Homecoming Queen (14 page)

Rhiannon hopped out and got DJ’s crutches for her, helping her to put on her backpack, which contained DJ’s towel and swimsuit.

“What time should I pick you up?”

DJ considered this. “Like an hour, do you think?”

“Sounds good to me. How about 4:30 then?”

“Great.”

“Call me if you need me sooner.” Rhiannon frowned. “Or I can stick around if you want. Although Eliza did coerce me into helping them with their little sign-making project.”

“No, I’m fine.” DJ smiled. “You go help our dear Eliza.”

“Even if it makes Taylor mad?”

DJ shrugged. “Do what you think is right.”

“Be careful,” called Rhiannon as DJ made her way up the cement steps that led to the pool’s entrance. DJ just nodded, focusing her attention on each step. The whole crutches thing would probably have been a lot easier without her ribs to contend with. As it was, DJ felt seriously challenged. But finally she was in the dressing room. Fortunately, it appeared that the swim team girls had already been there and, judging by the noise, were just getting ready for their practice.

DJ went into one of the few dressing rooms, something she wouldn’t have done before the accident. But she knew that getting dressed and undressed wasn’t exactly easy anymore. And she didn’t want anyone to see her struggling. It took about ten minutes, but finally she had her old one-piece suit pulled on. Now she felt seriously tired and wondered if she even wanted to swim. But she’d gotten this far, and she wasn’t ready to give up.

She got her crutches into place and realized that she needed to be extremely careful on the wet surfaces. Not only would a fall be embarrassing, it would seriously hurt. So, feeling like she was about 100 years old, she very slowly and cautiously made it out to the edge of the pool — near what appeared to be an unused lane. The swim team swimmers looked like predatory sharks as they chopped and splashed through the other lanes. She hoped they were too busy to notice “the handicapped girl” — since DJ felt she was moving at the speed of an unmotivated slug as she made her way across the deck.

“Need any help there?” asked a lifeguard seated on the lookout chair.

“I’m okay.” She glanced up nervously, curious as to whether she knew this guy or not. He was good-looking, but not familiar. “But can I leave my crutches here by the side of the pool?”

“I better stick them out of the way.” He hopped down and waited as she worked her way closer to the edge. “Just yell when you need ’em.”

“This is the first time I’ve done this,” she said as she handed him the crutches and reached for the top of the pool ladder to balance herself.

“Hey, you’re the girl who saved Coach Jones’s son, aren’t you?”

She smiled at him and nodded.

“Well, nice to meet you. How’s your leg doing?”

She grimaced. “At the moment it’s hurting.” She touched her ribcage, now free from the usually constrictive, but supportive brace. “And so are my ribs. Man, I hope I can do this without drowning.”

“I’ll keep my eye on you,” he promised.

DJ slowly lowered herself to a seated position. Everything ached.

“Just take it easy,” he said, bending down in a reassuring way. He had short brown hair, slightly bleached by sun and chlorine, and clear blue eyes. In a way he reminded her of Conner, except he was probably even better looking. Not that she’d admit that to anyone. Or perhaps it was simply that he was being so kind to her.

“Looking good,” he said as she held onto the ladder and slowly eased herself down into the water.

She took in a sharp breath, partly from the cold water and partly from the pain.

“You okay?” he asked, his face down low and close to hers.

She nodded. “Just kind of aching.”

“Kind of like you got run over by a truck?” His blue eyes twinkled.

“Kind of like that.”

He gently patted her on the head. “Just go easy, DJ.”

She nodded, trying to acclimate to the water temperature. “You know my name, but I don’t know yours.”

“Caleb Bennett.” He grinned. “At your service.”

“Thanks.” She pushed off and carefully began treading water. The motion on her left leg was pretty painful, so she mostly used her right one. “Hopefully I won’t need rescuing.”

