Inevitably Yours

QUINN

Finals were finally over. After last week’s concert, we didn’t have anything for band, so he released us all early. Jaxx had been a little off the last week, and I told him I needed to study all weekend, so I didn’t hear from him much.

Christy gave me a hug at my locker and rushed out to meet Aubree, who came to pick her up. All of my other friends had finals this period, so I was stuck walking home in the snow or waiting. I packed everything into my backpack that I might need over the holiday break and headed for the front door in no hurry. I didn’t mind walking; I just disliked the cold wind. Sapphire wanted to play in the snow, so I thought about shifting at night and letting her do just that.

I pulled my coat tight around me before stepping outside. I stopped at the top of the stairs, surprised. “What are you doing here?” I asked.

“A little mouse told me you would be out early today and probably walking home,” Jaxx smiled.

“But don’t you have school or finals?” I asked, coming down the steps toward him. Jaxx leaned against his truck, exhaust billowing from the tailpipe as it sat idling. The happy winter sun shone down on us, making the snow-coated flower beds and lawn sparkle.

“No, I finished yesterday,” he said happily. I stopped in front of him, a little wary after last week. “I owe you an apology.”

“Oh,” I said, surprised at the direction this went.

Jaxx grabbed me by the h**s and pulled me flush to him. “I got jealous. Really jealous. I know you were talking to another guy, and it just made me angry. I shouldn’t have acted like that and been so cold to you.”

He looked down at me earnestly. I took a second to take in what he was saying. “I’m really sorry, Quinn. Just because you have a boyfriend doesn’t mean you can’t have friends. Christy mentioned you were really close with someone over the summer, and it left you guarded. Plus, there are a lot of rumors about you and that bastard Alpha kid.”

“Stop,” I blurted out. I didn’t want to hear his opinion on Michael. “I forgive you, okay?” I recovered.

“Promise you aren’t mad?” he said, pushing his bottom l*p out.

“I’m not mad,” I told him. He smiled happily at me.

“Great, because I should have done this the moment you walked out of that band hall,” he said. He leaned down and kissed me. His lips were warm against me, firm but not insistent. The k**s didn’t send the same shudder through me that Michael’s had, but it was pleasant.

Jaxx pulled away, giving me a dreamy look. “I can’t tell if you’re blushing or cold. Let’s get in the truck,” he laughed. He let go of my waist, and I stepped back. He opened the door for me, and I climbed in, allowing him to close it too.

When he was in the driver’s seat, he looked at me and said, “So, where to?”

–

Doing the score for wrestling was getting easier every week. We had two tournaments over the break. On the first weekend, the team was going in separate directions. Varsity had a team tournament while everyone else was going to the JV Tournament. I volunteered to go with the JV team, hoping the matches would be easier.

I had become acquainted with most of the team now. Like Ricky said, Nick looked big and scary, but he was probably one of the nicest guys on the team and really quiet. He wasn’t mad that I missed his match during that first tournament and even told me his mom would always be in the crowd keeping score as well. I liked most of the guys on the team in the grades above me, but the ones in my grade didn’t bother to even speak to me. It didn’t bother me much because I was there for work, not entertaining them.

Jaxx was pouty about the tournament but ultimately offered to come pick me up from my house and drop me off Friday afternoon for the bus. We got to the school a little early, and he wanted to spend that time kissing me until I was blue in the face. It only ended because Mr. Ganbar walked up to the passenger side window and knocked, completely interrupting us.

When I got on the bus, I was completely red in the face. Mr. Ganbar finally joined me when all the wrestlers were loaded. “Wait, am I the only stat person? Where are the other coaches? You never go.”

Mr. Ganbar laughed. “Short staffed this weekend. Two of the assistants have already left for holiday vacations. I am here to coach the JV, and you are the only stat girl.”

I turned around and counted the heads hovering above the seats. “Just me for nine wrestlers?” I clarified.

“We got this. I bet you can even score two at once,” he challenged.

“No, I do not have this. This is absurd,” I told him.

“Nothing we can do now,” he shrugged. “Have you talked to Mr. Gibson about that uniform?”

I froze. Michael had said he was never giving it back, even if Mr. Ganbar came after him. He had some long explanation about how it was a very old ‘throwback’ uniform and only certain wrestlers got to wear them. Michael declared he earned it and would not be returning it. “Uh, I don’t think he has it,” I said quickly.

“Right,” Mr. Ganbar chuckled. “Well, ask him to look again. My mailing address hasn’t changed.”

“Right,” I said. Dread filled me as I sunk back into the bus seat. Nine wrestlers and one me. This was about to be the worst weekend ever. I pulled out my phone and opened Michael’s last text message. I hadn’t talked to him since the night of the concert. My fingers hovered over the keyboard, my instinctual response to message him with my worries.

“No,” I told myself. “I can’t keep running to him like this. He pushed me away. He doesn’t want to be there for me like that.”

Sapphire pouted in my head. “But he would understand better than anyone.”

“This is boyfriend territory, though,” I reasoned. “He left. He barely calls or texts. He pushed me away. I have a boyfriend.” I opened a message to Jaxx.

