I LOOK OVER at Mom, but she’s too busy staring down my uncle to notice. She obviously didn’t know Hawk told the Twins the truth about my knee.
Hawk rubs the space between his eyebrows and clears his throat. “I’m sorry, Peyton. I should’ve checked with you or Sissy before I said anything.”
So much for Mom making sure Hawk didn’t tell anyone.
“But they won’t say a word about it. Right, boys?”
“No, sir,” Cam says.
Hawk looks at Christian, who says, “I won’t even breathe.”
My uncle nods. “All right, then. Why don’t you do everybody at the party a favor and hit the showers.”
The Twins jog off, and I’m stuck with Mom and Hawk and I sense a heart-to-heart conversation coming. I’m tired of answering the same depressing questions. Am I in any pain? Am I having a hard time getting around? Am I worried about losing my scholarship?
All of the above.
“Where’s the restroom?” It’s the only place they won’t follow me.
Hawk points toward the main entrance. “Straight down on the left. You can’t miss it.”
“Thanks.” I take off, determined to get out of earshot before they start talking about me.
In the restroom, a faucet drips below a huge mirror decorated with BLACK WATER WARRIORS bumper stickers. I lean against the wall and let the cold seep through the back of my jacket.
My phone vibrates in my pocket.
Wow. Mom waited a whole five minutes before checking on me.
But it’s not Mom.
Tess’ name glows in green letters.
Did she figure out I’ve been telling the truth? Maybe Lucia got through to her. I answer on the second ring. “I’m so glad you called.”
“The last time we were alone together you said you had nothing left to say to me.” Reed’s voice taunts me from the other end of the line. “I’m hoping that’s not true.”
“Then prepare to be disappointed. If I wanted to talk to you, I wouldn’t have blocked your number.” My heart pounds. “Why do you have Tess’ phone? Let me talk to her.”
“She went inside to get something and left her phone in the car. Like you said, my number is blocked.”
“It hasn’t stopped you from calling.”
“I miss you, Peyton.” The regret in his voice feels like spiders crawling over my skin.
“Put Tess on,” I manage.
Reed takes a shallow breath, as if the conversation is hard for him. “I doubt she’ll talk to you.”
“And who do I have to thank for that?”
“I begged you to give me another chance. That’s all I wanted.” He sounds sincere, like the boy he was when we started dating. “I’d never hurt you.”
“Are you delusional?” I fire back. “You did hurt me.” Why am I still talking to him? I should hang up, but it feels good to unleash some of my anger. He deserves it.
“It was an accident.”
Something inside me snaps. “Was lying about pushing me down the stairs an accident, too?”
“I never wanted any of this to happen, Peyton. But you backed me into a corner. If you’d just given me another chance, I could’ve fixed everything. I wasn’t trying to hurt you. I love you.”
A bitter laugh escapes my lips. “Keep telling yourself that, but don’t try to sell it to me. I was there.”
“I get it. You’re not ready to forgive me. But I know you still love me, and I’m not giving up on us.”
The sound of Reed’s voice—a voice I used to love hearing—sickens me now. “I don’t care what you do as long as it doesn’t involve me.”
I hang up just as the door to the girls’ bathroom squeaks open. I duck into the nearest stall. Blue-and-white cheerleading skirts pass by the space between the stall door and the wall.
“Christian is totally playing games again,” a girl says in a slow Southern drawl. “A week ago he said he wanted to ‘get serious about our relationship.’ Then last night we got in this huge fight and he said we needed a break.”
Her friend gasps. “Oh my god, April! He broke up with you?”
“Taking a break isn’t the same as breaking up.” April sounds annoyed.
“They both have the word break in them.”
I try not to laugh.
“Don’t be so literal, Madison. It doesn’t matter. I was about to tell Christian it was over anyway. I’m sick of waiting for him to grow up. He isn’t the only hot guy in Black Water.”
“But he is the hottest,” Madison says. “And y’all will get back together. You always do.”
“That’s the problem. Christian thinks I’ll wait around forever. So I’m gonna show him I won’t.”
The restroom door squeaks open again, and the sound of lipsticks and compacts clattering in makeup bags instantly stops, along with the gossip.
“Hey.” Another girl wearing a blue-and-white skirt enters the mix. “Are y’all going to the party?”
“Why? Are you?” April asks in the bitchiest way possible.
“I’m not sure.” The girl rifles through her purse “Your double pike looked great tonight, Madison.”
