Practice seemed to drag on and on. By the time my dad blew the whistle and the players made their way off the field, I’d memorized Tyson’s phone number—which I promptly erased. I’d also woven a bunch of blades of grass and successfully built a pyramid with the cups.

Tomorrow, I was going to bring my backpack and get a jump start on my homework.

After the football players were hydrated, I packed up and headed back toward the school. Rebecca didn’t have practice today, so that left me to lug the items in alone. Once they were successfully put away, I grabbed a notebook and a pen. I wrote Tyson’s number down, just in case I hit my head and developed amnesia, and stuffed it into my backpack.

Then I waited for Dad to come back from the field.

It took about ten minutes for him to appear. He was talking to Xavier. Just as he entered his office, the now-clean football players began to emerge from the locker room. I tried hard not to stare, but I wanted to see Tyson again. I wanted to make sure that I hadn’t dreamed up this whole situation.

Just as Tyson passed by the office door, my dad called out his name.

My stomach sank. Did he know that Tyson wanted to spend time with me? I glanced over at my dad and I relaxed a bit. He was flipping through his clipboard at his desk. His shoulders were relaxed, and his skin tone was normal.

“You called me, Boss?” Tyson asked as he stepped into the room.

My dad nodded. “You’ve been late the last few practices.” He let the paper drop as he glanced up. “Is this something I should be worried about?”

I felt Tyson’s gaze on me, but when I moved to meet it, he’d turned back to study my dad. I let my gaze linger on his face. How could anyone have such perfect features?

“I stopped by yesterday to apologize. I know the rule, and I promise it won’t happen again.”

My dad leaned forward. “It better not.”

Tyson ran his hands through his hair. “Yep.”

Dad scoffed and folded his arms. “You’re not the only one who can be quarterback. Don’t let that idea get cemented in your brain. If you don’t take this seriously, I’ll find someone who will.”

Tyson’s gaze made its way over to me. I studied my hands in my lap. For some reason, I didn’t want him to think I was eavesdropping on their personal conversation, even though it was pretty hard not to, with me sitting right there.

“I get it.” Tyson shrugged as if this didn’t bother him, when I could see that it did.

My dad clenched his jaw but nodded. “Good. You can go.” He set the clipboard down and began rifling through some stacks of paper on his desk.

I glanced up to see Tyson nod. As he turned to leave, his gaze met mine. After making sure my dad wasn’t watching, he motioned with his thumbs for me to text him. I pinched my lips as I glanced over at my dad, who hadn’t bothered to look up.

I nodded at Tyson and he smiled. Then he slipped from my dad’s office and out into the hall. I couldn’t help but wonder what that had been about.

Before I could delve too far into dissecting his intentions, my dad grunted from his desk. I could tell that Tyson had bothered him. Dad was serious about winning state this year, which meant he wanted his players to be just as committed.

His captain suddenly wanting to ditch out on a practice couldn’t sit well with him.

“Do you know why he’s been late?” His gravely voice broke through my thoughts.

I glanced over at him and shook my head. Hopefully, it didn’t look too spastic. “No. Why would I know?” An uncomfortable feeling bubbled up in my chest, causing me to giggle a bit too high.

Dad studied me. “You two were talking on the field earlier. What was that about?”

I shrugged, hoping it came across as nonchalant. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. He just helped me bring the table out to the field. That was all.” My eyes widened. Hopefully that hadn’t been a mistake to confess.

A disgruntled look passed over his face, but he didn’t freak out, which was nice. “Hmm.” He tapped his pen on his desk and then leaned back in his chair.

“I’m sure it’s nothing,” I said, hoping to help him calm down.

He glanced over at me and sighed. “Yeah. You’re probably right.” He dropped his pen into the cup on his desk and smiled at me. “Ready to go? I was thinking we could grab a pizza on our way home,” he said as he pushed his chair back and stood.

“Pizza, Dad? Really?”

“It’s either that or my cooking.”

I puffed out my cheeks like I was holding in vomit. “Ugh, pizza it is,” I said, slinging my backpack onto one shoulder and following him out of his office.

“That’s what I thought.”

I sat cross-legged on my bedroom floor later that night, staring at my phone that was sitting next to the paper with Tyson’s number. I’d been trying to work up the courage to text him for ten minutes now.

He needed to know my answer. I’d decided that I wasn’t going to break my dad’s rule and hang out with a boy. After all, it wouldn’t end well for Tyson. I would hate to find out what would happen to a guy who was caught alone with me.

“Just pick it up and text him,” I whispered. My hand hovered over the phone. I could do this. It was just a text after all. An impersonal, easy form of communication.

As I lowered my hand to pick my phone up, it rang. I almost jumped out of my skin. Glancing down, I saw it was Rebecca. Good. A distraction.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Destiny. Whatcha doing?”

I sighed, flopping onto my back and staring up at the ceiling. “Ruining my own life.”

Rebecca laughed.

“Hold on, I would actually have to have a life to do something like that.” I sighed, blowing a strand of hair from my face. “Which I do not.”

“What? Why are you being dramatic?”

I could hear the tapping of computer keys in the background. “Are you doing homework?” I asked.

The noise stopped. “I can talk to you and write a paper at the same time.”

I groaned. What was happening to me? I’d been home for three hours now and I hadn’t even cracked open my backpack. I should text Tyson and tell him that he was a fool to try to get involved with me. I wasn’t smart, and the longer I put off my homework, the dumber I would become.

“I’m coming over,” Rebecca said.

Before I could protest, she’d hung up the phone. I lay on the floor with my arm covering my eyes until there was a soft knock on the door.

“Tiny?” my dad called out.

