“I asked Cris. He never answered me hold on, I’ll ask him,” she said. Walking over to her brother’s room she asked, “Cris can you take me up there on Saturday?”
“Yeah what time? I’ll ask Steph to go, too.”
“What time do you want us there, Seth?” Lia asked into the phone.
“Can you come up early and hang out up here? Before lunch and then I’ll take you out to eat.”
“I have to see if I have to work, but I’ll tell them I can only work in the morning if I do,” Lia said.
“Okay let me know. I have a ton of homework can I call you later?” Seth asked.
“Yeah and I’ll find out about going up there on Saturday.”
“Lia before you hang up I really want to say I’m sorry. I know you don’t want me miserable up here, but I am without you,” Seth confessed.
“I know I’m miserable here too, but it’s only for a little while. Do you think you can drive me back home on Saturday and spend Sunday with me?” she asked.
“I have to see, I have to start work up here too, but not sure when that will be. I’ll let you know. Love you, Lia,” Seth said.
“I love you too, talk to you later,” Lia said
Chapter 20
For the rest of the week they tried calling each other during the day, but when Seth had time Lia was busy and vice versa. They did get to talk briefly each night, but they were so tired, that by eleven they were falling asleep on the phone usually only after talking for a few minutes.
Lia was sitting at the school’s stadium looking at her phone it was 5:00. He didn’t call yet. She was anxious to talk to him, hoping he’d call before she had practice. It was Friday night already and they still hadn’t confirmed a time for tomorrow. She had to work in the morning and got off at 12:00 so they could leave right from the mall. She thought she would wait a few more minutes then call him.
There was a rumbling of a car around here somewhere; it sounded just likes Seth’s. She got excited she was going to see him. Then reality hit her. She was imagining it. Seth was nowhere near here. Then she didn’t hear it anymore, she must be dreaming. Just as she was about to call him her phone rang. Picking it up and answered it, “Hey Babe, you’re finally awake,” Seth teased.
“Hi! Yeah I’m awake, smarty pants. I can’t help it with school, practice, and work I’m just so exhausted all the time. I’m really glad you called I was just about to call you,” Lia blurted.
“Really, well I’m calling to make sure you’re still coming up tomorrow,” he asked.
She heard a lot of commotion in the background of his phone and she could swear she heard her brothers voice, “Where are you?” she questioned.
“Can’t hear you too well, it’s really noisy here,” he yelled over the noise.
“You’re here aren’t you? I hear my brother’s big mouth in the background,” she said getting excited.
Seth yelled, “Cris you and your big mouth spoiled it. She knew I was here as soon as she heard you,” Seth yelled.
She could hear Cris reply, “Oh sorry, Bro.”
“Where are you?” she asked again. Looking around excitedly, but not seeing him anywhere.
“The more important question is… where are you?”
“In the football stadium waiting for everyone to get here for practice,” she replied getting up and walking out of the stadium to wait for him. First she heard his car start; well at the very least she wasn’t losing it, she did hear his car. Then she saw it come around the corner.
He pulled up next to her on the wrong side of the road and got out. The minute he got out of the car she jump on him, kissing his lips, face, neck, pulling back she said, “Oh my God! You’re here! Really here!” she exclaimed excitedly.
“Yep I couldn’t wait till tomorrow and left right after school to get here. Made good time too,” he said. “Besides my parents wanted me to go to a party and I didn’t want to go.” Hugging her tighter, “It was more important to me to see you.”
“How did you get here in half an hour?” she asked.
“School was over at 3:00 today,” he said.
~~*~~
Tasha and Tina were walking toward the stadium when they saw the reunion between them. “She’s so lucky to have someone love her that much,” Tina said wistfully.
“Yeah she sure is. I’m glad he came down tonight, she really needed him. Even though she’s trying to put on a brave face, it’s not working. I know they haven’t been able to talk much this week, which was bringing her down,” Tasha said. “So maybe tonight we’ll have a happy cheerleader.”
“Tasha!”
“I didn’t mean anything bad by it, just stating a fact,” Tasha said shrugging her shoulders and walked into the stadium.
~~*~~
“How long are you staying? All night or do you have to go back tonight?” Lia asked.
“Overnight, since I couldn’t talk to you much this week, Cris and I set this up last night while you were at work. You’re coming back with me to New York after you get off work tomorrow, and sleeping over till Sunday,” Seth said. “It’s all arranged with your parents, Cris and Steph are coming too.”
“Awesome, this is the best thing that could have happened to me, a great ending to a lousy week. So how’s your new school?” she asked.
“Ok I guess, the guys on the team are ok. I really haven’t talk to many others,” he said evasively.
Lia picked up on it right away, “So what girl is after you?”
He looked at her with amazement. “How the heck did you know that?” he questioned.
“I know you and you’re evading my question. So who is it and what did you say to her?”
“Her name is Felicity,” he said.
“So are you gonna tell me what happened or not?”
“Nothing happened, Babe, she just keeps popping up everywhere I go in school. Heath said she’s a pain in the ass to all the guys on the team and mostly they just ignore her. He told me to do the same, so I am, but shit it’s annoying. An added complication is her dad works with mine.” he explained. “I don’t want anyone but you.”
