POWER BACK

Chapter 52: The Promise

Chapter 52: The Promise

July

Football tryouts are here again, and for the first time four years, I won't be a part of it. July in Texas is a miserable time to be suited up in the armor of football, so I don't miss that. But I think I'll miss everything else. I came by to talk to Murphy about writing me a recommendation—work ethic, leadership, team building—to add to my college application, and after that, I stayed to watch the last few events.

When assessments are over, I linger there in the stadium while the players file off the field to the showers. All except one, the most relentless of them all, who stays on the track to run extra laps.

It's weird to think that just a year ago I was a completely different person. The day I met Peyton changed my life forever. She was the catalyst for all of it.

As she starts her sixth lap, the sky is darkening. Humidity climbing. A summer storm is coming.

I can smell it in the air.

But she doesn't care.

Let the heavens unleash their fury.

She runs harder, pushing herself. I love to watch her run.

Then the sky opens up and pours down.

It feels like a baptism. She stops, throws her head back, and lets the rain wash over her.

When she gathers her pads and helmet, I disappear underneath the stadium bleachers and jog to my truck. I grab her book and tuck it into my waistband. I watch as she walks slowly through the downpour to her car. She opens the liftgate and throws her gear in the back.

She freezes when sees me sitting in my truck watching her through the wiper blades. I take a deep breath. "Now or never," I mutter to myself as I step out into the rain. I jog over to where she's standing under her liftgate.

"How'd tryouts go?" I ask her.

Water is clinging to her eyelashes and dripping from her clothes, pooling on the ground under the liftgate. "I was just doing some extra laps."

"I'd expect nothing less. You always were extra."

She sniffs, wiping the rain from her face. She's not in the mood for teasing.

"I can't believe it's been a whole year since the first time I met you. So much has happened," I say.

Her gaze drifts past me toward the trees. Then she looks me in the eyes. "What do you want, Jack?"

Not a great start, but keep going. I glance down at the pavement. "I brought you something."

"Yeah? What's that?"

I pull her frayed copy of All the Pretty Horses out from under my shirt. She just stares at it.

"You were right," I say.

"About what?"

"A lot of things. But this book. It's really good. One of the best books I've ever read."

She uses her toe to push against the heel of her right shoe then repeats this on the left. She kicks them to the side, out of the puddle that has gathered underneath her.

"Yeah, it's a great book. I told you you'd like it." She stands on one foot, reaches behind her, and peels her sock away by hooking the ankle with a finger. When she gets the other one off, she wrings them out.

I gaze down at her perfect feet, all pruny from running in the rain. "I mean, sure, it's one of the only books I've ever read," I say, smiling crookedly. "But it's still really good. Really sad."