The Stadium's Star [COMPLETE]

Chapter 26

Jump. Reach... Fall.

I fall flat on my ass into the grass but still manage to catch the football, holding it up in my hands triumphantly. Tommy runs to me immediately, offering his hand as Zack laughs.

"You know, you could learn something from your brother," I say as I brush off my shirt. Zack walks over, laughing, and helps me pick off the grass.

"I'll make it up to you," he says, snaking his hand around the skin above my jeans.

"I'd like to see you try," I challenge.

He steps forward so there's only an inch of space between us and I feel my eyes close in anticipation.

"Seriously? Not in front of the children!" Marcus calls out, covering Tommy's eyes. "His mom's right there!"

My phone rings, giving me an excuse to step away and hide the redness of my cheeks. It's an unknown number with the same area code as my old house so I walk away to pick up.

"Hello?" I answer.

"Where are you?"

The voice sounds familiar but I can't place where it's from.

Realization hits me like a bus. I pause. Then look at the number again. Then I rub my eyes and look at it again.

"Daniel?" I ask incredulously.

"Don't hang up!" he says immediately.

"How... I thought..."

"You blocked my number?" he asks, unimpressed. "Yeah, I had mom buy me a new phone."

I sigh. "Did she put you up to this?"

"No," he says. "She doesn't know."

"Okay..." I say. "What do you want?"

"Are you actually getting cut off?" he asks.

I run my tongue over my teeth. There's a good chance he's just a spy for my parents but, then again, it's not like they want me home. But why would he call? Since when has he even talked to me?

"Looks like," I say finally.

"Why don't you just apologize? They don't actually mean what they say-"

"Daniel, I'm not going to do this. I'm tired of fighting with them and apologizing for nothing. Sorry."

He's silent for a while. "Okay," he says finally. "Look, I... I didn't know it was that bad."

"You didn't?" I ask. "Was the screaming and cursing not enough of a clue?"

He lets out a slightly irritated breath but when he talks, his voice is soft. "I mean before. I didn't know it was so bad you would want to leave. Permanently."

I look down. "I mean, it's not your fault."

"But I defended them and I called you a baby for saying something."

I press my lips together. Yeah, it was annoying but in the end, it wasn't his problem.

"It's okay," I say.

"I just... They're so different with me, Amelia. And I thought it was pointless of you to complain but the way mom and dad have been talking about you..."

My heart drops. I don't even want to know what they're saying. "It's okay," I repeat.

"I think they're gonna cut off your accounts. Bank accounts."

My head dips. "Yeah, I figured."

"You're just gonna let them?" he asks. "Amelia, you need to fight-"

"No, I don't," I say. "I'm an adult now, whether I was prepared for it or not. If they don't want to support me, then they don't have to. It's not worth fighting for."

"If you just talk to them-"

"I've talked to them a million times. They don't care, okay? They love you so they listen to you but they've never listened to me. Ever."

He goes silent but I can tell he isn't quite convinced. That's the thing about Daniel. He can't comprehend that people don't live the same life he does.

Finally he says, "I'm gonna come up there soon. You'll meet me, right?"

"With mom and dad?" I ask dubiously.

"No, just a trip with some friends."

I suppress the urge to snort. An out-of-state trip with just friends in the middle of the school year. Imagine that.

Still, it's not his fault that they always gave him everything or that he's good at everything. He's still my younger brother.

"When are you coming?" I ask.

"Winter break," he answers.

I spot Zack's family starting to go inside but Zack waits for me.

"Okay," I say. "We'll talk about it later."

"Okay," he says. I go to hang up when he adds, "Amelia?"

"Yeah?"

It's quiet for so long I wonder if he's hung up. Then he says, "I'm sorry."

I nearly fall onto my ass for a second time. For a second, I wonder if I'm being catfished. He hangs up abruptly before I can reply and that's how I know that it was, in fact, him.

Maybe he does care after all. But I've learned not to get my hopes up quite yet.