True to his word, Angel didn't keep their relationship a secret. As soon as he saw her on Monday morning at her locker, he was on her. He slipped up behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist, and kissed her neck.The rest of the day was pretty much the same. Anytime she was near, he was wrapped around her, unable to keep limbs or lips off of her.She'd introduced him to a few of her girlfriends, and he'd also met one of her guy friends, Freddie, the guy that had his locker right below hers. But walking up while she'd been laughing with Freddie had Angel seeing red. He mentioned how his own locker was closer to her homeroom, but she didn't bite.They were undeniably a couple. There were quite a few sneers and barefaced gawking from some of the girls Angel knew, but if Sarah had noticed, she hadn't said a word. He half expected her to be tense or apprehensive, given what she'd said to him at the beach about being afraid of getting hurt. But her brazen resolve throughout the day ha
Fridays were different. It was game day. Instead of meeting up after practice, Sarah would go straight home with Valerie and get ready for the game.This week was an away game, so the stands would be less crowded, and Angel would have a perfect view of Sarah.He was having a good game. They were up by fourteen at the half, but when they came back out after halftime, the cheerleaders had changed their tops into jerseys—real jerseys from the players on the team. They tied them in a knot in the front just under their chests to make them fit more snugly. To Angel's dismay, Dana wore his. He'd forgotten about the jersey she borrowed last year. He glanced up at the stands and saw Sarah sitting with Valerie and a few other girls. If Sarah got upset about this, he was going be so pissed at Dana.They'd agreed to meet at the after party back by their school. Sarah left the game with Valerie and had arrived there before him, so when he got there, he wasn't sure what to expect. He walked into
SarahSarah cradled the phone on her shoulder as she made her bed. This time she'd been the one who woke Sydney early in the morning.After the night she'd had, she'd hardly been able to sleep. So many things invaded her mind, some more glaring than others. She had to talk to someone about it. It was times like these she missed her mom more than ever. She would've been able to tell her even this. That's how close she was to her. Thank goodness she had Syd.Angel and his mom were driving out to Los Angeles that night to have dinner with his oldest brother, Sal. He wanted Sarah to come, but she couldn't. She was booked both nights this weekend babysitting. They weren't leaving until late in the afternoon, and of course Angel still wanted to see her today, so he was picking her up in an hour.Sarah hadn't mentioned anything about Dana wearing his jersey last night. She'd been so busy watching Angel play she might not have even noticed if Valerie hadn't pointed it out. But she refused
The knot that had formed in Sarah's stomach during her conversation with Sydney was still there, and it was getting bigger.She swung around sideways on the bed and brought her feet up, so that she could lean on her knees. She exhaled loudly. "I know.""Thank you," Valerie said. "Finally, you're listening." She put a spoonful of eggs and food in her mouth and took a swig of milk, holding up a finger for Sarah to give her a second. Apparently she wasn't done.Sarah looked at Valerie's plate. There was enough food for two people. It'd always amazed her how much Valerie could eat, being that she was so tiny. She smiled, thinking Valerie could probably give Angel a run for his money in an eating contest."Look, Sarah, I get it. Okay? Sydney's been your best friend since you two were kids, and his family is the only family you had growing up. He's like a brother to you, and you're very close, blah, blah, blah. But this whole needing to talk to each other every single day is a bit much,
SarahValerie squealed in delight when Sarah told her about meeting Alex. But Sarah had left a few things out. On the way to the restaurant, Sarah thought it was only fair she fill Valerie in on everything she'd told Alex. To her surprise, Valerie wasn't fazed."God, Sarah," she laughed. "As if he doesn't have a big enough head already."Sarah thought of the outrageous way he'd flirted with her. Yeah, he was a ham, but not necessarily conceited. "I didn't get the impression he had a big head."Valerie rolled her eyes. "Sarah, I told you they're all sweethearts. I'm sure he's a real nice guy, but trust me he knows he's hot."Sarah smiled. She had to admit there was no way he couldn't know. "But you'd go out with him if he asked you, right?""Are you kidding?" Valerie said. "He's the ideal guy for me. He's so hot, older, and more experienced than most of the lame guys from school. The last thing I'd have to worry about with him would be any pressure to commit."Sarah's jaw dropped
Sarah and Angel headed to the beach. Not the cliffs where they usually went. Sarah wanted to walk on the beach. It wasn't too crowded for a Saturday. They walked for quite a while and were already on their way back to the car, when Angel brought up his Spanish class woes."You don't know Spanish?" She was completely surprised."Well, I thought I was okay at it," he said. "But according to the scores I've been getting on my quizzes, I suck."Sarah couldn't help laughing despite the agitation she was feeling about the impending conversation. "I can help you."Angel turned to her curiously. "You know Spanish?""Claro que si."Angel smiled at her impressed. "Good, because I have a quiz Tuesday, and progress reports go out on Wednesday. If I don't get higher than a D on my quiz, I'm sitting out the game on Friday."Sarah smiled. "I'll be your private tutor."They got to the car and Angel leaned on it, pulling her against him. "Mmm, sounds good."Sarah knew she needed to ask him now
