Page 43 of De Vil

She rolls her eyes so hard, I’m afraid they might pop out of her head. "Oh, my God. It isn't about you. You're nothing. Now, move out of my way."

"Not until you delete the photo, Braxton."

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that if you talk nice to me, I'll do anything you want. What a fantasy world you live in." She shoves me out of the way and I grab her arm. Knocking the phone out of her hand, I grab it and back away from her.

"Give me my phone back, you freak." She's hysterically trying to get it from me. I tower over her by a good six inches, which helps me keep it away from her.

"Nope." I take the back off, grab the sim card and the battery. I hand her the phone pieces back, keeping the most important parts. "When you've had time to think this over, and come to your senses, I'll give this sim card and your battery back."

I walk away as Coach comes down the hall.

"Coach, you can choose what to do. Either way, I know Tia has been whoring herself to you!" Braxton screams at us.

My heart is twisting, and my stomach feels like I may vomit. I look at Coach and she's standing there, guilt written all over her face. She has nothing to be guilty about. If I'm honest with myself, it hurts to see her looking ashamed. When I turn around, four of my teammates are outside with Braxton. There's no doubt in my mind she's telling them what's going on.

I walk over to Coach, and she steps into the doorway of her room. "Good night, Tia." She shuts the door in my face, and I hear Braxton laugh. My world starts crashing around me, and I rush to get into my room. The panic and anxiety build inside of me, causing me to have a hard time breathing. I get into bed after I throw Braxton's phone hardware in my bag.

Why did Mommy do that? She knows I have abandonment issues. My phone goes off, and I rush to see if she's texting me. I fall out of bed and burst into tears and laugh at the same time. I'm totally losing it. The text is from Jazz, and my head falls to the floor, defeated.

Jazz:How's the hotel room?

My vision blurs with tears as I type out a reply to her.

Me:It's really nice.

Jazz:I can't wait to hear about your victory tomorrow.

What fucking victory? I most likely won’t be playing anymore, and Coach... my heart hurts as I think about her.

Libby snores and I'm instantly angry at her. If she had been asleep sooner, I could have been in Mommy's room, eating her out. Instead, everything fell apart.

* * *

"Tia, wake up."

Libby shakes me and I mumble for her to go away.

"You're going to be late for breakfast." She lies down on top of me, smothering me. It would be funny if I was in the mood for being played with.

"Go without me Lib. I'll see you afterward." I don't feel like enduring the stares right now.

Libby sighs, but she gets off me, and I can breathe again. The door opens and closes, leaving me to the silence of the room and my baffling thoughts. Tears well up, but I don't let them fall. There's no reason for them. Or at least I tell myself that if Coach doesn't want me, so be it. I know better, though.

When the alarm goes off to get up for practice, I jump out of the bed. I shower and head down toward the lobby. Libby and some others are already there. I sit with them and they smile at me, telling me good morning.

"Did you hear the good news?" Libby is jumping up and down in her seat.

"What news?"

"Braxton may get kicked off the team."

I wasn't paying close attention, thinking it would be normal gossip, but I heard Braxton's name.

"No, what happened?"

The girl to the right of Libby, I think her name is Juarez, speaks up. "She and Coach got into it at breakfast."

"Oh." That's all I know how to say at the moment. Would Coach really kick her off the team? She is one of the best players.

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