“He’s a nice guy,” I say, still hoping that she’ll go away. But Sasha Green isn’t a person that you ask to go away. Doing that just means you’ll be the target of the popular crowd for a month.
She shakes her head. “That’s not what I mean. I mean that you like him like him.”
“No, I don’t.”
“It’s okay if you do,” she says sweetly. “It’s cute.”
I try to shake my head, to form the words to stop this. The last thing I need is for it to get back to Adam that I have a crush on him. I would die. Actually and literally die. “It’s not like that.”
Sasha tilts her head. “That’s too bad. There’s nothing wrong with liking someone. How do you think Adam would feel if he knew that you don’t like him?”
My face flushes, and my body goes hot. I can feel myself start to panic, and I know that I need to leave. I’m not sure how she’s managed to do it—turn my words back on me twice—but it’s safer if I leave. “I—I have to go.”
“So soon?” She gives me a smile that looks friendly on the surface.
I grab my bag off the bleachers and edge my way past some people to the stairs. The game is close to the end and people are so caught up in it that they don’t even notice me going by. As soon as I’m away from Sasha, I feel a little better. I don’t know what that was about, but I don’t like it. Bad things happen when people like Sasha pay attention to people like me.
I look back, and Sasha is still watching me with a sickly sweet smile. She waves, and I speed up, wanting to get out of her orbit as quickly as possible. The world spins and suddenly I’m falling, my bag and books slip and I slam face first into the gym floor.
There’s a collective gasp, and I don’t move. Everything hurts, but I’m not sure that it hurts more than the fact that I know everyone in the gym is looking at me. I can feel blood coming from my nose—I should get up. Get some ice. Hide for the rest of eternity. This is a good to-do list.
I start to push myself up, and suddenly there’s a hand grasping my arm, helping me to stand. I’m blushing bright red, but I know I have to thank whoever it is. But my mouth is dry and suddenly I’m shaking. It’s Adam.
He looks concerned, actual and real concern and oh my god I can’t believe he’s seeing me like this. I press my hand to my nose to try to stop the blood, but it’s already over. There are tears welling in my eyes and I try to blink them away because I don’t want him to see me cry too.
“Are you all right?” he asks.
“I…I don’t know.” I’m very much not all right. I’ll never be able to show my face in school again.
Suddenly I hear footsteps running toward me. “Ollie!” It’s Lorraine, coming from across the gym where the cheerleaders are sitting.
Adam leans down and gathers my things. He puts my books and pens back in my bag and gently puts the bag back on my shoulder. I can’t move as he does it. Then he hands me my now soda-stained and bloody copy of World’s Waterfall. He gives me a small smile. “Do you like it?”
I’m a little star-struck. Adam Carlisle helped me. He’s so close to me. “What?”
“The book.”
“Oh,” I say as Lorraine arrives next to me. “Yeah, I do.”
“I hope you get the chance to finish it soon.”
I can only nod, and he smiles again as Lorraine takes my arm and leads me away towards the doors and the nurse. The mistake I make is looking back, and noticing how the whole school is watching me walk away with blood down my face and shirt. By the time we’re outside the doors of the gym, I can’t hold back the tears anymore, but Lor doesn’t stop to comfort me, guiding me straight to the nurse’s office. Then she pulls me into a hug. “It’s okay.”
“It’s really, really not,” I say. “Sasha was already up to something, and this is only going to give her more fuel. People are going to stare at me for weeks, and Adam—” I hiccup, and flinch as the nurse is cleaning up my nose, seeing if it’s broken. “Adam probably thinks I’m a total spaz now. He’s seen me bloody and crying. That’s really sexy.”
Lorraine rolls her eyes. “Girl, I love you but sometimes you’re stupid as hell.”
The nurse gives her a look, and I’m staring at my best friend in shock. “I’m sorry?”
“Didn’t you see what Adam did?”
I wince as the nurse puts some antiseptic on the scratches. “No, I was a little busy flat on my face in front of the whole school.”
“We were about to win. Adam had the ball and was about to score, and then you fell. He dropped the ball and ran off the court when you fell. The game didn’t stop, the other team took the ball and scored and we lost.”
I think my heart stops in my chest. “What?”
“Adam threw the game to help you. So if you think that he cares about the blood on your face, you need to get your head on straight.”
My heart is pounding now. Lorraine has no reason to lie about that. But if it is true, what does it mean?
6
Ollie
Present Day
Like being conjured out of that memory, Sasha suddenly appears in front of me, a giant smile on her face. “Hi!” She wraps me in a giant hug that I absolutely do not want to be a part of and I hold my breath until she lets me go.
Lorraine is staring at her like she’s an absolute idiot, and even though I’m uncomfortable, I have to try hard not to laugh. That day on the basketball court was not the only, or even the worst, thing that Sasha did to me. There was the time she accidentally ruined my work in art class, got me blamed for a low score on a group project that was entirely her fault, started multiple rumors about me that resulted in more than one horrifying lunch hour, and of course, prom. And those are just the ones that are coming to mind now.
“Oh. My. God,” Sasha says. “I love your dress.”
Lor steps closer. “It’s Marchesa.”
“Well it’s working on you.” She smiles again. “How are you? I’ve missed you. It’s been so long!”
There’s a phantom pain in my nose, and I touch the bridge of it, remembering that day in the gym. It has been so long, but I sure as hell haven’t missed her. But I don’t get the same vibe from her that I got in high school. She seems more genuine, like she’s actually excited about being here. “Good to see you, Sasha.”
She waves to someone across the room. “I have to go say to hi to Corey, but I totally want to catch up! I’ll swing back around.” She blows us a kiss and floats away toward a group of girls that look like they might be from her old clique.
“Fake bitch,” Lor says with an eye-roll.
“I don’t know. She seemed a lot more genuine. I suppose it’s possible that in the last ten years she’s changed.”
Lor shakes her head. “Girls like Sasha don’t change. They think the world is something they can manipulate, and they never stop trying to do it.”
“Maybe.” I like to believe that people can change. That people do change. If not, that’s just kind of depressing. Now that I’m here, I need a drink. I definitely need a drink. I point to the bar, and Lor nods. I’ll find her once I’ve waited in line and have something that’s going to dull my senses a little bit.