Fumbling Perfect (Raymere Grove Series Book 1) Read online

  “Thank you for informing me of that, but it seems you’ve already wasted a great deal of my time,” she huffed.

  Kyler concealed the smile begging to get out at how much she was fuming at being rejected for help. Before he could say anything else, she spun on her designer heels and childishly stomped away to the check-out desk.

  He couldn’t help but watch her. He was a guy after all. If he was honest, she was cute. He knew other guys thought that as well. While he didn’t feel the need to engage in locker room gossip, that didn’t stop him from listening. Lilah was pretty much the definition of perfection in the school, that is, if the whole package didn’t include the attitude that came with it.

  Kyler waited for her to leave so that he wouldn’t have even the faintest encounter with her. Also, it was hot outside, and as it stood right now, the team’s defense needed the most practice, not him.

  He glanced down at the table. In her haste, Lilah had left behind her availability schedule. For a moment he thought that it may have been intentional, in case he changed his mind, but the little he knew of Lilah, he couldn’t imagine her caring enough about his grades for that.

  Knowing that the sheet had her contact information, he grabbed it from the table and made his way to the nearest trash can. A sickening feeling came over him as the paper, still in his hand, hovered over the trash can.

  He didn’t need her help. He didn’t need anyone’s help. He just had to find the time to begin reading that stupid play and catch up on a few worksheets. He could do that just fine on his own. All he really needed was time.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  11 days later.

  After two wins in a row on back to back Fridays, though exhausted from the weekend, Kyler was excited to get on the field Monday morning. Everyone’s spirits were high in hopes that they could go out with a bang their senior year. There was already premature talk of going to state.

  “Not so fast, West,” a booming voice called out before Kyler’s cleat could even touch the field.

  “Yeah, Coach?”

  When Kyler turned around, he saw right away that something was wrong. It helped none that Coach Turner could barely look him in the eyes.

  More quietly, “Go ahead and change back. Head on inside to the library and get some work done.”

  Kyler’s stomach sank. He took several steps in the coach’s direction so that they were less than an arm’s length away, hoping that the rest of the team wouldn’t hear what was being discussed.

  “Coach, what’s going on?”

  “Grades were sent out to staff early this morning. Can you tell me why I’m a little pissed?”

  Kyler sighed. He tried to give a little more effort in the direction of his English class, but Hamlet was one of the most boring things he had ever read. At least when they did Romeo and Juliet in sophomore year the teacher was nice enough to read along with them and explain what all those weird words meant. Not Mr. Hughes.

  “It’s only the middle of the first six weeks. You said Principal–”

  “This is my call, not his,” Coach Turner insisted, much to Kyler’s shock. “It’s still early in the season. We can make it without you. What I’m not going to do is risk losing the only person out there who can hit his men halfway into the season, or heaven forbid should we make state. Fix this now, West,” Coach Turner demanded, the anger in his voice shaking Kyler to the core.

  “Yes, sir,” was all Kyler could manage in response.

  Coach Turner wasn’t done however. “Are things not working out with McCallister? I heard she can be a little tough when it comes to–”

  “I told her I didn’t need her help,” Kyler quickly admitted.

  Red flashed across Coach Turner’s eyes. “You what?!”

  Kyler could feel the eyes of some of the players on the field. At this point he welcomed the escape to the library.

  “I went out of my way to go to both Hughes and Willis to see what we could do before you screwed up too badly, and this is how you repay me?”

  “I thought I could handle it myself, but you know how difficult of a teacher Mr. Hughes is,” Kyler replied, desperately hoping to deescalate the growing anger of an already fuming former linebacker.

  “Kyler,” Coach Turner began through gritted teeth. That’s how Kyler knew he had had it. Coach never called him by his first name, others perhaps, but not him. “Four days,” he said coldly.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Monday. Tuesday. Wednesday. Thursday. Four days,” he repeated, this time holding up his hand with four fingers and shoving it in Kyler’s face. “If I don’t hear that something has changed come Friday, you’re out for Friday’s game.”