“Well, if you do, I’m your man.” He winked and stood, and DJ slowly took off in a somewhat lame sidestroke. Now if she could only make it to the other side of the pool without assistance.

13

“WAY TO GO, HALEY!”
yelled the swim team coach from the other side of the pool. He’d been yelling a lot, but this time he got DJ’s attention. It was her third lap, really one and a half laps since you had to go back and forth to equal one full lap. But when you’re in pain you count things differently. Still, she thought he had said “Haley,” and DJ wondered if that could possibly be Conner’s Haley. Okay, she wasn’t Conner’s Haley anymore.

At least DJ hoped not.

She looked over to where the swim coach was showing a petite dark-haired girl a chart and holding out a stopwatch for her to see. The pretty girl simply nodded and smiled. She then took her position on a starter box, dove perfectly back into the pool, and effortlessly cut through the water. Even though DJ was halfway across the pool, this girl easily caught her, passed her, turned, and passed her again. Almost in the same place. Of course, this girl didn’t even glance in DJ’s direction. Why should she? And yet DJ felt she couldn’t take her eyes off the girl. That had to be Haley Callahan.

After a while, Haley made her way to the diving pool where diving practice was just beginning. DJ was at the far edge of her lap lane by now, clinging to the side and watching as Haley scaled the high-dive ladder then, barely pausing to compose herself, performed a stunning backward-flip-with-a-twist kind of dive, slicing through the water with barely a splash. When she surfaced, her teammates were all clapping and cheering.

“This is so unfair,” yelled a gangly redheaded girl. “Haley Callahan’s first day at practice and she makes the rest of us look like total losers.”

“Hey, just be glad she got here before the season ended,” said a guy. “We might actually have a chance at the finals now.”

DJ turned and swam very slowly back to the other side of the pool. She’d seen enough. And she’d swam enough. She felt tired and sore.

She was slowly working her way up the ladder when she noticed that Caleb was standing above her with her crutches in hand. Then he actually stretched out his forearm toward her. “Want to grab on?”

She gratefully grasped his arm with both hands, and he easily lifted her as she hopped on her good leg, up the ladder and out of the water.

“Thanks,” she gasped as he helped her with her crutches. “I’m not even sure I could’ve done that without you.”

“Well, you’re doing great for your first time, DJ. Just be careful on the wet deck.” Then he actually walked her to the dressing room door.

“Thanks, Caleb.”

“You take it easy, okay?”

“Okay.” She paused to catch her breath.

“And maybe I’ll be seeing you around this place. I work on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday — from three until closing.”

She wondered if this was some kind of a hint. “Do you go to our school? I mean CCHS?”

He chuckled. “Well, I
used
to. I graduated a couple years ago. I’m in college now. I’m trying to save up enough money to transfer to Yale by next spring.”

“Yale?”

He shrugged. “Yeah. It’s not that big of a deal.”

“It’s impressive to me.”

“It’ll be more impressive once I’m actually there.” Then he grinned. “But it was fun being accepted.”

She nodded. “Well, thanks again for the help.” Then she slowly made her way to the showers. The warm water felt good, and she took her time soaping up; finally, since no one else was around and she could balance herself on the shower handles, she managed to peel off her wet suit and rinse it out. Then she tied it around one of her crutches, and feeling rather proud of this achievement, she shampooed her hair and was just getting her crutches in place when the sounds of girls’ voices began coming into the locker room.
Okay
, she told herself,
this is no big deal
. She’d been involved in sports for ages, and girls seeing girls naked was no big deal. Except that her body was still black and blue with bruises and her incision was kind of purplish and she could barely move.

Still, she knew she couldn’t hurry. But as the girls came into the shower area, their voices grew instantly quiet. Although her back was to them as she was hobbling toward the dressing area, she knew they were staring at her. Perhaps even pointing, nodding, and trying not to laugh.

“That’s DJ Lane,” said one of them, “the girl who rescued Coach Jones’s little boy.”