Madison ignores the compliment. “I had that down freshman year.”
“FYI, Grace,” April says. “I dumped Christian, so feel free to follow him around like a puppy tonight, like you always do.”
I don’t know much about cheerleading, but these girls are on the same squad, which makes them a team. You don’t gang up on a teammate.
“I don’t follow him around,” Grace says quietly. “We’re just friends.”
“Give it up,” April snaps. “Everyone knows you’re into him. It’s embarrassing. Even before I broke up with him, you were always lurking around. I never said anything because I felt bad for you.”
Okay … she’s definitely a bitch.
“You should go for it,” Madison says. “Maybe Christian will take pity on you.”
The bitches burst out laughing.
Come on, Grace. Tell them to go screw themselves.
Grace stays quiet. All the pent-up emotions I held back during my conversation with Reed suddenly resurface. I slam my palm against the stall door, and it swings around and bangs against the next stall.
The three girls jump.
A quick assessment and I’m ninety-nine percent sure I have all the players pegged. The chesty brunette with freckles wearing too much eyeliner is the ex, April. The tall girl with a ponytail next to her—who looks like she lost a battle with a bottle of self-tanner—is Madison. And the petite girl fidgeting with the ends of her long, straight black hair must be Grace.
Based on the conversation, I was expecting Grace to be awkward or mousy-looking, but she’s pretty—thick glossy hair, brown eyes, and rosy cheeks.
April glares at me from beneath her expertly coated lashes. “You’re in the wrong bathroom. Visitors use the one on their side of the stadium.” She crosses her arms and taps her foot, as if she expects me to scurry out.
I’m not a fan of power trips, and April is on a serious one. “Am I supposed to be intimidated? Because I’m just not feeling it. What else have you got?”
Madison puts her hand on her hip and stares. The whole scene is déjà vu from middle school.
April snorts. “You’re obviously not from around here, so I’ll let that go.”
“Are you always this perceptive? What gave me away? My accent or the fact that you’ve never seen me before?” I ask. “I’m actually from a faraway place called Washington, DC. The president lives there, in a big white house called … the White House. Maybe you’ve heard of it?”
Madison and Grace stare at me wide-eyed, as if I’m the only person who has ever stood up to April.
April narrows her eyes. “I’d be careful if I were you.”
“Or what? You’ll throw lip gloss at me?” I almost laugh.
I’m done here.
Grace stifles a smile as I pass her on my way out, and I stop. This girl deserves a break. “By the way, your friend, and I use that term loosely”—I gesture at April—“didn’t dump Christian. He dumped her. She was whining about it before you walked in.”
“You bi—” April shouts at me as the door closes.
That was fun.
Sticking up for Grace cheered me up a little.
The stadium has emptied out for the most part, and the sight of the green field makes me feel like running. As a striker, it was my job to move the ball down the soccer field and score goals. The team relied on my speed.
I can’t remember a time when I didn’t play soccer. Dad spent hours dribbling alongside me—him with a standard soccer ball and me with a toddler-sized version. He stood in front of a flimsy net we’d made out of PVC pipes, and played goalkeeper for hours so I could practice my corner shots. I lose myself in the memories.
“Hey! Watch—”
I look up in time to see a guy’s broad chest before I walk right into him. My knee gives out, but he catches my arm.
“Nice save,” he says, as if I’m the one who kept him from falling instead of the other way around.
I jerk away from him. The combination of hearing Reed’s voice a few minutes ago and feeling a guy grab me from out of nowhere … it’s too much.
“You okay?” Brown eyes that look even darker against his pale skin.
It’s Owen, the mystery guy from the parking lot.
“I’m fine.”
“You sure?”
Why won’t my pulse slow down?
“Yeah. I have to go.” I take off in the opposite direction, embarrassed.
I bumped into a guy and almost jumped out of my skin? This isn’t me. I’m the person who never flinches during horror movies.
The leg brace makes me feel helpless. What if a stranger had grabbed me instead of Owen? Knowing I couldn’t run or fight someone off terrifies me.
Or if someone tries to hurt me again.
Mom and Hawk are exactly where I left them. The Twins have returned from the locker room, freshly showered, and they swapped their football uniforms for jeans and T-shirts. The four of them are huddled together talking. They’re probably discussing my fragile state. They think I’m too traumatized to hang out at a stupid party. But I’m not the damaged person everyone thinks.
I refuse to be that girl.
I walk up behind the Twins and squeeze between them. “So when are we going to that party you were telling me about?”