He sees me, but doesn't stop dribbling the ball.
"Caleb," I call out.
"Why didn't you tell me about Mrs. Reynolds?"
"I didn't have a chance. I wanted to," I say, then step toward him.
"You better stay back or I might start harassing you."
Okay, I deserve that. I did slap him and refuse his help yesterday. But that was before I straightened everything out in my head. "I heard you got in trouble."
"You come here to rub it in or you want to challenge me to a one-on-one?" he says.
"You know I can't play."
He looks me up and down suggestively. "Oh, you play, Maggie. Maybe not basketball, your games are more complicated than that."
"What are you talking about?"
He takes the basketball and holds it at his side, then gives a short laugh. "I can't believe you're afraid of me."
I move forward, stepping closer to him and putting my chin in the air with confidence. "I'm not afraid of you."
He stands before me with as much confidence as I'm showing him. "Prove it."
"How?"
He tosses the basketball to the side of the court and steps toward me, closing the distance between us. "Figure it out."
My breath catches and I panic. "I ... I don't know what you mean."
"I think you do," he says, coming so close I can almost feel his emotions as my own.
"You want me to kiss you?" I ask breathlessly.
"You've ruined me, you do know that don't you?" he says right before I stand on my tiptoes and touch my lips to his.
He grabs my waist and pulls me close so I can feel the full strength and length of his body against mine. My fingers wrap around his biceps at the same time. I'm lost in the protection of his embrace and the smell and taste that's uniquely Caleb Becker. Uniquely ... us.
As our kiss turns more intense, I sense a change in him. He's kissing harder, fuller. Angry.
I stumble backwards and push him away from me. "What are you doing?"
He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. "Making sure I scare you. It's what you want, isn't it? So you can claim being the victim."
We're standing here staring at each other. Controller and controlled. Perpetrator and victim. Boy and girl.
He picks up his basketball. "Go home, Maggie. You got what you came for."
Movement out of the corner of my eye catches my attention, breaking the connection. It's Leah.
"Caleb, Mom and Dad want you home. Now," she says.
I smooth down my hair, pat dirt off my pants, clear my throat, and do everything but look at the two of them.
Then I run back to the car as fast as I can.
FORTY-THREE
Caleb
"You didn't tell her that I hit her, did you?" Leah asks J. as she watches Maggie run away from the park. I shake my head.
"But you and Maggie. I saw how you looked at her and I knew..."
"What?" I say quickly, then look my sister straight in the eye.
I start walking back home and my sister steps in beside me. "Getting mixed up with Maggie can ruin our family, Caleb."
"Lay off, Leah. I mean it." I turn to her. "I've just about had it."
When I get home, my parents are waiting for me by the front door. My dad is standing rigid, a stern look on his face. My mom is beside him. I can tell she's totally out of it.
"Where were you last night?" Dad orders in such a stern voice you'd think I was out committing murder. "Visiting an old friend. What's the big deal?" My mom looks at my dad. I hold my arms wide. "What?"
"I saw Maggie coming from the direction of the park," Dad says.
"So? It's a free country, Dad. People can walk where they want to."
My mom clutches her arms tight, grabbing on to her sweater. "We just don't want to see you get into trouble. People talk..."
"About what?"
"I don't want to discuss it," Mom says, then starts to walk woodenly back into the house, no doubt to numb herself again.
"Let's hash it out. Right here, right now."
"Caleb, please, not so loud." My mom glances nervously at the neighbors' houses, making sure they don't witness the scene I'm about to make. God, I wish she'd stop worrying about appearances and see that her family is falling apart.
"What are people saying?"
"Nothing, Caleb. Everything's fine. Now stop this nonsense."
I step into the middle of the front yard and say as loud as I can, "Are they saying I've been starting fights at school? Are they saying I'm harassing Maggie? Making my friends drink alcohol? You think it's true, don't you? Come on, hit me with the f**king gossip already!"
"Now you've crossed the line," Dad says, stepping between us. "Go inside the house and calm down. You can apologize to your mother before supper."
I snap, like a rubber band that'd been pulled so tight for so long it just breaks apart violently. Kissing Maggie, school suspension, Kendra's manipulations, my sister's warning, my parents' inability to face reality, my mom's addiction problem, the false gossip ... all of it is driving me nuts.
"I'm not leaving this spot until we have it all out on the table," I say. I look at my sister.
"Caleb!" Leah cries. "Please stop."
My dad's posture stiffens even more, his lips purse and the expression in his eyes is hard. "This is my home," he says. "And as long as you live here you'll abide by my rules. Now go inside the house, leave your mother in peace, and ... calm ... down!"