Fumbling Perfect (Raymere Grove Series Book 1) Read online

  Fumbling Perfect

  A Raymere Grove Novel

  Nikki

  Kwiatkowski

  Fumbling Perfect Copyright © 2020 by Nikki Kwiatkowski. All Rights Reserved.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

  Cover designed by Karis Drake

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Nikki Kwiatkowski

  Visit my website at www.NikkiKAuthor.com

  Printed in the United States of America

  First Printing: August 2020

  ISBN-13 978-1-7332165-1-7

  To my husband, Chris, and son, Lochlan

  To my parents, Angie and Raymond

  With loving memory, to Kevin and Kaci

  CONTENTS

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Epilogue

  Chapter 1

  Lilah blinked a few times, her face expressionless as she tried to process what Principal Willis was asking her. She should have known better to come into his office with such optimism on the second week of school.

  While Lilah had been called in by Principal Willis several times over the previous three years, usually to be informed of academic excellence and awards, she knew something about this time would be different as soon as she saw the presence of Coach Turner hovering nearby, clearly annoyed and impatient.

  “I’m sorry. I don’t think I’m following,” Lilah lied, her blood gradually beginning to boil at their suggestion.

  “Miss McCallister, you’re one of the best students in this year’s senior class,” Principal Willis began, only to be cut off.

  “I am the best. I’ll be valedictorian,” Lilah coldly corrected.

  Willis ignored her overly proud statement and continued. “Coach Turner needs someone who will have time to commit to this until the end of the season. While you’re above and beyond with academics, compared to others, you could use a few extracurricular items on your application.”

  “I’m in the honor society. I do volunteer work for them. With all due respect, being in a club here or helping an idiot jock there isn’t going to matter once I’m in college.”

  “It will help you get recommendations from myself, Mr. Hughes, and I’m sure even Coach Turner here would be willing to write one up for you.”

  Lilah laughed and crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m seventeen. I’m well-aware as to how things work. My dad is Steven McCallister. Do you honestly think that I won’t be able to get into whatever university I want?”

  “I have to say, with that comment, I’m extremely disappointed by your attitude. I only hope that your university of choosing doesn’t hear how little you think of the admission process,” Willis sighed. “Anyway,” he began again, shuffling through some papers. “Thank you for your time, you may return to second period.”

  Lilah rose from her seat, feeling a little sick. She tried to tell them she wasn’t interested in tutoring from the beginning. This year she planned to see her friends a little more and keep up with the grueling studying. She was already enrolled in classes online so that she could knock out silly basic courses like college level history. Seriously, who needed to learn about the Civil War both in middle school, high school, and college? History was nothing more than memorization.

  Just as she was about to reach the door, she heard Coach Turner speak for the first time.

  “What about that other smart kid, Sophie or something?”

  Lilah clenched the handle so hard that her knuckles turned white. While a tiny voice inside her head laughed and told her how funny it was, Sophie, a second choice to herself, another part, a much more competitive part, silenced the laughter.

  Lilah turned back to face Principal Willis and Coach Turner. They had stopped talking after realizing that she was still in the room. Both held looks of bewilderment, wondering what else would continue to spew from the mouth of such an egotistical young lady.

  She took a deep breath and finally unclenched her gritted teeth. “How long does the season last?”

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  “You could have always joined the science club this year,” Alice pointed out as she sat her tray down at the same lunch table going on four years now.

  “Or you could help with theatre productions after school. We always need volunteers,” Jolee chimed in, reaching in her bag for a protein bar and some green liquid in a glass bottle.

  “I don’t need any extra activities. I just want to study, get a couple college courses under my belt, and I don’t know, maybe hang out with the two of you, like we did before the pressures of everything,” Lilah huffed, poking at her grilled chicken salad.

  “No prospects of dating then,” Alice asked through a mouthful of pizza.

  “Come on, what is it with you? I swear, it’s as though boys consume ninety percent of the female thought at our age,” Jolee pointed out. To say that Jolee was a feminist was an understatement.

  “I have no more prospects than either of you.”

  “Are you kidding me? Most of the science club are guys, and this year, I’m their queen,” Alice giggled teasingly.

  Lilah and Jolee had lost count the number of times since school started that Alice made comments, some subtle, others not so much, about being the president of the science club their senior year.

  “Regardless, if I have time to date, I have time to take on another online entry course,” Lilah said. Realistically she knew that there wasn’t a guy in the school who would come near her like that.

