Page 84 of Edge of Unbroken

Shane shakes his head. “I’m throwing a party,” he says matter-of-factly, narrowing his eyes at Drew. I get the impression Shane only just decided to have this party.

“Okay, well…” Drew looks at me, apparently still expecting an answer.

“I’ll be hanging out at Shane’s that night,” I say.

Drew nods. “Yeah, okay. Cool,” he says awkwardly just as two guys approach, both of whom I know to be on the hockey team.

“Drew!” the taller of the two says. “Come on, dude. Stop talking and let’s go. We don’t need to lose our goalie, too,” he says with a derisive look at me, obviously referring to the rumors about me being responsible for Ronan’s disappearance. He notices Steve and Shane and comes to a stop in front of us. “Oh, shit, hey guys.”

“What’s up, Noah?” Shane says with a nod.

“Not much, just getting some ice time in with Drew and Ricky,” Noah says.

“You playing varsity now?” Steve asks him, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his jacket. It’s freezing in here.

“Yep, finally got moved up after the team lost Ran,” Noah says, giving me another look. “I’m surprised you guys are hanging out withher,” he says with a nod in my direction, lowering his voice conspiratorially.

Shane’s features harden. “The fuck you talking about?”

“I thought you and Ran were like best buds. Or wait, are you two…” Noah smirks, making a suggestive gesture with his hips.

Steve doesn’t miss a beat. “Hey Noah, have you lost any teeth yet?” he asks with a growl, his fists clenched by his sides.

“Woah, man, calm down,” Noah says. “Didn’t mean to piss you off. I’m just saying I find it weird that Shane would choose to hang out with her. I thought she was, like, the reason Ran is gone.”

“Why don’t you concentrate on your hockey skills instead of the bullshit people say,” Shane sneers. “From what I’m hearing, the team could benefit from you guys stepping up your game.”

“Seriously, Noah, shut the fuck up,” Drew finally says. “Let’s just get back to it.” He turns back to Steve, Shane, and me. “I’ll see you guys later.”

“Yeah, sure,” Shane says.

“Jesus fuck,” Steve huffs, watching Drew, Noah, and Ricky skate off.

“Tori told me about rumors going around school. How often does this happen?” Shane asks, his eyes softening as he studies me.

I just shrug. “I don’t know. A lot, I guess. But I try to ignore it,” I say with a heavy heart.

“Such fucking bullshit,” Steve huffs.

“It is,” I say. “But Tori, Vada, Zack, Summer, and I don’t really do anything to explain the situation. I don’t really care what people say. Let them talk. The people I care about know the truth,” I say, and hook my arm under Shane’s.

“Okay, well, if you need us to come on campus and kick some ass, just let us know,” Steve says, and I smile at him. He and Shane have been acting like such big brothers. It’s annoying as hell sometimes, but I can’t help but appreciate them both for caring so much about my well-being.

“You got it,” I laugh. “But for now, could you guys maybe show me how to skate backwards?”

They oblige, spending the next hour and a half helping me get down the basic technique for transitioning between forward and backward movement.

***

I ask Shane to drop me off at Vada’s after we grab a quick bite to eat. I wave to him and Steve, thanking them for the nice morning and lunch when I hop out of the car.

“How’s she doing today?” I ask Zack when he opens the front door for me.

Zack steps back to offer me entrance into the spacious foyer of their home. “Unpredictably weepy,” he says with a slight shake of his head. “The most random things will bring her to tears. Like, this morning, my dad made French toast and when Vada saw him put some maple syrup on his toast, she started bawling because apparently the syrup we have in our house is also the syrup Steve has at his house, and I don’t even know,” Zack shrugs exasperatedly.

“Oh no.” I sigh and shrug off my coat.

“Yeah. Anyway, my dad told her she had to go back to school on Monday.”

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