Focused Read online

  True Images Series

  Focused

  By Michelle Pennington

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious.

  Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Copyright © 2015 by Michelle Pennington

  First eBook edition October 2015

  All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written consent of the author.

  This book is dedicated to

  Carol

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 1

  Lee

  My mind was a fog of black thoughts, but my mom’s voice cut through them. “You can’t do it, Lee.”

  I looked up from staring at nothing to see her reflection in the dark window in front of me. I’d hoped to be alone for a while, but my mom had a sixth sense for when I was about to do something stupid.

  “Did you hear me?” she asked. “You can’t do it.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because it won’t fix anything and you could get hurt. What if you broke your hand? Are you willing to sacrifice your basketball career for a pointless fight?”

  I didn’t turn away from the window to answer. I didn’t want her to see how close I was to losing control. “Pointless? Oh, it wouldn’t be pointless.”

  “Lee, fighting Caleb won’t accomplish anything good.”

  I raised my clenched hand and studied it. I’d never wanted to smash it into somebody’s face so bad. My whole body ached for the satisfaction of it. I wanted to destroy Caleb Murphy for hurting Sienna.

  “Look, Lee – I know what you went through last night when you heard she’d been hurt at the game. The pictures of her being loaded in the ambulance must have scared you to death, but…”

  “She could have died, Mom.”

  The corners of my mom’s mouth drooped with worry. She shook her head. “I still can’t believe he could do something like that.”

  I kept my voice as even as I could. “I believe it. I didn’t need Brian to tell me that he didn’t think it was an accident. That just confirmed my suspicions. Caleb had been threatening her for weeks.”

  “Over a girlfriend though?”

  I let my head fall back and took a deep breath, remembering everything that had led up to Caleb’s attack. “His girlfriend? Yes. But it was his reputation too. I don’t think there’s much else that’s important to that guy besides football. She took a lot away from him. But to try to kill her…” I clenched my teeth and focused on not exploding. “I will not let him get away with it.”

  “Lee, surely he wasn’t trying to kill her.”

  I looked back at my mom. “I don’t know. But it’s bad enough that he could have.” I twisted my fist into the palm of my other hand. “And he’s going to answer for it.”

  “If you won’t listen to me – think about Sienna. She wouldn’t want you to fight Caleb.”

  “All I’ve done is think about Sienna. I can’t get her face out of my head, covered in blood and unconscious.”

  “But nothing you do to Caleb is going to change what happened.”

  I turned away from her, overcome with frustration. I could hear the fury vibrating in my voice as I said, “It’ll keep him from ever going near her again.”

  “Lee…”

  The worry in her voice was getting close to panic, so before she could say anything else I put my hand on her arm. The effort to calm down was almost painful, but I couldn’t do this to her.

  “Look, Mom. The last thing I want is for Sienna to worry about me when she needs to be resting. If for no other reason than that, I’ll be careful. But I won’t let him get away with this.”

  I could barely make out my mom’s features in the dim light, but her eyes were dark and fixed on me. “I want you to consider other ways to make him pay for what he did – legal, official ways that won’t put your future at risk.”

  “But I told him if he hurt her ever again, he’d answer for it. He put her in the emergency room, Mom. He broke one of her ribs and cut up her face. She got run over by 500 pounds of muscle and shoulder pads.”

  “I know, but Sienna’s going to be fine. She will be. Remember that. Getting yourself hurt isn’t going to help her. In fact, she’d be very upset about it.”

  “What is it with everyone assuming that I’d get the worst in a fight with Caleb? Am I some weak, wimpy guy?”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. I’ve never known anyone who’s less of a wimp. But I’ve seen this guy. He’s a Goliath. Hitting him would be like slamming your fist into a granite wall. One unlucky punch and your season would be over before it’s even started.”

  “You want me to be like that? Not defend Sienna because I don’t want to mess up my basketball season? Yeah, that would really show I care.”

  “You’re twisting this all around. Be honest. You want to do this for you. You’re not even thinking about basketball right now—not for you, your team, your coach, or anybody. And you’re not thinking about how Sienna would feel—or how it could mess with her future.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I know how you feel about her. Are you planning on letting her go anytime soon?”

  The thought of not having her anymore tightened my throat, overwhelming even my anger towards Caleb. “No.”

  My mom nodded. “Until one of you decides differently, your futures are tied together now. Have you seen the magazine in the living room?”

  “No. Do you mean…?”

  “Yeah, it came yesterday.”

  In seconds I made it to the living room and found the magazine on the table. I grabbed it and flipped through the pages until I found what I was looking for—“Top 100 Basketball Recruits.” I scanned the list and found my name at number 87. Not bad.

  As I stood staring at my name in black and white, time seemed to speed up. This was big. I’d worked my whole life for this, and my mom was right. I shouldn’t chance it all for a moron like Caleb. But swallowing my anger was going to choke me.

