Standing By

By Tabitha G. Kelly

Surviving high school is full of emotional twists and turns, isn't it?

 

After his parents divorced, Eric Hudson vowed that he'd never let himself fall in love. Love will only lead to a broken heart. So it's fortunate that Eric is just as good at protecting his heart as he is the goal on the soccer field.

 

Julie Williams faces her problems with the same force that makes her the star forward on the soccer team. But with such a sharp focus on the goal, she is sometimes oblivious to what's right in front of her.

 

Junior year brings on the greatest challenge of high school so far, and it has nothing to do with the state championship. As one begins to fall for their teammate and the other becomes smitten with the new student, Eric and Julie soon find themselves trapped on an emotional roller-coaster that neither of them wanted to be on.

 

And it might require more than their soccer skills to survive the ride.

 

They might need each other.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tabitha G. Kelly
• Release date: Jul 1, 2018
• ISBN: 9798223762997

Book preview

For everyone who has supported me and had my back for the duration of writing, editing, and getting this book published.

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Also, for the readers.

And that is how change happens.

One person.

One moment at a time.

- Libby Bray

one

Julie Williams was determined to break my defense.

She flew down the field with a speed that couldn’t be matched by those who were trying to catch up to her. I took a few steps forward as she gained more ground. She was in her zone. I could see the fire in her eyes as the gap between us got smaller.

I bit back a smile. I knew that look all too well.

She was just outside the white lines that boxed me in when she drew her right leg back. I don’t recall her foot making contact with it, but the next thing I saw was that black and white sphere coming towards my face and I was eating grass.

You have got to be kidding me!

My sight was blurred and the sun was just a little blinding, yet I could still see the silhouette of my teammate standing over me. I didn’t need to see the scowl on her face to know it was there.

I let out an exaggerated sigh, picked myself up, and brushed myself off as I stood just a few inches above her eye level. "What? No, are you okay, Eric? Did my monstrous kick nearly kill you?"

She scoffed and brushed long strands of her brown hair out of her face, tucking them behind her ears. If you’re getting tired, maybe you should just sit on the bench and let someone else take over being the goalie.

You’re just mad because you haven’t gotten one goal past me today.

Please, you got lucky on that last one!

Hudson! Williams! We both turned around and saw Coach Stevens walking towards us, a glint of annoyance in his eyes. In other words, the same look he always had when he was talking to us. You two had better be talking strategy for the team or else I will find new captains!

Julie got that sly smile on her face, the one she’s used in the past to get me in trouble, and threw her arm around me like we were best friends. I tensed at the weight on my shoulder, but thankfully she didn’t notice.

Coach, I was just giving Eric some goal-keeping advice. A sound that was a cross between a laugh and a cough escaped my mouth. She pinched my shoulder, bringing my attention back to her and our coach. Right, Eric?

Coach Stevens looked at me, questioning Julie’s statement. I nodded my head and grinned a little too big. That’s right. Just some good advice so we can beat the Eagles on Friday.

Okay... Well, keep up the good work, Coach Stevens said. He gave us another look before walking off the field to call off practice.

Julie pulled her arm back and practically jumped away from me like I had some contagious disease. She picked up the ball from the ground and threw it at me, causing me to grunt when it hit me in the stomach.

You should be thanking me, Hudson, she said. I just saved both of our butts from getting benched for the next game.

Fine, I’ll remember that the next time you’re playing goalie.

Eric! a voice similar to mine called. What’s the hold-up, bro?

Julie looked over my shoulder. Hey Seth, you might want to keep your clone in check so we have a goalie for our game on Friday.

Okay, first of all, I’m older, I said, pointing at Seth, who was now at my side. If anyone is the clone, it’s him.

Barely, Seth muttered. He nodded to Julie and held up his hand. Anyway, you played great, as always.

Julie smiled and gave him a high-five. Thanks.

Just as I opened my mouth to argue Seth cut me off. Yeah, I know, you blocked her from scoring, but did you even see how many times she stole the ball from me?

Whatever.

Seth shook his head, making his blonde hair messier. Anyway, we’ve got to get going. Jenny said that she wanted us to be in the parking lot as soon as practice was over.

Oh boo-hoo, I said. So what if she’s a few minutes late for her date? Big deal.