  Oddly, that gave Kyler a little bit of hope. He fully thought he was out for this week’s upcoming game.

  “You’ll be at morning practice and last period after today, but that’s it. After eighth period practice, you’re done. The rest of the afternoon is for your studies. Got it?”

  “Yes, sir,” Kyler replied eagerly. For once he couldn’t wait to get to the library. If he could turn in his missing assignments to Hughes, he’d be in the clear.

  “Remember, I’ll be checking in with McCallister about your progress first thing Friday,” Coach Turner called out as he made his way onto the field.

  Kyler’s face went a ghostly white. He had to be kidding. Coach still expected him to use Lilah as a tutor? There wasn’t a chance in hell that she would even speak to him after that day in the library.

  Chapter 3

  Kyler had managed to avoid his teammates both in class and during passing periods. Lunch, however, was one time he couldn’t avoid them. He thought about sneaking off campus during lunch, despite the school’s strict rules that under no circumstances were students allowed off property during school hours without guardian consent. That applied to even those such as himself who were already eighteen. Of course, there were special circumstances, but none of which benefited him.

  “Hey, man,” Miles greeted as he took his place next to Kyler at the table. “I tried texting you earlier.”

  “Sorry, my phone was on silent and I didn’t have time between classes,” Kyler lied.

  Miles of course wasn’t an idiot. “Whatever. I know something is up.”

  Miles was Kyler’s best friend, followed by Gavin and Dawson; however, of the three, Miles knew him best.

  “What happened this morning before practice? Don’t think we didn’t notice you bailing on us,” Miles pressed on in a quiet voice so that Sean wouldn’t hear. He knew that if it was anything serious, that was the last person on the team that needed to know anything.

  Kyler decided to play his situation down at first. “Coach just got on me about my grades.”

  “That’s not so bad,” Gavin, who was on his other side chimed in. “He’s been getting on me about that since freshman year,” he laughed.

  It was different for Gavin. Gavin simply liked to play football to play. He had been benched several times in the past. It didn’t bother him too much. He had no desire to actually go to college on a football scholarship. In fact, lately he had been talking more along the lines of a technical school.

  “No, he’s not telling us everything,” Miles hinted with a nudge in Kyler’s side. The smile faded from his face when he got no reaction from Kyler.

  Across from them, Dawson sat down and quickly pulled out his calculus notebook.

  “Overachiever,” Gavin teased, as he threw a fry.

  Dawson simply brushed it off. “Real mature.”

  “Guys, shut up,” Miles huffed. “Come on, Ky. What aren’t you telling us?”

  Kyler leaned into the table and the other three followed suit, creating a secluded bubble in a bustling jungle of chaos.

  “Unless I make some major changes in Hughes’ class, Coach is threatening to keep me from playing Friday.”

  They all gasped in shock as they processed.

  Miles was the first to speak up. “Dude, that’s crazy. That sucks
! Cash is the backup. If he takes your spot, we all might as well sit on the bench.”

  “It’s Hamlet,” Gavin sighed. “I get half of my information online for each chapter. Not to mention my dad is a huge Mel Gibson fan.” He made a gagging noise. “That movie was the worst.”

  Kyler refrained from pointing out that of the four of them, he was the only one who had the unfortunate placement into Mr. Hughes’ class. His curriculum was completely different than the other senior English teachers. Sadly, Kyler also knew that they were acts and scenes, not chapters, yet between the two of them, Gavin was managing to pass.

  He decided to tell them everything, Lilah McCallister included.

  Their eyes all darted to a far-off table as soon as Kyler finished.

  He watched her. From a distance, with her friends, a smile on her face that appeared very rarely, she looked like she could be a nice person.

  “Dawson, why don’t you be Kyler’s wingman in English,” Gavin suggested.

