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chapter nineteen

BY THE TIME LUCAS SINCLAIR was subbed into the game—because of another boy's on-court injury no less—there were only fifty-three seconds left in the third quarter of the game, and Hawkins was down by six points.

Diana grabbed onto Steve's gray sleeved arm. She watched dumbstruck as Lucas made his way onto the court. "Oh my god."

Steve shot up from his seat, dragging Diana with him and yelling Lucas's name in excitement and encouragement. Diana found her mom's eyes somewhere in the crowd. The older woman pointed at her with a glowing smile as if to say, I told you so.

Diana clapped her hands together, happy to see her brother get what he'd wanted for most of the school year.

Lucas immediately flowed into the game. He played like he had something to prove, which Diana supposed he did. He passed the ball with energized efficiency and he played his part during the plays with ease.

When there were a mere three seconds left in the game, Hawkins was down by one point and all the boys had gathered around the basketball goal, trying to grab the ball after her former classmate Jason's failed attempt at a shot. Lucas came out victorious, rushing out of the group to where Diana assumed he could make a three-pointer. He quickly turned on his heel and shot the ball into the air and toward the goal.

The whole gym was on their feet as the buzzer went off. Diana gripped Steve's hand tightly as they watched the ball agonizingly teeter on the rim for a second, before it fell right into the net.

Hawkins had won.

The crowd erupted into cheers, and Diana was bursting with pride. She and Steve hugged so tightly she could hardly breathe. "Didn't I say he was good?" Steve asked over the roar of noise.

Diana laughed wholeheartedly for the first time in months, nodding with a grin so wide her face hurt. She hadn't doubted her brother's skills, but she had doubted his chance to ever get to show them off. "You did. You did."

When she looked back to the gym floor, the team had disappeared to the locker rooms and people, some disappointed, most over the moon, began to file out of the building. "We'll have to find him outside," Steve, said following her gaze.

She nodded. "Let's go find my parents." She didn't give him any time to disagree as she pulled him down the bleachers and straight into the crowd. They found her parents milling around the closed concession stand. Her mother was just about bursting with joy and her father was smiling unabashedly.

"I knew your brother had it in him," he said, as he leaned down a bit to hug her. He reached out to give Steve a handshake but then turned back to her. "It's good to see you Di. How's school?"

"Not as interesting as any of this," she joked.

He chuckled. "I'm sure you just need to get out more, honey."

"Maybe," she drawled with an eye roll. She glanced back at Steve, who was talking animatedly to her mother. "I'm staying at Steve's tonight by the way."

Her dad raised his brows. "You told your mother?" She nodded. "And what did she have to say?"

"Nothing much," she tried.

"No funny business Diana." He began to speak over her shoulder. "You hear that, Harrington? No funny busin—"

Diana shushed her father, thoroughly embarrassed. "There are people around."

Her father laughed at her but shot Steve a serious look. She covered her face and grabbed Steve's arm. "We'll be outside."

Cars were exiting the parking lot and students were loitering about, eager to congratulate the team and clearly not ready for the night to end. However, Diana was sure it wouldn't end here for many of them anyway.

She and Steve were seated on the hood of his car, even though it was colder than it had been earlier since the sun had set. She was wearing Steve's old jean jacket now, which was too long for her arms. She was so busy trying, and failing, to roll up the sleeves that she didn't notice when Robin bounded up to the car, her trumpet tucked away in its black case, and her freckled cheeks flushed with elation. She was dressed in her green band uniform, but she held the matching hat in her other hand.

Both met the ground when she caught sight of Diana. "Diana," she called from a few feet away. The girl in question hopped from the hood, her boyfriend following. Robin moved quickly, throwing her arms around the older girl. Diana hugged her back, grateful for her enthusiasm. "Thank god. Thank god, you're finally here. Steve's been a mess without you. It's like he can't think without you. And do you know how bad he is at advice? Scarily awful. I missed you."

She heard Steve protest behind her, but both girls were laughing now. "I missed you too, Rob, but you're squeezing me a little too hard."

"Oh, sorry," she apologized, pulling away, and backtracking to collect her things.

"Did I forget to mention I was giving her a ride home?" Steve asked, a sheepish look on his face.

Diana pursed her lips. "I would be upset if you weren't."

She and Robin had grown quite close over the remainder of the summer. She'd been a little jealous of the girl at first, but after seeing the dynamic Robin and Steve shared, Diana couldn't help but to like her. Not to mention that Robin always had something interesting to say, which is why they became friends in the first place.

"The team was just on their way out if you were waiting to see them," Robin let out, as she joined them once more.

