In the Shadows

Part Eleven: the Morning

    Today was going to be the first time seeing Anthony in a while, but my feelings were completely mixed. I was excited, and nervous, and a touch embarrassed.

    After Anthony helped me calm down on the phone, he refused to let me be alone. During a dinner with his team, he continued to text me. Once he was back in his hotel room, Anthony called me back and told me to leave the phone call going over night. And so I did; sleeping with my phone on my pillow. When I woke up this morning, I could hear him snoring through the speaker.

My mom drove me to school that morning, planning to drop me off on her way to work. She was unusually quiet the whole morning until I pulled my phone out one more time to check if Anthony had messaged me yet. He tended to sleep in whenever possible.

Just as I shut the screen, my mom reached over and pulled the phone out of my hand, dropping it into her purse. Before I even had the chance to question what had happened, she cleared her throat in preparation for a lecture.

    "Stephanie. I have gotten a call from almost every one of your teachers. Is there any class you aren't failing?"

    I felt a pit in my stomach, "My art class is going well."

    "Well, you won't go anywhere with art." She was probably right, "I don't know what's going on, but we did not raise you to get failing grades."

    "It's just... The curriculum is really different here, and I had a hard time catching up."

    "Isn't that what we were paying the tutor for? You know, the one you stopped going to."

    She had a point. I didn't have the strength to tell her the truth about what had happened, maybe if she knew just how truly depressed I had been, she would understand why I couldn't manage some silly homework. At the same time, my mom and dad have been working so hard lately to keep up with the bills and make sure they could help pay for my brother's college tuition next year. He was offered some scholarships, but it just wasn't enough. I knew they were nervous, I didn't want to add to their problems.

    "I'll talk to my teachers and try to do some extra credit." I said. Mom nodded, focused on the road. She dropped me off on the corner to avoid getting caught up in traffic.

    I walked up the hill to the front of the campus. On the far side of the roundabout driveway, a familiar sight lit up my day.

Standing proud in front of the grass amphitheater, Anthony waited for me. His hands in his front pockets as rocked back on his heels. When he saw me, he smiled brightly. I wasn't expecting to see him so soon. And I really wasn't expecting to see him in his uniform.

His bright white pants hugged his muscular legs, faded grass and dirty stains covered his shins. He had tucked his jersey in behind his black belt; the shirt was all white with a patch of navy blue lettering that read 'Knights' across his chest, tight black compression sleeves covered his large biceps, his wrists were wrapped with black athletic tape. Anthony's dark brown hair curled out from under his navy blue and black baseball cap, the front was embroidered with a white knight's helmet.

He stood up straight as I approached him, rolling his broad shoulders back. He was taller than I remembered.

I bit my lip to control my smile, "Good morning."

"It is now. I'm really glad to see you."

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Since I'm on both teams, coach said I could come to the pep rally."

The pep rally! How could I forget? I didn't even realize it was already Friday. The pep rally wasn't starting for a while, and the first three classes of the day were canceled for it. This school took their sports very seriously.