your hand through a wall. It’s already swelling. A broken hand is the last thing you need right now.”
I glance down at my right knuckles. They do look a little puffy, but I don’t feel any pain at the moment. I shake out my arms and breathe in slowly. But the anger and emotions flood instantly back into place.
TJ.
Must. Murder. TJ.
The cabin lights are on, I succeeded in not only waking Stevie during my noisy return from the gym, but also Ariel and her roommate, Raelyn.
I already explained to Stevie in a few words and lots of grunts what had happened in the gym with TJ—of course, with their constant feuding she gladly took my side.
“Okay, I get why we’re keeping TJ out, but why Jordan?” she asks.
Why Jordan? Good question.
My anger comes down a few notches and I stop pacing across the cold tile floors. Outside, I hear Ariel yelling, probably at TJ, maybe at Jordan. My stomach twists into knots thinking about him. I hate this wall between us. I hate the guilt of keeping his secret. I hate worrying so much about him. Why is he forcing this on me?
“Come on,” Stevie urges. “What happened with Jordan? Get it out in the open, ‘cause if this keeps up, both of you will end up walking around with your heads up your asses and that’s gonna suck.”
She’s right. And technically, I only promised Jordan that I wouldn’t tell Coach Bentley. We never agreed on anyone else.
“Karen…” she prompts again.
I twist my hands together and nod. “Promise you won’t tell Coach Bentley?”
Her eyes widen and her mouth falls open. “Oh God, you’re pregnant…”
“What?” I spit out. “No! Jesus … no.”
Stevie lets out a huge sigh of relief, her dark hair falling all around her face and she leans forward and rests her head in her hands. “I wasn’t sure, with you sneaking out in the middle of the night.”
“I did that once,” I say, shocked that she knew about my little nightmare-induced excursion the week before last. “And nothing, you know… happened .”
It’s a little awkward to talk about this with Stevie knowing that, for at least a very short moment, she had admitted to wanting to have some “normal teenage experiences” with Jordan before she knew about us. But so far, I’ve never seen any indication from Stevie that she actually has feelings for him. And of course I’m way too chicken to ever bring it up with her.
She lifts her head, eyebrows raised. “Nothing happened?”
My face flushes. “Okay, not nothing, but yeah, nothing.”
“So what’s the secret that I can’t tell Coach Bentley?” she asks, getting us both back on track.
I examine my fingernails, choosing the longest one to bite and making a final decision. “You know how Jordan has been sick a lot?”
“Uh-huh.” She rolls her eyes and gestures around the cabin as if to remind me of that fact that Jordan’s now-cured case of strep throat is the reason we all had to haul our stuff down the path and move into a new cabin next door. Though I think Nina’s been looking for a reason to move us far from the boys since we got here and found out about the housing arrangement.
“Well… he went to see this ear, nose, and throat specialist and she says Jordan not only needs to get his tonsils out right away, but he’s also got this abscess on the back of his throat that needs to be biopsied.” My legs literally go weak, having finally shed the weight of that secret. I plop down on the floor and pull my knees to my chest, resting my head on them.
“You look pale,” Stevie observes. “Have you been eating enough?”
“If by enough, you mean the Nina Jones diet plan, then yes.” I shake the dizziness from my head. It is the middle of the night and I just got finished working through some issues both physical and emotional, so I’m not expecting to feel energetic or anything.
“Then no,” she admits somewhat reluctantly, as if revealing a secret. Then I watch as Stevie gets up and digs in her
I glance down at my right knuckles. They do look a little puffy, but I don’t feel any pain at the moment. I shake out my arms and breathe in slowly. But the anger and emotions flood instantly back into place.
TJ.
Must. Murder. TJ.
The cabin lights are on, I succeeded in not only waking Stevie during my noisy return from the gym, but also Ariel and her roommate, Raelyn.
I already explained to Stevie in a few words and lots of grunts what had happened in the gym with TJ—of course, with their constant feuding she gladly took my side.
“Okay, I get why we’re keeping TJ out, but why Jordan?” she asks.
Why Jordan? Good question.
My anger comes down a few notches and I stop pacing across the cold tile floors. Outside, I hear Ariel yelling, probably at TJ, maybe at Jordan. My stomach twists into knots thinking about him. I hate this wall between us. I hate the guilt of keeping his secret. I hate worrying so much about him. Why is he forcing this on me?
“Come on,” Stevie urges. “What happened with Jordan? Get it out in the open, ‘cause if this keeps up, both of you will end up walking around with your heads up your asses and that’s gonna suck.”
She’s right. And technically, I only promised Jordan that I wouldn’t tell Coach Bentley. We never agreed on anyone else.
“Karen…” she prompts again.
I twist my hands together and nod. “Promise you won’t tell Coach Bentley?”
Her eyes widen and her mouth falls open. “Oh God, you’re pregnant…”
“What?” I spit out. “No! Jesus … no.”
Stevie lets out a huge sigh of relief, her dark hair falling all around her face and she leans forward and rests her head in her hands. “I wasn’t sure, with you sneaking out in the middle of the night.”
“I did that once,” I say, shocked that she knew about my little nightmare-induced excursion the week before last. “And nothing, you know… happened .”
It’s a little awkward to talk about this with Stevie knowing that, for at least a very short moment, she had admitted to wanting to have some “normal teenage experiences” with Jordan before she knew about us. But so far, I’ve never seen any indication from Stevie that she actually has feelings for him. And of course I’m way too chicken to ever bring it up with her.
She lifts her head, eyebrows raised. “Nothing happened?”
My face flushes. “Okay, not nothing, but yeah, nothing.”
“So what’s the secret that I can’t tell Coach Bentley?” she asks, getting us both back on track.
I examine my fingernails, choosing the longest one to bite and making a final decision. “You know how Jordan has been sick a lot?”
“Uh-huh.” She rolls her eyes and gestures around the cabin as if to remind me of that fact that Jordan’s now-cured case of strep throat is the reason we all had to haul our stuff down the path and move into a new cabin next door. Though I think Nina’s been looking for a reason to move us far from the boys since we got here and found out about the housing arrangement.
“Well… he went to see this ear, nose, and throat specialist and she says Jordan not only needs to get his tonsils out right away, but he’s also got this abscess on the back of his throat that needs to be biopsied.” My legs literally go weak, having finally shed the weight of that secret. I plop down on the floor and pull my knees to my chest, resting my head on them.
“You look pale,” Stevie observes. “Have you been eating enough?”
“If by enough, you mean the Nina Jones diet plan, then yes.” I shake the dizziness from my head. It is the middle of the night and I just got finished working through some issues both physical and emotional, so I’m not expecting to feel energetic or anything.
“Then no,” she admits somewhat reluctantly, as if revealing a secret. Then I watch as Stevie gets up and digs in her
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