  Lilah’s father was entrepreneur Steven McCallister of McCallister Industries, one of the fastest growing technological companies. He had founded the company shortly after marrying Lilah’s mother, Jenna, and while the first ten years were a struggle at times, the last ten had been enough to move them into a mansion outside of the city.

  Raymere Grove was a decent sized town. It had everything one needed, with the exception of big city shopping, and Lilah’s mother was quick to make the hour drive into the city at least once a week for what she called her therapy. The town was more on the wealthy side, but when it came to the wealthiest of all, that was by far the McCallisters.

  Who her father was should have been enough to deter Lilah from getting any dates, but the fact that she was the most pre
tentious snob in the whole school really did it. She was smart, and while she worked very hard, she was also sure to let everyone know just how smart she was. Perhaps her wealth and beauty could be overlooked when it came to an intimidation factor; however, the attitude that she was somehow better than everyone rubbed most everyone the wrong way, except of course for Alice and Jolee.

  “You know the only reason you’re stuck doing this is because you couldn’t stand that their next choice of tutor was Sophie,” Jolee said, bringing the subject back, before boys were mentioned.

  Lilah stabbed at a piece of chicken. “She’s always so competitive, thinking she’s better than me.”

  “Yeah, but this has nothing to do with being valedictorian,” Alice chimed in.

  They were right. She should never have turned around. She should have left Principal Willis’ office and gone back to second period without another word.

  Lilah was forced to lift her eyes from the plate before her at Alice’s next words. “Who do you think it is?”

  Lilah had told them that Willis nor Coach Turner had given her a name, only that she had a brief meeting that afternoon. As the three girls turned their attention to the table flooded by testosterone, they were only left to speculate.

  “Hopefully it’s one of the cuter ones,” Alice sighed.

  Jolee gave her a hard nudge. “You’re hopeless. If anything, Lilah better hope he has a pretty good attention span and can read beyond a third-grade level.”

  Lilah glanced from player to player, feeling more defeated by the second. “Considering that he’s failing English two weeks into the year…”

  “Hopefully it’s Dawson,” Alice gasped.

  Lilah groaned. “No. It’s not going to be Dawson. If he put a little more energy into studying, he’d be my biggest competition. Sadly for him, simply making an A is good enough.” It wasn’t like Lilah could blame him to an extent. He was in every AP class she could think of.

  “It’s probably an idiot like Sean, or one of his even more ridiculous followers,” Jolee speculated.

  They watched as Louis, one of Sean’s lackeys chugged a thirty-two-ounce sports beverage, purple liquid seeping from the sides of his mouth and onto his shirt, as Sean and Cash cheered him on.

  “If so, there’s not a chance. There is no way that I could spend a second with that jerk.” Lilah was adamant about that.

  For the most part, the football players weren’t horrible. Did a lot of them think that they were better than the other students at Raymere High? Of course. Sean, however, was the stereotypical bully of the team. The only person that gave him a run for his money was Miss Head Cheerleader herself, Sarah. The irony.

  As they began to gather their bags, with two minutes before the bell to fifth period, “Just look on the bright side.”

  Lilah gave Alice a skeptical look. “Which is?”

  “Well, I don’t know yet,” she whined at the attention being directed on her. “I thought maybe you did.”

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  “West! Get over here,” Coach Turner called out as soon as he heard the last bell.

  Kyler West casually jogged away from the group on the field. Upon taking off his helmet, “What’s up, Coach?”

  Coach Turner signaled for his assistant to continue without both he and their star quarterback. He began walking away as a confused Kyler followed closely.

  “You know if you’re not passing you can’t play,” Coach Turner began, not feeling the need to make small talk.

  Kyler sighed. He had hoped to avoid this conversation a little longer.

  “You had straight A’s freshman, sophomore, and hell, most of your junior year. This isn’t like you.”

  “Look it’s only the second week of school; mid six weeks’ grades don’t come out until Monday after next,” Kyler felt the need to point out; however, knowing that he probably wouldn’t have time to make up his grade in English.

  “I talked with Willis, while the mid-report will only be a warning, if you’re failing at the end of the six-weeks, you’re not playing,” Coach Turner sighed.

  “But, Coach,” Kyler began.

  “That’s not my decision or his. That’s the state. You’ve worked so hard all these years and I really can’t stand to see you throw it all away. I mean, gosh boy, you’ve had scouts looking at you after freshman year. Your GPA is even good enough, and you’re going to let this fall semester take that all away from you.” He shook his head. “The smart thing for me to do would be to take you out now, until your grades get back up.”

  Kyler jumped in immediately. “No, you can’t do that. Don’t do that to the team. Our first game is tomorrow!”

