No Shame (Book 2 - No Regrets)

Chapter Three - Wide Open World

KATIE'S POV

"Do not forget, we have a game next Tuesday at five-thirty." Coach Sherbert says addressing all my teammates and I. We are all sitting against the wall, cooling down after a long practice. We mostly did running drills to build up endurance, we did a little bit of shooting practice. "I will see you all tomorrow's practice after school. You are dismissed. Great practice." Coach Sherbet says.

I walk across the gym toward the indoor-bleachers to grab my backpack and gym bag. The loose strands of hair that escaped my ponytail stick to my sweaty face. I lean down and pull out my cellphone from my gym bag. There are not any missed calls or new text messages. If he forgot, I will- My thoughts are interrupted when I realize a water bottle is being held out in front of me.

"Hey Katie... the vending machine... gave me two." My teammate, Jena, pants as she holds out a red-colored sports drink to me.

I gratefully accept the drink and wipe the sweat from my brow with the back of my arm. I unscrew the cap and take a long chug. "Thanks." I say screwing the lid back on. "You have amazing endurance, I don't think you slowed down once." I comment.

Jena laughs and glances up a little bit at me from where she sits on the floor. She takes a sip of her drink before she starts gathering her stuff. "You're. hardly out of. Breath." She points out, panting. "My lungs. Are. On fire."

I smile and move my stuff closer to where she is. "Okay, but you can't deny you are more coordinated than me. You hardly missed a shot." I sit down in front of her.

Jena laughs again, "I had a lucky day is all."

I playfully roll my eyes and let out a exaggerated sigh, "You're ruining my attempts at flattery." I joke.

Jena laughs and is about to reply, but is cut off by someone walking up to us. We both look up, there is a guy. He has nearly white blond hair, brown eyes, clearly sun-kissed skin, and a tall slightly muscular body build. He looks familiar but I can't figure out right away. "Hey Garret." Jena says placing her gym bag strap on her shoulder, she stands up.

Seeing them side by side, something in my mind clicks. They're siblings. They have the same nose, eye color, and sun-kissed complexion. Instinctively, I grab Jena's backpack and stand up. I hold it out to her.

"Thanks Katie." Jena says. She adjusts the strap of her gym bag across her chest before putting her backpack on. She gestures toward her brother, "Katie, this is my brother, Garret," she says before gesturing to me, "Garrett, this is my friend, Katie." She finishes.

Garret's brown eyes looks over at me, he smiles at me and extends his hand out to me. "Great to meet you." He says.

I shake his hand, "Same." I say with a smile.

Garret looks back at Jena, "Maria is waiting for us at home." He says.

Jena nods her head in response and looks back at me. "Bye Katie, see you tomorrow." She says with a wave. I watch Garret and her start to walk away. Garret says something when they are out of earshot that receives a laugh from Jena, she gives him a playful push. I catch Garret smiling and he gives her a slight push with his arm. I feel the corner of my mouth pull up before I turn back to resume what I was doing before Jena showed up.

~~~~~~~~~

"I may be nearly two hours late, but at least I remembered to grab you an after practice snack." Dominick says as I buckle my seatbelt. He reaches behind his seat and retrieves a white plastic bag which he then sets on my lap. Inside the bag is a ham and cheese sandwich, an already opened bag of chips, and a water bottle. "Thank you." I say.

I take out the bag of chips, my brother gives me a guilty-knowing smile as he puts the car into drive. "Might have gotten hungry while being stuck in traffic." he says.

I let out an amused sigh as I shake my head. While I ate the sandwich and he drove me home, Dominick briefly explained the reason for his tardiness. He lost track of time while in a study-group, got stuck in rush-hour traffic, and then took the wrong exit off the freeway. We are close to home, the sandwich and three-quarters of the water are gone. "I know this is crazy, but promise to not freak out?" I ask looking over at him.

He doesn't take his eyes off the road but he raises an eyebrow. "You might need to tell me what exactly I may think is crazy." He says.

Before I can have another heartbeat to debate, I announce, "I'm going to try to get in contact with our biological father."

"No." Dominick says instantly. "Absolutely not." His hands tightening around the steering wheel.

"You can't make that decision." I point out.

"The parents can, and there is no way they are going to let you. You are fifteen years old, a minor." He says.

"Me being a minor has nothing to do with it." I say.

"It has a lot to do with it, you are too young to be involved with anyone like him. Not to mention meeting your biological father, that is huge for anyone at any age. But when you are as young as you, it can have a huge impact." He replies.

"I could, we could have other siblings. Wouldn't you want to meet them and get to know them. What if they are in similar situation as you? What if they are lonely and need someone, a brother or a sister?" I argue. "What if I was never adopted by Mom and Dad, and was out there. All alone. You wouldn't want to find me?" I ask.

"Katie, that is not the point." Dominck says firmly.

"But it's an important point." I argue.

"Say we have other siblings, how would us coming in be any good for them? Two people they have never met are thrown into their life like a grenade. What if there life is pretty great?" He argues back.

We go back and forth until we pull into the driveway.

He puts the car into park and looks over at me for the first time since I brought up the subject. His eyes are filled with a fierceness, "Katie, I am serious. You are not to even try to find him. Not while you are so young."

I looks away from him and unbuckle my seatbelt. "Too bad it's not up to you to decide." I say getting out of the car.

***AUTHOR'S NOTE***

Chapter Bundle 1/7

I am currently on vacation. And as both a celebration and a thank-you, I have decided to supply you with a chapter spam while I am on vacation.

I will post one chapter a day.

Please forgive any mistakes, i will fix them once I am "back in office".

VOTE, COMMENT, FOLLOW, do what you want.

THANK YOU FOR READING! I HOPE YOU ENJOYED!