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“Did you get a haircut?” she asked.
“I did.” He swept his hand through his hair, disturbing the curls. “The kids were starting to say I needed a fresh cut. That’s the great thing about volunteering here. I never have to wonder how I look, because the kids will call me out in front of the entire gym.”
Lydia chuckled. “Ah, the good old days of saying the first thing that popped into our minds.”
“It’s wonderful. You get over being self-conscious very quickly.”
“So you’re saying I shouldn’t be surprised when they call out my under-eye bags?”
“What are you talking about? You look perfectly rested,” Luke said, nodding to the door.
“Very smooth,” Lydia said, following him inside. “I may not look decrepit, but I sure feel it. I think I’ve used muscles these past few weeks that haven’t been activated in the almost thirty years I’ve been alive.”
Luke said something, his mouth moving, but Lydia didn’t hear a single word. Sound crashed into her like a rogue wave. It wasloud. Joyously so. Laughter echoed down the halls in fits and starts. Small voices yelled and cheered, demanding attention. Footsteps thundered up and down stairs. Music streamed out of classrooms, and the rubber smack of a basketball thumped out of sync with it. “Wow,” she said.
When Lydia had absorbed the onslaught of noise, she signed her name into the binder and flashed her ID to the volunteer behind the check-in desk. He waved her into the building.
“Where do you want to start the tour?” Luke asked.
“Anywhere,” Lydia said. “You’re the subject matter expert.”
“All right.” Luke rubbed his hands together, setting off down the hall toward the sounds of a basketball game. They’d only gone about four feet before a tiny girl with long braided pigtails stomped her foot in front of Luke and demanded help with her shoelaces.
Luke bent down. “Double knot or single?”
“Double,” the girl decided.
Lydia got the impression that this was a regular occurrence. She bit her lip to hide her amusement.
The little girl glanced up, examining Lydia through squinted eyes. “Mr. Luke, is this your girlfriend?”
“This is Lydia,” he answered without missing a beat. “She’s definitely my friend.”
The girl smiled conspiratorially, like she’d just been given secret information. Then she raced off down the hall.
“Sorry,” Luke said, getting to his feet. “Remember that zero filter thing we talked about?”
Lydia snorted. “Reminds me a bit of annoying the hell out of my sister with awkward questions when we were kids.”
“You just have the one sister?”
She nodded. “Ashley. She’s a couple years older. You?”
“An older brother and an older sister.”
“Guess we’re both the babies of the family.”
“As they like to remind me,” Luke agreed. They continued down the hall.
The doors to the gymnasium were wide open and Lydia saw a flash of tiny bodies as a game of basketball tore furiously across the court.
“Watch out for stray passes,” Luke said as they entered. “Sometimes I have no idea what they’re aiming for. Might just be my head.”
Lydia chuckled, keeping her eye on the court, but there was really no need. Luke walked beside her, keeping his body between the game and her like a shield. Warmth pooled in her chest at the thought, though she chuckled to herself—she might not be athlete of the year, but she could catch a basketball if the occasion called for it.
“As you can see,” Luke said—raising his voice above the din of squeaky sneakers and kids shoutingball, ball, ball!—“the gym is well loved by everyone. I’d say it gets the most activity of anywhere in the center. The biggest obstacle right now is that the space is limited. If a group of kids want to play a full-court basketball game, no one else can use the gym. We’ve gotten good at assigning time slots, but it still means a lot of kids are hanging out on the sidelines, waiting for their turn to use the space.” He gestured to the bleachers, where kids sat with skipping ropes and other toys.
“What about the court outside?” Lydia asked. “Does it ever get used?”
