Beyond the Point(28)
“Hey!” she shouted toward the shirtless marvel. Up close, he looked like an action figure. “You see McNalley up there?”
Turning, he wiped his forehead and shouted back, “You seen some patience?”
“Nope. Not lately,” replied Dani.
“Why don’t you come up and look for it,” he said, offering her his hand. She took it, and in one motion, he hoisted her up onto the back of the truck, like she weighed nothing at all. For a moment, they were inches apart, Dani staring into his deep brown eyes, shocked by his disarming smile, punctuated by a gap between his front two teeth.
“Locke Coleman,” the guy said, then opened up his hands as if to tell Dani that the truck was hers to explore. “You might as well look for mine while you’re at it.”
“Your patience or your bag?”
“I’ve seen you before,” he said simply. “Aren’t you that point guard?”
“That’s right,” said Dani, flattered that he’d seen her play.
“Sucks to lose, don’t it?” he said jokingly. “Y’all had a rough season.”
“Thanks for the pep talk.”
“No disrespect! I play football. I’m familiar with the losing feeling.”
“We’re going to change that this year, Coleman,” another cadet on the truck shouted. “Fuck Navy. Hey, what’d you say your name was?”
“McNalley,” Dani answered.
A rucksack flew through the air and she caught it against her chest.
“Thanks, guys. See you around.”
She and Locke Coleman exchanged one long moment of eye contact before she jumped off the truck and quickly walked off across the gravel road toward the bunkhouses. The pressure of his palm against hers had sent an electric shock up her spine. She didn’t want to forget that feeling anytime soon, and yet, she didn’t want to read too much into their interaction, either. Guys always loved to hang out with her, but they rarely saw her as “girlfriend material.” It was her constant relationship kryptonite. She was one of the boys.
BUNKHOUSE NUMBER EIGHT smelled like summer camp: a hopeful combination of sweat, sunscreen, and plastic mattresses, worn out by years of use. Down the narrow hallway, girls were hugging, laughing, and unpacking unnecessary toiletries. Boys roamed the hall half-dressed, checking out who would be living in close proximity for the next eight weeks. Dani shook her head, surprised by the insanity of the premise: West Point put a thousand nineteen-year-olds in the woods for a summer, crossed their fingers, and hoped for the best. It was like a social experiment, created to determine how much sexual frustration you could stuff into one square mile.
Suddenly, a girl with dirty-blond hair dressed in black shorts and a gray T-shirt stepped into the hallway. Dani immediately recognized Hannah Speer and felt a surge of gratitude fill her chest. Straightforward and honest, Hannah had spent last year working hard on the JV basketball team, never once complaining or holding a grudge against Dani for her success on varsity. Minutes earlier, Dani had had no idea who she’d be forced to live with, but now, seeing Hannah’s bright blue eyes and easy smile, she knew she’d have at least one friend this summer.
“McNalley!” Hannah shouted. “Get down here!”
Trotting quickly, Dani arrived in the doorway and peeked inside. Five bunk beds lined the walls, leaving a square space on the floor. Smiling, Dani surveyed the girls in the room and realized she recognized every single face—the entire sophomore class of female basketball recruits. Lisa Johnson and Megan O’Leary had claimed the bunk by the back wall. Kate Shoemaker’s rucksack waited on the bottom bunk near the door, and above that, Dani spotted a bright-blond ponytail hanging down from the top bunk, as if Rapunzel were letting down her hair. The girl turned over and looked down, her eyes assessing Dani with sharp disdain.
Avery Adams let out a loud sigh, then rolled back over. “Oh great. Gang’s all here.”
Dani looked to Hannah, who quickly waved Avery off with a gesture that said, Ignore her. But the moment was hard to disregard. If she was going to live in this tiny room, crammed with ten girls for the entire summer, Dani at least wanted to feel welcome.
“Is there a problem, Adams?” she said. “Because we can address it right now, if you’d like. Unless you’d rather go across the hall and sleep with the offensive line?”
“Excuse me?” Avery snapped, closing the magazine. “They don’t have enough room over there for you? Your ego take up too much space?”
“Hey, hey, hey,” Hannah interjected, putting her hands up. “Just everybody chill out, okay? Geez. We just got here.”
Avery looked down at Hannah, who offered the same wave of the hand that minutes before she’d given Dani. Though she could have been pissed, the whole interaction made Dani laugh. Hannah was clearly the mother of the crew—already fulfilling her role perfectly.
Though Dani had never noticed it before, Avery and Hannah looked like they could be sisters. Avery’s hair was lighter and Hannah was taller, but side by side, they looked like opposing reflections in a mirror. It was fascinating to Dani that two people who looked so alike on the surface could be so different beneath it. Avery cussed quickly and often, while Hannah’s favorite curse word was shenanigans. Avery held her body like she knew how to use it, while Hannah bumped into things clumsily, like a little girl who still wasn’t used to having an adult body. Appearances could be so very deceiving.