I know, but... just come on!

Seth started walking off the field in a hurry, and I had no doubt that he was cursing me under his breath. I let out a small chuckle and shook my head. I realized I still had the soccer ball and looked over at Julie. I threw the ball back at her, and flashed a mischievous smile before running away. Last one off the field puts the ball away!

A grin stretched across my face when I heard Julie yelling after me and I knew I was in for it the next day. But that didn’t bother me. I’d been taking crap from Julie Williams since I met her in sixth grade and honestly, the days that I didn’t go out of my way to annoy her left me empty inside.

By the time I exited the main doors of the school, my sister’s 2002 Honda Accord was parked up on the curb. For a car that was over ten years old, it ran pretty well. She had split the cost with our dad and had some restrictions with the car, like if she got a speeding ticket she’d lose driving privileges for a week or something like that. The best rule though, was that until Seth and I got our own cars, she had to drive us to and from school, even when we had soccer practice.

I opened the back door to the car, seeing that Seth was already in front, and threw my bag in before sitting down on the right side and buckling my seat belt. Jenny’s car was mostly clean inside; there were a few scattered school papers and hoodies in the back. But what I had always liked about her car was the smell. It always had the scent of a creamy vanilla lingering in it.

It’s about time you got out, Jenny said, hitting the gas and pulling right out of the school lot. That was my sister. If she had somewhere to go, her patience was limited... as in she had none. What took you so long?

I looked out the window - the school was a blur as the car drove off - and smiled. I was having a little chat with Julie.

Seth laughed. Don’t you mean argument?  The car suddenly jerked, and we lurched forward with it. He glared at Jenny. Could you at least watch the lights?

Are you driving? Jenny snapped at him. Her blue eyes caught my own in the rear-view mirror. Look, I don’t care what you were doing. When I say I need you two out as soon as practice is over, I mean it. Some people have a social life.

Then get one, I simultaneously said along with Seth. We laughed and bumped fists while Jenny just rolled her eyes at us and hit the gas the moment the light turned green.

I guess there was a reason that some of our classmates enjoyed calling us clones; we did have a lot of those ‘finish each other’s sentences’ moments and saying things aloud at the same time, but it’s not just a twin thing. Plenty of our classmates around school did it all the time with their best friends, including Julie and her best friend Aubrey. The only reason they could say anything was because Seth and I shared the exact same DNA.

Jenny dropped us off at the house without a word and drove off to, well, wherever she was going. Seth and I never paid attention to where she was going when she went on a date. The last thing we wanted to hear about was our sister’s love life. Gross. It wasn’t like Jenny ever told us where she was going either. She probably thought we’d follow her and figure out a way to ruin her night.

As if we had nothing better to do.

I dropped my bag and threw myself on my bed, my eyes catching the picture on Seth’s nightstand. Down the hall I heard the bathroom door close and the faint sound of running water.

Heat rose in my chest as I continued staring at the picture. It was taken when Seth and I were eleven and Jenny was twelve. My eyes found my mom’s smiling face, which I now know was a fake smile. It wasn’t even a month after that photo was taken when our parents separated, and then we moved across the country to our dad’s hometown in Connecticut.

I tore my eyes away from the photo and sat up, stretching. From the open window I heard a car door shut. Dad must have the night off.

Our kitchen was small compared to the house we had back in Seattle, or maybe it was because I was about a foot taller than I’d been when we moved here. Either way, it always seemed cramped when the four of us were in there at the same time. That didn’t happen too often though. Dad was always at the firehouse and Jenny was either at her part-time job at the grocery store or out doing God-knows-what. Sometimes she came to youth group on Wednesday nights with Seth and I, whenever it suited her, that is.

Even the nights when my dad and sister were home, Jenny would scamper up to her room with a granola bar and Dad would eat his dinner while watching sports. Sometimes Seth and I would join him, but we usually ate before he got home.

Hey, Eric, my dad said looking up from the refrigerator. Or is it Seth? he added with a wink.

He tossed me a bottle of water. Nearly seventeen years and you still can’t tell us apart. I’m disappointed in you Dad. He laughed as he took out ingredients for dinner.

How’s the team looking? he asked.

Good. I think we might actually have a chance to win the state title this year.

