Page 30 of Find Me
“What the fuck!” Gabe roared and scrambled to get back up to his feet.
Colt shoved him back down and cocked his arm back to hit him again. Creed grabbed Colt from behind, locking his arms around Colt’s. Colt struggled to get free as Creed pulled him away from Gabe. I jumped to my feet and winced when pain flared in my hip. I didn’t think anything was broken. I was definitely going to have a nasty bruise, though.
Colt eventually stopped fighting once Creed and he were standing in front of me. “I’m good,” Colt snapped, and Creed released him.
A whistle was blown, startling us all. Coach Dale, a tall, bald man who was one of the gym teachers as well as one of the coaches for the football team, stormed over. He looked from Gabe, who was climbing to his feet with the help of Cassy, to Creed and Colt. “What is going on over here?”
No one said anything.
I watched Colt’s fists clench and unclench. His knuckles he’d used to hit Gabe with were bright red. Hesitantly, I reached out for his hand. I would’ve been lying if I’d said I wasn’t nervous. The tips of my fingers lightly brushed over the back of his hand. He glanced down, then over his shoulder at me. I forced a small smile. He surprised me by wrapping his hand around mine and lacing our fingers together.
“Well?” Coach Dale pushed.
Cassy stepped forward. “Just a little accident on the court, Coach. Some players slammed into each other when trying to hit the ball.”
Coach Dale eyed everyone skeptically. “Is that right?”
Everyone murmured in agreement.
Coach Dale shook his head. “Go to the nurse, Gabe. Get some ice on that cheek.”
Gabe nodded and left, while rubbing his already swelling face.
Ethan came over to stand by us. “Are you okay?” he whispered to me.
“Yeah,” I lied again.
Coach Dale blew into his whistle. “Put the balls away and go get changed! Class is over!”
Ethan left to help a few other students put the volleyballs away while everyone else made their way toward the locker rooms. Creed and Colt turned, catching me rubbing my hip gently with my free hand.
“Did you land on your hip?” Creed asked.
I quickly dropped my hand from my hip. “I’m fine. You don’t have to worry—”
Colt squeezed my hand. He had yet to let it go. “You don’t have to play it down, Shiloh,” he said calmly. The anger in his voice was slowly receding. “If you’re hurt, just tell us.”
“I’m fine.” I wasn’t. Today had utterly sucked. It had started off bad and only proceeded to get worse. I wanted to go for a run. It was my escape and I really wanted to escape what I was feeling right now. With how badly my hip hurt, I knew that wasn’t an option and wouldn’t be for a while.
“No, you’re not,” Creed argued.
“Yes, I am.” Why couldn’t they let this go?
“Why are you lying?” Creed snapped.
“Because if I say it out loud, it makes it real,” I snapped back.
“What?” they asked at the same time.
Frustrated, I rubbed my sternum. “I can’t get hurt, alright? I just can’t. Because if I do—if I truly get hurt—who would I call? Logan’s on the other side of the country, therefore, I can’t call him. So who would I call?” I shrugged with my arms out as my eyes filled with tears. “I don’t have anyone. It’s just me,” I said bitterly. “And today—falling—was just another reminder of that.” I was having a bad day and I had no one to talk to about it. I couldn’t go vent to Shayla about Cassy and Amber and how terrible they were. And if I had broken my hip, I couldn’t have called my mom or dad for help. The people I needed most—the people I relied on—were gone. I was on my own and today had rubbed my nose in that fact.
They both stared at me with stunned looks on their faces.
A couple of tears escaped and rolled down my cheeks as I glanced down at the floor, feeling mortified. They probably thought I was crazy. They didn’t know that things had been building up, causing me to explode. They were seeing a girl completely overreacting after falling and getting hurt. “I’m sorry.”
Colt stepped closer, bringing us chest to chest, or more accurately, my nose to his chest. He wrapped one arm around my lower back and released my hand to bring his up to cup the back of my head. “Don’t apologize.” His embrace tightened and my nose became buried in his chest.
Feeling the comfort his strong arms provided, I slowly began to calm, and my body loosened against him. I wrapped my hands around his waist and allowed a few more tears to leave my eyes.
