The Newcomer (Thunder Point #2)(92)

Eric sat down. He was quiet for a moment. “This is awesome,” he finally said. “What made you decide to call me?”

“You’re a pretty nice guy,” she said. She turned and looked at him. “I’m glad I didn’t know you when you weren’t.”

“Me, too,” he said. “Thanks for giving me a chance.”

“I guess it can’t hurt to get to know the other half of my DNA.” She laid down on the board and looked up at the sky. “I saw my ex-boyfriend last night.”

Eric, still sitting, looked down at her. “How’d that happen?”

“He’s back in town and was waiting for me outside the diner. He’s now sorry and would like a second chance with me. But this is all because he’s in big trouble and was cut from the team and might lose his scholarship.” She turned to look at him. “Doping. He claims the new girlfriend messed him up, got him doping and then dumped him. Of course, it’s not his fault and is all a big misunderstanding.”

Eric whistled.

“He was a star in high school,” she said. “All-conference football and baseball. He was the Homecoming king. Maybe I didn’t see it then, but I thought he wore it pretty well—that kind of popularity. I thought he was a nice guy. He was a nice guy, I think. He looked out for his younger brothers and I think he was loyal to me. We talked on the phone and texted many times a day—something he stopped having time for when a new girl came along. But I also remember—he used all kinds of supplements when he was strength training. Nonsteroid, he said. But he didn’t think there was anything wrong with steroids, if you weren’t competing. Downy’s a big guy—very strong. He saw a chance at going pro real young and he didn’t want to miss it. He caved. He caved all over the place—gave in to the pretty, snotty college girl, the drugs, probably other things. He wanted it all and he was willing to take a lot of chances and... Well, he lost it all.”

“Do you feel a little sorry for him?” Eric asked.

She nodded. And then in a very quiet voice she added, “But he sure didn’t feel sorry for me. He was cruel. When I was broken he told me to go away and quit bothering him.”

Eric smiled at her. “I don’t think you’re broken anymore.”

“I’m much stronger. But I might never have another boyfriend. I don’t ever want to feel that bad again.”

He laughed.

“You think that’s funny, what I went through?” she asked, an edge to her voice.

“Not at all. I was just thinking, you’re young. You’ll get past that and take a chance again. You know why? Because you’ll look around and notice that even though you had a very painful experience, no one gets through this life without some major disappointments and hurts. You’ll see that a lot of people had it even worse than you and you’ll take notice. You’ll see that to get through life you have to be strong and smart and patient and humble. What happened to Downy? A classic example of hubris—the deadliest of sins. And I know—I was there. I wasn’t lucky enough to go there with a ball and full scholarship—but I thought I was above it all, invincible, more important than anyone else.”

“Hubris?”

“Arrogance. Pride before the fall. The feeling that the universe is there to serve up our selfish wants no matter what it does to other people. Downy let down his teammates and his school and his girl. But I stole from people.”

She thought about this for a moment. “Well, he should be ashamed. Most of us have to work real hard just for a chance to go to college. He had it all and threw it away by wanting still more.”

“Sometimes you learn your best lessons when you add up all your losses.”

She lifted an eyebrow at him. “Most of the time you don’t sound like a grease monkey.”

He grinned. “Is that right?”

“You know who’s been just supernice to me for the last three months? Downy’s brother. Frank.”

“Is he a lot like Downy?”

She sat up. “Nothing like Downy. I’ve known Frank forever—we’ve been in school together since kindergarten. He was always the skinny little runt with the thick glasses, but so smart it was scary. The bigger kids used to pick on him and try to beat him up and if not for Downy... Well, Downy was his bodyguard and Frank was the nerd. But Frank has changed a little bit lately—he’s grown up, for one thing. He’s taller, stronger, got contacts. He’s actually good-looking, but you can tell he doesn’t know it. He likes to sail and paddleboard, so he built muscle. He’s not an athlete like Downy, but he has an appointment at MIT for an early admission scholarship.”

“Seriously?” Eric asked, surprised and impressed.

She nodded. “All in one family. Why couldn’t I get some of that?”

He chuckled. “You have what you need, Ashley. I promise. Hey, your mom knows I came over to board with you, doesn’t she?”

“Of course. She said she hopes I don’t end up disappointed.”

“She has good reason to worry about that,” he admitted. “That’ll take time. Hey, you almost ready for some lunch? We can come back out after, if you feel like it.”

“Sure. Let’s go in.”

Eighteen

Sarah had continued to put off talking to Landon about her potential change of assignment. In fact, she had been in some denial. It had been a while since Buzz had dropped the bombshell on her and as the days, and then weeks, passed with no confirmation she found herself taking the irrational position that if she didn’t think about it, maybe it wouldn’t happen. But she was going to have to deal with this. School had been out for less than a week and Landon was already talking about football practice starting up in August. He was working at Cooper’s part-time for the summer and was running and lifting weights, getting ready.