Page 21 of Catch Me

“I’m pretty sure he doesn’t have shit to say to you, Drego,” Cade sneers. “You should go back to Rawley Heights.”

“Please,” Oscar says. “No one wants to be at Rawley Heights, least of all me. You know we don’t get the same opportunities there. I did what anyone would do in my position.”

“Well, you better be careful,” I tell him. “Sasha could turn on you quick. Look what happened to Reid.”

His cocky grin smooths out a bit. He doesn’t exactly look like he’s quaking in his boots, but he should be. He probably has no idea she’s the reason why he can even come to this school to play for Spring Hill. She got rid of our quarterback, and she needed someone to replace him.

“You should watch yourself.”

“Thanks for the warning, Partner,” I deadpan.

Lex and Cade both move in front of me. Oscar laughs as he walks away, shrugging like he couldn't care less what’s going on.

“Partner?” Cade asks.

“We got paired together on an English assignment because we were the only ones not around when everyone partnered up.”

“Reid’s going to fucking hate that,” Cade says, letting out a breath.

“I tried to get out of it.”

“Let’s just let Reid worry about recovering. When he does that, none of this other shit will matter.”

“It makes me wonder,” I say, watching Oscar’s retreating back. He’s been here only two days, and he already acts like the king of the school. “Why would Oscar even come here if he thought Reid would get better and take his spot back?”

Cade runs a hand through his dark hair. “It’s like he said, Rawley Heights doesn’t get much attention, even if they do have a really good quarterback. Spring Hill has the legacy players. Not to mention that Oscar’s the star of the show in Rawley Heights. They don’t have the draw like we do here. Our whole team is good, so it makes us—Reid—look even better. Scouts want to see that foundation and teamwork. Oscar’s guys can barely run a buttonhook.”

“So, he wasn’t lying then? About no one wanting to be in Rawley Heights?”

Lex and Cade fix me with a look. “Don’t go feeling sorry for him, Briar,” Cade says. “What he did was dirty, and he knows it.”

We start walking toward the school. “What do the other guys on the team think about it?”

“They feel bad for Seven, but what can we all do?” Lex asks. “Coach made the call. There are other guys who are hoping for college scouts too. Barnhardt won’t bring the scouts in, but Drego will.”

“I guess we just have to make sure Reid gets better,” I say. Already, I feel my mind drifting. When we get to my locker, I pull out my cell and text Reid, telling him I hope he’s okay and to let me know when he’s done. I continue on to homeroom with my fingers crossed that we’ll get good news today instead of the onslaught of bad news we’ve been wading through recently.

* * *

Notes get thrownat me all day long with snide comments about my breasts. I’d be embarrassed, but I can’t think about much more than Reid. I check my phone in between classes, but I haven’t heard anything yet, which makes my mind dwell on negative things. I’m too caught up in my own head that I don’t see Oscar blocking the path to English, and I run right into him. He steadies me on my feet, and when I look up, I growl. “Christ, Oscar. What are you doing?”

“What am I doing? You ran into me.”

I grit my teeth. He looks down at me with a smug smile that I really wish I could wash off his face.

I try to push past him into the room, but he stops me. “Mr. Shaver approved us to work in the library today, so we can do research on our project.”

I glare up at him. “I didn’t ask Mr. Shaver to work in the library.”

He smiles broadly like he’s the king and I’m his disciple. “I did.”

I really wish I could tell him to get fucked, but my gaze rests on Theo. If I really do want to prove to my parents and myself that I’m better now, I need to go after my old goals, which means I need to get a good grade on this project, whether Oscar is my partner or not. “Fine,” I grumble.

We turn and start to walk down the hall toward the library. “Wow. Has anyone told you you have some amazing social skills?”

“Has anyone told you that not everyone has to smile just for your pleasure?”

I can feel him peek at me while we walk down the hallway, but he doesn’t say anything. When we enter the library, I find the first free table and sit while he walks a pass from Mr. Shaver to the librarian. I pull out a notebook and am already making notes in it when he drops his book bag down on the wooden table. It makes a loud thunk, and I freeze before staring up at him. He, again, looks at me like he could give a shit. I guess there are some people in this world who are just like that. They don’t care about the amount of noise they make, just that they’re being seen or heard. To them, it’s not about the noise, it’s about the attention.

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