  “I know, which is why I came up with something else.”

  Kyler didn’t like the smirk on Coach Turner’s face. He was half hoping that there was a way to bribe Mr. Hughes on simply giving him a passing grade. Of all the English teachers, he had to get stuck with the one who took his job way too seriously.

  “I’m sorry, what?!”

  Turner grumbled at the idea of having to repeat himself. “Just head over to the library now. You two set up arrangements based on your schedules.”

  “I’m not having a tutor! I can do this on my own. I always have,” Kyler insisted.

  “Well, that’s not working out too well. Keep your gear on. It shouldn’t take long. Then get back over here. Practice until six on days before a game,” Coach quickly spouted out, dismissing any protest by Kyler.

  Kyler was still in shock, gasping like a fish in search of words as Coach Turner departed at a rapid speed back toward the field.

  “Who am I even meeting,” he shouted as quietly as he could. The last thing he needed was Sean finding out that he had a tutor.

  “The name slips my mind,” Coach Turner lied. He was well-aware of McCallister’s reputation and somehow had the assumption that the two would rub each other the wrong way. Maybe that’s what Kyler needed, someone who wouldn’t let him skate by. “She’s a real sweetheart. This will be a piece of cake.” He quickly turned before Kyler could see his grin breaking out in the distance.

  Chapter 2

  As soon as Kyler signed in at the library and the parent volunteer at the desk pointed him toward the girl waiting for him, his stomach clenched, and he was unable to stifle back the groan of agony.

  Lilah McCallister.

  Of course, it had to be Lilah McCallister.

  Rich.

  Beautiful.

  Genius.

  Total know-it-all brat.

  Kyler had her in several classes over the years, though he doubt she’d remember. She always sat at the front of the class, her hand up every few minutes, more often than not, correcting the teacher.

  With every step he took through the near empty library, he tried to think of a reason to bolt. Having a tutor was already bad enough, but someone like her was downright impossible. He’d never be able to work with her. One snotty comment and he’d be done. That’s when an idea came to him.

  Lilah was engrossed with a book about the stock market crash of 1929 when darkness overtook the light streaming from a nearby window. Upon looking away from the cream pages, she became aware of the beast in front of her.

  Kyler West.

  Popular.

  Gorgeous.

  Athletic.

  Total pretty boy who thought he was a gift to the female population.

  Lilah would have been disappointed regardless of the person standing before her. Kyler wasn’t the worst, but he had this cocky aura about him that made most girls swoon like imbeciles. Lilah was not an imbecile, and she certainly didn’t find one thing charming about Kyler West. How he was Mr. Perfect of the school was beyond her, after all, he was failing at least one class.

  Without meaning to, Lilah let out a sigh of annoyance.

  “Problem?”

  Lilah closed her book and placed it on a stack that she planned to check out. Kyler had not taken a seat, so she rose rather than stare up at him like the
tiny mouse he probably thought her to be.

  “You couldn’t even bother to change,” she snobbishly pointed out.

  “Coach only gave me a few minutes. I have to get back to practice.”

  Lilah rolled her eyes. “Right.” How someone could put so much effort into a stupid game and not their studies was inconceivable in her eyes. “Okay, I have a schedule of days and times when I’d be available to meet. Since the school library closes at five, we’d have to meet at the public library a good portion of the time. I have it color coded,” she explained as she withdrew a piece of laminated paper from her bag, having prepared the schedule during one of her electives.

  Kyler’s eyes bulged. Laminated. What was wrong with this girl?

  “My contact information is at the top, and–”

  “Let me stop you,” Kyler interrupted, pushing the shiny plastic sheet back across the table. He found humor in how shocked Lilah became at his cold rudeness. He was only about to make it better. “I don’t need a tutor, certainly not you.” He watched as her lips became thin wrinkled lines and her normally big and bright green eyes turned to nothing more than slits. Something about her reminded him of an angry kitten. While she appeared too cute to be terrifying, he most definitely knew that she still had claws. “I get it, I’m failing English. I just haven’t had time to read that junk–”

  “Hamlet is not junk.” Her arms were now crossed.

  “Yeah, sure, whatever. My point is, my overall GPA is pretty good, but that doesn’t matter to the state when it comes to playing. All I have to do is barely pass English and I get to play. More likely than not, in the coming months I’ll have a scholarship to college for football. I don’t need to waste both of our time with all this studying. I’ll get it above a 70 before the first six weeks’ report card, and I’ll do that on my own.”

  Lilah was extremely annoyed but hid it well as she began shoving a few of her things in her bag and gathering the books she planned to check out.