Concrete Angel

What it meant was, I avoided Howard's calls for the next few weeks. If I could convince him to let me play for the state game then I would've talked to him but I knew there was no convincing him. What it meant was, I was edge. Every news cast I watched in case of some sign of Leon. I jumped at the smallest of noises and was paranoid everywhere I went. Joey noticed it but didn't say anything. He would barely leave my side though and I appreciated it.

"Two days Izzy." Joey says cheerfully the Thursday before the game. Our game was Saturday in some town that I had heard of but only in passing. I was ready to go and get it over with.

"Two days." I agree as we sit down for lunch.

"I've never been so excited in my life." Chris says joining in our conversation.

"It's going to be great." Scotty throws in.

"We're going to dominate." Ron adds laughing as Jake came barreling through the cafe.

"What's with him?" I ask and the guys shrug as Jake flings himself down in a chair trying to catch his breath.

"Jake spill." Joey says as Jake gulps down his water.

"I found out who we're playing." Jake finally gets out calming down some.

"Who is it?" I shout hitting his arm as the rest of the guys chatter.

"That town where the girl was from. The one that the guy murdered." Jake says his eyes wide. I felt my eyes just as wide. That was Johnny's team. They hadn't made it to state since I last played. This had to be a joke.

"Milton?" Joey says quietly and Jake nods once again.

"They haven't been to state in years." Scotty says. They all kept up with the teams.

"Her brother decided to play for his last season but now their saying he won't play in the state game. He's the big reason they made it. He refused to play while Leon was out but they talked him into it for the most recent game. If he doesn't play in state, we've got this." Jake says and I bite my lip even harder. Johnny was playing again.

"E, aren't you from there? What do you know about them?" Chris says and my eyes widen even more.

"She moved when that girl was taken the first time. She doesn't remember them." Joey says quickly sparing me from talking.

"Right, I forgot that. This is going to be so weird. If we lose, it'll suck for us cause we've never won state but if they lose I'll feel bad. I mean they haven't been to state since she died." Chris says running a hand through his hair.

"We can't think like that Chris. We've just got to go and play our best. They'll be on their best and we'll be ours. Whoever wins deserves it." I say and the guys all nod in agreement mulling over the news we just received. I might be seeing Johnny soon. He wouldn't know it was me of course but I would know it was him. I followed Joey to our class in silence. I was completely lost in thought and he could tell. The rest of the day barely anything was said between me and anyone. My thoughts were on Johnny.

"June, I'm not playing anymore. Just drop it." Johnny says crossing his arms tightly across his chest.

"Johnny, you have to. You're the best player. We're unstoppable together." I beg pulling on his arm tightly. Johnny was a year older than me but even at our young age we were the best on the team.

"June, I'm not playing. You don't need to be playing." Johnny says staring down at me.

"Johnny, I'm fine. The cops will catch him. And I have full protection all the time. A silly ball game isn't going to affect anything." I say rolling my eyes at him. I wasn't worried at the time. The memory of what happened years ago still haunted me but I knew I had to move on. And Howard was always around.

"June, as long as he's out, I'm not playing." Johnny says with a final tone in his voice. I rolled my eyes at his stubbornness and walked away from him.

"June, where are you going? I'm your ride home." Johnny yells running after me.

"I'll catch a ride with Howard. He's around here somewhere. I don't want to be in the car with a quitter." I shout back to him scanning for Howard. I found him easily enough. He really needed to work on the blending in. I walked right up to him only to have him shake his head and point me back to Johnny.

"I'm not a quitter. I'm focusing on more important stuff." Johnny says quietly as I climb into his truck.

"This game is important Johnny. You're focusing on the past." I say pursing my lips.

"I'm focusing on you, June." Johnny mumbles in a voice he thought I couldn't hear. I heard it though, I didn't respond. I stared out the window wondering when it was going to all stop haunting me.

I woke up the next morning in a sweat. It wasn't a bad dream but it was a memory of Johnny and the closer I was to seeing him the more I worried. Joey was still sound asleep so I quickly showered and then crept into the other room to check on the news. I watched quietly as a news cast came on.

We ask that everyone around the area remain very careful this weekend. Our own boys school is going to State but that's not why there's a need for safety. The man known as Leon Miller was spotted yet again headed to this area. We're asking that everyone uses the buddy system and no one goes out alone. Everyone knows that June's school is also in the finals and the stadium is only 30 minutes from the boys school, what Leon wants by coming to this area is unsure. June never had any connections here and the only connection would be her ball team, but everything seems so strange to us. Leon should realize she's dead and just move on, so why hasn't he? That's the question that is on everyone's minds these days.

I watched as they went into the usual story of what happened to me and I felt my heart pounding faster. Leon was in the area. I suddenly knew that I wasn't going to be playing at State any longer. I jumped up and made sure that Joey as still asleep and slipped out of my room. The halls had some people in them and everyone said hello and told me good luck. I nodded as kindly as I could but kept my pace up. I had to go talk to Ms. Smith.

"Come in." Ms. Smith says as I knock on her door.

"Hello." I mumble as she glances up at me as I enter. She nods for me to shut the door behind me and to have a seat. I sat down next to her and watched as she sat up pushing things aside.

"Elizabeth, I take it you saw the news." Ms. Smith says crossing her hands and looking at me.

"I'm not playing in the State game." I say calmly and Ms. Smith stares at me her eyes growing wide.

"Elizabeth, you'll be letting your team down." Ms. Smith says slowly.

"He knows. He has to know." I state seriously.

"There is no way he knows. We believe he is only coming this way because Johnny is and your team is. Our best officials believe that if you were still alive you'd come to this game because you missed your last one, they believe that what he thinks." Ms. Smith says quietly trying to reassure me.

"They don't know him." I mumble and Ms. Smith brushes me off again.

"He doesn't know. He can't. If you give up now, you'll be letting everyone down." Ms. Smith says seriously and I can tell how much she wants our team to win. She was right of course, if I stopped playing everyone would hate me. My own friends would probably never forgive me, Joey would probably not know what to do.

"I think it's a bad idea to play." I say once more trying to stand firm against all those thoughts.

"I think you want to play. It's time to do what you want in life. There's no way he can get to you and there's no way he knows that you're the girl he's looking for." Ms. Smith says patting my hand lightly.

"No offense but I think you want me to play." I snap pulling my hand away.

"You want to be there. I can see it in your eyes." Ms. Smith retorts.

"You want a shiny trophy in your office and you think they can't do it without me." I say coldly.

"I would like to win yes. But I wouldn't put your safety at risk for a win." Ms. Smith replies just as cold.

I nod and tell her I will play against my better judgment. She reminded me why we never really saw her much. She had a way to talk people into things that they weren't really sure about. She almost talked my mother out of her marriage. Mom refused to visit her after that. I was normally so much more stubborn but she was right, I wanted to play. I just wasn't sure why I did. It was a game, I could step down for one game but something about this game made me want to be there more than anything.