Wild One

42

—6 WEEKS LATER—

Kamryn came home after an away game that Jay and Hailey unfortunately weren't able to make it to. Hailey immediately noticed the little limp that Kamryn was attempting to hide but failing at it.

"Hey. Stop,"

"What? Mom I'm gross, I need a shower," Kam chuckled, turning around and making sure to put all her weight on her right leg.

"Did you hurt yourself?"

"No,"

Hailey narrowed her eyes, knowing her daughter was lying. "Put your weight on your left foot,"

"What? Mom, I'm fine,"

"Humor me. Please,"

Kamryn sighed and dropped her bag, shifting her weight to her other foot but immediately went back.

"Not hurt huh?" Hailey asked as she crossed her arms.

"Fine, I went for a spike and landed on my foot wrong. Rolled my ankle. It's fine," Kamryn sighed, looking over at her mother.

"Go shower, then you ice it,"

"That was the plan mama," the teen chuckled, grabbing her bag and heading to her bathroom. She took a quick shower and changed into her pajamas before sitting on the couch with an ice pack covering her ankle.

"No more hospital bills right?" Jay asked, sitting beside his child.

"No thanks, think I'll skip that this time," she chuckled, watching TV with both her parents.

——————

Kam waited in her truck the next morning for her boyfriend to pull up next to her. They always waited for each other and today was no different, except when it was 2 minutes until the bell and she had to.

As soon as she sat down at her desk, she pulled her phone out to try and figure out what was going on.

Kam: Keith where are you? Are you coming in?

She was a little nervous when she got no response and all day, that was all she could think about. She went through her practice and failed at a ton of hits but her mind was elsewhere.

Keith never showed up to school that day and never answered any of his girlfriend's texts. As soon as practice let out, Kamryn got right in her truck and headed to Keith's house to hopefully get some sort of explanation. She sighed as she parked her truck and shut it off, getting out and heading up, knocking on the door.

"Hey," Keith sighed as he answered the door, letting his girlfriend in.

"What is up with you? You haven't responded all day, that's not like you. I'm worried," Kam asked, turning to face him after she'd walked in.

"I'm sorry Kam, I just couldn't,"

"Couldn't or wouldn't?"

"Kam, I couldn't,"

"What the hell is going on with you?" She asked, looking up at him.

"My dad got a job offer in Kentucky. We're moving and I didn't know how to tell you, so,"

"You just didn't. What was your plan here? Just leave and ghost out?" Kam asked, trying to make sense of it.

"Not exactly,"

"How exactly were you planning on telling me?"

"I don't know,"

"So. What do we do?" Kam asked, attempting to stay calm.

"I don't want to not be with you. We can do long distance. Phone calls and facetime. It's only 6 hours away," Keith suggested, knowing Kam was gonna be broken either way.

"Okay. When do you guys leave?"

"They need my dad by next Monday so we're leaving Wednesday,"

"Keith that's in 2 days!" Kamryn exclaimed.

"I know and I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner but,"

"I don't know why you didn't,"

"What time is your practice over tomorrow?"

"What?"

"What time does volleyball end?" He asked, watching Kamryn's shocked face soften a little.

"5:30," She answered, confused about where this conversation was going.

"I wanna take you out. One last time before I leave,"

"Okay," She nodded.

"I love you. You need to remember that," Keith sighed, cupping her cheeks as she looked up at him.

"I know, and I love you too," She nodded before her boyfriend kissed her.

She drove straight home after telling her boyfriend goodbye for the night. She knew her mom hated when she'd cry and drive so she held herself together long enough to get in the driveway. As soon as her truck was thrown into park, the tears started flowing. Neither of her parent's cars was there so she was alone for the time being. She didn't even notice the LED headlights pulling up behind her, or even Jay knocking on the passenger window. She wiped whatever tears she could as she hit the unlock button on her door, watching Jay slide into the passenger seat.

"Why you crying out here?" He asked, pulling the door shut behind him.

"Keith and his family are moving," She mumbled sadly.

"I'm sorry sweetie. Where are they moving?"

"Somewhere in Kentucky. He said it was about a 6-hour drive," She sniffled, wiping more tears.

"Alright. Let's go inside and we'll talk. Mom should be home any minute and we can eat ice cream for dinner," Jay suggested, getting a little chuckle out of Kamryn.

"This coming from the health nut of the family?" She asked, sniffling a little as she grabbed her stuff.

"Okay, you and mom can eat ice cream for dinner," He smiled, and both of them got out of the truck. Jay went around the front and met his daughter on her side, hugging her tightly. "Hey, look at me real quick."

Kamryn hugged her dad tightly before moving some of her blonde hair out of her face to look at her dad.

"Kam, if he's the one, you guys are gonna be fine. If you two can make the long-distance work with the facetime, phone calls and maybe seeing each other once or twice a month, then you guys are gonna be fine," He said, right as Hailey pulled up in the Jeep.

"What's going on out here?" Hailey asked, closing and locking the car door.

"Keith's moving and our little girl needs some cheering up," Jay answered his wife, Hailey nodding as all 3 of them went in the house for a night full of family.