Coach's Daughter

31.

Chapter 31.

After school that day, I met Madison at her locker, determined to make sense of everything Kelsey had told me. It only seemed fair to hear Madison's side of the story before I made any decisions about what to do.

Not sure how to initiate the conversation, I just jumped into it. "Kelsey told me you tried to keep her off the cheer squad," I said. "She said you felt threatened by a talented underclassman cheerleader."

Madison snorted, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, well, Kelsey was always a drama queen."

"So you didn't tell Coach Green not to let her try out?"

Madison shook her head. "Not really. But I did warn her that Kelsey had an injury, and shouldn't be allowed to push herself too hard. Coach is the one who decided she couldn't try out with an injury. Not me."

I paused, trying to figure out how to word my next question. "Shouldn't that have been Kelsey's choice to make? It was her body. She should have been the one to decide how much was too much. It wasn't your place to tell the coach."

Madison laughed softly. "Let me ask you this: if one of your friends was doing something that you knew was going to hurt them, would you say something, even if it meant they would be mad at you?"

She had a point. If she'd really had Kelsey's best interests at heart, maybe it hadn't been so wrong of her to say something.

"But it was just a rolled ankle. It would have been fine."

Madison smiled sadly. "Would it? It wasn't 'just' a rolled ankle, as Kelsey would have you believe. She could barely walk on it. It was swollen to twice its normal size, and when she tried to put too much weight on it, it buckled underneath her. I gave Coach Green a heads up, because if Kelsey had tried to show off her tumbling and her ankle had given out, she could have been seriously hurt. I couldn't just let that happen."

"You still shouldn't have gone behind her back to do it."

"I didn't. I was honest and I told her what I was doing, and why. Kelsey is the one who blew up at me. She's been nursing this huge chip on her shoulder and trying to convince people I'm the devil incarnate, and all I ever wanted to do was help her."

I could actually sort of see Kelsey doing that. She was more than capable of holding a grudge. I didn't want to admit it, but maybe in this case, Kelsey was wrong.

"What happened?" I asked. "After you told Coach and she didn't let Kelsey try out?"

"Kelsey lost her mind and tore up one side of me and down the other. I'm not sure if she told you, but I'd been dating her brother before all of this happened, and he broke up with me shortly after the divorce. He said he had too much else going on in his life, and he couldn't be tied down to a relationship. I was already hurting, and Kelsey just assumed the worst of me. Her family was falling apart, and I get that, but in a weird way, my world was falling apart too.

"I lost my friend and my boyfriend almost overnight. And after that, it just didn't seem worth the effort anymore. I'm so over Kelsey and her brother. I didn't do anything wrong, and they hate me anyways. And I thought I might have finally found a good guy when I was dating Luke, but then he starting flirting with you behind my back, and I knew I was going to lose that too. I had this idea in my head of what I thought high school should be like--the perfect experience. Only, I haven't had any of it. All of my friends have deserted me, I can't keep a guy's interest to save my life, and I'm just so sick of it all. I'm ready for college and a fresh start."

I smiled sympathetically. "Well, I don't think you've lost all of your friends," I corrected. "Cassie and Nixi can't say enough good things about you, and I think we could even be friends too, now that the whole Luke thing is behind us."

Madison looked at me questioningly. "And Kelsey?" she asked. "Isn't that kind of a slap in the face to your best friend?"

I held my breath, then exhaled slowly. "Kelsey will come around," I said with more confidence than I felt. "She's stubborn and has a quick temper, but she's not mean. We'll get past this."

I looked at Madison with a rueful grin. "Of course, it might help if you apologized to her."

"But I didn't--"

"I know," I cut in. "You don't really have anything to apologize for. But I think Kelsey needs to hear it anyways. She needs to hear that you were never against her."

Madison shrugged. "Do you really think that would work?"

"I don't know," I admitted. "But at least then the ball's in her court and you've done everything you can do."

Madison nodded thoughtfully. "You're right. I'll talk to her. I can't exactly make things worse, now, can I?"

I was quiet, trying to figure out how to ask Madison about Kelsey's mysterious older brother without coming right out and asking her.

"So..." I began casually. "Were you and Luke together long? Who did you date before that?"

Madison smirked. "I'm sure Kelsey would just love to fill you in on that failed relationship. I dated Jake, and needless to say, it didn't end well. Luke and I dated for two years. I always thought we were pretty serious, but honestly, Luke has never looked at me the way he looks at you."

I blushed. "Me? Luke doesn't even like me like that. I'm off limits because my dad is his coach. Obviously there's some attraction there, but nothing will ever come of it."

"You sure about that? The way he looks at you, it's like every other girl world ceases to exist. Trust me, the boy's got it bad."

I shrugged, wondering if she was right. Honestly, I couldn't imagine Luke and I ever getting our happily ever after--but that didn't stop me from wishing it could work out.

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