Page 46 of Sporty Girls Don't Fall For Loners

“Is everything okay, Kade?” Uncle Zack asks.

“Fine.”

“Are you sure? Because you can always talk to us—”

“Going to wait outside.” He finishes his banana and dumps the peel into the garbage bin, then sweeps his backpack off the floor and storms out of the house.

Aunt Ally rubs her forehead. “I don’t know if we’re reaching him, Zack.”

He sighs. “We just need to be patient. Keep treating him kindly and show him that we’re here to help him. Hopefully, he’ll feel more comfortable in time and will lower his guard around us.”

Aunt Ally nods, but she still looks concerned. “It just hurts that he’s hurting.”

“I know,” he says softly.

We finish breakfast without saying much. My aunt and uncle seem preoccupied with their thoughts, probably about Kade. I, too, am thinking about him. I don’t understand why he’s being so cold. He seemed to have been warming up only a few days ago. But then he was rude to me last night when we were working out in the basement and now he’s blowing off my uncle and aunt?

Uncle Zack needs to run because he’s a little late for work, so Aunt Ally and I clean up and then leave the house. Kade sits on the bottom step, his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes shut as he listens to music.

“Kade,” Aunt Ally says as she sits down next to him. “Are you sure you don’t want to talk?”

His eyes flash open. When he realizes my aunt is sitting right next to him, he stiffens and launches to his feet. “No, I don’t want to talk. I want to go to school.”

Aunt Ally’s face falls. It looks like she has a million questions to ask, but she nods and stands. “Okay. Let’s head to school.”

Aunt Ally tries to engage Kade in conversation as she drives, but he just sits there with his arms crossed over his chest as he listens to music and plays a game on his phone. Eventually, she gives up and drives in silence. After we reach school and get out of the car, Aunt Ally takes him aside and whispers to him, but he shoves past her and storms into the school. She follows after him.

I meet my friends at my locker and after chatting for a bit, we head to English. Aunt Ally walks in and starts discussing the new book we’re reading in class. Like always, most of the kids are at the edge of their seats, eager to hear her take on the book. The time flies by so fast and before I know it, the bell rings.

“For those of you who didn’t email me your essays last night, please pass them up!” Aunt Ally calls as everyone starts packing away their stuff. “Essays! Worth fifteen percent of your grade. And no, you can’t send it to me tonight. The deadline is today.”

Kids pass their essays to the front. Aunt Ally nods as she gathers them. Then she frowns when her gaze settles on Kade. “Kade, your essay, please.”

He sticks his earbuds into his ears and sweeps his backpack off the floor. He’s about to stride out of the classroom, but Aunt Ally says, “Kade, did you complete the assignment?”

“No.”

She watches him for a few seconds. “Is there a reason you didn’t complete it?”

“No.”

“I want to talk to you outside.”

He grunts as he follows her out the door.

“Well…sheesh,” Mia says. “What’s up with him?”

“No idea,” I say as I slide my backpack up my arms. “He’s been acting weird all morning and last night.”

“I thought he was happy living with Ally and Zack,” Rylee says as we head to the exit. “He definitely didn’t seem as ticked off the last few days like he did when he first came to Edenbury High. Well, until today.”

Aunt Ally has a serious expression on her face as she talks to him outside of the classroom. He stands before her with his arms tucked tightly into his chest and an angry look on his face. His eyes meet mine when I leave the classroom, and for some reason, a part of me hopes his expression will soften. But it doesn’t. He just looks at me for a bit before reluctantly returning his gaze to my aunt.

The rest of my classes go by like usual, and to Mia’s dismay, there’s no pizza for lunch. Our book club is successful, and then I have history class with Kade. He sits across from me like he usually does, and I watch him for a short while, debating if I should ask him if everything is okay. Obviously something’s bothering him, so asking him if he’s okay would be silly. But I don’t know if I should ask him if he wants to talk because clearly that didn’t work when my aunt and uncle tried. But maybe I can get through to him somehow?

“Hey,” I say.

He doesn’t look at me, just continues playing a game on his phone.

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