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Chapter 9
"Adam?"
He turned around and looked at Calum and Teagan. "What are you doing," Teagan asked.
"I, my friends, am helping dear Nicky with a problem."
"This wouldn't have anything to do with him and Bailey would it," Calum asked.
"No, it's more of a...math problem."
"Why would he want you to help him with a math problem," Teagan asked.
"I don't know, but if you'll excuse me..."
Calum and Teagan looked at each other. "He's digging himself into a hole."
"Should we stop him," Calum asked.
"No," Teagan said. "No, he wouldn't learn anything if we stopped him."
"Make way! Stars coming through!"
Calum and Teagan turned. Ryan was shouting through the halls. They shared a look and then it hit Calum like an anvil. "Today's varsity's first game."
"Oh," Teagan said.
"They sure got nice around Cam fast," Calum said leaning up against his locker. "I just don't get it."
"It's because he's on starting varsity and friends with Troy. Where's Chad?"
Calum looked at the group of seniors that were passing in the hallway. Chad, Zeke and Jason were missing from the group. "Troy and Chad must still be fighting," he concluded.
"Still? They've been fighting for over a month. That could be interesting if their both starting today."
"Especially since they're playing West High, the only other team that has close to their ability."
"You don't think they could blow it, do you," Teagan asked.
"All I'm saying," Calum said. "Is if two people are fighting on the court, it gets messy."
"Whens you're first game?"
"Tomorrow," Calum said. He sighed and turned down the hall toward his last period class. Teagan followed close behind. They walked in silence until they heard a scream. "That was Keisha," Calum said before he and Teagan began running down the hall. When they reached the end of the hall, Mack was shutting her cellphone and all three of them had tears forming in their eyes.
"What happened," Teagan asked as Keisha clung onto him, sobbing into his shirt.
"I just finished talking to Mikaela's mom," Mack said taking a deep breath. "Her cancer's back and the prognosis isn't good."
"What do you mean," Calum asked.
Mack hugged herself, "they don't give her very much longer."
hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm
Calum stared at the telephone in the living room. He wanted desperately to call Mikaela and tell her that everything would be all right. He wanted to be able to tell her words of wisdom like she had told him. He wanted to have half as much courage as she had.
But even if he did call her, he didn't know what he would say. What do you tell someone who is going to die?
Mack, Bailey, Keisha, Adam and Teagan had gone to the hospital instead of going to the game, but Calum couldn't muster up the courage to walk through the hospital doors. He didn't think he could look into her eyes and talk to her as if she was fine, which is what she would have wanted. She was the kind of girl that wanted to be treated like a regular kid, even though she was knocking on death's door.
He still hadn't gone to the game. He couldn't sit in the bleachers that she and he had sat in and she had told him that Cam was getting made fun of too and she had made him laugh when he was down.
When he told Adam and Teagan to go without him, Adam had thought he couldn't look at Mikaela because she looked so much like Mack. But that wasn't the reason. In his mind, Mack and Mikaela didn't look alike, they looked similar. For example, Mack had less freckles on her face than Mikaela and Mikaela had really skinny legs compared to Mack's muscular ones.
"Calum?"
He looked away from the phone. Standing in the doorway was his mother and Cam, both looking worried. "Yeah," he said, staring at the ground.
"Sweetie, what's wrong," Karen asked, kneeling beside him. "You should be in bed. Did you have a nightmare?"
Calum had been in bed, but Mikaela had plagued his thoughts. Every thought he had would be interrupted by his brain asking, 'what's Mikaela doing now? Does she know? Is she scared or terrified?'
"My life's a nightmare."
"Whys that," Karen asked.
"Mikaela has cancer. She was in remission, but it's back."
Karen just looked at him. "How is it," Cam asked quietly.
"The prognosis isn't good. How do you talk to someone who might die, Mom?"
Karen sighed. "I don't know. But, if it helps, when Troy was born they didn't think he would make it. I comforted Elaine by just listening to her let out her feelings and trying to get her mind off of Troy."
"I'm scared for her."
"I know sweetheart, I know."
hsmhsmhsmhsmhsm
"You nervous Calum," Derek asked. He was the center on the team and one of the only ones who would talk to him.
