Page 34 of Falling Into You

“Whatever,” Jacob said. He wiped his fingers, crumpled his napkin, and tossed it onto his mostly uneaten plate of food. If Rory were his girlfriend, he would definitely not be worried about other options. “I should go. I have a ton of homework to do.”

“Wait! We didn’t even talk about soccer!” Tucker’s tone shifted completely from insulting to conciliatory. Jacob, who was halfway out of his seat, dropped back down.

“What about it?” he asked irritably.

“Dude, we’re really suffering. We have to find a way to get you back on the team.”

The door opened again, and this time a bunch of girls wearing varsity jackets from their rival school, Shrewsbury High, walked in. For half a second, Jacob wondered if they were here to flirt with Tucker, too, but luckily they were seated in the other dining room.

“Coach made it pretty clear I had to prove myself to him before that was going to happen,” Jacob muttered, staring down at his plate.

“Okay. But how are you supposed to do that if you’re not even going to practice?” Tucker asked, screwing his face up in confusion.

“I don’t freaking know,” Jacob admitted. “It seemed like he was just going to tell me when I passed some sort of mysterious test that only he knows the rules to.”

Tucker blew out a sigh, then took another long pull on his milkshake straw.

“You’ve gotta talk to him, man. If we keep Kai on as striker, we’re going to lose every game. And the scout from UConn is coming to the Bergen game. We can’t have a losing season or I’m screwed.”

Oh, so it’s all about you, is it?Jacob had some schools scouting him, too, and he wasn’t even playing. Not that any of this was even going to matter if he couldn’t get his precalc grade up. A creeping anxiety rose up his spine and curled over his shoulders. Jacob was used to focusing on fun. He was accustomed to moving through life carefree, at least at school. He did not like this feeling one bit. But Tucker clearly was not going to let him leave until he was satisfied that his illustrious future soccer career was intact.

“Fine. I’ll talk to him,” Jacob said. “I gotta go. Let me know how much I owe you for the check.”

He was out the door before Tucker could say another word.

Rory

There was nothing Rory loved more than a half day at school. While all her friends went out to get lunch or go shopping, she and Owen always headed straight home. They knew their father would be making them something scrumptious for lunch, and that both he and their mom would be there. It was practically like Christmas morning.

This particular half day, Dad had gone all out with churro French toast, fresh whipped cream, and cinnamon-sugar apples as a nod to “healthy eating.” He’d even made bacon in the oven, just the way he knew the whole family liked it. It was sunny and just warm enough to eat on the patio, so the family was sitting around the outdoor table bundled in sweaters, chowing down as red and orange leaves tumbled from the trees that lined the yard. It was heavenly.

“So Molly broke up with JT and started going out withChristian, and right away JT asked out Shannon, but she said no because he’s already gone out with, like, everyone in the ninth grade,” Owen was explaining, dousing his plate with Vermont maple syrup.

“Wow. I don’t remember ninth grade having so many flying hormones,” Rory’s mom joked, sitting back with her mug of steaming coffee.

“Are you kidding? When I was a freshman, Layla had a new boyfriend every week, remember?” Rory said.

“How could we forget? We had to break up a fight at your birthday party that year because she forgot to cancel on the one before inviting the other,” her dad said with a chuckle.

“I don’t remember that,” Mom said, brow knit.

“I think you were directingWickedthat year,” Rory said.

“Oh, right! That was when Pearl made you that crown with the pink and green stars!”

“I still plan on wearing that for Halloween next year,” Rory told her. Seniors got to wear costumes to school, and there was a huge contest with titles like “Most Creative” and “Best Group.” The squad had already assigned cast roles, and Rory was going to be Glinda. Everyone thought Gwen was the natural choice, but she—interestingly enough—insisted she wanted to be a flying monkey.

Rory speared an apple with her fork and bit into it. Juicy, cinnamon goodness exploded over her tongue.

“Ooooh, right! I’ll have to dig up Glinda’s gown, and we’ll get it altered,” her mother said with a wink. There werebenefits to having a mom whose job involved a costume closet.

“So what else is going on?” her dad asked, refilling Owen’s water glass from the carafe.

“Don’t forget I have homecoming a week from Saturday,” Rory said, sipping her coffee. “The game is Saturday afternoon and the dance is that night. And then we have regionals the next day. They’re at the community college this year, so it’ll be easy for you to come.”

“Wait, already? Is homecoming always this early?” her mother asked.

A stiff breeze blew a few paper napkins off the table, and her dad jumped up to retrieve them.