Page 57 of Catch Me

His green eyes are hard. I understand his feelings. I do. Oscar screwed him over, but if it wasn’t Oscar, it would’ve been someone else. Sasha is the real culprit in all this. She would’ve just gotten another quarterback to come in. How? I have no idea, but she would go to any lengths to get Reid and me out of the way because we don’t fit into her perfect life.

I’ve got news for her. Life isn’t perfect. Life is messy and sad and fucked up at times.

But it can also be beautiful and hopeful.

* * *

“I can’t believeyou talked me into bringing you here. Reid’s going to be so pissed.”

I stare up at the white-washed walls of the hospital’s exterior from within Jules’s car. Lex found out what hospital Drego was in and now we’re here. Well, I’m here. Jules is here under duress. “He’ll live,” I tell her. Seriously. If the man can forge a fucking doctor’s note and not really know if he’s okay, I can go visit a douche in a hospital. I just need to see that he’s okay. “You’ll wait here?” I ask.

She nods, her body stiff.

I get out of the car on shaky legs. I don’t fully understand why I wanted to come here. It just feels like the right thing to do. So, instead of turning around, I forge ahead. I push open the glass doors and go right to the nurse’s station to ask where Oscar’s room is. They don’t ask me if I’m a relative, so I take that as good news. If he was in ICU, they only let family visit. I would’ve lied, but that would only go so far if his mom was in the room with him when I came in and started asking who I was.

Instead, I take the elevator up to the second floor and turn right per the nurse’s instructions. Three doors down on the left, I hesitate outside the right room number. Inside, I can hear a TV playing, but no other noises. I take a deep breath and push the door open. Without looking for him, I turn, closing the door behind me. It’s really just to stall before having to come face-to-face with Oscar. It closes with a soft click. I shut my eyes, gather up the courage, and turn. He’s probably going to think I’m nuts for coming to visit him.

When I lift my gaze, he’s already staring at me. His eyelids narrow over dark irises as he waits for me to approach his bed. He’s bruised. His lip is cracked. His left eye is swollen, and he’s in a cast. I breathe out. So much for being a wide receiver. Oscar Drego’s football season is fucked.

“You’re probably wondering what I’m doing here,” I say. My voice sounds small in the empty, barren room.

“Unless you’re going to confess your undying love to me, I probably don’t care.”

I roll my eyes, and Oscar smirks, then grimaces, then tries to keep his face impassive like smiling didn’t just hurt his face.

“We heard at school about what happened. Was it those guys from the Heights?”

Oscar looks away. He swallows. “Mom and I had to move in with my grandparents last night…in the Heights. Sasha kicked us out of the place we were staying in.”

I’d already suspected as much, but a swell of anger grows bigger inside me. She knew what would happen to Oscar if he had to go back to the Heights.

“I can tell by your face,” Oscar says. He shakes his head. “Yes, Sasha Pontine is a terrible fucking person. I’m just not sure I’m any better than her.”

Can’t argue with him there. “You going to be okay?” I ask.

“My football season’s over.” He lifts his casted hand gingerly. “They got me with a bat. The baseball bat is my thing, so of course they used it against me.” He pauses for a second. “Some broken ribs. A fractured toe.”

“Where’s your mom?” I ask, looking around the small room to see if I can find any signs of her. Surely she’s been here, right?

“She has to work, Briar. Luckily, they hired her back at the tiny shop down the street from my grandparents’ house. No money equals no food.”

“Has she been here at all?”

“She brought me here,” he says, his tone defensive.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply—”

“People like you never do. You with your perfect families. You never understand what it’s like to not have that.”

I grind my teeth together. Maybe I would’ve agreed with him before, but it’s not like I’m ever the innocent like he says. “You keep saying that, but you also keep forgetting I’ve been through shit, too.”

His face loses some of its edge. “Coach offered your brother’s spot to me.”

“Were you going to?” I ask. Something I’ve been dying to know. It’s obvious he’s not going to be able to now, but I wonder if he was ever thinking about it.

“I always look out for me. Do you even have to ask that question?”

“I’m just curious if you were going to do something to Reid to get the quarterback spot. You know, finish what Sasha started. You wouldn’t have to settle for wide receiver if you did.”

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