She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him, “Lucky you said that or I might have to punch you,” she teased. “So is your Dad trying to make you two be friends?”
“No don’t your punches hurt, Cris and I taught you too well,” he said. “He introduced us, but didn’t say anything about us being friends, but with him you never know.” Looking at his watch, “You have to go in.”
“I don’t want to, I want to stay with you all night I don’t want to cheer tonight,” she said.
“You have too,” he said.
“I know and I will, I don’t want too.”
“You better get in there and practice.”
“You’ll stay?” she asked anxiously.
“Not going anywhere,” he assured her.
They walked into the stadium together, and over to the squad. In the time they were talking the rest of the squad arrived. Seth sat on the bleachers and watched them practiced. Well he really watched Lia the whole time. He noticed she looked tired and a little skinnier, he wondered if she was still getting sick. After the game he’d ask her.
Lia looked up in the bleachers and smiled at him. She was so happy he was there. This past week was torture on her. She made it through on automatic pilot, not really registering anything that was going on around her. The only thing she concentrated on was her phone and waiting for it to ring. If she got to see him every weekend she thought she could make it through the next couple of months, but she really didn’t think that was going to be possible. With their schedules so full with school, practices, games, and working the chances of them being free every weekend was going to be hard.
She was lost in thought when Tasha yelled, “Lia! Are you of this world?”
Bringing her back to the present Lia stammered, “Uh yeah I’m here.”
“
We want to try that lift again with Syd. We can go onto the grass right over here,” Tasha said. “Remember Syd, pull up through your body and stick that scorpion. Lia maybe you should switch sides so you’re the main base.” Then Tasha whispered to Lia, “You’re a steadier base than Emily, and god knows Syd needs all the help she can get.”
“If you think that’ll help,” Lia said.
Emily and Lia bent down to have Syd jump into their hands as they lifted her she went straight up, but she was wobbly. They put her back down.
“Syd, Lia’s a stronger base so you’ll go up faster than with Emily, don’t be afraid she got you,” Tasha said.
“Ok let’s try it again,” Syd said with more confidence.
Seth watched them lift Syd again and he knew that she was coming down on Lia. He shot out of the bleachers and ran over to them just as the three of them ended up on the ground. “Hey you guys alright?” he asked.
“Yeah were fine,” Emily said.
“Speak for yourself,” Lia said still sitting on the ground.
“What’s wrong?” Seth asked anxiously.
“My head hurts I think it got hit by Syd’s knee when we hit the ground,” Lia said. “It’s nothing major, but wow that hurt.”
“Yeah she hit you alright, right above the eye and she spilt your eyebrow, your bleeding,” Seth said. Turning toward Tina he said, “Go up to the football room and get the trainer and someone go get ice.”
“Oh God, Lia I’m sorry,” Syd said.
“It’s not your fault. We should have waited to switch sides with you when we had the mats at practice. It was just an accident no big deal,” Lia said.
Seth sat behind her and put pressure on the cut with his shirt that he took off to stop the blood, “You feeling ok, Babe?” he asked as he put the ice on that someone handed him.
“Yeah I’m fine, it just stings, and that ice is cold. Can I get up?”
“No not till the trainer sees you. Here he comes now,” Seth said.
“Seth what did you do now?” Jim the trainer teased him.
“Ha ha not funny. They were doing a lift, it fell and the flyer’s knee hit her in the face,” Seth said.
“Let me look at it,” Jim said taking Seth’s shirt away. “Doesn’t look too bad, let me clean it then I can see it better. I think you’ll only need a bandage on it.”
“Don’t get blood on my uniform.”
“I’ll try not to,” Jim said wiping way most of the blood with gauze drenched in water. Seth put his shirt under her chin to catch the water. “It doesn’t look too bad, I think one or two butterfly band-aids will close it, but no cheering tonight.”
“I have to! We can’t put up the lifts without me? It’ll be lopsided,” Lia complained.
“Shut up Lia,” Cris said running up to them. “I just found out, what happened?”
Seth recounted what happened as Lia gasped in pain. “Oh that stings! What are you using pure alcohol?”
“No, an antiseptic,” Jim laughed. “I have to put the band-aids on now; you’ll feel a little pulling as I pull the cut together.”
“Okay,” she mumbled.
“Where’s your coach?” Jim asked.
“She’s coming, she was in the food stand when I got the ice,” Tasha said. “Sorry Lia.”
“It’s no one’s fault. Everyone stop apologizing it was just an accident,” Lia said.
“Lia, what happened?” Mrs. Smytheson asked running up to her.
“The lift fell and Syd’s knee hit me when we fell. It’s ok I’ll live everyone,” Lia said.
“You’re side lined tonight, Lia,” Mrs. Smytheson said.
“But…”
“No buts” Mrs. Smytheson said.
Seth helped her up once the trainer was finished. He held on to her to make sure she didn’t fall. “You didn’t black out when you got hit?” Jim asked.
“No,” she replied.
“Come on we’re going to sit down in the bleachers,” Seth said.
“I have to go to the bathroom first. I want to see how bad it is,” Lia said.
