Sandcastles

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Collins Creek High School isn't really known for much around the county. Academics are always average, and most of the clubs just do local things. But there is one thing that everyone around Collins Creek loves: baseball.

They love it so much to the extent that the school has declared that school isn't in session during the tournaments. It's not even required that we attend them, but most of us do anyways. Today, on the humid March day, I sit on the bleachers with the regular group of people. Excluding Troy, since he's the pitcher for the team. Alexander, on the other hand, doesn't play baseball, so he is sitting with us.

At the moment, all the baseball team is doing is warming up. The first game of the tournament is actually against the school's rival, so the people watching are literally jumping with excitement.

Even Marc came back from the university to watch Troy play. And I suppose he also wanted to see my sister, only to be disappointed upon meeting John Tyler.

I look down on the field, trying to find where Troy is. He must be pitching somewhere else. I'm interrupted, though, when Alexander plops down beside me on the old wooden bleachers. He nudges me with his elbow and gestures for me to take one of the cups in his hands.

I take it, looking down at the purplish slush. I guess it was supposed to be a snow cone or something, but now it's just a watered down icy juice. Alexander seems to be enjoying his and tips the cup up to drink it all. I set mine in front of me and look back down at the field.

"You're not going to drink it? I bought it special. Snow cones are a baseball tradition." Alexander protests. His lips are bright red from whatever flavor he had.

"Sorry you had to spend a whole two bucks on me." I reply.

"Hey!" he says, sounding offended. "It was a dollar, thank you."

I roll my eyes just as the teams below start taking their positions on the field. Our team takes the field first, their brownish uniforms almost matching the color of the dirt. I have to admit, they are ugly uniforms. I'm not really sure what a rattlesnake, which is our mascot, looks like, but I don't care to find out. They should have picked a mascot with better colors.

I also don't know very much about baseball, but I think Troy is doing well. Alexander doesn't think so and keeps saying he is so much better, but that's typical.

We watch the whole game, our team winning by two. By this time, it's late afternoon and Collins Creek doesn't play again until another hour or so. I decide to go get my iPod out of Madeline's car so I can listen to music while we're waiting, since they all want to watch the next game. When I get to her car and get it out, I literally jump whenever I turn around and see Alexander standing there.

"Jesus." I mutter. "You scared me."

He lets out a light chuckle at me and looks around the parking lot. After several moments of complete silence, he turns back to look at me.

"Trying to avoid me in no way lessens my affection for you." he says with a smirk.

"The Fault in Our Stars. Nice try." I answer with a smile.

Since he's been trying to win me back or whatever, we've developed this little game. He's probably the most unoriginal guy ever, so all of the "sweet" things he says are from books he's read. Whenever he says something like that, he just expects me to guess where it's from. I've gotten almost everything he's said right so far.

"So I happen to have red velvet cupcakes and cherry coke in my truck. How unfortunate that I have two of each." He says.

"That is unfortunate." I reply. He just rolls his eyes, gesturing for me to come with him to his truck.

He lets the tailgate down in the back and I sit on it while he gets whatever out of his truck. As expected, he hands me a cupcake and a cherry coke. Still a very unusual pairing, but they're still delicious.

This is the first time in weeks that it actually feels normal with him. We talk about stupid things; the cupcakes, the baseball game, and just anything we can think of. And best of all, it's all normal.

"I have something for you." He says suddenly. He gets up and throws our stuff in the trash before digging in the backseat and pulling out the old, battered acoustic.

"I don't feel like singing." I tell him.

"You don't have to. I am." He says. "You wouldn't know this song anyways."

"Really? Who's it by?" I ask him.

"Me." He says. "Apparently all of my book quotes are unoriginal and aren't making you fall back in love with me like I planned, so I figured I should try something original."

My face turns red for a reason I can't think of. I hope this song works how he wants it to. I'm sure it will.

"So your-"

"Isabelle! We're leaving!" Madeline's voice screams through the air. Alexander stops strumming the guitar and stops after the two words he sang.

"To be continued?" he asks me with a sigh.

"Looking for Alaska." I say. He smiles at me. "And yes. To be continued."

I climb off the tailgate and go to Madeline's car. We drive back to our house and all three of us go inside.

Once inside, I freeze right where I'm standing. Ben and Madeline do as well. What is he doing here? Didn't he realize how bad the last time was? And why is Mom actually talking to him? Why does she look so upset?

"Kids." Dad says, nodding his head towards us. Madeline turns towards the hall, ready to storm off whenever Mom stops us.

"What are you doing here?" Ben asks Dad.

"Well, all of the files are filled out and all the paperwork is done." Dad says with a happy smile. Mom seems to get even more upset.

We all look to her for some sort of explanation as to what is going on. Madeline gets a somber look; I guess she somehow has an idea what's happening. She doesn't look too happy either. But what did he mean by all of that?

"The court has determined that this house and schooling system is unfit for the three of you." Mom says in a rough tone. "So they granted custody to your father."

Custody? I thought that only happened with like ten year olds? Madeline's almost eighteen, so can't she decide where she lives?

"So what's that mean?" Ben asks. "Is Dad moving down here? I don't want to live with him!"

"It's not up to you, Benji." Dad says sternly.

"It means we're going back to San Francisco." Madeline says, her voice nearly cracking when she says it. "It means we're leaving Collins Creek."

Short chapter, but it's been like a week until the last update oops. And just for the record we are going to pretend that Alexander wrote the song that he wanted to sing but he really didn't. I'll give credit to the actual song and singer whenever that chapter comes.