“Yep,” I said, not moving.

“Rebecca’s here.”

“I know.”

The door opened, and I heard footsteps cross my hardwood floor. My bed squeaked, signaling that Rebecca had sat down on it.

“Why are you lying on your floor?”

I pulled my arm from my face and sat up. “You aren’t going to believe what happened to me today.”

I told her all about Tyson becoming my Chem lab partner. How he talked to me and how he gave me his number. Once I was finished, I lay back down on the floor. Even saying the words out loud didn’t sound real. I stared at a stain on my ceiling while I waited for Rebecca to say something.

“So?” she finally asked.

I glanced over at her. “So what?”

She gave me an incredulous look. “What are you going to do?”

“What do you mean, what am I going to do? Bec, this is a boy we are talking about. The one creature on the planet my father has forbidden me from talking to. Alligators are just fine, but members of the opposite sex? He’d send me to a nunnery so fast.” I covered my face with my hand.

Rebecca scoffed. “Listen, you might be making a bigger deal about this than you need to. Come on, he’s a study buddy. Mandatory. If your dad has a problem with it, tell him to take it up with your teacher.”

I dropped my hand. I could blame it all on Ms. Swallow. Sitting up, I wrapped my arms around my legs and pulled them to my chest. Was I making too big of a deal about this? Probably.

Just as my mind began to swirl with thoughts of Tyson and I hiding in the shadows of the library and studying chemistry, my stomach sank. There was no way I could pull this off. My dad would find out. It was better to stay away than try to make it work. I was too transparent. And besides, I couldn’t lie to my dad. My mom had already hurt him enough with her deceit.

I sighed and picked up my phone. I punched in his number and then glanced over at Rebecca, who was shaking her head.

“I know that look. You’re going to run away—tell him that you can’t work with him.” She grabbed a pillow and hugged it. “Come on, Des. You don’t have to do this. You can be friends with a guy.”

I shook my head. “It would kill my dad. I can’t.”

I typed my answer.

Me: Tyson, Tiny. I can’t be your study buddy. Sorry.

I set my phone on the ground. A feeling of sadness washed over me. Which made me feel stupid. Why was I sad? From one conversation? Man, did I romanticize things. Perhaps it would be better for Tyson to stay away from me.

A second later, my phone chimed. Startled, I glanced down at it. Tyson had written me back. I picked up my phone and swiped it on. Why had he responded so fast?

Tyson: I’m calling you

Just as I read the words, his number flashed across the screen, and my phone’s obnoxious ringtone filled the air.

“Who’s calling?” Rebecca asked. She’d lain back on my bed with her knees up. Her music was on, and her foot was twitching to the beat.

“Tyson,” I whispered. What was I supposed to do? Answer it?

Rebecca shot up. “What?”

I held up my phone. “Tyson. Tyson is calling me.”

Her eyebrows rose. “Answer it!”

I scrambled to bring my phone back. “Right. Answer it. Okay.” I hit the green button and brought it to my cheek. I took a deep breath. “Hello?”

“Destiny?”

He knew my real name?

“Yeah?”

“Hey. Tyson.”

“I know,” I blurted out.

“Oh. I got your message.”

I pinched my lips and nodded. “Um-hum.”

“Is there anything I can say to convince you to change your mind?”

I stared at Rebecca, who was watching me. I mouthed, “Oh my goodness.” Her eyes were as wide as saucers.

“What’s he saying?” she asked.

I waved her away. I couldn’t be distracted right now. “Tyson, I’m just not sure this is a good idea. You know my dad. It’s like the Taliban over here.”

He chuckled. It was soft and melodious. “Right.” He cleared his throat. “What if I promised you that we wouldn’t get caught?”

I leaned back on my extended arm. “How would you ever keep that promise? My dad is everywhere.”

“True.” He sighed. “Listen, Tiny. I need your help. I…” His voice had become so low that I could barely hear him. He cleared his throat. “I just really need this. So what do you say? Help a guy out?” He sounded so hopeful that I was finding it very hard to say no.

“Listen, Tyson. I—”

“Hey,” Rebecca said, waving her arms.

I glanced over. “What?”

“You can say we’re studying. I’ll lie for you.”

Great. Now my best friend was an accomplice. “Bec, no.”

“You still there?” Tyson asked.

I turned my attention back to the phone. “Yep. Sorry, my…cat’s distracting me.”

Rebecca raised her eyebrows.

“Cat?” Tyson asked.

“Yeah. He’s making unnecessary sacrifices for me.” I shot her a purposeful look, and she rolled her eyes.

“Sounds like a good cat.” He let out his breath. “How about we try out tutoring for a week. If you decide that it’s too much work, we can call it off. No hard feelings.”

I hesitated. What he was proposing didn’t sound terrible. Besides, we’d be studying, not proclaiming our love for each other. And Rebecca had already agreed to be my alibi. If we couldn’t figure something else out, I could just lie, and tell my dad I was at her house.

Pushing away my fear, I nodded. “Sure. I can try.”

“Really?” I could hear the enthusiasm in his voice.

“Really.”

“Great,” he said.

I moved to hang up, but I heard him call out my name. I brought the receiver to my ear. “Yeah?”

“Thanks.”

“No problem. Now, I need to go study, or I will have nothing to teach you.”

He laughed. “Sounds good. I’ll see you in class tomorrow.”

“Bye.”

After we hung up, I flopped back down on the carpet and lay there. What had I done? Was I seriously going to hang out with Tyson? A giggle erupted in my throat. A nervous tick I’ve had since I was a kid.

“What’s going on?” Rebecca asked.

I glanced over at her. “I’m so screwed.”