the price of being ace

Chapter 34

She apologizes profusely even after I tell it's fine and that I'm used to it but even in math this morning she still apologizes
"Look it's not a big deal ok I said it's fine and really it is" I say and she nods
"Ok sorry" she says and it just occurred to me what she said earlier to me after the whole golden girl joke
"Is something going on at home though?" I ask and she looks uneasy for a moment

Erin pov:

"My parents are getting a divorce and their fighting has reached a new climax" I finally say I mean she was honest to me about her situation why can't I be with mine
"Does Jackson know?" She asks and I shake my head
"Yes and no,promise you won't tell anyone though" I say and nods
"Of course"she says
"It's why I don't really invite people over unless they're gone" I say and she nods
"Yeah it's tough but you're strong you'll survive" she says and I can't believe I almost forgot she's been through this at least twice already
"I don't know" I say setting my cheek against my desk
"It's ok people don't have to have all the answers to come out on the other side of something"she says and I smile
"Yeah" I say looking up at her

I'm grabbing stuff from my locker when I see ace and Willow talking and I know it's none of my business but from my perspective they seem like a couple on a break before they get back together type stuff
"Do you think there's something going on between them?" I ask Jackson and he looks over
"Ace looks mad well she doesn't really get mad mad but you get it so no probably not" he says and now that I think about it she does look a little upset
"Yeah you're probably right,how are things going with mystery boy?"i ask
"I don't know I keep flirting back and I can tell he wants to make a real move but he's also unsure maybe because he knows we're in a relationship" he says and I nod
"So do you want to 'break up' or something now?" I ask and he shakes his head
"No not until I'm sure this will work out" he says and I nod

Jackson deserves to have all the time he needs to feel ready but I think I've been ready for a while and the only thing that would make me not ready is if ace starts dating willow
"Colby get your head out of the clouds and back onto the field" coach yells and I snap out of it just in time to make the throw in this scrimmage
"I'm so full of nervous energy right now I can't focus" I say shaking my head like I'm shaking off those thoughts
"Just do what I do and focus on the play like it's the championship" billie the Center we got for the scrimmage team says and I nod
"Yeah" I say but I don't know if that'll work for me

It works pretty ok except no matter what I do I seem to be holding the hall for a little too long before I throw it
"Alright let's change it up and do a little endurance training"coach shouts then motions for us to huddle round
"Thanks Erin" billie says sarcastically as we walk towards coach and I frown
"No it's not her fault actually it's the runners you guys look tired after only 3 plays" coach says but honestly I'm frustrated at myself for the way I played anyway
"So what's the drill?" I ask and everyone looks over at me surprised because usually I am the one who hates it the most
"I was thinking we'd start with some suicides to the 50" he says and I sigh but accept my fate

I get back to the girls locker room absolutely exhausted but I'm not upset or mad anymore
"Good job out there when you reconnected your focus" coach says to me when I rejoin the boys
"You ok now?" Jackson asks as he starts the after talk
"Yeah I'm better" I say and he nods
"Want to come over to my house,I can ask Kate" he asks and I nod
"Better than staying home with my parents" I say with a laugh
"You'll be staying with ace again but I'm sure you're fine with that" he says and I nod
"I don't know if I'm going to stay over,I might just stay for dinner or something then go home" I say since my parents would probably be mad if I spent another night at his house at such short notice

We stop by so I can tell my parents or whichever parent is home I'm going over to Jackson's house and to grab a bag of overnight stuff
"Again?" My dad asks and I nod
"Yeah he offered and I didn't want to say no" I say and he nods
"And you don't sleep together right?" He asks and I nod
"I sleep in his cousins room remember"I say and after thinking about it he nods
"Right,I heard his sisters back in town as well" he says and I nod
"Her names Bella" I say
"You know you can bring him over when your moms not around,she may not approve of him but I'm ok with it"he says and I almost shake my head at the way he acts like my mom is the bad guy and tries to make her it all the time when both are at fault
"Yeah anyway Jackson's waiting for me so I better go" I say and he nods before I leave

We get back to the house and ace is watching a movie but it's not in English it's in like Russian or something
"What language is this?" I ask
"Oh he's speaking Russian right now but the movie is in English" she says and sure enough the camera changes and some buff looking guys are speaking English
"Do you speak any other languages besides English?" I ask since it's a good conversation starter and she nods
"I speak Russian,French and a bit of Cantonese and Japanese" she says and I'm surprised
"Why?" I ask
"My parents used to travel a lot for businesses so I learned the main languages of the places my parents business partners lived" she explains
"And me and her dad are from France so he wanted her to learn French anyway" Kate cuts in and she nods