They both walked over to the bathrooms and Lia went in. She looked at her eye it wasn’t as bad as she thought. While she was looking at it she felt a little faint. She went into one of the stalls and sat down. The next thing she knew she jumped up and threw up in the toilet. She walked out of the bathroom and Seth saw how pale she was.
“Got sick again didn’t you? Could never stand the sight of blood could you?” Seth teased.
“I was fine till I looked at it. It throbs right now,” Lia said.
“Put the ice back on,” he said handing it to her.
“Well at least I can sit in the stands with you,” she giggled.
“I’d rather you be cheering. Do you want to go home? If you don’t feel good I’ll take you home.”
“No I’m fine, feeling a little better,” she laughed.
“Are you still getting sick since I left?”
“No not since Sunday,” she replied. Not wanting to worry him, but she was sick to the stomach most of the time and she threw up a few times during the week.
“Good, come on we’ll go sit down over by the cheerleaders,” he said putting his arm around her and guiding over to the bleachers.
They sat there and watched the game, by halftime her eye was throbbing again. She put her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes for a little.
Her Mom came over to her, “Are you feeling alright?”
“No my eye’s throbbing again.”
“Do you want some more ice for it? Or some aspirin?” Mrs. Lombardi asked.
“Yeah to both,” Lia answered with pain in her voice.
“Should I take you home?” Seth asked.
“I don’t know if I can,” she whispered.
“If you want to go I’ll tell your coach. In fact I say you’re going home,” Mrs. Lombardi said forcefully.
“Can you tell her Mom? It just throbs and I’m not feeling well,” Lia said.
“Do you need me to take you to the hospital?” Mrs. Lombardi asked.
“No, it’s not that kind of sick. I’m just in pain and I want to lie down, that’s all,” Lia replied.
“Ok I’ll tell her. Wait here till I tell her,” she said walking up to the coach. They spoke for a few moments and her coach nodded her head. Coming back to Lia, “She’s alright with you going home. Seth if she gets worse call me right away.”
“I will,” he replied concern in his voice.
Chapter 21
They got back to Lia’s house and she went upstairs to change. Seth stayed down in the living room. It was a while since she went upstairs, “Lia where are you?” Seth yelled up.
“In my room, I’m trying to figure out how to get this vest off without it rubbing right across my eye. Come up here and help me,” she yelled down.
“How am I gonna get it off you?” he said walking up the steps.
“Just hold it out by my eye. Look at it; it’s starting to black and blue. It’ll look like you punched me,” she laughed.
“Not funny.”
“I was only joking around. I know you’d never do that,” she said. “You have to keep it off my face while I pull it off.”
Laughing he said, “This is going to be difficult, but interesting.”
“Just hold the damn vest away ok,” she said. Pulling the vest up she finally got it off and stood there in her shorts and bra.
“That’s a nice look for you,” Seth said pulling her to him and kissing her neck.
Pushing him away laughing, “Not tonight, I have a headache. Seriously I expect my Mom to leave the game early. I’m surprised she hasn’t called yet.”
“She probably did our phones are downstairs. Finish getting dressed and I’ll meet you down stairs.”
“Hey,” she said walking up to him and put her hand on either side of his face and kissing him full on the lips. “It’s not that I don’t want t
o it’s just not a good time.”
He kissed her back and pushed her backwards toward the bed. “It’s always a good time with you, Lia. I love you, Babe.” He was running his hands up and down her back, “Please, Babe I’ve missed you so much. At night I lay awake thinking about you and having you in my arms again.”
“I love you too, and I think of the same thing,” she murmured as she kissed his neck. The next thing she knew they we both lying across her bed and all thoughts of her parents were erased from her mind.
Afterwards they we lying on the bed exhausted when Lia heard a car pulling up the drive. “What time is it?” she asked franticly. “Get dressed I think someone’s home.”
Seth got dressed at record speed and went into the bathroom. Lia was dressing when her Mom called, “Lia where are you? How are you feeling?”
“Fine Mom getting some DVD’s to watch downstairs be right down.” she yelled down.
Running down the steps she nearly collided with her mom, “Is the game over already?”
“Almost I left early to check on you.”
“It still hurts a little, not too bad since I took that aspirin. It’ll look worse tomorrow I bet. Nice way to go to New York and meet Seth’s new friends,” Lia said self-consciously.
“If it gets black and blue you can use make up to hide it,” Mrs. Lombardi said. “Where’s Seth by the way?
“Taking a shower, I was gonna, but afraid it’ll hurt too bad. I’ll have to take a bath later,” Lia said. “I need to sit down. I never expected to be so sore. My back and shoulders hurt too.”
“You probably jarred yourself a lot more than you thought. Did she fall directly on you?”
“Not really, she came down kind straight up and down, but being bases we went in to catch her and her knee hit my face and then we fell with her on top of me. I’ll be fine just sore. It’s not the first time someone fell on me and it won’t be the last,” Lia said.
“Yeah you right about that. You rest in the living room, I think I’ll go in my room and read for a little if you need me.”
Seth came down from his shower and saw Lia lying on the couch, “Sit up a little I want to hold you.”
“I don’t want to move I’m so sore.”