  “They list me as undecided,” I said, pointing to it as I showed my mom.

  “Yes, but you’ve only verbally committed to Arizona. Other schools are still hoping you’ll change your mind. That’s why you’re still getting letters from so many coaches. You’ll have them recruiting you all season.” Her voice grew stern. “As long as you’re able to play that is.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll be playing,” I said, my voice grim.

  “What are you going to do about Caleb?”

  “I guess I’m going to make sure Mr. Duncan does something about it. Surely he can do something as principal, and he’s got all the threats Caleb left in her locker that said he’d do something like this. Coach Hatfield needs to be involved so we can get the video of the game. He should be willing to help
. Brian said the coach benched him for the late hit penalty. It might not have been the reason they lost the game, but it didn’t help.”

  “Do you think you’ll be able to tell from the video that Caleb ran Sienna over on purpose?”

  I tossed the magazine back down on the table and began pacing. “I hope so, but I won’t know until I see it for myself. Brian said that from where he was, he saw Caleb stop and look right at her before he ran into the other player and pushed him into Sienna. And he said Sienna looked worried a few minutes before it happened and that Caleb had been acting crazy on the sideline.” I dropped my fist hard onto the countertop. The vibrations of the hit rattled glasses in the cabinet above. “If only I had been there.” I let out a short groan of frustration. “Better yet, if only she hadn’t been. But I couldn’t talk her out of it.”

  “She’s probably as stubborn as her mom. You realize, don’t you, that Ms. Whitfield’s going to have to be the one to push all this through? It’s going to have to come from Sienna’s parent, not her boyfriend, if it’s going to happen.”

  A thrill shot through my chest when I heard my mom refer to me as Sienna’s boyfriend. It had only been official for a couple of hours – ever since Sienna’s mom had agreed to let us date while we were still at the hospital. But the thrill changed to dread as I realized I was going to have to talk to Sienna’s mom about this – confess that Sienna and I had kept her in the dark about something so dangerous. So much for getting her to trust me.

  I sighed and dropped the magazine back on the table. “You’re right. How do you always manage that?”

  “Well, you and your dad aren’t the only ones with brains around here. When are you going to go see Sienna?”

  “I want to go see her now, but it’s hardly the time of day to go knocking on their door. I’m sure Sienna and her mom will both be sleeping for a while.” I pressed my hands to my eyes, noticing how heavy and dry they felt. “I wish I could get some sleep too, but there’s too much on my mind. I’m going to go for a run.”

  “That sounds like a good idea. Go work off some steam. And while you’re gone, I’ll whip up some goodies for you to take over there.”

  I smiled at her. It was a weak smile, all I was capable of right then, but my mom was funny enough to break through my stress. As a southerner, she always turned to food when she wanted to help someone. “That would be great. Could you make something for me too? I don’t even remember the last time I ate.”

  “Well, get yourself in that kitchen and I’ll make you something.”

  “Thanks, but I’m going to run first. I’ll be back soon.” I headed for the stairs to get ready, but I paused half-way up to call to her, “Thanks, Mom.”

  “That’s what I’m here for.”

  “I mean for helping me see reason.”

  “I know what you meant.”

  In five minutes, I was outside in the driveway, ready to go. The air was cold and refreshing after the feverish hours I’d just endured. As I went through my stretches, I could feel the pull in my muscles more sharply than usual and knew it was because I was so tense.

  Finally able to run, I took off into the grey world. The sky was the same color as the pavement beneath my feet as night fought to hang on a few minutes longer.

  I kept my pace slow for a while to ease my body into the run, but with the even, familiar rhythm of my steps came thoughts I wanted to keep blocked out. In my mind, I relived the torment of helplessness and fear that had clenched me when I’d first seen the photo of Sienna being loaded onto the ambulance. Trapped on a bus an hour away from her, I’d had nothing to do but wait.

  It was a while before I realized that I was running without pacing myself and going faster than I’d intended. I recognized some of the landmarks around me and wondered how I’d come so far so quickly. I made myself slow down and pay attention to what I was doing.

  Usually, running was a fluid, almost effortless exercise for me. Now, each step was jarring and the cold air burned in my lungs. I refocused on regulating my breaths and fought to ignore the protests from my muscles. I realized how stupid I’d been to run this far. I’d played a basketball game only 10 hours ago and I hadn’t slept or eaten since.

  But running had always helped me control my stress, so I’d pushed myself to do it. Now I had run far enough that it was going to be hard to get back home. Still, I would make it and maybe I’d be so exhausted that I’d finally get some sleep before I went to see Sienna.

  Sienna. Her white, bloodied face. Her crumpled body. There was no blocking my thoughts anymore. The heat of my anger flared again, scorching the last of my control and consuming me. My energy surged, burning away the pain in my muscles and lungs until my body no longer existed.