The next day was far less emotional, though thoughts of yesterday's exchange made things a little tense when Angel first picked her up. As the hours passed, Sarah seemed a lot better and gave in to her feelings again. They even spent a lustful hour parked in their spot until she had to leave for work.The night before, Sarah was asleep when Valerie got home, and this morning between talking to Sydney, and Angel picking her up so early, Sarah hadn't had a chance to talk to her cousin.Valerie was just out of the shower, and Sarah was finally going to hear about her date with Alex.She was about to walk out to look for her when Valerie walked in, smiling from ear to ear. Sarah smiled just as big."So?"Valerie did a little dance and closed Sarah's door. She motioned Sarah toward the bed and sat down next to her."I gotta ask you something, Sarah," she whispered. "Is Angel big? 'Cause Alex is huge. I mean huge."Sarah's jaw dropped. "You slept with him?"Valerie expression went bl
AngelBy Monday, everything was back to normal with Sarah and Angel. They'd never spent their morning or lunch breaks together. So when Angel saw Dana by her locker just before lunch, he figured it was as good a time as any to take care of this once and for all.Two friends were with her. Her eyes brightened when she saw him approach. She quickly dismissed her friends. "I'll talk to you guys later.""Hey." She smiled big at Angel, tossing her hair back. "What's up?""Do you have a minute?""For you? Of course.""I know what you were doing Friday, Dana. It's gotta stop."Her smile dissolved, and she glanced into her locker. "I don't know what you mean.""Sure you do." He spoke calmly.She stared straight ahead. "You gave me that jersey, don't you remember?""No, I lent it to you, and you never gave it back."She shifted her weight and finally met his eyes. Angel saw right through her attempt to appear injured. "You want it back? Is that what this is about?""Yeah, I do. And
The musicians made their way through the restaurant, taking requests. Sarah sat with her mom, aunt, uncle and Valerie in one of the bigger booths. Angel's parents had thrown a graduation party, so the restaurant was open to guests only.Sarah's mom squeezed her hand, and Sarah smiled. Her mom looked nothing like what she'd looked like when Sarah first visited her in jail. She'd gained weight and looked healthy and vibrant.Her mom had been right there for her during the coach's trial. After Sarah pressed charges, several other girls stepped forward to accuse him of the same thing. All in all, he was tried on several different counts ranging from sexual molestation to attempted rape. But many others testified that he'd acted inappropriately with them as well. It took the jury only two hours to deliberate.He was found guilty, and after all the counts were added up, he'd be doing at least thirty years before he'd even be up for parole. Angel couldn't have been happier. But Sarah could
Sarah lay there, tracing the engraving on the chain around Angel's neck with her fingers. She glanced at her wrist and smiled at the charm bracelet. She'd taken it off and refused to even look at it the entire time they were broken up. She almost mailed it to him, when she'd lost all hope. Something in her heart wouldn't let her, and she was glad now she hadn't.After a week of being back together, they still couldn't get their fill of each other. Angel had made sure he closed the restaurant every night ever since, and Sarah was right there with him each night. She wondered if his parents had any idea of the things they did in that back room.Angel lifted himself up on his elbow and played with her hair. "How'd you get so close?" He stared in her eyes. "You and Syd?"Ever since they'd been back together, Sarah made it a point to keep any talk of Sydney to a minimum, and up until now, Angel really hadn't asked too much. She knew once the dust settled it would be coming, and now here
Angel skidded to a stop when he realized it was the coach he'd just seen running up the trail. But he was alone. Where was Sarah? He looked down the trail. Maybe she'd fallen behind. Would the idiot really leave her alone?Eric and Romero had eagerly volunteered to help him find Sarah and were driving around the park as well. He texted Eric to let them know he'd found them and where.Angel peered through his rearview mirror and saw the coach turn into the parking lot he'd just passed up. The rain was beginning to come down harder now. He put the car in reverse and backed up fast.The tires screeched as he turned into the parking lot and saw Sarah talking to the perv next to his car. He was too close to her, and her stance seemed defensive. Angel pulled up next to them, turned off the car, and jumped out.Sarah's expression crumbled when she saw him, and she hurried to him. His fist tightened, and he was immediately between Sarah and the coach."What happened? What's wrong?" he ask
