Chapter 27 #2
“Coach, I’m freaking out. Nobody was supposed to find out that it was me, and now that everybody knows, I’m the villain when I was just trying to do what this school has threatened us to do every time we take a test. How come we have to write that pledge if we get punished for actually doing the right thing?
” I said, as anger poured out of me. A look of compassion came over her face.
“I know this will be hard advice to take, so I just want you to listen and try to hear me. Right now, everything is fresh, and people are angry, but eventually things won’t be like this.
Things like this tend to go through stages where someone is the victim, someone is the bad guy, and people choose sides.
Eventually, everyone forgets. The best thing you can do is keep your head held high and move forward, knowing that you did the right thing.
We have a season to finish, and it’s not your fault that Griffin is a damn cheater.
” I let out a small laugh, and she smiled at my change in expression.
I appreciated her pep talk and her trying to cheer me up.
“When you walk out of my office, I expect you to lead this team, and don’t put up with anyone who tries to treat you as anything other than the Captain.
You call the shots. Got it?” I nodded. “Good. Now let’s get to practice.
” And then she stood up, patted me on the back, and headed out to the field.
Once we were out on the field, Coach DeLaney pulled us all into a circle. “Who here has an issue with Allie?” she asked. I was caught off guard by what felt like an ambush. For a moment, everyone was quiet, and then Courtney spoke up.
“I think I speak for everyone when I say that we all do, Coach. She got Griffin suspended from the soccer team.”
“Let me stop you right there, Courtney,” Coach said curtly. “Griffin got Griffin suspended from the soccer team, didn’t he? Did Allie cheat on a math test? No. So tell me again who got who suspended from the soccer team?”
“But Allie is the one who turned him in, Coach,” Courtney replied.
“So you’re telling me that if you had seen Griffin cheating, you would not have turned him in?
Is that what you’re saying? You would have broken the honor code of this school?
If you took that test and then wrote the pledge on your test, and witnessed cheating, isn’t that the same thing as violating the honor code?
By allowing Griffin to cheat, you are giving him help, the same as the person who gave him the test to copy off of.
Get it?” Everyone got quiet. “So let me ask you again, who here has something to say to Allie?” Coach asked.
“I want you all to say exactly what you want to say to her right here, right now, in front of me, and then I never want to hear about it again. So go ahead, let’s hear it,” she said, looking right at Courtney, who looked like she wanted to say something, and then after a moment, she got the nerve and she did.
“Allie, I think you should have kept your mouth shut. Why couldn’t you have just minded your own business?” she asked. I didn’t reply for a moment, but I knew that question was coming.
“You want to know why? Do you know how hard I studied for that test? So hard. Math is impossible for me. I got the first A I’ve ever gotten in my life.
Field hockey is the only thing I’m good at, Courtney.
I’m not book smart like a lot of you. Academics don’t come easily to me.
When I saw him cheating, it upset me so much because he was getting a free A.
Why is that fair? I have to write the stupid honor pledge on every test that I take.
Isn’t that supposed to mean something? We are threatened not to cheat, urged to turn cheaters in, and yet now that I’ve done it, I’m the one being punished, and all of you hate me for it.
If I could go back, I would have kept my mouth shut, trust me, because I feel like I’m about to lose everything and everyone.
” Then I went quiet and waited for someone else to speak, but nobody said a thing.
Once Coach dismissed us from the circle, Isabelle immediately put an arm around me and told me she supported what I did. She really was my only friend.
Our team went on to have a practice that was tense, and it was evident that people felt differently about me.
Everyone except Isabelle. After practice, she waited for me while I showered so that we could walk together to my Jeep.
I think she understood that I needed a friend now more than ever.
As we got closer to the parking lot, most of the cars were gone, and I scanned it until I landed on the big green truck.
Chris had waited for me. I glanced at Isabelle and gave her a look of relief.
Everything was going to be okay knowing that I had him by my side, too.
When I got to my Jeep, I heard the door to his truck open and then close as I put my bags in the back seat.
Any moment now, he would come up behind me and wrap his arms around me, then spin me around and pin me up against my Jeep for a kiss.
Neither of those things happened, so I turned around.
He was simply standing there, hands on his hips, and an incredulous look on his face.
I glanced at Isabelle, and she took the cue to give us space to talk alone. I waited for him to speak first.
“Why?” he simply said, staring a hole right through me. Then he held up a crumpled piece of paper.
I squinted at it, then reached out and took it from his hands. It had obviously been passed around based on the graphite that was now slightly smeared across the soft, torn paper. As I held it in my hands and read three simple words, I fought back tears.
IT WAS ALLIE
I read it over and over, and then I looked back up at him as my eyes filled with tears.
“Griffin found this in his locker first thing this morning. Why couldn’t you just leave things be?
” he asked, unaffected by my emotions. “Griffin is my best friend, Allie, and thanks to you, we have a slim shot at the state championships after Christmas.” I knew it; they were all going to hold this against me.
“So I was just supposed to let him get away with it? Is that what you would have done? You, more than anyone, know how hard I studied for that test. It’s always the right thing to do the right thing,” I said harshly, surprised that he was taking Griffin’s side.
He looked down at the ground, and his hair fell into his eyes as he looked back up at me. My instincts kicked in, and I reached up to move it out of his eyes.
“Don’t,” he said, as he grabbed my wrist and pushed it back down to my side. I sucked in a breath in disbelief.
“I was right,” I said quietly, as I could feel myself start to shake.
“You made a promise to me that you couldn’t keep.
” Chris had asked me to trust him, and here he was, about to walk away from me, just like my Dad did.
I had been thinking of saying three little words to him for the past few days and was glad that I hadn’t.
As reality sank in, and tears fell down my face, I turned to reach for my door handle so that I could retreat to the safety of my Jeep.
But before I opened the door, I heard him mutter three little words instead.
“I’ll see you,” he said, then he walked away, got in his truck, and drove off.
Isabelle came running as she saw me collapse to the pavement, just like that day when I had missed the goal. Without saying a single word, she wrapped her arms around me and held me there, as I completely fell apart.