Scramble
Copyright© 2025 by Lumpy
Chapter 31
“Alright, bring it in,” I called out to the six kids scattered across the track.
The group jogged over, some breathing harder than others. What had started as just me and Eduardo doing early morning training had grown into something bigger. Jason and Sean had joined first, then word spread and we picked up Marcus, a hurdler from the sophomore class, plus Tina from the girls’ track team, who did long jump, and Craig, who did cross country.
“Good work today. Jason, your handoffs are getting smoother. Sean, I saw you actually listening to my footwork advice instead of overthinking it.”
Sean nodded, still catching his breath. “It felt different. Better.”
“Eduardo, that split time on your third leg was solid. Keep working the breathing pattern we talked about.”
Eduardo wiped sweat from his forehead with his shirt. “Thanks. I think it’s helping.”
I looked at the newer additions to our group.
“Listen, I need to apologize to you three,” I said. “I know I’m not as helpful with your events as I am with the sprints and relays. That’s on me.”
Marcus shrugged. “You’ve been trying.”
“Yeah, but trying isn’t good enough. Here’s the thing, though, the conditioning work we’re doing, the core strength, the leg work, all of that translates. And when Coach Greer gives you technical corrections during regular practice, that’s when you really need to pay attention. Then bring those corrections here and we can work on drilling them.”
“So we’re basically doing extra conditioning?” Tina asked.
“Smart conditioning. Targeted conditioning. Plus, whatever technique work I can actually help you with.” I checked my watch. “The fundamentals matter for every event. Speed, strength, coordination, that’s universal.”
Craig nodded slowly. “Makes sense. The mileage base helps everything anyway.”
“Exactly. And honestly, you’re probably getting more individual attention in these sessions than during regular practice, since there are a lot of events and just one coach.”
“True,” Marcus said. “Yesterday, he spent like two minutes total with the hurdlers.”
“Right. So we keep doing what we’re doing. The general stuff makes you better athletes, period. And I’ll keep learning about your events so I can be more helpful.”
The group seemed satisfied with that explanation. We went through the usual end-of-practice routine, cool downs, and final reminders.
“See you guys tomorrow. Same time, same pain.”
That got a small chuckle out of them.
They started heading toward the school building, grabbing water bottles and backpacks.
“Hold up?” I said to Eduardo as I picked up my bag. “I wanted to ask you something first.”
“What’s up?”
“How are things going with the Raf situation? Because time’s running out, man. The training thing is only like three weeks away.”
“I know, I know,” Eduardo said. “I’m working on it. Asking around. It’s just ... delicate, you know. I can’t exactly put up flyers asking for criminal contacts, especially if we don’t want Raf to find out.”
“I know, I just don’t know if we have a lot of room for delicate.”
“I get it. I’m trying.”
I started walking toward the field house. “Okay, I’m not trying to get on your ass. Just keep me posted.”
“Wait,” Eduardo caught up to me. “I actually had something I wanted to talk about.”
Something in his voice made me stop. He was doing that fidgety thing where he shifted his weight from foot to foot, and his hands kept moving like he couldn’t figure out where to put them.
“Sure. What’s up?”
Eduardo opened his mouth, closed it, then tried again. “So, um. I was thinking about ... I mean, I wanted to...” He stopped and took a breath.
“Just say whatever it is.”
“I want to ask Li out. On a date.”
I kept my expression neutral, but inside, I wasn’t surprised at all. If anything, I was surprised it had taken him this long to say it out loud.
“Okay.”
“That’s it? Just okay?”
“What were you expecting? Shocked gasps? Dramatic music?”
Eduardo’s face reddened. “I don’t know. Something.”
“Dude, I already knew.”
“You what? How?”
I started walking again, slower this time. “You haven’t exactly been subtle about it. The way you act around her, how you get all weird whenever someone mentions her name. Plus, the obvious nervousness thing you’ve got going on.”
“I thought I was being ... I didn’t think it was that obvious.”
“Well, it was. You’re lucky Li is completely oblivious.”
Eduardo looked both relieved and mortified. “Great. So I’m terrible at hiding my feelings but she doesn’t have a clue.”
“Pretty much.”
We’d reached the field house. I could see other students starting to arrive for first period, but we still had a few minutes.
“Can I ask you something?” I said.
“Yeah.”
“Was this the real reason you broke up with Sarah?”
Eduardo’s expression shifted. “We just didn’t click.”
“Uh-huh.”
“We didn’t! We were ... incompatible.”
I gave him a look that said I wasn’t buying it. “Eduardo.”
“What?”
“It’s okay to go after what you want. But you should do it with a clear understanding of the situation.”