Sarah looked up at him."I mean first love."She hadn't really thought of it that way. But he was. No other boy had even come close to the way she felt about Angel. And she had an aching feeling that no one ever would.She nodded and turned her attention to her water. "It was my fault." She took a small sip. "I was really stupid."Sarah stood up. The pain was still so raw she was afraid she might get all sentimental. But the coach grabbed her hand and pulled her back."Come here. It's okay." He spoke softly. His words were kind, and his touch felt warm. Except for the night of the awful scene and the day she went to see her mom, all the times she'd cried for Angel, she'd done it alone in her room. Sydney was usually on the other end of the phone, but she still couldn't help feeling alone.She sat back down next to him. He kept her hand in his and spoke to her, looking directly in her eyes. "Listen, you don't have to talk about it. But you're a beautiful girl, Sarah, not just on the
Angel was supposed to just drop Sofia off at the restaurant but ended up hanging out and helping out. That happened a lot lately. He had nothing better to do, and the last thing he wanted was to sit around the house dredging up painful memories.Eric and Romero stopped by to grab breakfast. They sat in the bar area that normally wasn't open that early in the morning, but the restaurant was pretty busy, and Alex told them he didn't want them taking up space in the dining room. Romero had snorted that he was a paying customer but shut up when Alex told him to pay his tab.After showing a few more patrons to their tables, Angel walked over to where Romero and Eric ate. They were talking about going to watch some extreme fighting later that evening. Romero's uncle's friend was promoting it, and he could get free tickets. Angel considered it. He hadn't gone out since he'd broken up with Sarah.He was trying to snap out of the nasty mood he'd been in lately, but knowing Sarah was spending
Friday morning Angel sat in the kitchen going over last night's Spanish homework. After switching his schedule around to get out of his physics class, he got stuck with the same Spanish teacher as the previous semester. At the time he hadn't cared. All he could think of was getting out of seeing Sarah every day. Now he was seriously regretting it. The amount of homework this lady packed on was unreal.Alex was fixing himself a protein drink when Sofia walked in. "So, dad said if one of you can come into the restaurant for me tomorrow morning I can take the morning off.""I'll go in," Angel said, without looking up from his homework."Where you gonna be?" Alex asked.Sofia stuck her head in the refrigerator and said something Angel couldn't make out."Where?" Alex asked again."Running with the team." She poured herself a glass of orange juice.Angel looked up. Sofia avoided looking at him. "On a Saturday?""Ah huh." She pulled out the toaster and plugged it in.Angel frowned.
Sarah's trip to see her mom went smoothly. Seeing her was still as emotional as the first visit. But things felt brighter. Her mom still hadn't been to court, but the lawyers were even more optimistic about her chances of getting out early, and Sarah could see the change in her mom's appearance. The dark circles and deep eyes were still there but not as pronounced as before. And there was a sparkle in her eyes that made Sarah feel very hopeful.Her mom gave her something to really think about just before she left."Sarah, I want you to know that I think you've been through enough. When I get out of here, it's up to you where you wanna stay. I don't have a job here in Flagstaff anymore, but if this is where you want to be, I'll find a way to make it work. Otherwise, if you'd rather stay in California, your aunt has offered to let us stay there until I get back on my feet. You think about it and let me know."The choice seemed obvious. The only reason she'd want to stay in La Jolla di
Playing pool with the guys always helped Angel relax. This was the first time Eric had come over since New Year's. Alex and Sofia were both working the restaurant but would be home soon. Angel wasn't too sure if having Eric there was a good idea. He had talked to Alex briefly about Eric not being to blame, but Alex was dead set against having him around Sofia when no one was around. Angel hoped that didn't mean he'd make a scene even if everyone was around.It had been another slow bitter weekend for Angel. His mind was on the usual, and it was getting real irritating. Being that close to Sarah on Friday made him realize he wasn't even close to being over her. Her resentment toward him had confused him. He was the one that had gotten duped. Did she really expect him to just accept another guy in her life? That wasn't happening. Though being that close to her for the first time in so long made it tempting to accept anything just to be with her.He knew better though. Having to deal wi
Sarah didn't think there was any part of her heart left to break. She was so angry at herself for crying. Why did he still have so much power over her? It was pathetic the way her entire body went into a frenzy from just seeing him.Being that close to him had such an overwhelming effect on her. She couldn't hold in what she was feeling, but his obvious contempt for her now was undeniable. He didn't even care why she was still here.She tried desperately to shake it off on the ride home. Talking to Coach Rudy about her mom was one thing, but telling him about Angel would be quite another. Sydney would be the first to point that out.She was quiet most of the way, and he finally asked. "Are you okay?"Sarah nodded but didn't offer anything."You don't have to tell me about it," he said. "Just hope you know, even though it feels like you won't right now, you'll get over him eventually. I promise."He always knew exactly what to say. Sarah had always thought it was just a coach thin