Page 19 of Missed Notes (Rixon High 5)

“I know you’re pissed with me.”

Understatement of the century. I bit my tongue, unwilling to do this with him again.

“But I’m here, Sofia. I can help.”

“No, Cole.” I gave him a sad smile as I pulled away from him, hating that things weren’t different. “You can’t.”

Because the stark truth of the matter was…

No one could.

CHAPTERFOUR

Cole

I couldn’t shakethe feeling Sofia was hiding something. She’d been too cagey the other day, when Aaron had insisted I hang out with him at their house.

At school, she put on a smile, laughing and joking with everyone as if she hadn’t spent the beginning of the week getting tests at the hospital.

But Aaron and the others seemed to buy her story. I’d barely spoken two words to her since she was mostly avoiding me. If our paths crossed, she walked the other way. If our eyes met across the cafeteria, she looked away.

It was starting to piss me off.

I’d only done what I had to help her.

It had royally backfired on me though and I didn’t like it. Sofia had always been a part of my life. A good friend.

Now, it was like we were strangers.

There would be no escaping each other tonight though. We had an away game in Pittsburgh and since it was an eight-hour round trip, we were staying over. I’d heard Sofia telling Poppy and Ashleigh she was going to come, but only because Mr. and Mrs. Bennet were making the trip too.

Something didn’t add up.

At least, that was what my gut was telling me. But it wasn’t like I could call her out on it.

“Kandon, get your head on straight, son,” Coach warned as we watched game play tapes of the Tigers in the media room.

“See their defensive tackle,” he said. “Goes in hard every time. You’ll need to use your wide receiver, Cole. Use Ezra. Their defense is big, but he’s fast. Get the ball to him and he’ll do the rest of the work.”

I nodded, trying to act interested.

“Okay.” Coach Macintosh paused the tapes and hit the lights, plunging the room into brightness. “Bus leaves at two.”

As I got up to leave, Coach Ford cornered me by the door. “Have you given any more thought to those college applications? Syracuse and Penn State won’t wait forever.”

“I know, Coach. I just need a little more time.”

He gave me a small nod, clearly disapproving at me dragging my ass on the decision. But the truth was, I didn’t know what the fuck to do.

I wanted music.

I wanted music so much it hurt. But my old man was going to be a problem.

I left the media room and headed for my locker, not expecting to run into Jude Landry.

“Hey, man, what’s up?” he asked.

“Just getting ready for the game later.”

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