Winning the Game: Ch. 8



The rest of the break seemed to go by quickly. In between helping her parents with the ranch chores and lounging near the creek, she spent as much time as she could with Sunny Boy. She really did miss him, and saying goodbye seemed to sadden them both. Saying goodbye to her parents was even harder. She didn’t think her mother would ever let her go.

But once she stepped back onto the campus, she felt the excitement and glee to be back. She couldn’t wait to see Able and ask him how his break had been.

She was even more excited when she received her schedule for the upcoming semester and realized that she would still have the same lunch as before. Hopefully Able did too.

He had texted her that he was stuck in traffic, but on his way back to the campus, and they had plans to meet for dinner later that evening. Therefore, with time to kill, she finally walked over to the athletic department to check the wall for the soccer practice schedule. She smiled giddily when she realized that one would be held during her lunch hour, so if Able wasn’t able to meet with her anymore, she would still have something to do. 

By the time she finally met Able for dinner that night, she was in the greatest of moods. She couldn’t stop smiling, and she was practically bouncing out of her seat with glee.

“Hey there, Able!” she greeted, wrapping Able in a squeezing hug. “How was your vacation? Was it wonderful? Tell me everything!”

“Whoa, someone’s in a good mood. I take it you had a good break?”

“Oh, it was alright I s’pose. I was given chores, which wasn’t much fun, but spendin’ time with my family was real great! And I got to ride Sunny Boy again! I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed everything, but I sure did! But enough about me! Tell me about you! How was your break?”

He shrugged. “It was okay. I just spent it with my grandparents. They were badgering me about trying to graduate early. They want me to go to graduate school so I can eventually become a professor, and apparently they’re in a big rush for me to get there. It was annoying, really. Not much of a break.”

“Awh, I’m sorry to hear that, Able.”

“Yeah, well, at least one of us is happy.”

“Speaking of, I finally checked the practice schedule for this semester, and guess what, there’s a practice during my lunch break! Isn’t that just perfect?”

“That’s great! I think we still have the same lunch. You want to start meeting at the practice field instead?”

“Would you mind?”

“Of course not.”

“Then, yes please!”

The rest of their time together, Karissa made it her mission to lift Able’s spirits. She asked him about current stories he was writing, and listened with rapt attention as he described his imaginary worlds to her. It was truly amazing what he was able to come up with. Karissa wouldn’t be able to think a whole story up like that in a million years.

At the end of the day, she was beyond elated, doubly satisfied that Joyce wasn’t back from her break yet and that she could sleep in peace for once. She didn’t even have any homework to do.

She couldn’t have been happier.

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