"Look who's back in town," a bright voice came from beside them. They all looked over to see a girl decked out in a cheerleading uniform and holding her green and yellow pom poms in one hand. The white fabric of her uniform made her brown skin glow in the dimness of the parking lot. Her black hair was pulled into a high ponytail, and her smile was kind but a little mischievous too.

Diana waved at the girl as she came to stand in front of Steve's car. "Hi, Adya."

Adya Ramesh had always been a popular girl. She was Robin's age, with amazing grades and friendly eyes and a pretty smile. She and Diana hadn't talked much, but there was a sense camaraderie between them that alway kept them pleasant to one another. "Diana, you look pretty. Is college treating you well?" Before Diana could answer the girl, though, she turned to Steve. "I see you two are still going strong. Glad to see that you've still got your hair, Steve. You wouldn't be you without it."

"Uh, yeah—" Steve began, shoving his hands into the pockets of his blue jacket, but Adya was already turning to Robin, who was looking at the whole interaction with quite a dumbstruck expression.

"The band was really good today. Keep up the good work. You're Robin, right?" Adya was finally allowing one of them to speak and suddenly, talkative, vibrant Robin had nothing to say. She simply nodded.

Someone called the cheerleader's name from the distance. She glanced backward then gave the people before her a wave. "I guess that's my cue. It was nice seeing you guys," she called to them as she hopped into her friend's convertible before they sped off.

Diana hummed at the utter weirdness of that conversation. "You know Adya?" Robin asked, dumbfounded.

"Sure?" Diana let out like a question.

"She's—she's so..." Robin trailed off before completely changing the subject. "Oh look there's Lucas."

The team was parting from him, giving him a few pats on the back, but Lucas was staring at something further ahead that Diana couldn't see. The three teenagers headed toward the young boy. He looked quite upset as they approached, but his face lifted a bit as he saw her. "Diana?"

He was taller than her now, even without his hair, which had been crafted into a steadily growing box. The siblings shared a brief hug. "I didn't think you would show," he murmured.

"I said I would, and I'm glad I did." She patted his shoulder. "You did really great with the time you got."

He smiled. "It was pretty good, wasn't it?"

"So good," Steve and Robin agreed.

He and Steve immediately descended into a discussion about the game. "Hey," Robin began, getting their attention. "Isn't that Erica over there? And Mike and Dustin?"

They all looked and Lucas seem to deflate once more. It was then that she realized that his friends hadn't attended the game either. "Look guys, I'll talk to you later. One of the guys is throwing a party so I've got to get going." He didn't wait for a response before putting his bag over his shoulder and jogging off to the team.

Diana watched him go for a minute before turning on her heel. "I'll meet you guys in the car," she told Robin and Steve, whose protests she didn't listen to. She was only going to talk, anyway.

The trio was smiling and laughing, but as she approached, their expressions became more subdued. She took in their attire. The two boys were wearing shirts that read, 'Helfire Club', and Erica had an American flag tied around her shoulders like some glorified cape and a thick pink binder under her arm.

"Diana! It's good to see you—" Dustin started, but Erica interrupted him, hugging her binder to her chest.

"You're here," Erica observed, a defiant tilt to her head. "How was the game?"

Diana shrugged, regarding her sister in a way that made them look alike. "Hawkins won. Lucas played, shot the winning shot. Nothing too exciting."

"You just made that up," Erica accused with narrowed eyes.

"Okay, maybe it was a little exciting."

Erica blew out a breath of frustration. "You know that's not what I meant."

"Really, it's not our fault," Mike tried, scratching the back of his head, his lanky limbs awkward in their movements. He was nearly half a foot taller than Diana now. "We had to finish a D&D campaign. Lucas knew that."

"I'm sure he did. Congrats on that." She gave them a thumbs up, the action somewhat sarcastic. She turned to Erica and leaned down to peck her forehead. "Just talk to Lucas when you can okay? Love and missed you by the way."

"You're mad," Erica deadpanned.

Diana ignored that then found herself saying to all of them, "Go home after this. Tell Eddie Munson that he shouldn't have any visitors tonight."

"Eddie? You know Eddie?" Dustin asked incredulously.

"No, not really. I'm just talking." Diana was t sure where that came from but the urge to say as much was something she clearly hadn't been able to fight. She looked at their wide eyed expressions. "Maybe just mention it to him, though." She could feel a headache coming on.

No.

"I have to go," she said turning around. "Call me when you get home, Erica."

After Steve dropped off Robin, he and Diana went home, and then, just as she planned to, she told him about the the things that kept her up at night and she'd regretted it when she realized that he wouldn't be able to sleep soundly anymore either.

hi! so school's starting for me soon but i'll be trying to finish up some chapters before then. thanks for reading!

-syd