eyes over a dream never
realized. I shook the memories from my head as I wiped at my cheeks. Time to
move on I thought as I began to head in the direction of the locker rooms.

As I began to weave my way through the mass of hallways in search of
what would be my office, I heard a faint voice. It sounded slightly angered,
and was getting louder the further I walked down the hall. The louder it got,
the faster I walked. It seemed so familiar, and yet not at the same time.

“You need to get your ass in gear son if you want to be a captain this
year,” the voice bellowed. “I can’t let you lead, if you don’t set a good
example.”

“Yes Coach. I’ll work on it,” another voice answered timidly.

“Speak up Son. A leader knows what he wants and goes after it.”

“I won’t let you down,” the voiced shouted as a shadow appeared in the
hallway a few feet ahead of where I was standing.

I stopped in my tracks and watched from a distance as a boy who looked
to be about sixteen stepped out of an office down the hall. He turned and waved
at me before sticking his head back in the door he’d just come out of. “Hey
Coach? There’s someone out here. They might need help,” he called to whomever
was inside.

“Thanks Ben,” came a deeper masculine voice, the same one from before,
but softer this time.

I nodded my thanks, hoping that whomever was in that office could point
me in the right direction and not bite my head off at the same time. When the
shadowed figured stepped through the door, my entire world tilted on its side.
The last person I ever wanted to see in Pittsford stood there gawking at me. It
was none other than Nick Sutter.

“Leah? Is that you?” he blinked a few times and rubbed his fingers over
his eyes pinching the bridge of his nose. The years had been kind to him. His
body toned and muscular. Nick always was hot, but now having the body of a
man…he was gorgeous. A pair of dark jeans hung loose on his hips accentuating
his narrow waist. A white t-shirt adorned his upper half clinging to his chest
and arms. Pittsford High Athletic Department was stamped across the chest in a
dark green. His sandy hair was standing up in every direction as if he’d ran
his hands through it repeatedly. Piercing eyes narrowed at me as his upper lip
twisted into a smirk.

“Huh?” I managed to squeak out as I twisted my fingers together.

“It is you,” he groaned as he leaned against the door jam and crossed
his arms over his chest in an annoyed fashion. “What are you doing here? I
thought this town, me, this job…I thought you were too good for us.”

His vindictive comment came out as a snarl and hit me in a way that felt
like a slap in the face, “I work here now.”

“You…here,” he pointed with his finger in the air and rolled his eyes.
“I find that hard to believe. How’d you end up back here? Not good enough to
cut it?”

The sting of his words brought tears to my eyes. I knew he was pissed at
the way things ended between us, but this was just cruel.

“This was a bad idea,” I mumbled as I turned and began to walk back to
the gym.

“Wait,” he called after me effectively stopping me in my tracks. “Wait…I
shouldn’t have said that…I’m sorry,” he mumbled.

When I heard the footsteps get closer, I felt the sizzle of the air.
Nick always had a way to make me feel alive. No man since him had ever affected
me the way he did.

He stopped right behind me and lightly touched my shoulder, “I didn’t
mean it.”

I whirled around on him causing him to stumble back slightly, “What do
you mean, you didn’t mean it? That was just…” I shook my head. “You meant it.
You wouldn’t have said it if you didn’t mean it. Why would you do something
like that Nick? I know you hate me. I know I’m never going to get anything but
hatred from you, but you were never cruel.”

Nick shook his head as pain flashed in his eyes, “Nothing.” “Your office
is the last door on the left that is if you’re taking Coach Wilson’s job.”

“Thanks,” I sighed as I shouldered my way around him and walked as quickly
as possible to the door he had indicated.

After slipping inside, I leaned against the closed door and let the
tears come. Nick Sutter was not somebody I wanted to be around. We’d held each
other’s hearts for three years, and then I’d crushed his. I’d taken what I had,
and blown it into a million tiny pieces, obliterating any chance of ever
feeling whole again. I thought coming back here, to this town, wouldn’t be this
hard. Boy was I wrong. This job, these people, my family, friends, and now
Nick. They were all going to slowly break me. They were going to tear me into
jagged pieces and scatter me down Main Street. I thought I could see Nick. I
thought when I finally ran into him that things would be ok. We say hi
awkwardly, and then move on. I should have realized that could never happen.
How do you run into the one man who still has your heart, and it not affect you
in some way? The answer is simple…you can’t.