“What did she say?” Ethan probed, eager to hear more about the pigs.
“Not much. Let me call her.”
“Before you do, I need to tell you something.” His excitement died a quick death.
My pulse took a nosedive at his grim tone. Jasper, Marcus, and Emma were at school with us. Either Marcus had gotten into trouble, which wouldn’t surprise me, or something had happened at home with Mom that I didn’t know about.
Ethan scooted to the edge of his bed. “Sloane didn’t move. Rumor is that her and her brother are responsible for the pigs.”
I didn’t like Sloane, although I got the attraction Marcus had for her. She was pretty, but man, she was trouble.
“Say what?” My brain was still processing the pigs in school.
“We can’t tell Marcus.”
I stared at Quinn’s text message and the heart emoji at the end of her sentence. My own heart beat a little faster. Man, I was dying to see her. I would give anything to have her at school with me. If she were in the dorms, I could sneak out of my room and into hers.
Absently, I flipped my phone in my hands, my mind conjuring up images of Quinn and the sweet taste of her soft lips. An entire school year without her would be painful. Hell, the last week without her had been. What was I thinking?
You’re doing this for your future, man.
“Bro, are you in there? Did you hear me?”
I inhaled the wooden scent that seemed to be imbedded in the walls, halls, and everywhere in the school. Actually, the school smelled like the inside of a church. “Yeah. We can’t tell Marcus. But news flash—Sloane probably did already.”
“Have you seen Marcus today? Because I didn’t see him at lunch. He wasn’t sitting with Jasper like normal.”
I ran a hand through my hair. “Did you ask Jasper?”
“I didn’t get a chance. Coach called an emergency meeting of the football team that cut my lunch short. Honestly, I didn’t think much about it. I figured Marcus was running late, and Jasper was sweet-talking a girl anyway.”
I chuckled. Jasper was making the rounds with girls for sure. I’d seen him a couple of times talking to two different girls that week. “Let’s not worry about Marcus. He seems happy here, and if he’s talking to Sloane on the phone, then let him.” I was done worrying about him. I had my own goals and dreams to achieve—basketball, winning games, getting seen by a scout, prepping for upcoming scrimmage games, and doing well in my classes.
Ethan pushed off the bed and stood to his full height. “I need to ask Jasper something about football. I’ll talk to Marcus, although soccer usually runs late.”
That sounded perfect. I wanted to hear Quinn’s voice anyway.
When Ethan reached the door, I asked, “Why are you so worried about him all of a sudden?” That job had been mine for the last year. “As I said, he seems happy.”
Marcus had told me just the other day that he felt like he could finally breathe for the first time since Dad’s death. In some ways, I agreed with him. There was something about the academy that was refreshing. I couldn’t pinpoint what. I loved how Coach Green had taken me under his wing and made me feel like I’d been playing for Greenridge since my freshman year. He also reminded me of my dad. Whenever he was frustrated because I’d messed up a play, he would address me by my full name. My dad had done the same when I’d been in trouble.
Ethan twisted the doorknob. “Mom needs our help.”
I stiffened. He sounded as though Mom were sick, and the only thing I could think about was her sister, who had died last year of breast cancer. Mom had told me not long after my aunt’s death that breast cancer was inherent in her family.
“Did something happen?” Please say no. You better say no. If Mom was sick, I was packing my bags right then and hitching a ride to Ashford.
“I haven’t told you this, but before we left to come up here, I heard her crying every night.” He heaved a sigh. “It just breaks my heart to see her sad and frustrated. As the older brothers, we need to step up.”
“Weren’t you the one who told me many times last year to take a chill pill?” I prodded him with my eyes. “Yeah. You were.”
“Dude, I’m one year wiser. Besides, I hate how Marcus treats Mom with no respect. If Dad were here, he wo—”
“He’s not.” My tone was hard and raw and downright steeped in fury. I hardly got angry with Ethan, but his big-brother attitude all of a sudden was twisting a knife in my chest, making me feel like I didn’t care anymore, and I did. Then again, I should be thankful he was stepping up. Maybe it was time for someone else to kick Marcus’s ass.
A muscle jumped in his jaw. “Exactly. It’s up to you and me. So deal with it.” He stormed out, closing the door behind him with a loud bang that shook the walls.
I flung myself back on my bed, staring at the poster of the basketball court I had tacked to the ceiling. The picture was a reminder of what I was striving for—the scholarship, the full ride to a Division I school, making my mom proud, and even my dad, who I was sure was watching down over the family. Most of all, I wanted to play ball for the NBA more than anything.
“Stay focused,” Coach Dean had said before I left.
But I didn’t know how I could when I took one step forward and two steps back, or at least that was how it seemed.
I lifted my phone and tapped on Quinn’s name. I needed to hear her sweet voice.
“Maiken.” She sounded upbeat, excited, and relieved.
I quietly sighed, my body warming in all the right places. “Hey, babe.”
“I miss you terribly. You’re not going to believe what I have to tell you.”
“First, I love you.”
She sucked in a sharp breath. “What happened? Is something wrong?”
“Family stuff. Nothing like pigs in school.” I discarded my brooding tone. She didn’t need to hear about Marcus. Hell, she had to be tired of dealing with him and hearing me complain about my brother.
She giggled. “You saw the video. Everyone has seen that video. I’m sure when I go to church on Sunday, the whole congregation will be talking about it. I can hear them now. ‘Kids. Who thinks of these silly pranks?’”
I didn’t care what the churchgoers thought. I cared about my girl. “Tell me you love me.”
“To the stars and back. I miss you so, so much. I want to see you.”
Butterflies swarmed in my stomach. I wished I could reach through the phone and touch her. “I have a scrimmage game next month. Can you come up? I’m sure you could spend the night in Emma’s room.”
“Oh my God! Really? I would love to.” Silence stretched over the line for a beat. “But I don’t know if my dad will let me. I’ll talk to my mom.”
My fingers were crossed that her dad would say yes. “At least for the game.” If I knew Mr. Thompson, he wouldn’t let Quinn spend the night, knowing she was with me.
“My dad might agree to a day trip, and I’ll ask Celia.”
“Cool. So who unleashed the pigs?”
“No clue. Daddy is furious.”
I propped up my pillow. “Did Sloane do it?” I couldn’t see Sloane bringing pigs into school. She was a lot of things, but not somebody I could see doing pranks.