Chapter 24 #2
Danielle kicked Trevor again, this time catching him in the ankle. “But there’s more to life than football,” she said, settling firmer into her boyfriend’s arms. “Dangerous sport that it is.”
The tension around Noah’s mouth ebbed a little as he stared into the fire, ultimately burying his nose into the crown of Danielle’s hair.
“It is dangerous,” I said slowly, a strange defensive edge rising within me. “And it’s crazy how even basic plays can cause accidents like—”
“It wasn’t an accident.” Noah still didn’t raise his head from his girlfriend’s, speaking softly into her hair. “It was on purpose.”
No one said anything to support or oppose him, and I had to press my lips together to keep my mouth shut.
Noah was saying the Brentwood Bobcat team targeted him and just…
broke his leg? Why? Because he was gifted at football?
As if it wouldn’t have ended their own futures in football if they’d been caught.
And surely Ashton, at the very least, would’ve bragged about it. He was someone who would’ve reveled in the fact that a Bulldog was hurt on Bobcat soil. Ashton and Kyle were jerks, but not violent. No way could it have happened the way Noah was saying.
“So, Madison.” Trevor bounced on the balls of his feet, finally tearing into the s’mores supplies. “What school do you go to?”
I didn’t want to lie to them. If I was going to stay around Logan for a long time, the truth would come out eventually. But the idea of being honest without Logan at my side freaked me out too much. “Haven.”
“How’d you and Logan meet?” That was Charlie, who put her cards down and leaned her head on a fist.
I hesitated. Logan never said which friend group had dared him to walk through Brentwood’s open house to flirt with a cheerleader.
He had, however, said that his theater friends didn’t really care about the rivalry stuff—so I made a risky decision.
A 50/50 chance. “He came to my school’s open house. ”
And, thankfully, everyone’s eyes widened in surprise. “Open house?” Trevor asked.
Amir leaned forward. “He went to Haven’s open house?”
Danielle also frowned in confusion. “Why?”
They reminded me of the group of cheerleaders a little, eager for the answer to a shocking reveal—but it was different. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. “He said his friends dared him to. I tripped in the hallway and he… caught me.”
Correction—everyone’s eyes widened in surprise except for Noah’s. He stared at me with the same flat expression he always had. I waited, half holding my breath, but he didn’t speak up.
“Must’ve been the footballers who dared him,” Danielle said, but her expression didn’t totally clear. It looked a little uneasy. “I’m shocked Logan never said anything, though.”
Again, I still waited, but Noah still didn’t chime in.
“Maybe he was embarrassed,” Peter offered. “The team talks him into a lot of stupid stuff, and whoever came up with that is an idiot.”
Charlie snorted. “Probably Jake.”
“That’s Logan’s curse,” Danielle told me. “He’s a people pleaser, to a fault.”
“And he always tries to take everything on himself,” Trevor added, pulling out a graham cracker and gesturing wildly with it. “Everyone, what’s his catchphrase?”
In a unified chorus, they all said, “I can handle it.”
I thought of Wednesday night, when we’d stood outside my house.
School, football practice, theater practice, extra shifts at Expresso’s—but I can handle it.
I can handle it. I hadn’t realized it’d been the soundtrack of Logan’s life, pushing things down, trying to deal with everything all on his own.
“He’s taking forever,” Noah said, extracting himself from his girlfriend while pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “I’m going to go check on him.”
I bit down on one corner of my lip as I watched him go.
He had such a lean build but strong-looking arms, perfect for a quarterback.
Whether he was right about Brentwood doing it on purpose or not, I tried to imagine myself in his shoes.
I had no idea how treasured football was to Noah, but if that happened to me, would my world end? Would I be able to give it up?
It had me thinking back to Monday, how, even though it wasn’t an injury, Jade had all but forced me to give up co-captain. Was that similar?
I inched toward Danielle. “I’m sorry if I stepped on any toes,” I told her in a quiet voice. “With Noah, or anything.”
She waved her hand at me. “Oh, don’t worry about it. Seriously. We talk about it here and there. It’s okay.”
I took it as an opening. “So, like… he knows Brentwood did it on purpose?”
“It’s kind of a long story, and I don’t know the specifics. Noah said they tackled him after it was clear he’d thrown the ball, and he felt them grab at his leg. Snapped it the other way. He said it was clear it wasn’t an accident.”
“Does he know why?”
