Page 94 of Secret

Faith glanced over at the bleachers, surprised that the whole group was there watching her competition. She'd spent the last hour with her jump team, trying to win the last spot to go to state finals. Her team was good, but she wasn't sure they were good enough.

She grinned as her dad waved, and Xander stuck his tongue out at her. She had the best dads ever. Even though she made things hard sometimes because she didn't like to be alone with strangers, they never once complained. They stayed with her whenever she needed them.

Beside her dads, Dyson, Carter, and Trenton were throwing popcorn at each other, trying to catch it in their mouths. They sucked. Even she could catch popcorn better than they did. She would have to make some when they got home and show them how it was done.

Her competitive streak was going to get her in trouble one of these days, but she loved being the best. It was like with the stupid video games they all played, when her name wasn't the top score, she'd spend hours playing until she could beat them. Her dad said it was a good thing to be competitive, but Xander just pouted as it was usually his high score she beat.

Behind Carter, Kasey, Noam, and Bryon all sat together. She loved seeing Kasey so happy. He'd always been her favorite uncle out of the whole group. There was just something about him that she loved. He didn't talk down to her, he never showed pity or sorrow when she'd first come home and met the group. He was just perfect. Up until Noam, he didn't smile much, but now he was smiling all the time.

She spent the weekend with them, helping Noam learn all about how she and her friends talk so that he could teach his new team how to act like they were her age. She'd written down lists of different words they used and showed them how to make emojis using the keyboard. Noam joked he was going to bring her in to teach classes to his decoys.

She waved as Beau waved at her. He sat with Becca on the very front row of the bleachers. He said he was on call and needed to get out easily if he got a call. She tried not to feel guilty for dragging him to her competition when he had to work, but he insisted he wouldn't miss it for anything.

If she told him the truth, she'd rather be at the hospital with him than here at the trampoline park. Following Beau around when he would let her watch him was the best thing ever. He wouldn't let her do it often, but the few times she had, she'd learned so much. She wanted to learn everything, so she could help people the same way he had helped her.

The crowd grew silent and she turned her attention to the scoreboard, where the team scores were about to be posted. Her teammate reached for her hand, but she pulled it back, unable to let them touch her. She'd tried to explain that she didn't like being touched when she'd joined the team, and most were good about it, but sometimes they forgot.

She wrapped her arms around herself, ignoring the girl beside her as she waited for the scores. It took only a few seconds for the scores to come up. The crowd cheered as the results posted. She sighed, her team had taken second. Not enough to earn a spot at state, but that was okay. She loved jumping and they could try again next year.

As her teammates hugged around her, she snuck away, hurrying off to be with her dads. It was hard to see through the crowds. Everyone was so much taller than her.

"Hey, Stripes," Kasey called to her.

She turned, seeing Kasey and Noam walking toward her. "Hi." She hugged Kasey tightly, but just smiled at Noam. She wasn't ready to hug him yet.

"You did amazing. I can't believe that triple flip you did. I would have pulled every muscle trying to get my body to do that." Kasey stayed beside her.

"I kept getting it wrong and couldn't land right. I was so nervous." She brushed a stray hair from in front of her eyes.

"You did amazing, Stripes. I'm so proud of you." Kasey hugged her again. "So, what do you say we head over to that pizza place with all the arcade games and celebrate? I'll buy pizza and ice cream and you can beat Xander and Dyson on all the games?"

"I heard that," Xander growled playfully from behind him.

"Good, then it won't be a surprise when you lose." Kasey grinned. "What do you say, Stripes?"

"Can we?" She looked at her dads.

"If Kasey is buying we can." Matt laughed as he grabbed his daughter and hugged her. "I'm so proud of you."

As Faith looked at her friends and family gathered around her, she realized how lucky she was. She linked hands with Kasey as she turned back to her dad. "Can I ride with Kasey and Noam?"

"If they want you?"

Faith raised a brow at Kasey and Noam.

Noam nodded as Kasey smiled. "After the performance you gave, I might just let you drive." He led Faith away while Xander was yelling after him.

Once at the car, Faith waited until Noam got in before turning to Kasey. "So, I guess you got your wish?"

"What was that?"

"A boyfriend."

Kasey smiled at her and nodded. "I got much more than that, Stripes. He's my everything."