Page 28 of My High School Rebel Boyfriend
Embarrassing was going dizzy and dropping to the ground, talking incoherently.
Embarrassing was being escorted back to the bus by your teacher and fellow students.
Embarrassing was having your mother collect you like a first grader.
It was a sobering reminder of how much my life sucked. And to make it worse, I was now sitting on the bus in between Maddie and Mitchell Finlayson, knowing he’d witnessed everything on said trip.
For that reason I daren’t look him in the eye, daren’t acknowledge him in any way. He was no doubt ready to pounce, like an eagle from the cliff tops on our stupid, stupid hike, proclaiming all my failings, my weaknesses. Oh yeah, he would be chomping at the bit to humiliate me.
Probably waiting until we were on our own. Or on the volleyball court.
I’d make sure that didn’t happen.
I didn’t even want to be here. If it wasn’t for the support of the girls I would have feigned fatigue and Mom would have been more than happy for me not to play. The scouts probably wouldn’t even notice if I wasn’t there.
Maddie and Tanchia had come over after volleyball training, sick with worry. They wished they’d been with me, they couldn’t understand how my blood sugars had fallen so low, usually I was loaded up with snacks when I knew I was exercising more than usual.
“Did you forget to eat on the hike?” Maddie asked.
I’d been sitting under the blanket on the couch. I shook my head. “We stopped for lunch and I ate my sandwich and banana. I think.” That was the scariest thing—my memory of the whole day was foggy. I know we’d stopped at the cliff top and Mr. Barron was talking about the river, and then we moved on, having another steep climb, and I thought I’d eaten enough because there was no candy or juice left in my backpack. If I had eaten it, then there was no way I should have been low.
Alicia had alerted Mr. Barron when I started mumbling nonsense about eagles and saying there was one right in front of us, but I didn’t remember any of that. Nor collapsing in her arms. Alicia was barely five foot, I hoped I hadn’t crushed her.
“Was the hike quite strenuous?” Tanchiaasked.
“There were a couple of hills,” I said, “but nothing too bad. I mean, I wasn’t struggling. I wasn’t at the back.”
“Do you think you’ll be okay for the tournament?” Maddie asked.
“Do you even want me there? I’ll probably be a hindrance. Maybe it’s a good chance for Shavaun to start?”
“Whaaaat?” Maddie practically screeched. “Of course we want you there!” Then she softened her voice, “But only if you feel well enough. Your health comes first, Harps.”
“The team needs you Harper,” Tanchia said.
I nodded, but my smile was fake. No one was going to offer me a scholarship, not when I couldn’t manage my own diabetes, not when a moderate three hour hike almost killed me.
“Okay,” Maddie said, as she finished French braiding my hair. “That looks so pretty.”
“Thank you,” I said, flicking the single braid over my shoulder so I could see it.
That’s when Mitchell leaned back from his forward leaning position and said, “Yeah, it does.”
His comment just hung there; I looked at Maddie in wide-eyed bafflement—had Mitchell Finlayson said somethingniceabout me?
Maddie responded with a tight lipped smirk and said, “Harper has beautiful hair.”
Feeling my cheeks heating up, I brushed past him, returning to my own seat. But Maddie didn’t follow.
“How are you guys going with basketball training?” I heard her ask.
“Yeah, good,” Mitchell said. “We have a pre-season game against Gainsville next week.”
“Is the team looking good?”
“Looking good or good looking?” That was Titan, howling at his own joke. Bella, Shavaun and Tanchia all turned around, joining in a boisterous discussion about the merits of their looks and Titan wastalking up his new clean buzz cut. He looked so different, so conservative now. I suspected it was to impress Mr. and Mrs. Christopher.
“This head is pretty much perfection,” he said, and as everyone laughed I couldn’t resist looking around to see him caressing it with his hand. “At least that’s what my boy says, huh Mitch?” He picked up Mitch’s hand and rubbed it over his hair. “You said you liked how soft it feels!”
