these past two years because of that stupid boyfriend of yours. Then, after you met Willow, you changed even more.”
“I did not change.”
“Yes you did change. Even Mom noticed it. I heard her complaining about you to Gramma.”
“I’m sorry if you feel that way, Raisin, but you’re wrong. I swear that I’ll make everything up to you.”
“You lie, Katie, and you never used to lie. No way you’ll make it up to me once you go away to college. Then you’ll forget about all of us.” He throws down the cards and runs up to his room. Scout follows after him.
I glance down at my phone. Still no message from Willow. The sad fact is, I have let Raisin and my family down. I feel like I’ve let the entire town down, too. But now’s not the time to dwell on that. I have lots of remembering to do before Willow calls back. Before I can even begin to mend my family’s many wounds.
* * *
After the group photo, the players separated and wandered around the field, snapping pictures with their cell phones and talking to loved ones. Willow grabbed my hand and led me around like a pony while Gil followed us with his camera. Willow was the star of the show, and everyone wanted a piece of her after the amazing feat she’d accomplished by pitching a no-hitter.
It felt incredible being the object of everyone’s attention. Sure, I’d been a key member of the team, but it was Willow who’d brought us this championship. Without her, we would have barely made the play-offs. She held my hand as we stood in front of the news cameras and answered the reporters’ questions. Most of the questions were directed to her, but my mere proximity to Willow put me in the crosshairs of stardom, and I happily provided answers and smiled for the cameras.
I turned and saw Coach Hicks hugging Becky Higgins. A girl went around and announced that the Nelsons planned on having a celebratory cookout at their home later in the day. I wanted badly to go and rekindle some old friendships, forever cemented by our amazing championship run, but I knew Willow would not even consider attending their party. The Nelsons’ cookout would be safe and fun, and I wouldn’t need to worry about drinking, drugs, boys, or getting into trouble.
“Forget their stupid cookout, Katie. We’ll throw our own party, and it’ll be awesome,” Willow said.
“Don’t you think it would be more fun to celebrate as a team?”
“As a team? I was the one who batted in the two runs. I was the one who pitched the no-hitter—and I can’t even stand playing softball.”
“Still, we all had your back.”
“Maybe you had my back, but the others certainly didn’t. They can’t stand me.” She pulled out her phone and started to walk away. “Go if you like, Katie, but that’s not where I want to be.”
“Wait,” I said, catching up to her, knowing I couldn’t go to that party alone.
Was I weak? Socially messed up? The only way I could show up at the Nelsons’ party was with Willow by my side. Those girls wouldn’t give me the time of day if I showed up there without her. I pictured myself standing off in the corner, ignored and alone, nervously shoveling potato salad into my mouth. I understood the corner I’d backed myself into: it was a corner that I could never pull myself out of until the day I finally left this town.
She drove me home so I could get a change of clothes and my swimsuit; then we went back to her house. We sat on the beach, reclined on lounge chairs, dressed in our swimsuits. Mine was a conservative one-piece, while Willow had donned a revealing string bikini that left little to the imagination. Between us sat a small cooler filled with cold drinks. I opened a bottle of pear cider and nursed it for as long as I could, telling myself that I’d not get drunk this time.
Willow’s father came out a short while later, dressed in baggy swim trunks, and asked if we’d like to go in the water with him. I had no desire to swim, the ocean still being cold in June. But Willow leapt up, grabbed his hand, and pulled him along with her. I watched as they jogged side by side down to the water’s edge. It felt weird observing their father-daughter relationship. Was I jealous because of the