ME

| this is going to be the worst. there are 9 guys and im the only stat girl

JAXX

| i told you to stay home this weekend

| we could be under a blanket with cocoa right now

ME

| im scared they will all wrestle at once

JAXX

| wrestlings dumb anyway

| ill come get you

ME

| i cant just leave!

I g*****d in frustration. That was the opposite of supportive. I texted the other girls who were supposed to be going with Varsity; they would be meeting at the school right after we left. Tae finally replied when we arrived at the tournament to tell me there were five girls at the Varsity tournament.

“Matches may be easier, but no one volunteers to go with us,” one of the sophomores said as he filed past me on the bus.

“Don’t worry, we can help,” Matt said, following him.

–

While the first night of the tournament wasn’t too bad because of all the prelim matches, Saturday was a fiasco. I stood staring dumbfounded at the board, indicating where all the matches were.

“I was afraid this might happen at some point,” Mr. Ganbar said next to me.

I turned to him and pointed directly to the board. “We have a match on every mat all at once. You were afraid of this?” I gasped.

“Well, Miss Samuels, let’s see just how good you have gotten,” he smiled, clapping his hands together. I stared at him in shock as he walked away to the area designated for the wrestlers with upcoming matches to wait and warm. I looked out over the mats. There were four stuck together in a square at the center of the gym.

“Saph, I have no idea how to do this,” I said. My wolf was totally silent. “No, no, no…” I whispered. The match on mat one ended, and the next pairing filed on. Mr. Ganbar went for the coach’s seat that was positioned near the center of the mats. I followed him, sitting down on the ground.

“Take the four scorecards out and set them down around you. Keep your head on a swivel, and I will do my best to shout out when things are happening,” he told me. The match on mat three ended, and our wrestler stepped up for his.

“I think it’s time I hand in my resignation,” I swallowed, my head snapping back and forth between the mats. Mat two finished as the whistle blew to begin on mat one.

Suddenly, I was watching four simultaneous wrestling matches and barely keeping up. Mat three ended in a pin at the end of the first period, giving me one less thing to watch. I barely caught the pin time on the clock before it reset for the next match.

Mat four went into injury time just as mat one went to sudden death. My head was spinning by the time mat four started again, and mat two’s match ended. The wrestlers slowly joined me, sitting next to me as they watched their teammates.

“Did you get my pin time?”

“Did I really only score 12 points?”

“Was I cautioned or penaltied?”

They kept linking me while I was trying to watch the final two matches. Finally, I growled loudly. “Shut up!”

Mat one’s match ended, and Mr. Ganbar turned his full attention to mat two with a laugh. He had been popping between all of them as well. “I told you boys to let her be,” he said.

When the last match ended, I checked the board. Matt came over and grabbed my clipboard. “Go take a quick break. You look like you want to kill us. I think I can do this. We only have one person up right now,” he said.

“Thanks,” I said. “I didn’t mean to snap. They wouldn’t shut up, and I am missing a point in one of those matches.”

“I got it,” he said, pushing me toward the open gym doors. I dashed out the doors and down the hall toward the girl’s bathroom. Thankfully, it was empty. I found a stall and sat down on the toilet, pulling my phone out.

“Are you done already?” Jaxx answered hopefully.

“No,” I said. “Just having a bad day.”

“I told you to skip it. What would they have done?” he said.

“Right,” I said. I sighed, wishing I could commiserate for just a moment. Maybe I was overreacting.

“When will you be back?” he asked.

“Probably late. A lot of these matches are going into overtime,” I told him.

“I hate that we could have spent all weekend together,” he said.

“Yea,” I sighed. “Probably would have been more fun.” While I wasn’t having fun running around frantically trying to keep up with everyone, I did enjoy being a stat girl. Everyone was right; I was beginning to love the sport. There was so much intensity with everyone out there competing for themselves, but team standings were also on the line.

“Just let me know when you head back, and I’ll come to pick you up,” Jaxx said. “Gotta go.”

“Okay. Bye,” I said. He hung up before I could even finish talking. I dropped my phone on my lap and rubbed my hands over my face. I just had to get through a little more. Two of the wrestlers were on the verge of elimination, and Mr. Ganbar didn’t think another three of them would make it to the finals. If I were lucky, there wouldn’t be four matches up all at once again.

I headed back out of the bathroom to find Drew leaning against the wall opposite the doorway. He stood up as I exited. “I gave my clipboard over to Matt, so I don’t have your stuff in front of me,” I said defeatedly. He shook his head and held out a candy bar and soda.

“Your working really hard, and we all appreciate it,” he said. I took the offering. “The Varsity guys don’t usually say thank you, but we do. That was a little nuts. I told them not to bug you for score stuff until after finals.”Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

I smiled softly. “Thanks,” I said. My lunch still sat uneaten in my backpack; I hadn’t had a minute to do anything since the tournament began this morning.

“Someone’s on deck for mat three. You probably have two or three minutes,” Drew said, turning to walk away. I leaned against the wall and opened the soda, taking a small sip. I couldn’t help but smile, feeling a little better about everything.