  Dawson raised a brow. “First of all, that comment alone sounds stupid. Secondly, unlike Lilah, I’m not only in the honor society and football, but I’m in the technology club, math club, and future medical professionals club. Not to mention–”

  “Okay,” Miles interrupted. “We get it.”

  Eventually everyone, except for Kyler, went back to their regularly scheduled conversations. Kyler, however, found it difficult to focus, suddenly very aware of Lilah McCallister’s presence.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  “My vote, of course, was for Sweeney Todd. Watch the fall play be something stupid from middle school, like Seussical,” Jolee ranted.

  In a brief pause in conversation, Lilah heard her phone vibrate from her bag on the seat next to her. Though she was at lunch, she was mortified that she hadn’t put it on silent for the day. It would have been so embarrassing if it would have gone off in a silent classroom during a quiz. She quickly reached for it to ensure that it would be on silent for the rest of the day, and in doing so, saw the message that had just appeared.

  Unknown: Can you still meet today?

  Lilah’s brows crinkled at the ambiguity. She thought back to the prior week, but couldn’t recall any meetings. She thought about not replying but finally informed the sender that they had the wrong number; however, glancing down at the screen from a second text, proved her wrong.

  Unknown: Lilah McCallister?

  Lilah was just about to say something about the strange message to her friends, but after seeing that they were deep in conversation about Frankenstein, Jolee from a play perspective and Alice from a scientific one, Lilah thought it best to let them debate and deal with the mysterious stranger behind the screen.

  Lilah: Who is this?

  Kyler watched her confusion from afar. Had he not needed her help that afternoon, he could have had a ton of fun with his newfound anonymity; however, he wouldn’t make Lilah suffer past lunch.

  Unknown: Wow. Did I fail to make any impression on you?

  Lilah completely ignored the almost flirtatious way the text came across. For all she knew, it could be someone like Sarah playing a cruel prank.

  Lilah: How did you get my number?

  Unknown: You gave it to me.

  Lilah laughed. That was absurd. She didn’t give her number to anyone. She had a hard-enough time keeping up with Jolee and Alice when it came to socializing. She didn’t need random classmates asking her what she was doing at ten at night simply because they were bored.

  Lilah: You’re a liar and I don’t have time for any games. Please don’t text this number again.

  Unknown: You’re so uptight.

  Lilah had a few words that she wanted to say in response to the last text, but she was above that. Instead she opened her bag to place her now silent phone away, though curiously withdrew it when it lit up in the darkness between her books.

  Unknown: Look up.

  Lilah looked around their table. There was no one.

  She casually glanced throughout the tables in the distance, noticing that everyone was buried in their own select cliques. It wasn’t until she made her way down the football table that a set of blue eyes met hers. Even from far away she could tell that they were blue, but not only that, she remembered the cold and callous way they looked at her in the library not quite two weeks ago.

  He had to be joking. He could not be asking for her help right now, not after how cocky he was, insisting that he could do it on his own, especially not needing her of all people, if she remembered the conversation correctly.

  Kyler watched as Lilah angrily tapped her fingers over her phone. He forced himself not to laugh at how easily offended she got. Sure enough, not even thirty seconds later, he felt his phone go off.

  Lilah: You have got to be kidding?! And how did you get my number?!

  Kyler: Relax. It was on the laminated and color-coded schedule you gave me the other day.

  Lilah: That was over a week ago, and you should throw that away.

  Kyler: So, can you meet today?

  Lilah: No!

  Kyler sighed in frustration, aware that working with Lilah was no longer an option.

  “That bad,” Miles speculated, quickly reading the texts over Kyler’s shoulder.

  “She’s pissed.”

  Just then the bell rang, and they all began gathering their things, Gavin scrounging up any food that hadn’t been eaten on anyone’s tray in hopes of scarfing it down on his way to his next class.

  Ever the wisest, “You insulted her. I can’t say I blame her.”

