Page 51 of Sporty Girls Don't Fall For Loners

I glare at her. “Why do you even care? Just go.”

“No. It’s not right to treat my aunt and uncle that way. Talk to me however you want, but not them. They’re good people.”

I get to my feet, taking a few steps toward her. “Good people? You’re blinded because they’re your family.”

“Blinded? What are you talking about?”

I plow my hand through my hair. “I heard what Zack said to you yesterday. About not caring about finding me a good home and throwing me into the streets. Letting the rats take care of me. That he’s done with me.”

Her eyes go wide. “Wait, you heard that?”

I fist my hands to my sides before I lose my cool. I’m usually in control of myself, but I’m just so angry and hurt and I wish these feelings would just go away.

She moves closer to me, eyes overflowing with emotion. “He wasn’t talking about you. He was talking about another kid.”

I shake my head. “No. I heard him. He was talking about me.”

“He was telling me about his day. He quoted another caseworker who wasn’t treating a kid right. That caseworker was the one who said those words, not my uncle. Uncle Zack took it to heart. It crushed him to hear about that poor kid. Kade, he would never say that about you.”

I blink at her. “He wasn’t talking about me?”

She shakes her head.

“He…” I swallow. “He doesn’t want to throw me to the rats?”

She shakes her head again.

I drop down on my bed, pushing my fingers through my hair again.

“He cares about you and would never abandon you,” she tells me.

I run my hand down my face. How could I have been so wrong? I was so rude to Zack and Ally this morning, so rude to Ally last night and at school, and to Zoey as well. All they’ve shown me since I came to live here was kindness and care. And I threw it in their faces.

None of them deserved that behavior from me.

“I…I didn’t know,” I say in a low voice. “I thought…” I sigh. “I really thought…”

She settles down next to me. “I can see how you misunderstood his words. I’m sorry you thought he wanted to kick you out. Uncle Zack would never do that.”

I nod, unable to say anything because I feel so horrible. It’s not the physical pain from my bruises—it’s deeper than that.

“Is that why you didn’t defend yourself and explain what happened with those guys?” she asks. “You just gave up?”

I nod again. “Figured that if I was going to be thrown away, what was the point of staying in school? Nothing mattered. Everything was just bleak. I…” I clear my throat. “This house has been great to me. I was starting to feel at home, you know. And then I heard Zack say that and…” I shake my head, not understanding why I’m telling her this. I’m not one to bare my soul to another person. She’s making me feel so vulnerable right now, but the truth is that I don’t hate it.

“Thanks for helping me,” I continue. “And for telling them the truth. You didn’t have to do that.” I avert my gaze for a few seconds, then face her.

Her eyes are intense and filled with care and concern as she looks at me. “I couldn’t just stand there watching you get suspended when you didn’t do anything wrong.”

I chuckle lightly. “Busted some of them real good.”

She laughs, too. “Yeah, you did. Too bad Principal Nakamura caught you hitting them and not them hitting you.”

“How did you see what happened? I thought you left before Nakamura came.”

“I…something made me turn around.”

“Oh.”

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