Something burned through Angel’s entire body. Suddenly Sarah in Arizona with Sydney and his girlfriend sounded ideal. Why the hell wasn’t she there already?

“Does she know about him, Angel?” Leave it to Eric to be the only one to show any concern.

Angel nodded but frowned when he thought of how Sarah just humored him whenever he’d gone off about what a perv the guy was. She had her own preconceptions of the guy and he knew they were favorable ones. Like Sofia, she didn’t buy into all the rumors.

“I heard he left the last school he was teaching at because someone accused him of rape,” Eric said.

“What?” Angel felt the hair on the back of his neck stand. “I thought he was a new teacher. Straight outta college?”

Alex grimaced. “Nah, he’s not as young as he looks either.”

“How old is he?”

“About twenty six, or twenty seven,” Alex grabbed a bottle of water out of the small fridge and headed back to the kitchen.

“I heard that rape story too,” Romero said bending over to take a shot. Then he added with a shrug. “But I’ve heard so much shit about him who knows what really happened.”

Angel sat on one of the bar stools for once interested in what Romero had to say. “So, what’s the story?”

Romero glanced at Eric then stood up holding the pool stick straight up, in front of him. “It’s different every time I hear it but basically someone actually pressed charges on his ass for either rape or attempted rape.” He set himself up for an awkward shot. “There wasn’t enough evidence so the charges were dropped. But I guess everyone was so pissed about it he had to transfer outta there. And lucky La Jolla, we got ‘em.”

Angel wondered why he’d never heard the story, or maybe he had he just never paid attention to any of the details. All he knew for sure was the guy had a reputation for being overly friendly with the girls. And from what Angel had seen Friday, there was no doubt in his mind anymore, he was working Sarah.

*

Sarah’s trip to see her mom went smoothly. Seeing her was still as emotional as the first visit. But things felt brighter. Her mom still hadn’t been to court but the lawyers were even more optimistic about her chances of getting out early and Sarah could see the change in her mom’s appearance. The dark circles and deep eyes were still there but not as pronounced as before. And there was a sparkle in her eyes that made Sarah feel very hopeful.

Her mom gave her something to really think about just before she left.

“Sarah I want you to know that I think you’ve been through enough. When I get out of there it’s up to you where you wanna stay. I don’t have a job here in Flagstaff anymore but if this is where you want to be. I’ll find a way to make it work. Otherwise if you’d rather stay in California, your aunt has offered to let us stay there until I get back on my feet. You think about it and let me know.”

The choice seemed obvious. The only reason she’d want to stay in La Jolla didn’t want anything to do with her. In Flagstaff at least she had Sydney.

She’d spent the whole day Saturday with Syd and his family. Carina hadn’t made an appearance. Sydney said she was busy and Sarah left it alone. Sunday after her visit with her mom Sydney drove her to the bus station and dropped her off. Each time she came back to Arizona she worried things would be different with her and Sydney but as usual it was as if she’d never left.

Maybe it was the trip over the weekend or the fact that she hadn’t run in over a week. But Sarah felt off during her first run in practice. Coach Rudy had stressed the importance of taking it easy, and had wrapped her ankle pretty tight before letting her run. Possibly a little too tight, it was beginning to feel numb. She slowed to a walk and looked around for the coach but didn’t see him. He’d been adamant about her wearing it so she didn’t want to take it off. But it was really bugging her so she went into the gym to find him.

She didn’t see him anywhere so she walked towards his office where he’d wrapped her ankle. The door to his office flew open just as she reached it and a girl in her cheer warm ups almost collided into her.

“Sorry.” The girl said with a nervous smile.

“That’s okay.”

The girl hurried away quickly. Sarah watched her as she rushed off fixing her skirt. She opened the door to the office. Coach Rudy had a clipboard in one hand and tucked his shirt in with the other.

“Hey, Sarah. How’d the run go?”

His fly was half zipped and Sarah flushed, hoping he hadn’t noticed she was even looking there. “I … uh think the wrap is too tight. It’s making my foot numb.”

He looked down at her ankle. “Alright have a seat.”

Sarah sat down on the chair next to his desk and he put the clipboard down and leaned against the edge of the desk.

“Bring it up here.”

She brought her leg up and he caught it against his front thighs. Sarah suddenly felt very vulnerable. He unlaced her shoe and smiled as he pulled it off.

“Did you get around the track at all?”

“One time,” Sarah gulped. “But I walked at the end.”

Once unwrapped, he massaged the ankle a little and worked his way up to her calf.

“Feel better?”

Sarah nodded. She had to admit it did feel a lot better. He moved her ankle in a circular motion and then back and forth. She glanced up from her foot and saw how engaged he was in working it. He began wrapping it again meticulously. And she felt silly about her unnecessary angst. She was letting Sydney and all the stupid rumors get to her.