"Kind of," Calum replied, not really paying attention to the question asked. Derek walked away toward the others who were laughing as West High's junior varsity walked in the gym. The pressure should have been on Calum, most of the plays were geared toward him and the team really wanted to beat West High. The varsity had beat West High by twenty points; Troy and Cam had dominated the courts. But for some reason, Calum's head just wasn't in the game, his thoughts were elsewhere.
He walked out on the court and game started. He couldn't get any of his shots in and he was playing poor defense against Jeremy Pollard, a freshman that had played with him last year in middle school. Jeremy was a good player and a fast sprinter, but Calum should have been able to tame him.
Coach Freeman thought that Calum's playing was nerves and kept him in until halfway through the third quarter. But, it was hopeless taking Calum out then, they were all ready too far behind to win. West High ended up winning 75-54.
The next day, Calum mentally kicked himself. He had let Mikaela get into his head during the one game he really needed to focus in. Rumors had flooded the school saying that he had played poorly because he wanted West High to win.
"Nice job Boucher," came out of at least 20 kids' mouths. He had been tripped and laughed at morning. But lunch was worse than any of that.
Caleb Harding, a sophomore forward and the captain of the team, sent him a death glare before nodding to his friends and teammates. "You know what Boucher," Caleb said, walking over to him. "I thought you would have been better than that. You're brother actually tried to win, but I guess we know where your loyalties lie."
"Caleb, I swear, I didn't try to let them win. My friend-"
"Boucher you can stop lying. Why don't you go there instead, you don't have to go here just because your brother does."
"I wanted to come here way before Cam decided to."
"Since I'm the captain, I can decide if a team member is pulling the team down. So, when we play West High, I'm saying right now, you can't play."
"What? You can't do that," Adam yelled.
"I can and I will."
"Deception," one of the kids on the team sang.
"Disgrace," sang another.
"Evil as clear as the scar on his face," they sang together. Calum touched the scar that ran down the side of his cheek. He would have it forever, a reminder of what his father had done to him.
"Deception," another teammate sang while the cheerleaders sang, "an outrage!"
"Disgrace," one of the freshmen on the team sang. "For shame," the brainiac's sang.
"He asked for trouble the moment he came," Derek sang.
"Deception!"
"An outrage!"
"He cant change his stripes!"
"Disgrace!"
"For shame!"
"You know these outsider types!"
"Evil as clear as the scar on his face!"
"See you later agitator!"
"What's going on in there," Bailey asked as she, Mack and Keisha entered the cafeteria. The three girls smiled at the singing, but stopped when the saw what was going on. "Calum," Mack screamed.
"Born in grief
Raised in hate
Helpless to defy his fate
Let him run
Let him live
But do not forget what we cannot forgive!"
"Mack!" Calum, Adam and Teagan tried to run to the girls but Nick stood in the way.
"You really don't want to do this," Adam seethed.
"You really don't deserve them," he sneered.
"And he is not one of us
He has never been one of us
He is not part of us
Not our kind."
"Nick, let them go," Bailey said. "They're our friends."
"Not if I can help it."
"Someone once lied to us
Now were not so blind
For we knew he would do what he's done
And we know that he will never be one of us."
"He is not one of us," Caleb sang.
"Deception!"
"Disgrace!"
"Deception!"
"Disgrace!"
"Deception!"
"Leave. Now," Nick said.
Calum looked up sympathetically at Mack before saying, "come on, let's go."
Caleb watched Calum leave with a smile on his face. "Hey Caleb," one of his friends said. "You know what it would do to your image if you went out with a Bolton?"
"Mack?"
"Yeah. She wont want Boucher anymore, so go for her. You could be Captain and with a Bolton by your side-"
"I'm a sure pick to replace Troy next year as star!"
"Exactly."
"You can't do this!" Caleb turned around to see Mack being held back by Bailey and Keisha so she wouldn't hurt Nick.
"Go on Caleb, go get her."
"You wanted to be their friend, and then you betray them!"
"On the contrary Mack, Nick was betrayed by them," Caleb said walking up the stairs.
"Get away from me," she said. "You are cold hearted."
"I'm cold hearted? What about him!"
"His friend is in the hospital," she said. If looks could kill, Caleb would have been dead.
"Likely story," he said.
"Mack, I'm here to give you an offer, give up on Boucher and be my girlfriend."
"I'd rather die."
"One day, you'll see, I am a better man than Boucher. You'll see, mark my words."
How did you like it? Well, I need to thank Volleyballgirl-2892 for the idea about the song.
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