Inferno by Sherrilyn Kenyon

you ran your drills, even with your helmet on, I could tell that you were waiting for him to change his mind and bench you. You do that with everything.”
    He opened his mouth to argue, then realized how right she was. He did hold his head low. Too many years of bitter poverty, of people looking down their noses at him, had left its mark on his soul. Half the school was convinced he’d cheated his way into it.
    Half?
    More like ninety percent, or more. Even his teammates kept commenting on how the only reason he’d been let back on the team was because they’d lost so many of the their members to Madaug’s zombies. That wouldn’t hurt so much if Coach Devus hadn’t told him that he didn’t care if Nick played or not, he merely needed someone in a jersey to fill out their roster. So in the end, his teammates were right.
    For that matter, any time he tried to have even a tiny scrap of ego, someone or something crawled out of the woodwork to mortify him in front of everyone and bash his ego on the nearest rock. So he’d given up on ever having any kind of self-esteem. Yeah, he pretended to be arrogant as a defense mechanism. But inside he knew the truth. He believed himself to be an even bigger loser than the rest of the world did.
    She squeezed his leg. “You’re a Ferrari, Nick. It’s time for you to realize that.”
    He scoffed. “I might be a Ferrari, but I have four flat tires.” And a rusted-out engine and no doors.
    “See … there you go, putting yourself down. Why do you always do that?”
    Before he could stop it, the truth came pouring out of him. “It’s easier to take other people’s insults and crap if I beat them to the punch. It doesn’t pay to have delusions of grandeur when there are so many people in the world looking to take you down a notch every time you dare to try and have some dignity. Therefore, why I should try?”
    “So what?” she snapped. “Screw them! They wouldn’t be attacking you if they weren’t pathetic. It’s nothing more than their own admission that they are lesser creatures who envy you. Well-adjusted, intelligent people don’t have to put someone else down in order to feel superior or good about themselves. Only massive losers do that. And you, Nick, contrary to what you think, are not a loser.”
    Funny, when she said it, he could almost believe it.
    “We are young, Nick. Our time is now and there is no coming back to this place in our lives. You need to live it to the fullest. Grab the apple and take a big bite of it.”
    “Yeah, but that didn’t work out so well for Adam.”
    Laughing, she moved her hand back to the gearshift. “Are you calling me a snake?”
    “No. Just pointing out that sometimes caution is a good thing.”
    She blew a raspberry at him. “Here. I want you to memorize something for me.… Digmus sum .”
    “Dig … how?”
    She shook her head. “It’s Latin and it means, ‘I am worthy.’ I want you to say it until you actually believe it.”
    Nick frowned. “I don’t know.…”
    “I’m serious, Nick. Say it over and over until it becomes a litany.”
    “I would, but I’m still stuck on the fact that you actually know Latin.”
    She gave him an irritated smirk. “I’m not as vacuous as you think I am.”
    “I never said you were vacuous.”
    “Your looks have.”
    Guilt consumed him. But honestly, he’d never thought of her as stupid. At least not until it came to one thing he couldn’t figure out. “No, that’s more my confusion about what you see in a jerk like Stone. And why you tolerate him all the time.”
    Shrugging, she turned the wheel and downshifted. “Life is lonely. Sometimes you just want to be with someone, even if they’re not the best for you. They are better than nothing.”
    That was something he’d never agree with. “Now who needs a lecture in worthiness? Better to be alone than stuck with someone who treats you bad.”
    “And that’s why I like you, Nick. You’re not like other kids at