SUNSHINE

one

She had just enough time to go home and shower before she needed to be at Joffrey's Coffee and Tea Company to take over the shift on the food truck on the beach at Water Works Park, which was just off the Hillsborough River. As predicted, it was a quiet night, a few people here and there out on evening walks, but it gave her time to do her homework for all her classes.

"Truck three you there?" Someone asked over the radio, and she picked up the walkie talkie.

"Casey here, what's up Ray?" She responded.

"You can probably pack up for the night, it's the middle of March at nine o'clock. I don't think anyone is going to be upset if you were to bring her back for the night." Ray informed, and she sighed in relief.

"Alright, I'll bring her back soon. Just got to do inventory really quick." She answered, putting the walkie back down in the front of the truck. As she was coming back to the front, there was a knock on the side of the truck.

"Hey, y'all sell hot chocolate in here?" Jackson's voice asked loudly into the truck. She rolled her eyes with a chuckle and went to the window, leaning over the front.

"I was just about to close shop. Do you actually want something or here to mess with me?" She asked, and Jackson smiled up at her.

"I'll help you close if you make me a hot chocolate." He responded with a smirk, and she chuckled.

"Rear door is open." She informed, cocking her head in the direction of the back of the truck. She sat down in her seat and finished tearing down and cleaning the machines, setting his hot chocolate on the counter as he opened the back door and came into the truck.

"Alright, what can I help with?" He asked, standing beside her and looking around.

"Drink your freshly made packet of hot chocolate and keep me company, I'm already about done." She answered pointing to the styrofoam cup on the counter. He sighed and took it, sipping at it greedily.

"Shit, that's hot." He hissed, pulling it away from his lips.

"I told you it was fresh." She retorted with a shrug, and the both of them started laughing.

"Think about where you're heading to school yet?" Jackson asked as she counted the amount of tea boxes were left. They had to do inventory once a week, and usually it was on a Monday so they could get the supplies they needed for the weekend, which was usually busier.

"I've got offers from Florida State and Duke, so I'm waiting to see how much money they're willing to give me. If I get a full ride for either one I'm going there." She answered, closing the side hatch and locking it down. "But I'm also considering not going to college and going straight pro." She added.

"Well, you've definitely got some options. You've got some big credentials under your belt, between playing with the youth nationals teams and playing high school with the best team on the east side. Your club team has won a ton of tournaments, some of them showcase tournaments that have given you a lot of looks. You'll be fine wherever you end up." Jackson said encouragingly, and smiled.

"What about you? Given any more thought to where you wanna go?" She asked as she secured everything in place. "Need a lift?" She asked, and he nodded.

"I've got offers from Florida State and UCF, and I think Georgia State is looking at me too." He answered as she started the truck. "I can't believe we graduate in two months." He sighed.

"Me neither." She agreed, putting the car into drive and heading towards the main building of Joffrey's Coffee and Tea Company.

--

"Ready for your last first game?" Jackson asked, wrapping his arms around Riley and Casey as they walked out of the school. Daniel trailed behind, hand in hand with Jenna.

"Yeah, it's at home so you all better be there!" Riley responded, almost yelling in Jackson's ear.

"What time do y'all play?" Daniel asked, and the three of them looked back at him. "What?"

"It's been the same time for the past three years. Six o'clock." Casey answered, and they all just started laughing at the way Daniel was looking at them. "Alright, I'm heading home for a bit. As always my basement is an open invite." She said as she got to her car, and they told her they would be over just before the game as always. They got out of school at two everyday, and they did not need to be back at the field until quarter after five to hype up and warm up.

Both her parents cars were in the driveway when she got home, and she was glad. She had not seen her parents since yesterday afternoon before she went to work. Their schedules conflicted so much that they did not get to see each other that often, but they made sure to be at every game.

"Mom, dad! I'm home!" She shouted into the house, getting no response but the sound of her own voice bouncing off the walls. She set her backpack down by the steps that lead to the basement and hung her keys up on the hook before walking through the house. It smelled like food, which excited her, but her parents were nowhere in sight. She sighed, then went and checked the backyard, finding them outside, her mother working in the garden and her father making a mess of the yard. She opened the sliding door, hearing the sound of eighties pop and rock blaring through the backyard. Her parents were singing obnoxiously along, and she just laughed, slamming the door shut behind her to get their attention. Her mother looked behind her and smiled, turning the music down and standing up, her knees clad with mud and her gloves dirty from years of tending to her rose garden.

"Ready for your big game today?" Kaie Radcliffe asked her, wrapping her arms around her daughter.

"Mom, you're full of dirt." She said jokingly, shooing her away but accepting her hug anyhow. "Yeah, I'm ready. Can't believe these are the last twenty games I'll play in high school." She sighed.

"Well there is lasagna in the oven for you, Riley, Daniel, Jackson, Jenna, and Trevor when they all come over." Her mother informed, and she nodded, kissing her cheek.

"Thank you, I'm going to go do homework so I can get it done beforehand." She said, and her mother rolled her eyes.

"It's Friday!" She called as Casey walked back towards the house.

"It's a surfing weekend! I'm not working!" She called back, closing the door. She laughed at her mother and herself then went and back towards the basement to grab her backpack and her phone and texted the group chat with the six of them, letting them know there was food ready for them when they came over. She instantly got responses telling her they were going to be over soon, and she told them to meet her in the basement. She put her backpack on her bed and plopped down, pulling out her AP chemistry homework out to do, and she was thankful that that was the only homework she had, her other teachers either giving a test or being kind enough not to assign anything. As soon as started working, she heard the side door open and close and loud footsteps upstairs, and she knew her time would be cut short.

"Yo Casey, where's the lasagna?" Daniel called downstairs, and she rolled her eyes, setting her binder and textbook next to her on the bed before heading upstairs. "Nevermind found it." He said a few minutes later, opening the oven as she came upstairs.

"Don't-!" She started, but it was too late, Daniel had already grabbed the hot tray with his hands.

"Shit!" He yelled, and she rolled her eyes, grabbing his hands and putting them under the cold water from the faucet. She sighed and grabbed the oven mitts off of the counter and grabbed the lasagna out of the oven and put it on the stove.

"Okay, we've got two hours, so I say we eat then head down to the basement to jam out and get ready for the game." Riley suggested, and they agreed, for it was a usual routine to turn the music all the way up and get themselves hype before every home game, and they did the same thing for away games.

"Alright, what are we listening to first?" Jackson asked, making his plate of lasagna and already heading downstairs.

"Dibs on DJ-ing!" Riley called, and they all groaned as a joke before heading downstairs to hang out before they had to leave.