Page 1 of Sporty Girls Don't Fall For Loners

Chapter One

Zoey

The new guy looks like trouble.

I, along with my friends and every kid at school standing in the hallway, watch as the tall boy with light brown hair that reaches past his shoulders follows my aunt and English teacher, Ally Hastings, to a locker. The expression on his face when he notices everyone gawking like he’s a new animal at the zoo? Super ticked off. His arms clutch a stack of textbooks, his muscles straining against his dark blue T-shirt.

All the girls whisper how hot he is and are wondering who he is and why my aunt is helping him empty some things from his backpack into the locker, including the textbooks he just got from the office. But I know who he is. Sort of. Uncle Zack and Aunt Ally are fostering him until he’s placed in a permanent home. My uncle is a social worker and helps kids in the system. I don’t know much about the guy, not even his name, but what I do know is that he’s had a pretty difficult life.

After his locker is in order, Aunt Ally tells him something, to which he begrudgingly nods. Then she offers him a smile and walks away.

“Looks like he’s in our English class,” one of my best friends, Mia Park, says.

“How do you know that?” I ask.

“Ally just told him that while she knows first days can be hard, she expects him to be on time to her class with his copy of Jane Eyre.”

“We’re reading Jane Eyre next?” My other best friend and cousin, Rylee Barrington, punches the air. “Yes!”

“I didn’t know you were Supergirl and have super hearing,” I tell Mia.

She beams. “It’s a gift.”

I glance at New Guy and notice that he stands with his back pressed against his locker as he plays with his phone. He still wears that ticked-off expression.

“Is Jane Eyre the book where a woman is hired to be a governess to some rich man’s ward?” Rylee’s boyfriend, Mason Monroe, asks. “And there’s a woman living in the attic or something?”

Rylee playfully slaps his shoulder. “It’s more romantic than that.” She sighs. “I need to turn you into a fiction reader. A romance reader.”

He smiles as he slides his hands into hers. “You know I want to take part in your interests. I just wish I wasn’t so busy with tutoring and mathletes.”

Rylee shakes her head, her straight, brown hair falling down her shoulders. “No, no. You should focus on mathletes. There’s time to turn you into a romance reader later. Because you and I? We’re going to be together forever.” She looks to her right and left to make sure no teachers are around before giving him a quick peck on the lips.

Mia sighs overdramatically, like she’s desperately waiting for the day the gods of love will bestow upon her the gift of a lifetime—her soulmate. Both she and Rylee, before she got together with Mason, dreamed of meeting super sweet guys and falling in love in high school, like our parents. Lucky for Rylee, her wish was granted.

I don’t really understand the need for a guy. From what I see around me and in books and movies, love complicates everything. One minute you’re living your life happily with no stress or distractions, and the next minute you’re super obsessed with some guy just because he’s…what? Gorgeous? Smokin’ hot? Makes your stomach twist like a pretzel?

And the next minute, you’re crying in bed and squishing the living daylights out of your poor stuffed animal because the guy broke your heart.

I have no time or patience for that, especially during football season. I’m the quarterback for the Edenbury High Lions and it’s my mission to get our team to state, just like we did for the past two years. The last thing I need is a guy wrecking that for me. I’m not saying I’m anti-love and don’t want to see my best friends happy—I do. I just don’t see why we should obsess about it in high school when we have other things to focus on. Like getting good grades and hanging out with each other.

The bell rings, signaling the start of first period. Since all of us have English with Aunt Ally first, we make our way to her classroom. I notice New Kid still standing by his locker, playing with his phone.

My friends, Mason, and I settle down at our desks and discuss the next book we want to read for our book club. Well, not so much Mason because his schedule is packed and he probably won’t be able to make it. It sucks that more people don’t join Edenbury High’s book club, but invisible girls like us aren’t exactly popular around here. Not that I want to be popular. I’m super happy with how my life is and wouldn’t change it for anything.

Aunt Ally walks in, putting on a smile like she always does. Everyone loves her classes. She lives and breathes books and has amazing discussions with her students. And she’s so good at making us see things in a whole new light. Even though I’ve read Jane Eyre a million times, I can’t wait for Aunt Ally to open my eyes to something I’ve never thought about before.

But her smile vanishes as she surveys every student in the classroom. “Where’s Kade?”

My friends and I exchange a glance. Who is Kade?

Wait, is that the new kid?

“Kade Sanders?” Aunt Ally asks as she glances around the room. “The new student. Has anyone seen him?”

I raise my hand. “I think I saw him in the hallway.”

Aunt Ally closes her eyes for a second and sighs, like she’s disappointed and worried that New Kid didn’t show up to class with his copy of Jane Eyre like she asked. “Do you mind asking him to join us, Zoey?”

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