Danielle hesitated then. “Like I said, I don’t really know all the specifics.” She gave me a sheepish smile. “But Logan would know, I think, if you asked him.”
I could see her discomfort as plain as day, and backed off immediately. “Speaking of Logan.” I raised my voice higher, glancing around the group. “Anyone have any juicy gossip about him?”
And oh, did they ever.
Charlie told me how, in the ninth grade, Logan was cast in a small part in their school musical of Mulan, and it was the one and only time he’d taken on a singing role.
“His voice cracked in ‘Make A Man Out of You,’” she said, laughing now as she recalled.
“Bad. On opening night, too. Everyone teased him about it for months.”
“They kept saying ‘oh, they’re really making a man out of him for this role!’” Trevor added, licking melted chocolate from his s’more off his thumb. “Hilarious.”
“That explains why he said he’d rather die than sing,” I said with a laugh of my own, trying to imagine a small Logan in the spotlight. “Poor thing.”
“Oh! He crashed his car last year.” Amir abandoned his cards on the blanket and came up to sit on Danielle’s blanket. “In the school parking lot. Backed up into Jay’s truck so hard that it knocked his headlight out. We still make fun of him.”
Danielle shook her head. “I mean, come on. Who can’t back into a parking space?”
Even as they poked fun, their voices were so fond, and I wondered if they even knew it.
They all had light smiles on their faces as they brought up Logan’s top mishaps.
No one in the Top Tier spoke of anyone like that, with an affectionate look in their eye that was like a direct window to their heart.
The Top Tier would drag out the other’s dirty laundry for the sole purpose of knocking them down a peg, but with Logan’s friends, they were just sharing warm memories with each other—memories they cherished.
No one in the Top Tier would have a sparkle in their eye if they spoke about me. Not even Jade.
The thought caused a ripple of unease to crawl across my skin. “Is there a bathroom I could use?”
“Yeah, there’s actually one right off the garage. I can show you—”
“I can find it, it’s okay,” I assured, pushing to my feet. “If I see the boys, I’ll tell them we’re getting impatient for our s’mores.”
Danielle gave an eager nod. “Please do.”
My mind spun as I walked away from the fire, so much so that I only narrowly missed tripping over the garden gnome.
I was thinking about my friends a lot more than I’d thought I’d be, but I was also thinking about Noah.
As morally gray as some of the Top Tier members were, I couldn’t imagine them intentionally breaking someone’s leg.
Connor and Landon, surely, would’ve put a stop to it if they’d known.
It just seemed so… insane. And plus, this time last year, there’d been different Top Tier members. No way would they have made that call.
But all the times I’d asked Logan why Noah hated Brentwood so much, why hadn’t he brought up the fact that Noah broke his leg at the rival game? Did Logan think I already knew?
When I got to the side door to the garage, I found it half open, with voices filtering out. I should’ve pushed my way inside, but years of being used to eavesdropping for information had me hesitating. Even though it was wrong, I held my breath and held perfectly still.
“…thought that was a good idea, how?” Noah demanded.
“You know Danielle invited her.”
Noah gave a sharp sigh. “You could’ve uninvited her.”
They were definitely talking about me.
“You know I couldn’t care less about her feelings,” Noah went on, softer now. “But what you’re doing? It’s really messed up, Logan.”
“I like her,” Logan almost whispered. The only time I’d ever heard the sort of pain-like quality to his voice had been Wednesday, when he dropped me off at my house. But why would he sound so sad now? “I really like her.”
There was a long pause, and I found myself leaning closer to the door, straining. I couldn’t even hear either one of them breathing. “Logan.”
“I know, I know,” he rushed on. “Believe me, I know. I know it’s a bad idea, and that it could backfire. And I know you hate it—”
“I’m trying to help you, you idiot. It’s not going to end the way you want it to.”
“I can handle it.” Logan’s voice was stronger when he spoke again. “I’m handling it.”
He always tries to take everything on himself. “You really are an idiot,” Noah murmured, but his voice was quiet. Not demeaning, but almost resigned. “It was supposed to be for a week. You think she’ll stick around when she finds out?”
The question struck Logan silent. Suddenly, the image of Logan that day in the alleyway filled my vision. His hunched shoulders, his downcast, sad gaze, his chest rising and falling with quiet, panicked breaths. Was that how he looked now?
I couldn’t stand the image anymore. I pushed the side door to the garage open, stepping in and finding the two boys facing each other in the cluttered interior. “Find out what?” I asked.