Noah and I hadn’t talked much about his background except that he’d moved twice in the last three years. His mom accepted temporary assignments with the company she worked for, which kept them traveling around like gypsies.
Coach smoothed a hand over his somewhat big belly. Word from some of the boys who’d attended his camp last year was that he liked beer. “None of them are as good as you, son. And I need a shooting guard.” He blew his whistle.
The guys jogged over.
Noah pulled me aside as I headed over to get some Gatorade. “What’s up, dude?”
“Coach wants me to attend Greenridge this fall.”
He slapped me on the back. “For real? That’s great.”
“What would you do?” I asked. “You’ve heard of the school.”
He ran his fingers through his black hair. “I would take it, man. Lots of guys from there have gone on to play in the big leagues.”
I grabbed a drink. “Why don’t you enroll?”
“Noah. Maiken,” Coach called. “Hurry up.”
I discarded my cup in a box Coach had set out for trash.
“My mom is taking a new assignment this fall, so we’re moving from Syracuse,” Noah said. “She hasn’t found out where, though.”
“Wouldn’t it be easier if you went to a school like Greenridge since your mom travels a ton?”
He shrugged. “Maybe, but it’s not that simple.”
I’d tried to get Noah to open up, but as soon as we started talking about family, he always shut down. So our conversations tended to revolve around sports and general topics of nothing. I had mentioned I had a girlfriend, but I didn’t go into details. He didn’t want to talk about family, and I didn’t want to talk about Quinn.
We joined the group.
“All right,” Coach said. “You boys did well today, and it’s time to put some of the things you’ve learned in the last couple of weeks to use. We’ll be playing the Greenridge basketball team this weekend at the school. That means we have three more days to go through the techniques you’ve learned in practice. I’m proud of each one of you. Now get back to the hotel and shower. We’ll meet in the lobby at five for dinner.”
The guys scattered, chatting as they collected their gear.
Noah tapped me on the arm. “Let’s head to the pool to cool off.”
Some of the others around us agreed, perked up, and asked if they could join us.
“The more, the merrier,” Noah said.
The hotel we were staying at had a nice pool and Jacuzzi. My muscles could definitely benefit from the Jacuzzi.
I grabbed my bag from the grassy area behind the basketball goal. “I’m in. I just need to make a call first.” I plucked my phone out of my bag and turned it on.
Noah jogged up to Brady, another guy who hung out with us in the evenings.
I tapped on Mom’s number as we headed to the hotel, which was less than a mile away.
“Maiken,” Mom answered, excitement lacing her tone. “How’s camp going?”
I’d spoken to her a couple of nights ago, but Mom was always eager to hear my voice. “Good. You’re not going to believe this. Coach Green wants me to play for Greenridge this year. Did you talk to him?”
She laughed. “I don’t know Coach Green, honey. I sense you’re considering it, though.”
I walked along the perimeter of the park, following a good distance behind the guys. “It’s pretty up here. Lots of trees and rolling hills.”
“But?” she asked.
“I kind of had my heart set on playing my last year with Kensington and for Coach Dean.”
“I see,” she said. I could picture her staring out the window, her mind working overtime to find her next words. “I’ve made a decision. Jasper, Marcus, Emma, and Ethan will be attending Greenridge next year. At first, I was only considering Marcus and Jasper, but Emma and Ethan have expressed interest in the school. Financially, it might be tough at first, but with my job at the law firm now, I should be able to swing tuition.”
“So Ethan wants to go to Greenridge?” I hadn’t spoken to my brother except a text here and there about Celia. I’d been happy to hear that she was doing better and was out of the hospital.
“He does. You know he’s leaning toward the military, and Greenridge has a great ROTC program.”
I shouldn’t have been surprised. Ethan had been talking about the military since he was a little boy.
“Maiken,” Mom said. “I don’t want you to attend Greenridge because you think you have to babysit your siblings. Make the choice for you and not anyone else, not even Quinn. You have one year to get scouts to notice you.”
A horn blew, making me flinch and orient my vision. I found myself about to cross the street without looking. I gestured to the driver with my hand that I was sorry as I backtracked onto the sidewalk.
“Everything okay?” Mom asked.
“I’m good. I’ll think about it, Mom. By the way, Coach Green invited you up to watch our scrimmage game at the academy this weekend.”
“Oh? I wasn’t planning on touring the school for another week, but I can pile the family in the car and head up. I’ll let Kross know since he was planning on coming with us.”
“Cool. I’ve got to run.”
“Maiken, I love you,” Mom said. “And I’m very proud of you. I know if your dad were here, he would be too.” Her voice cracked on the last sentence.
“I know he would.” A tear stung my eye. “I miss him.”
“We all do. But remember what I told you—he’s with you every step of the way.”
My chest hurt whenever we talked about Dad. “Love you too, Mom. I need to go. See you this weekend.” I hung up before I started bawling like a baby.
I glanced around and tried to shake off my emotions.
The hotel peeked out from behind the shops on Main Street. A few people went in and came out of the coffee shop next to me.
I inhaled and waited for the crosswalk sign to light up.
My mind worked overtime, rifling through the pros and cons of attending Greenridge or staying at Kensington. The only pro I could come up with for Greenridge was their basketball program.
Despite the tension between Quinn and me, I didn’t want to leave her. I didn’t want to break her heart. Yet I’d made a decision to pour every ounce of energy I had into basketball. So now was the time to buck up.
I gawked at the beautiful rolling green lawn of Greenridge Academy. In some way, the campus reminded me of the farm, but without the scent of manure and hay.
I walked up to the edge of the parking lot, where the grass met the asphalt. A handful of cars were pulling in. Maiken’s mom had wrangled Jasper, Marcus, Ethan, and Emma into a small huddle behind me, talking family stuff that I didn’t need to hear.
I was desperate to see Maiken. He didn’t know I was coming. I’d asked his family to keep it to themselves, although I didn’t know if any of the boys or Emma would blab to their brother. I suspected Marcus would since he and I weren’t on good terms.
Nevertheless, I wanted to surprise Maiken, and if I were being honest, I was afraid if he knew I was coming, he would tell me to stay home. We hadn’t spoken since he’d left. However, we had swapped a few texts. Nothing of great substance filled our messages back and forth except that he was learning a lot. I owed him an enormous apology. I’d acted like a huge brat that day he’d shown up at the hospital.