  “Seriously,” Kyler gasped.

  “Come on, Dawson. Who could say no to this adorable face,” Miles teased as he pinched Kyler’s cheeks, only to be swatted away instantly.

  Dawson snorted as he neatly placed his calculus book back into the perfect place in his backpack. It was disturbing how organized he was. “Lilah isn’t like…Well, someone like Sarah,” he began.

  “Dude,” Gavin screeched. “Sarah is hot. I mean, head cheerleader, killer body.”

  “With a brain activity completely susceptible to Kyler’s charisma,” Dawson finished.

  “So, what are you saying,” Kyler asked, all joking aside.

  “You really think you can just text her and she’s going to come scampering to you like a wounded puppy? In no way does helping you benefit her, and no offense because you’re my friend, but you were a little rude to her.”

  “She’s the biggest snob in the school, and I’m the rude one?!”

  “Regardless of that, she’s the one on schedule for valedictorian, and she’s the one Turner is talking to Friday,” Dawson concluded.

  Kyler knew Dawson was right. It didn’t matter what he thought of Lilah. Right now, all that mattered was that she tell Turner that he was truly working hard and improving, and he had four afternoons to do that. All he had to do was convince her.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  “Hey,” Kyler quietly announced as he fell into step next to Lilah. Immediately after Dawson’s words soaked in, he managed to make his way through the crowd to catch up to her, knowing that texting would no longer work, and needing her to agree to help him as soon as possible. “Can I talk to you a second,” he asked when she gave no greeting back.

  “I’m on my way to class.”

  “Aren’t we all,” he scoffed.

  Lilah picked up her pace and went around a couple sauntering along in front of her. Kyler quickly realized his mistake and caught up to her.

  “Okay, sorry about that, but seriously, can we talk?”

  “Fine, talk.”

  Lilah was stunned when Kyler gently pulled her from the crowded hallway and into the nook of a classroom. The door was closed and the lights were off, which meant the next period was an off period. At least there wouldn’t be a line of students surrounding them waiting to get into the room.

  “Excuse you,” Lilah spat.

  Kyler glanced around at the passing students, growing fewer and fewer as the seconds ticked by befo
re the tardy bell.

  “I just thought the hall was a little loud to–”

  “Wrong,” Lilah interrupted. “You didn’t want to be seen talking to me, or should I say begging me to help you with your ridiculous English grade.”

  They both knew she was right. While Lilah wasn’t the typical looking nerd, she and Kyler were definitely in different circles when it came to the social ladder.

  “Fine, whatever.” He didn’t have time to get into a lengthy explanation, including the fact that he really didn’t want to be seen with her. However, judging from the way she was looking at him, the feeling was probably mutual. “Can you help me out?”

  “I already told you, no,” Lilah nearly shouted.

  She turned to leave but Kyler put his arm on the wall in front of her, blocking her in the small area leading to the classroom behind her. It was in no way threatening, but somehow it shook Lilah, disarming her completely, as Kyler stepped into her bubble.

  “Look, meet with me this afternoon. I’ll apologize and everything.”

  Lilah saw right through the innocent look in the face that was far too close to her liking.

  “No. Sorry,” she insisted.

  Kyler glared at her. Neither of them moved, only stared each other down as if it were a contest.

  “Why,” he found himself asking.

  Lilah was actually glad that he asked that. Now she could set him straight. “Because, you’re a jerk. I know guys like you. You think the word tutor means that I’ll do all your work for you, simply because you’re some fancy idol in the school. Well, you’re wrong, and your charms won’t convince me any differently.”

  At that, Lilah slipped past Kyler on the other side, the side he hadn’t blocked with his outstretched arm. Much to her surprise, he willingly let her, not having another word to say on the matter.

  She had never been late to class, but there was a first for everything, and upon glancing at one of the many digital clocks that adorned the hallways, today was that day.