That’s good. There will definitely be some scouts at the championship game, Dad said. He turned back to his prepping. I noticed he had kale and pasta out, meaning we were having something that didn’t have meat in it. Good. Has Clyde gotten any offers yet?

Clyde, one of my best friends, was a senior. He was also Julie’s brother, but that wasn’t his fault. Getting a scholarship would really help him out because he would be the fourth of his siblings going to college. Julie would be the final one next year.

Yeah, he’s heard from UConn and Clemson, I said.

Nothing from Syracuse yet?

I shook my head. No, not yet. I’m sure they’ll come though. They’d be idiots not to.

It’s still early, Dad said.

The house phone rang, cutting off my next thought. Only one person ever called that line. As soon as my dad disappeared from the kitchen to answer the phone, I booked upstairs to grab my ear buds. I heard my dad talking when I came back downstairs.

-and I think Seth’s still in the shower. But Eric’s right in the kitchen.

I finished lacing up my shoes when my dad came in the room holding the phone against his shirt.

Eric, your mother’s on the phone.

I’m going out for a run, I said, shoving my ear buds in. There was no music playing, but he didn’t have to know that.

My dad sighed and turned back to his cooking, placing the phone between his ear and shoulder. Actually Ellie, he just went out for a run. So, how’s-

The door slammed behind me. I paused for a quick stretch because I’d be useless to the team if I pulled anything. Not to mention that I’d get a lecture from Coach, then another one from Julie. Once I felt loose enough, I took off down the street.

two

My nephew squirmed in my arms as we looked out the window. His eyes followed the leaves that were falling off the large oak tree in our front yard. Autumn was in full bloom. The vibrant colors of orange, red, and yellow were blotting out the usually green trees, all the way up to the mountains in the distance. In a few weeks, the trees would be bare.

Landon pointed to a figure across the street. Run.

That’s right buddy, I said. He’s running.

Of course, then I realized my nephew was pointing at none other than Eric. It wasn’t unusual to catch him running in the neighborhood - he lived around the corner from us, which was about a five-minute walk. What shocked me was that practice had ended less than an hour ago and he was out running again. How he had the energy to do that was beyond me.

Did I just see Eric running past our house?

Yeah, that was him. It was hard to miss one of the only two boys in town who looked like he belonged on a surfboard rather than a soccer field. I turned from the window and looked at my brother. I’m wondering where he gets all that energy from.

Clyde shrugged. Maybe because he doesn’t run as much during our scrimmages, being the goalie and all. He sat down on the couch. His hair was matted to his head and I caught a whiff of his body wash. I noticed you two were having another argument. What was it about this time?

I adjusted Landon on my hip. Nothing. Eric was just being a dork, as usual.

Why do you have to antagonize him so much?

Why are you taking his side? I’m your sister.

He’s my best friend, Clyde replied. You know what they say, ‘bros before-’

Don’t even finish that sentence, Clyde. Our sister, Ashley, walked in from the kitchen where she had been helping our mom with dinner.

She was the oldest of the five of us, being almost ten years older than me. Then Becky was born, then Zach, then Clyde, and finally, me. I think our parents had wanted another boy after me, to even us out, but my mom had complications that prevented her from having any more children. I was okay with it; being the youngest wasn’t so bad most of the time.

It was only the hand-me-downs that I received from my sisters that were the bane of my childhood. Fortunately, the hand-me-down phase didn’t last long. I’d outgrown my sisters in height by the time I was twelve.

Ashley took her son from me, allowing me to stretch out my arms. Landon was heavier each time I picked him up. You can’t say things like that in front of Landon. It’s bad enough I have to remind Kyle to watch his mouth.

Chill Ash. It’s not like he understands what it means yet.

Still, Ashley said. He’s impressionable. Anything you say he’s bound to repeat at this age. Especially shorter words.

Clyde held his hands up in surrender. Okay, okay. I’ll be good.

Good! Landon repeated, as if to make our sister’s point.

Ashley smiled and started toward the kitchen. She turned back for a moment, looking over at Clyde. By the way, Julie has a point. Family does come first.

I tilted my head Clyde’s way with a grin. You know what they say, Clyde. ‘Chicks before-

Julie!

Sorry!

We didn’t have dinner in the large dining room unless the entire family was home, which