“Hey everyone,” DJ said, still moving slowly. “I just came for some physical therapy.” Just then her swimsuit slipped off her crutch, but before she could pick it up, someone else did.

“Here you go,” said the petite dark-haired girl, tying it around the crutch again. “I’m Haley Callahan.”

DJ nodded, feeling totally embarrassed now. Good grief — could it be she was standing here totally naked, bruised up and on crutches, meeting Conner’s old girlfriend? Could it possibly get worse? “Thanks. I’m DJ.”

“Everyone knows who you are,” called out another girl.

“And we think what you did was very cool,” said someone else.

“Thanks.” DJ sighed and slowly began moving back toward the dressing room. Okay, it wasn’t that bad. But not something she particularly cared to endure again.

“Yell if you need any help,” said Haley.

“Thanks.” But even as she said this, DJ knew that she wouldn’t. She made her way back to the dressing room where her things were still on the bench. She hadn’t even thought of using a locker. Oh, well, fortunately they were still there.

Of course, it took her even longer this time. First she had to dry off. Then she had to get on her rib brace, and it kept sticking to her damp skin. Finally she had herself mostly back together, except for her backpack. Not only was it too tight in the tiny cubicle, but her coordination was being challenged by pain and exhaustion.

Using a crutch to slide open the curtain, she hobbled out, pushing the backpack in front of her. Maybe she’d just leave it and see if Rhiannon could get it for her.

“Looks like you need some help,” said Haley. She was completely dressed now, her hair was dry and in place, and she even had on a little bit of makeup. In fact, she looked just about perfect.

DJ sighed. “Yeah, I think so. This backpack thing is a pain.”

Haley slung her own bag over a shoulder then picked up the pack. “Why don’t I carry it for you. Do you have a ride coming?”

DJ nodded as she moved toward the door. “Rhiannon Farley.”

“Oh, I know Rhiannon.”

“I know, and you know Conner too.”

Haley laughed. “Oh, did he tell you about us?”

DJ glanced at her.

“I mean, how we were all in love back in middle school?”

She laughed louder now, and as much as DJ hated to admit it, this girl had a great laugh. The kind of laugh that made you want to laugh too. “And how I was all brokenhearted when my dad’s job got transferred and we moved to Indianapolis? I just knew my life was over — and then after a week or so I was in love with a totally different guy named Blake.”

Despite herself, DJ was smiling now. “No, he didn’t tell me all that.”

“Well, don’t worry, DJ. I’m not putting the moves on your boyfriend.”

“I didn’t really think you were. But I’ll admit I’ve been feeling a little out of things. It’s so hard being, well, as my roommate says, ‘the invalid girl.’ ”

“But you’re getting around pretty well,” pointed out Haley.

“I guess.” They were outside now, and DJ saw Eliza’s Porsche coming toward them. “Well, there’s my ride.”

“Nice ride,” said Haley. “Is that Rhiannon’s car?”

“No. Eliza’s.”

“And you girls all live in the same house?”

DJ carefully made her way down the steps. “Yeah, it’s pretty weird. It was my grandmother’s idea.”

“And she used to be the editor of some big fashion magazine?”

“Sounds like you’ve done your homework.”

“Well, the word gets around.” Haley opened the passenger door, and Rhiannon blinked in surprise as Haley greeted her and then helped DJ get situated in the seat.

“Thanks,” said DJ. “It was nice to meet you.”

“Let me know if you ever need a ride to the pool,” said Haley. “I drive over every day after school; well, unless I go to morning practice, but that takes real discipline.”

“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.”

Haley waved then shut the door, and DJ turned to Rhiannon and grinned. “She
is
nice.”

“That’s what we tried to tell you.”

“Is she a Christian?”

Rhiannon nodded as she pulled out. “Yep. I actually asked her about it today. She was wearing a silver cross, and I figured that was sort of like an invitation. She’s been a Christian for a couple of years. Cool, huh?”