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There were no cars in the parking lot and no one was in the locker roo and keys Hayes had done the sa me, he held it open and fell in line with me

"Uh" He cleared his throat

I lifted an eyebrow, and as we got to my car first, I turned and waited

He was so stiff "Thank you I know I’irl coood, Stratten You’re really good Thank you for running withsenti over us both Both of us reeked and were covered in sweat; h ponytail

He shrugged, looking away "I hated you for half the season, but now that we’re allad you were on the teaone to state if you hadn’t pushed us"

"I did?"

"You did Trustus eat your dust You helped us You helped me"

"Rest, Hayes You’re delirious frorin "You’ll get a scholarship Just pretend you’re running againstan ass The world feels right again" Opening ot inside and leaned out the , "See you to towards his truck

I started the engine, and as I passed by hiain" I pulled out of the lot and headed hoot there, I saw Mark’s and Cass’ cars in the driveway The euphoria froreat run had started to dwindle, and I knehat I’d be walking into if I went inside I didn’t want to go in there Garrett had been calling every night To be fair toes toall of the up, but I didn’t want to be worn down When I asked Mason for his advice, he told me to say, ‘fuck you and the horse you rode in on’ The last couple tie fro grin cae back It hadn’t worked Garrett kept calling It was by accident that I found out that David hadn’t been tellingThey had to put the phone on silent in the evenings That tidbit slipped out when Malinda was explaining to Mark why Cass should only call him on the landline It hadn’t hed and said, "Good one, Mo because of Sa my cell phone"

He left, and I heard Malindafor that phone It’ll take you a year to figure out that it doesn’t work anyht"

I went to the front of the house and sat on the porch swing I didn’t want to hear another e I wasn’t ready I was still there when Helen ca from her house, across the street, and up our sidewalk She earing a beautiful gown It was light blue and matched her eyes perfectly Like always, her hair was pinned up in a sleek bun She had a hand resting on her neck, holding down the pearls so they wouldn’t bounce She wasn’t looking up She atching where she walked and paused, one hand holding up her dress, so she wouldn’t trip or tear it, as she stepped onto our stoop As she let it drop, she lifted her head and saw me

Her eyes widened and her head reared back an inch "Oh, Samantha I didn’t see you there"

I lifted a hand in a careless wave "Yep Saw that Sitting here" I let my hand drop back doith a thud

Her eyes narrowed "What’s wrong with you?" she rushed out, like it was an afterthought, not really caring about the answer She craned her head so she could look inside the house again, through the door’s s I kneho she was looking for

"Logan’s not here"