Page 95 of It's in the Contract
Thirty-Eight
I would not show my face at school after that.
Text message from Matt Graham to Deanna Weaver.
The only goodthing about my sprained ankle is that Mom let me off the hook for weightlifting this morning. I got to sleep in until 6:15 AM. It was beautiful.
Even with the extra sleep, I still feel exhausted as I limp towards our table at lunch, like a weight is dragging me down. I maneuver through the cafeteria with my tray in one hand, backpack slung awkwardly over one shoulder, crutch under my armpit. People stare and whisper, watching me struggle.
Anger, rather than embarrassment, rips through me. If Zeke was here, I know he wouldn’t hesitate to help me.
Zeke.
Chelsea and Nicole sit at our table, surrounded by a gaggle of girls, talking and laughing. Suzy isn’t there. I pause. Do I want to sit at that table of girls, joining in the gossip, pretending to laugh at stories they tell that aren’t funny, oohing and ahhing over pictures of everyone’s Homecoming dresses? My stomach turns at the thought.
I turn to my right and see Emma, Taylor, and Tina along with a few other people I don’t know. They’re gathered around their lunch table, watching something on Emma’s phone. Before I’ve even consciously made the decision, I head in their direction. I’m aware of people’s stares and whispers, but I try not to care.
“Can I . . . can I sit here?”
Emma looks up, her black-rimmed eyes enormous, pink bubble halfway out of her mouth. Tina looks up at me and smiles, then scoots over to make room.
I half-sit, half-plop down on the bench beside her.
“Thanks.” I set down my tray and pick up my fork to eat my orange chicken and rice. The group stares at me and I pause, forkful of food halfway to my mouth.
“Umm. Is this okay?”
“Callie!” Taylor says. He smiles a big, goofy smile. “How are you?”
I smile back. “That’s the first time I’ve heard you say something that didn’t sound like a movie quote.” I nod towards the phone. “What are you watching?”
Emma holds it out to show me. I blink. It’s . . . it’s me and Zeke. I hold a video game controller awkwardly in my hands and there’s an intense look of concentration on my face. Zeke’s wide smile lights up the screen as he cheers me on. It’s Zeke and me playing Zelda.
“You’re watching that?”
Emma smiles. “You were really funny.”
Nick Faust, the boy who Emma pushed off of Brielle’s yacht, walks by our table and guffaws when he sees me. “The mighty queen has finally fallen. Why else would she choose to sit with these freaks?”
His friends behind him laugh, and I turn back to my food.This was a bad idea.
I look up when I hear the bench scrape back. Emma stands and crosses her arms over her chest. “Leave. Now.”
“Or what?” Nick gets up in her face, towering over her.
Emma glares. “Or I will tell this whole school how easy it was to push you off of that boat. Our defensive football player, shoved over by a little girl.”
He’s offense, but whatever. I press my lips together to hide my smile.
Nick blanches, mumbles something, and then he and his friends turn and leave.
Emma sits back down and nods to me. I guess I’ve been included in her flock of people to protect.
“Thank you,” I say.
My crutch falls over to the ground. I bend down to pick it up, and I see a pair of sharp black stilettos and spray-tanned legs. I look up, and Brielle is sneering down at me.
Anger churns within me. “You dropped me on purpose at the game. I know you did.” I stand, even though my foot is throbbing.