“What does that mean?”
I leaned against the field house wall. This was the tricky part. Eduardo was my friend, and I wanted him to be happy, but I also didn’t want to see him crash and burn.
“I mean, I’ve never seen any signs that Li has romantic feelings for you. So asking her out is a risk.”
Eduardo’s jaw set in that determined way he got sometimes. “I think there are signs.”
“Like what?”
“She comes to my track meets. She watches me during training sessions. We study together all the time, and she actually seems to enjoy hanging out with me. She laughs at my jokes.”
His list made my stomach sink a little more. Because I knew something Eduardo didn’t, I had specifically asked Li to come to that track meet. Not because she wanted to support Eduardo romantically, but because I had this theory that he ran better when she was watching, and to tease her about him liking her. Which she didn’t believe at all.
And now Eduardo was interpreting her presence there as a sign of romantic interest.
I mentally kicked myself. In trying to boost Eduardo’s confidence on the track, had I accidentally given him false hope about Li? Had my stupid theory contributed to him breaking up with Sarah?
But looking at Eduardo’s face, seeing how hopeful and determined he looked, I couldn’t bring myself to tell him the truth about why Li had been at that meet. It would crush him, and maybe I was wrong anyway. Maybe Li did have feelings for him and I just hadn’t noticed.
“Eduardo,” I said carefully, “you need to be really careful about how you approach this. And you need to be prepared for any outcome.”
“Including her saying ‘no’?”
“Including her saying ‘no’,” I echoed.
Eduardo nodded, but his expression told me he wasn’t really hearing the warning. He was already mentally planning his approach, already convinced that Li’s friendly behavior meant something more.
“I know it’s a risk,” he said. “But I think it’s worth taking.”
“Just ... don’t assume anything, okay? Sometimes, people are just being nice. Sometimes, friendly is just friendly.”
“I get it. You’re looking out for both of us.”
But the way he said it made it clear he was interpreting my caution as general relationship advice, not a serious warning about potential complications. Eduardo had made up his mind, and nothing I said was going to change it.
“Yeah,” I said. “I am.”
The first bell rang in the distance, and students started moving with more purpose toward the school building.
“We should get going,” Eduardo said.
“Yeah.”
We walked toward the school, and I found myself hoping that maybe Eduardo didn’t crash and burn too badly. Maybe I had missed something. Maybe my asking Li to attend that track meet had just been a coincidence, and she would have wanted to be there anyway.
But deep down, I didn’t think so. Eduardo was one of my closest friends, and Li was too. The last thing I wanted was for either of them to get hurt because of misunderstandings. And I definitely didn’t want their friendship to get ruined if this went badly.
By the time of the scrimmage on Saturday, things had started to settle down. Kenneth backing me up with the guys on Monday had settled them down, although it took another couple of days to get the practices back on track. The guys went from being furious at me to being almost skittish around me.
I think they were embarrassed.
I just wish the rest of the school was as easy. The previous weekend was still the main topic of conversation around school. I knew eventually it would blow over and a new thing would take its place. I just didn’t want to have to wait that long.
And of course, Melanie was still playing games, trying to get her revenge on me, spreading rumors. She was moving too fast, getting more desperate with failed attempts, and I think she was wearing on people.
The latest rumor making the rounds was that she’d tried to sleep with me, but I’d turned her down because I didn’t like women, which was apparently why she’d ended up with Kenneth instead. Nobody was buying it, but Melanie kept pushing the story anyway.
The funny thing was, in her quest for revenge, she was torpedoing all of her other ambitions. Her campaign of lies was backfiring spectacularly. Tammy had thrown her considerable social weight behind Brandy, who was eating up every second of having the head cheerleader’s support. The other varsity cheerleaders who’d initially given me the cold shoulder were now turning on Melanie instead. She was losing ground fast.
I almost felt sorry for her.
Almost.
“You ready for this?” I asked as I dropped down on the bench next to Mickey.
“Yeah,” he said a little sheepishly.
The rest of the guys were equally reticent. Part of it was their embarrassment over the whole thing with me, but the rest was because of nerves. This was our first real test against another school, and we were all just ready to prove something. The next game after this would be the qualifying tournament.
“Blake!” Kenneth said, walking over to us. “We’re going to keep it to the simple stuff today, just try to get the feel of it first.”
“Sure.”
It was hard not to feel awkward every time we talked. We were both trying to be professional about all of this, but we were never going to get along again.
Coach Holloway blew his whistle. “Gather up! Midland’s arriving, so finish your warm-ups and then we’ll go over the game plan one more time.”
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