Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 80199 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 401(@200wpm)___ 321(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80199 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 401(@200wpm)___ 321(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
I really needed to stop lurking before I was found out. But I didn’t know when I’d get the opportunity to see him outside of class or lunch on the days we were both in the student center. I didn’t think he lived on campus because I would’ve run into him sooner, like during move-in day.
After watching for another minute, I forced myself to walk away. But somehow seeing him in his element calmed me. Maybe because he was alive, strong, and doing what he loved. That was all it was.
I remembered how after a particularly hard test result in the hospital involving a high white-blood-cell count, I felt bummed and hopeless after my parents left. I had gone to the activity room to try and get my mind off things by playing a game of solitaire, but it didn’t work. Not until Lark came into the room. He saw my face, and somehow he just knew. So he did this silly dance move—like a twirl and a leap straight out of Billy Elliot. It was sort of wonky because he was weak and didn’t have a lot of momentum. It made me laugh, and I instantly felt better. It was always that way with him.
I headed toward the field, determined to put Lark Levitt out of my mind. At least for today. The guys were up to their usual antics, cracking jokes and talking about girls as we got changed in the locker room. As the team captain, it was up to me to set a good example and rein them in, and they were good sports about it. Though sometimes the weight of what I was carrying so close to the vest felt overwhelming. Add in that the coach and my dad were old friends who spoke regularly, and I never felt comfortable enough to just let it all hang out. Had the guys not voted for me to be their captain last summer, I would’ve thought my dad had something to do with it. But I had stepped up after our senior star quarterback got injured last season, and I’d performed well enough to get us into the playoffs. So thankfully, I had earned the team’s backing on merit, though I never fought for it. In fact, the current seniors on the roster might’ve been better candidates. But as quarterback, I supposed the leadership already came naturally.
“Let’s get out there and start warming up,” I said, corralling them toward the door.
As soon as they stepped on the field, their demeanors changed and they took their job seriously. They knew if they didn’t, Coach would have something to say, and no one wanted to get on his bad side.
During a three-step roll-out drill where the first, second, and third-string quarterbacks were taking snaps from A-Train and other centers, my gaze snagged on someone familiar standing at the far end of the fence. Lark was perched in front of where the marching band was practicing. Bones had mentioned that Emil was also a music major, and come to think of it, he did look familiar. I’d never had time to watch the halftime performance, but they’d used the same field to practice since the summer. Though the noise normally drove us crazy, especially if they were off-tune, Coach said it was good practice to ignore it just like we would the crowd during a game. It had been the same in high school, where some of the practices were terrible, so to me, it had become like white noise.
Even though I couldn’t see Lark’s expression or exactly where his eyes were trained, I pretended he was secretly spying on me too. After another five minutes, he turned and walked toward the exit, and now I was more than curious where he lived and how he got home every day. Did he have his own vehicle, or was he waiting for someone to pick him up?
When I missed the backup quarterback repeatedly calling my name, I knew I needed to get my head out of my ass.
5
LARK
By the middle of September, I had found my groove at Roosevelt College, especially since most everyone in the dance program was pretty cool. There was a nearly even mix of male and female students, which was a change from the programs I’d been involved in my entire life.
Henry and I kept our distance, but I could feel his gaze pressing on me during our review period and sometimes in the dining area, where students tended to group together by program or sports. More dancers who had a free period began sitting with me and Emil, while Henry, of course, was with his football buddies. But I’d heard he was an engineering student, which was likely why he was so good at math, and he sometimes chatted with nerdy-looking students who’d taken over another table with their open laptops. I liked that dichotomy about him; it was what I remembered about him from back then as well. Not that it did me any good now since we were no longer friends.