Page 49 of De Vil

I look at the woman sitting in front of me, appalled. What kind of question is that? Nerves are running wildly through me, but now I'm just angry.

"No."

The woman sizes me up, and I can tell she's a shrewd woman of high intelligence, but she's not going to get anything out of me.

"Did you come to this school for the sole purpose of a relationship with Ms. Landrey?"

"No."

I'm getting bored. These lines of questions are ridiculous. Of course, I didn't come to have a relationship with her. Hell, I started out not liking her. She was the enemy so to speak.

"How did Ms. Landrey find you?"

"I imagine since she's the coach, she scouts the high schools and finds the best players."

The door opens behind me and I hear Jazz and Mr. Groveton talking.

"Mr. Groveton, why is there another student here?"

He walks up with Jazz in tow. "Because these two are best friends and they both received scholarships not only for their academic talent, but for other reasons, too. Jazz here is an artist, so she received a partial scholarship for art, which is only a portion of her full academic scholarship in which she earned. Tia here is an athlete, so she received an athletic scholarship as well as a full academic one as well. . Now, are we done here?"

"Mr. Groveton, this is highly..." Mr. Groveton cuts her off with a slash of his hand.

"Enough. You have gotten your answers from my staff and you now have grilled this young lady for over thirty-five minutes. Let's make the decision right now." He points to me and stares down at them. "She will remain a student at this college for however long she deems it necessary to graduate with whatever degree she wants. There will be no talking about this, no rumors spread, and you would be wise to remember who gave you jobs in the first place."

Jazz told me that her uncle could be ruthless and that she only told him what was going on so that he could help. Otherwise, she would have left him out of it. Looking at him now, I'm glad she did get him involved. Even though Jazz can't stand him, it seems like he cares enough to do the right thing.

"Very well. Ms. Falcon, you are reinstated as a full time student. Be aware of the fact you are here on the school's dime. Do not waste this opportunity."

"Alright, are we done here?" I'm antsy and need to be alone. There are too many people right now and not enough time to think and decompress.

"Yes, you are free to go."

Standing up from my chair, I walk toward the door and Jazz comes up right beside me. "It's all going to be alright now. We won."

I smile at her even though I feel dead inside. "Yes, we did. Thank you for getting your uncle involved."

She shivers, but she nods. "Step-uncle, but yeah of course. I wasn't going to let you go down."

"Thank you, Jazz." I hug her and she looks at me as we part. "I'm going to go home now and rest."

"If you need me, call me, ok?" There's concern in her eyes, and I hate it. I don't want her to fret over me.

"You bet. Same to you."

We embrace one more time and go our separate ways. How in the hell am I going to survive this? Seeing Coach every day and knowing... I stop my train of thought and swallow hard to keep from bursting into tears.

I'm going to be fine. There's nothing I can't get past. Right?

* * *

When I get home, I notice something is off. The air around me doesn't feel right. It's on edge and the hairs on my arms stand straight up. Shivering, I look around, trying to find what's out of place, but I don't find it.

"Get it together, Tia," I chastise myself as I lay my keys on the kitchen counter. This must be what it's like to lose it. There's no one here and I'm still feeling out of sorts. My phone dings, letting me know I have a notification from my page. I'm sure I'm losing subscribers right and left. Somehow, that doesn't bother me as much as I thought it would. Besides, I need to deactivate the account anyways.

Why? It's not like you are cheating on Coach with it anymore.The voice inside my head mocks me. Yeah, there's no reason. I could be making money right now. The thought burns my chest and I shake my head.

Instead of logging on, I turn off the notifications for the app and plug in the phone next to my bed as I kick off my shoes. After taking my clothes off, I throw them in the hamper and walk into the bathroom. Gazing at myself in the mirror, I realize how sunken I look. Having my heart ripped out is something I never thought I'd go through. Hell, I was strictly against relationships, and I now know why.

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