Page 16 of The Secret Of Us

“They’ve got a team here,” I say, changing the subject. Ravi is polite enough not to call me out on it.

“Are you going to join?”

“The headteacher said I could try out for it tomorrow, but I don’t know,” I say, staring down at my feet.

“You should. You can teach those pretentious boarding school kids a thing or two.”

“Iamone of those pretentious boarding school kids now,” I remind him.

Ravi laughs, and I can’t help but smile. He’s been a steadfast friend to me, and I’m glad he’s still making an effort with me even when we’re no longer at the same school.

The warning bell rings, and Ravi asks me to update him later on how the rest of the day goes. We hang up, and I turn to face the mirror to look over myself. I stare myself down, taking some deep breaths before I school my expression back to a plain mask as I prepare to face the judgemental stares again.

* * *

The next daypasses pretty much in the same way. I go to classes, keeping to myself as much as I can, and then hide away in between them.

It’s all too easy to consider staying in my room once I get back to it, but my conversation with Ravi yesterday plays in my mind. I force myself to get changed into the navy shorts and T-shirt that make up the PE uniform. Then, I lace up my trainers before making my way to the playing fields. They’re all down a set of stairs, and there’s a few of them so that multiple sports can play at once, but it’s only the football team down here today.

The rest of the guys stand around talking to each other, stretching their limbs in preparation. I’m becoming quite talented at blending into the background, so I stand off to the side, tying and untying my laces just so it looks like I’m doing something.

“Stay away from my girlfriend.”

I look up to see the guy who annoyed Izzy the other day staring down at me.Robert? Riley? Rowan?Whatever his name is, his statement puzzles me. I stand up and realise he’s a little bit shorter than me, which gives me some kind of courage.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say plainly, stepping to the side of him so I can walk away. He does the same and blocks my path, his hands in his pockets, and his head tilted to one side. “Can you move, please?”

“Or what? You’ll attack me, too?” he sneers.

I try my best to keep my expression flat. I know what they’ve all been saying behind my back. I just didn’t expect anyone to say it to my face.

“I just want to play football,” I tell him, hoping I can diffuse whatever situation he wants to start. I don’t have the energy to plead my case to this random guy who already seems to hate me without any reason.

“Boys, gather round,” Mr. Reid shouts.

I get one last glare fromRobert?before he turns around and jogs toward Mr. Reid and the guy standing next to him, who looks barely older than the rest of us.

I trail behind, hiding myself at the back of the group in hopes that the teacher won’t make a big deal out of me joining, and we can start playing.

“Two things to go over before we start. First, we have a new teammate joining us. Noah, can you come to the front for a second?”

Well, there goes that hope.

The others clear a path for me to walk through, and I stand in front of Mr. Reid, wishing I could plug my ears so I don’t have to hear the murmurs behind me. He grabs my shoulder, turning me to face the small crowd.

“I’ve heard Noah was a great player at his old school so I’m sure he’ll have no trouble fitting in here. He’s a centre back so we’ll start with him there today and see how you all get on.”

They all nod to indicate they’ve heard, but I can’t miss the judgement on their faces.Riley?leans his head toward the person standing next to him, whispering and laughing about something without taking his eyes off me. He’s going to be a problem.

“Okay, you can go back to hiding now,” the old man chuckles.

He’s trying to make a joke, but it doesn’t feel that way to me. I move to the back of the group again.

“Second, you may have noticed I’m not alone today. Some of you might recognise Luke from your younger years. He was a student here a few years ago but now he’s here to help me out as part of his placement for his degree.”

I look at Luke then. He’s taller than everyone else here and looks like he could probably model as a side hobby. He grins widely as he claps his hands together.

“Great to be back, John,” Luke says, a cheeky glint in his eyes as they dart to Mr. Reid. The other boys stifle laughs as the older teacher clenches his jaw. “I was the best player he had so let’s see what you guys have got.”

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