Of course. Assholes.
Heath turns back to me with a grimace. “If our team doesn’t have the minimum number of players, bench warmers or not, then we don’t qualify to even play other schools. So, get your ass back to practice.”
That seems like a stupid rule to me, almost as stupid as the fact that this league has heated fields that allows them to play outside well into winter. “Fine,” I sigh. “I’ll get checked out after I get my shit set up in my dorm. Happy?”
Heath blinks, lowering his finger slowly, but he’s still got a manic look on his face.
“Calm down, man. God.” I put a hand on his chest to push him back, but he springs away from my touch like I’ve got a disease.
Speaking of diseases, Beck suddenly materializes out of the crowd and takes his turn jabbing a finger in my direction.
“Good thing you decided to show up again,” Beck calls, his finger wagging accusatorially. “We’ve got to get back to work on our project.”
I swallow hard, looking between Beck and Heath here in front of me. There’s no sign of the meek boys who wouldn’t look at me before break.
I glance once down the hall behind them. Where the hell is Rafael when you need him?
To my surprise, there’s a girl with Beck, clutching his arm and looking around like she’s daring anyone to take him away from her. She spots me looking and grins sort of maliciously as she walks in step with Beck toward me.
“Yeah, I know,” I say to Beck as he approaches.
So, we are back to normal, then, I think, looking from Heath’s crazed expression to Beck’s manic grin to Beck’s new girlfriend’s evil smile. I just forgot, for a second, what normal really was here.
Great. Now all I need is—
Even as I think it, Jasper moves through the crowd with none other than Olive on his arm.
Good. Excellent. Just what I needed.
Jasper meets my eyes, but his gaze slides quickly past me. It’s the only hint at the events of that one drunken night, and it doesn’t last long.
“Oh, look,” Olive says haughtily, her lip curling up at the corner of her mouth
. “It’s Alex.”
“Olive,” I reply, nodding at her once.
She sniffs and lifts her chin, looking down her nose at me. Jasper keeps his gaze firmly over my shoulder. I can tell he’d like nothing better than to get out of here already, but Olive keeps her feet firmly planted in front of me and her nails dug like claws into Jasper’s bulging arm.
I guess she’s through with pouting that I won’t answer her messages and has reverted to spiting me instead. If it keeps Jasper from trying to murder me again, then I suppose I should be grateful for the change, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t sting just a little.
“Are you going to go to the Christmas dance?” Olive asks, her eyes fixed on me with an intensity that makes me want to shrink back. It’s obvious from her inflection that her intention is to somehow hurt me.
All I do is glance between the three four of them.
“Dance?”
Heath leans on the wall next to me, grinning. “This guy probably couldn’t get a girl if he tried,” he snickers, his face uncomfortably close to my ear. I wince and jerk away from him.
“Probably not,” Olive says, her voice carrying over the hall as Jasper finally manages to pull her away, “since his dick is so small you can barely tell it’s there!”
The three boys—and Beck’s new girlfriend—burst into laughter, as do several of the people still in the hall. I feel my face color. Why is this embarrassing to me? I don’t even have a dick, so I shouldn’t be self-conscious about its supposed size.
But still.
Finally, someone I want to see materializes; Rafael, Fox, and Neville the nerdy kid approach in a little group. Neville’s obviously been sunburnt. Fox looks the same. But Rafael spent his break in Bora Bora, and he’s tanned so much his white teeth practically glow as he smiles.
“Alex! There you are.”