Page 44 of Break Points and Face Offs

Will catches me before I go down to bed.

“We’ll have that competition tomorrow.”

“Okay. But we need to get some work done on the project, too.”

He rolls his eyes. “Don’t worry, we will.”

13

WILL

Iget up early so my guest isn’t alone for too long in an unfamiliar home. As warm and friendly as my family members are, I can’t imagine anyone feeling comfortable in someone else’s house.

Priestley caught me off guard yesterday. I thought he was gonna be snooty and look at everything like it was beneath him, but he didn’t. He seemed … shy? Like for the first time in his life, he didn’t automatically fit in somewhere. Like he’d finally realized the world wasn’t made with him in mind.

It’s still pretty gross to get to twenty-two and only just be realizing that the world doesn’t revolve around you, but hey, progress is progress.

My parents are both standing in the kitchen, drinking coffee and chatting. I almost don’t want to interrupt, but I’ll be back at school tomorrow and I know they wanna see me.

As soon as he spots me, Dad puts his arm around me and ruffles my hair.

“How d’you sleep in your old bed?”

“Good.”

“What’s your plans for today?”

“Got a lot of studying to do for the group project thing, but I think I’m gonna take Priestley to the rink first.”

My parents share a look that I try my best to ignore.

“That’s nice,” Ma says.

“Yeah, Jimmy’d love to see you,” Dad adds.

“That’s what I thought. And uh …” I rub the back of my neck while I think of a way to make the competition happen without alerting my parents to what’s going on. They’d both find it petty. That should be enough to stop me, but it isn’t. “Priestley wants to check out some tennis courts while we’re here. Do you think we could use those ones in the sport’s center?”

“Sure, I don’t see why not,” Dad says. “If you have any problems, you let me know.”

“Thanks, will do.”

Dad doesn’t like to use his elevated—he’d never use the word hero, but I would—status in the community as a firefighter to get perks, but for us, he makes an exception. Call it payback for all the worry he causes us every time he goes out on a call or ends up in the hospital.

Priestley gets up just as the kids are finishing their breakfast and getting ready for Chase’s baseball game. Usually I’d go, too, but we have way too much to do and my talented little brother is gonna have plenty more baseball games in his life.

I can’t tell if Priestley’s wearing pajamas or slightly less fancy clothes than usual. His hair is neatly swept back off his face and he smells like he sprayed cologne when he brushes past me in the narrow kitchen to grab a cup of coffee.

“I thought we could go to the rink and the tennis court today and have our little competition.”

Priestley’s cradling his coffee like it’s his life support. When I look a little closer, his eyes are barely open. I guess he isn’t a robot after all.

“But we have the house to ourselves,” he says. “Shouldn’t we take advantage of it?”

Maybe I’m tired and my brain isn’t working yet, but a rush of blood heads south before I remind myself who I’m talking to.

“What?”

“To study? For the project?”