Stealing for Keeps (Frost Lake High Book 1)
Stealing for Keeps: Chapter 35

Today sucked.

I spent Saturday night and Sunday feeling sorry for myself, but when I woke up this morning, I thought, Maybe today won’t be so bad. Maybe it was all one big nightmare. Wishful thinking.

I toss my bag on the floor in the kitchen and grab a water glass from the cabinet. Torrance comes in as I’m gulping it down. Coach made us run for most of practice, and when we weren’t running, we were doing push-ups.

Dad had to leave again for work, so at least I don’t have him frowning at me. I’ve never been glad for him to be gone before, but when he left last night, I felt relief that there was one less person in the state of Michigan who was disappointed in me.

“Can we talk?” my sister asks, lingering in the space between the living room and kitchen.

Instead of answering, I arch a brow and set my empty glass in the sink. I have a feeling this day is about to get worse—something I didn’t think was possible two seconds ago.

“I know you’re pissed at me, but I wanted to say I’m sorry. It was a crappy thing to do, outing you in front of your friends and teammates.” It sounds like an apology that Mom wrote for her.

“You’re sorry,” I repeat flatly. “Now that my life is turned completely upside down, you’ve found a crumb of empathy. How nice for me.”

My sarcasm gets exactly the reaction I expected from her. She rolls her eyes.

“Oh please. You fall this far from perfection, and you act like you’re some kind of sad case.” She holds her thumb and pointer finger an inch apart. “You’re Austin Keller, golden child, adored and beloved by all. Mom can’t even look you in the eye because she feels so bad she grounded you.”

Now it’s my turn to roll my eyes. I’ve gotten in trouble from Mom plenty of times. Not as many as Torrance, but I’m much better at not getting caught than her.

“We moved halfway across the country so you could follow your dreams, but what about the rest of us? I gave up my friends, my swim team, the sun! It’s not even November yet, and it’s freezing outside!” She yells like I personally ordered winter weather to ruin her life. “And it’s not just me. Wyatt has reverted back to sleeping in Mom’s bed at night, Dad’s never around, and it’s all your fault.” Her eyes are filled with tears when she’s done.

I do feel bad that they all had to give up things to move here. I don’t take that lightly. But what she did was still shitty.

Her voice softens, and a fat tear rolls down her cheek. “You have no idea what it’s been like for me here. I’m a nobody. No, worse than that. I’m Austin Keller’s little sister. In Arizona, people knew me before you became this big soccer star, but here the only thing people know about me is that I’m related to you. I was so excited when Sophie started talking to me, acting like she wanted to be my friend. But it was only because she likes you.”

“I’m sorry. That was shitty of her.” It’s hard for me to wrap my head around someone being that cruel for such a dumb reason.

“And this guy in my homeroom invited me to a hockey game, and then when I got there, he kept bugging me to introduce him to you, and when I wouldn’t, he called me a bitch and left.”

“I didn’t know it was that bad for you,” I admit. And just like that, I have someone I hate more than her. “Who is he?”

“I’m not telling you.”

The hurt in her eyes is so raw that I can barely look at her.

“Look, Tor, that guy is an asshole. Being my sister is the least cool thing about you. Especially right now.”

She laughs a little between sobs.

“People just need time to get to know you.”

“How?” A little of that whine continues in her voice. “I’ve had the same friends since elementary school. I’m not a soccer god or dating the most popular girl in school.” She sniffles. My anger dissipates slowly as I watch her break down.

“Yeah, well, neither am I anymore.”

Judging by the surprise on her face, I’m guessing it hasn’t spread around school yet. “You broke up with Claire Crawford?” My sister looks at me like I’m the biggest idiot on the planet.

Maybe I am, but not for the reason she’s thinking.

“No. She broke up with me.”

“Oh.” Again, she seems taken aback by that. “I’m sorry.”

“I’ll bet.” I understand her frustrations and hurt, but I’m still upset about what she did. Maybe it all would have gone down the same way regardless of when and how we told people, but she took that option away for the sole purpose of being cruel.

“I am.” She looks pained to admit it. “I’m really sorry. I was just so mad. We moved here, and everything is different. My friends back home are all moving on and forgetting about me, and everyone here already has their group or clique. It sucks.”

We’re both quiet. I’m still hurt by what went down, but I get it too. I’m not quite ready to tell her it’s all fine, because nothing feels fine.

When Mom comes out of her office and replaces us in the kitchen, she looks between us, concern turning to interest.

“How do you guys feel about ordering pizza tonight?” she asks finally.

“Fine,” Torrance says.

I nod. “Sounds good.”

Mom gives us another assessing glance and then walks back out. Torrance seems like maybe there’s more she wants to say, but the moment is gone.

I look in on Wyatt as I pass his room. He’s shooting Nerf darts at a target on the wall, chattering happily to himself.