  The earth lost its pull as I flew down the empty streets towards home. If I breathed, I never knew it. If I touched the ground, I never noticed. I didn’t see the houses I passed, the driveways, or the street lights. I only saw Caleb’s face, sneering and taunting me with my decision not to go after him.

  I was back in my driveway before I knew it. My run was over. Reality crashed down on me like an avalanche. Luckily, my common sense hadn’t disappeared completely. I forced myself to jog one more time around the block, slowly trailing into a walk as I approached my house again. I turned off my music and settled into some stretches. I would regret it if I didn’t, but I wanted to find the nearest soft surface and fall into oblivion.

  The sun was starting to lighten the horizon when I went inside. I had no idea how far I’d run, but I must have been gone for about forty-five minutes. In that time I could normally get 7 miles in. My body screamed at me that it had been too much, but even as my muscles twitched and my legs turned to jelly, I knew it hadn’t been enough. I was still furious that I couldn’t track Caleb down and punish him.

  I walked inside, ready to collapse, and heard my mom calling me from the kitchen. “I heard your phone ringing in your room a few minutes ago.”

  I could think of only one person who might be calling me this early, but surely Sienna was asleep. Still, I dragged my mess of a body upstairs, anxious to see if it was her. Grabbing my phone from my dresser, I saw one missed call. It was her. I called back, both excited and worried. When I heard a quiet hello on the other end, I asked, “Sienna? Are you okay?”

  “Um, actually… this is Sienna’s mom.”

  “Oh.” My thoughts readjusted as I tried to figure out why Sienna’s mom would be calling. “Is Sienna okay?”

  “Yes. She’s pretty comfortable with the pain meds in her system, but she’s restless and won’t stay asleep for long. That’s actually why I’m calling you. She keeps saying your name over and over again, like she’s worried about something. Do you know what’s wrong?”

  “Maybe, but I’d like to talk to you about it in person. When can I come over?”

  “As soon as you can.”

  I thought of what I needed to do before I could leave – most importantly take a shower. “I’ll be there in thirty minutes.”

  I went out into the hall and leaned over the banister. “Hey, Mom—I’m going to shower and head over to Sienna’s.” I heard her distant squawk of frustration and remembered that she was baking something for Sienna, but I didn’t have time to wait.

  I was getting out of the shower when my eyes landed on my gym bag and I remembered that I had practice in an hour and a half. For a moment I felt like punching through the wall. Not only would I not have much time with Sienna, but I had no idea where I was going to get the energy. Saturdays were conditioning practices.

  I threw on some clothes and grabbed a pair of old sneakers from the floor of my closet. Glad that my practice shoes and everything I’d need later were already in my bag, I grabbed it and went downstairs.

  I hoped my mom had remembered to get me something to eat. I needed protein and lots of it. I shouldn’t have doubted her though. She handed me a basket covered with a towel and a wonderfully thick sandwich wrapped in foil. It was hot and I knew I h
eld salvation in my hand.

  “I think you just saved my life, Mom. Thanks.”

  “Sure. I hope those muffins are done in the middle.” She glared at me, but only for a second. “Call me and let me know how that little girl of yours is doing, huh? I hope she can enjoy her birthday despite all this.”

  I froze and stared at her. Slowly, the realization that she was right crept over me – it was Sienna’s birthday. I must be more out of it than I thought. “Holy cow. I can’t believe I forgot. I don’t have anything for her. I didn’t think I’d get to see her today so I already gave her everything I had.”

  She smiled at me and shook her head. “I’m pretty sure the only thing she wants is you.”

  “Man, it’s only been a few hours and I already suck at this whole boyfriend thing.”

  “Relax. You’ll get the hang of it again. It’s not like she’s the first girlfriend you’ve ever had.”

  “No, but I want her to be my last.”

  “Then get out of my kitchen and go see her.”

  I didn’t argue.

  Driving to her house, I felt my heartbeat accelerate as I thought about seeing her. It always had, but it was different now. Maybe because, for the first time, she wasn’t off limits. I’d be able to talk to her, touch her—be with her—the way I’d always wanted to.

  When her mom opened the door for me, though, I had to keep reminding myself that her mom was giving me a chance. I desperately wished I didn’t have to break that trust already. What I had to confess would surely do that.

  Sienna’s mom barely looked old enough to be her mother and she was shorter than Sienna. Nothing about her appearance was very intimidating, but she scared the crap out of me – mostly because she had the ability to keep me away from the one girl in the world I wanted to be with. As she looked up at me though, I realized that for the first time there was no suspicion in her eyes – just relief.

  “Come in, Lee. Thanks for coming so early. I hope I didn’t drag you out of bed.”

  “No. I wasn’t able to sleep much anyway.”

  “Well, that makes three of us then. Don’t tell me your mom sent food over again,” she said, seeing the basket in my hands. She probably caught the warm scent that clouded around it too.