Chapter 16 #2
“She’s leaving soon, but she’ll be back for the open house. Principal Edwards has asked her to give a speech about the donation she made to the gardens.”
“Principal Edwards.” Dante laughs. “Why don’t just call him dad?”
She glares at him. “He’s not my father. He’s my stepfather and I hate that word. I haven’t used it for any of my mother’s husbands.”
“So what do you call him?” Dante asks.
“Steven. Unless I’m at school, where he’s Principal Edwards.”
Peyton walks by, smiling at me. She sits with the cheerleaders, one table down. They only sit at this table if they’re asked, which Braden says only happens to girls who are dating one of the players. I’m the exception to that because I’m Braden’s cousin, and the guys like having me here.
Aside from me, the only other girl at the table is Kristen. Alyssa’s usually here, but she’s late today. Or maybe she’s no longer invited now that she’s not dating Kade.
The other football table has a few girls, but nobody pays much attention to that table since they’re all underclassmen who aren’t worshiped the way the school worships the senior players.
Braden walks up to the table with his usual protein bar and protein-spiked drink.
“You kicked ass at practice this morning,” Miles says, sucking up to Braden before he’s even sat down.
“It wasn’t bad,” he says, turning his chair the other direction before sitting down. “Where the hell were you?” he asks Kade.
“Doctor’s appointment. I told you about it on Friday.”
“You went to the doctor at six in the morning?”
“The doctor’s in Anaheim. We had to leave at six to get there on time.”
Braden ignores him and rips open his protein bar.
“Why’d you go to the doctor?” I ask Kade. “Football injury?”
“Yeah.” Kade holds his arm out. “Busted my wrist in practice a few weeks ago. It was supposed to be better by now but it’s not.”
“Doesn’t mean you skip practice,” Braden says. “I busted my damn knee and I was still there.”
“I didn’t skip it on purpose,” Kade mutters, stabbing his salad with his fork.
“Try sleeping through your alarm,” Wyatt says, joining us at the table. “Did it one time and thought Braden was gonna kill me.”
“And it hasn’t happened since, has it?” Braden says.
So at least three players are injured. Three seniors. Some of the best on the team. They can still play, but not at their best.
Barron appears and sits next to Braden. “Just talked to Coach. They couldn’t see anything on the cameras.”
“The field didn’t tear up on its own,” Braden says. “Why the fuck can’t they see anything?”
“Coach said it looked like someone messed with the recording. It’s like they removed the section that showed them tearing up the grass.”
“What are you talking about?” I casually ask.
Dante answers. “Someone tore up our field a few weeks ago. We had to bring in new turf. Took up half the team’s budget to get it fixed.”
“And nobody knows who did it?”
“Everyone knows,” Braden says. “The fuckers at Legion did it. And I’m sure Novak was the one who told them to.”
Or he did it himself. The recording was erased, just like the security video from the cameras behind Brock’s house. Jackson had to have been involved.
Barron gets up. “I’m going to the gym. See you fuckers later.”
Peyton comes up behind Braden, talking in his ear. “Loved seeing you play on Friday. You look so damn hot in your uniform.”
“What do you want, Peyton?”
“Could I borrow Rumor today? She never sits at our table, and the other girls really want to meet her.”
Braden stares down the table at me. “No. Rumor stays here.”
Peyton gives me a look that says she tried. Why was she trying? I never told her I wanted to sit with the cheerleaders. I need to sit here to get information, but I don’t like Braden demanding that I stay. Now it looks like I’m following his orders, which I hate.
Alyssa shows up and sits next to Kade, frowning, her eyes on the table.
“What’s wrong, babe?” Kade asks.
“I got a C on my English quiz.”
Kade laughs. “Ms. Pruitt’s back?”
“She said I didn’t show all my work. I did everything her sub told us to do. She shouldn’t be grading tests she wasn’t even there for.”
If Alyssa got a C, I probably got an F. Alyssa’s at the top of our class.
“Do you have Ms. Pruitt?” I ask Dante.
He shakes his head. “Had her last year. She’s tough. If I didn’t play football I probably would’ve flunked.”
I’m always surprised by how open they are in admitting that the teachers fix their grades. Shouldn’t that be a secret? Or at least something you don’t talk about?
“You two are back together?” Braden says to Kade.
“Sort of,” Alyssa says, glaring at Kade. “If he can keep his dick out of other girls.”
Kade just laughs.
“When did that happen?” Braden says. “You broke up on Friday after the game.”
“And got back together Saturday night.” Kade puts his arm around Alyssa. “You just couldn’t live without me, could you? Because I’m the best.”
I want to gag. These guys seriously need to have their egos knocked down.
I wonder if they realize they’re not going to get away with acting this way at college.
Nobody will treat them like gods or fix their grades.
It’s going to be a huge shock when they have girls rejecting them and telling them they’re assholes when they say shit like Kade just said to Alyssa.
She gets up from the table. “I’m going to study.”
“What about lunch?” Kade says.
“I don’t have time to eat. See you after school.”
She walks off, and Braden says to Kade, “Might be time to trade her in. She’s being a bitch.”
“Really, Braden?” Kristen scoffs.
“What? All she does is complain. And he’s been with her long enough.”
Kristen turns to Braden. “Maybe if you treated women better, you’d actually get a date now and then.”
Wow. Kristen finally said something I agree with.
“I don’t have fucking dates because that’s what I choose,” Braden says, getting angry. “I’m not wasting my time taking some girl to dinner. She can get her own damn dinner.”
“And you wonder why we didn’t last,” Kristen says with a sigh.
“We didn’t last because you’re a—” He stops, pursing his lips as he tries to hold back what he was about to say.
Kristen smiles at him. “I’m a what, Braden?”
“Nothing.” He shakes his head. “It doesn’t fucking matter. Go be with Novak. See if I fucking care.”
“You’re still with Novak?” Miles asks, surprised.
“No,” Kristen says, glancing at me. “Jackson is with someone else.”
My heart’s pounding. Why is she looking at me?
Shit. She’s going to tell them. She’s going to tell them about Jackson and me.