Once I’m in my bedroom, I grab my soccer ball and lie on top of my bed, staring up at the ceiling with the ball resting on my chest. A week ago, I was happier than I can ever remember being, and now everything is so messed up. I know it’s not what she intended by confiding in me, but now I’ve got Torrance’s problems weighing on me with all the rest of it. Try as I might, I can’t wish we’d never come here. That’d mean never meeting Claire or Rowan or Lacey, even Vaughn, and never working with Jude Collins.

I don’t know how long I lie there playing the last few months over and over in my head, but when Mom yells up the stairs, I have to shake myself out of my thoughts. I’m half-convinced I dreamed it, but then she yells again. “Austin, you have company.”

I sit up, still clutching the ball. My heart is in my throat as I rush to my feet and jog down to the first floor. I come up short when I spot Rowan.

“Hey.” My feet slowly close the distance between us.

Mom’s smile is tight as she glances at me. “Fifteen minutes.”

I nod my agreement, and she leaves us alone in the entryway. I lead him into the living room where Wyatt is playing video games.

“Hey, W-dude.” Rowan offers him a fist bump and then takes a seat.

I slump into the chair next to him.

“I’m guessing by the disappointed look on your face when you saw me that you were hoping I was someone else.”

I did but admitting it feels too pathetic.

“What’s up? Why are you here?” I ask, trying to sound friendly and not like I want to crawl back upstairs and mope some more, which is exactly what I want to do.

“What do you mean, why am I here?” He chuckles. “I’m checking in on you. That’s what friends do.”

“I wasn’t sure I had any of those left,” I admit. I wouldn’t even blame him. Maybe I didn’t do it to him, but my actions cost him all the same.

“You do, but I don’t think that’s why you’re sitting at home feeling sorry for yourself.”

“I’m grounded,” I say.

“Uh-huh.” He dismisses my reasoning like he knows it’s not why I’m so doom and gloom. “Have you talked to Claire?”

Ah, and there it is. The knife twists in my chest.

“No.” I avoided everyone at lunch, and during art class, she barely looked at me. “It’s over. No point in trying to change her mind.”

“Come on, you don’t believe that. Everyone can see how into you she is. If they were surprised you two were hooking up, then that’s on them. I knew you were gone for each other weeks ago.”

I sidestep that, not totally surprised he knew, to ask a more pressing question. “If that were true, then why would she end it?”

“In case you’ve forgotten, you did sort of blow up your life in the last week. And Claire has been avoiding her issues with her mom and skating for a long time. It was bound to come to a head eventually. You just got mixed up in all of it.”

“I don’t think so. I all but told her I was in love with her, and she just shrugged it off.”

“Yeah, well, when you don’t grow up with people saying it very often, it can be hard to hear and even harder to accept.”

I wonder about Rowan and his family situation. He never says much about the fact that his parents never come to his games, but that has to be hard. My dad had never missed one before this year. My family has always showed up for me when they could.

“What am I supposed to do?”

“You can start by fixing things with Vaughn.”

I grind my back teeth.

“He’s not a bad guy.”

“I know.” He’s a lot of things, but a bad guy isn’t one of them.

“You two are so much alike, you know?”

“Because we’re both stubborn and hardheaded and only care about soccer?” I joke.

He meets my gaze with a serious expression. “I’ve never known anyone who loved soccer as much as you two, but you’re also both incredibly smart and genuine dudes.”

“You love it just as much,” I say. I know he does. You have to at this level. Coach rides us, the pressure is intense, and it eats up a lot of time we could be playing video games or partying.

“Sure, but not in the same way. For me, it’s about the team. You guys are family. My parents are never around, and I’m an only child who’d rather not sit at home bored.” He grins, but again, I wonder if there’s more to it than that. “You should have talked to him,” Rowan says. “He would have been pissed, and he probably would have made your life hell at practice for a while, but then you wouldn’t be sitting around feeling like shit. He’s your friend, and you lied. You gotta own that part. The rest is on him to get over or not.”

He’s right. I feel awful about not telling Vaughn. I can tell myself time and time again that I didn’t owe it to him, but that’s not why I didn’t tell him. I kept it from him because it was easier than dealing with the fallout. Because I cared more about my spot on the team than I did my friend. Because he is my friend. We started as teammates, became rivals, and then somehow friends.

My actions have a prick of guilt spreading through me. One more shitty emotion to pile on what a jerk I’ve been. Maybe Claire was smart to get away from me.

I put my head in my hands. “I really messed things up.”

Rowan pats me on the back, laughing lightly. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. There are mistakes that you can’t come back from, and there’s this. You’ll be alright.”

I hope he’s right.

After Rowan’s gone, I climb the stairs back up to my room. I pull out my phone to text Claire, thumbs hovering over the keyboard as I try to figure out what to say. I miss her. I’m sorry. I miss her. Fuck, do I miss her.

I lock my phone and set it back on the nightstand. I don’t want to add more complications to her life, and right now, my life feels like one big complication.