Covet (Clann)

sliding across the top of the window blinds. “Well, I guess you could always try it and see how it turns out.”
    “Wow, knock me over with your faith there, sis.” I frowned and grabbed the napkin. Pretending it was the tip of an invisible sparkler now, I tried drawing shapes in the air with it.
    Emily stole it back. “I just think you’re going to have a tough time keeping it at just a friend thing with her.” She made the napkin draw the shape of a giant heart.
    “What if I’m upfront with her? Tell her right from the start that I’m not looking for a girlfriend.” Not unless it was Savannah. “Then she won’t expect anything beyond friendship.”
    She sighed. “Good luck with that.”
    The door opened and Mom came barging in like the head of a small SWAT team on the offense. “What are you two doing? I could feel the power use from the parking lot!”
    Emily dropped her hand and the napkin hit the floor and rolled out of sight under the rocking chair. “Nothing. Just talking.”
    “Yep. Just talking.” I put on a big smile.
    Mom glared at both of us then sighed. “I’m going to see about some DVDs or something to keep you two out of trouble. While I’m gone, be good!” Muttering about packing her wild heathen children off to stay with their cousins in Ireland for the summer, she swept out again.
    “She doesn’t really mean that, does she?” I asked with a frown. “She remembers she agreed to let me play football again, and that I’ve got physical therapy and then football training starts up right after that, right?”
    Emily snickered. “You better hope she does.”
    The napkin hit my temple out of nowhere, and the game was back on.
    * * *
    I meant to have the “only friends” talk with Bethany the following week. I even opened my mouth, the words right there ready to be said, when we stopped by Taco Bell for lunch Monday after the day’s final exams.
    But then she hopped up to get us sauce, mild for her, medium for me, and when she returned she brought a stack of napkins.
    “In case you decide to drool again,” she joked, plopping the napkins on the table between us.
    And in the middle of teasing her back, I forgot about having the talk with her.
    Savannah looked ready to cry on Friday when I awkwardly hopped and lurched up the steps into Mr. Smythe’s portable building for the history exam. I’d finally started to get the hang of this whole crutch walking business, though my good arm’s armpit was killing me. The leg cast was heavy, so it took some effort to get it positioned under my desk after I sat down beside her. By the time I was all tucked in and ready to talk, Mr. Smythe was passing out the exams and telling everyone not to say a word or we would get automatic Fs for cheating.
    Afterward, Savannah took advantage of how slow my injuries made me and shot out of class like a bolt.
    So much for one last talk before the summer break.

CHAPTER 12
    SAVANNAH
    The summer break couldn’t come fast enough.
    All I wanted to do was hole up in my room and escape the constant bombardment of everyone else’s emotions slamming me every time I left home. I’d thought the ability had calmed down. But lately my own emotions had been a nonstop roller-coaster ride, making it harder to control sensing others’. Thankfully, I was about to get several blissful weeks of solitude. As usual, my friends’ parents had filled up their summer with family babysitting for Michelle, candy-striping and volunteering at a nursing home for Carrie, and church camp and helping bale hay out on her uncle’s farm for Anne. Even the Charmers wouldn’t need me for a couple of months. The team would be going off to dance team camp for a week, then the officers would be at leadership camp, then we’d have all of July off and wouldn’t meet back up until the team’s annual boot camp week and slumber party in August just before school started again.
    All I had to get through was the junior summer party that first Saturday after school let out for summer break.
    But what should have been a simple lake party turned out to be way tougher than I’d expected. I’d braced myself for the onslaught of emotions that hit me when I entered Bethany’s family lake house and dropped off two bottles of Sprite, my contribution to the food table. But then I headed downstairs and out onto the private pier just in time to hear Bethany telling everyone that she was dating Tristan now.
    Tristan was already dating again?