Nets and Lies(32)

***

I slept fitfully that night. Every hour I woke up to check my cell phone, desperate for a text from Will. But every hour I was disappointed, and by morning, my heart tightened so hard in my chest I could barely get out of bed to shower.

“What’s the matter with you?” my brother, Luke, asked at breakfast.

“Nothing,” I muttered, as I fought to get my cereal down.

“You look like shit!”

“Luke Alexander Reeves, your language!” Dad’s voice boomed from the stove.

“Sorry,” Luke mumbled, before going back to his bacon.

Later on the ride to school, he was relentless. “So do you look like shit because you and Will are fighting?”

I almost swerved off the road. “Who said we’re fighting?”

Luke snorted. “Ethan Capanegro said that Will came into practice last night all pissed off. Some of the guys asked him what it was about, and he said you.”

Heat radiated in my cheeks. I hated the fact my baby brother was in high school and privy to older friends who told him all of my business. Not that he probably wouldn’t still hear it if he were in middle school.

But Luke seemed eager to know what was really bothering me, so I sighed. “He’s mad because I won’t go to the protest with him today.”

He arched his eyebrows in surprise. “But I thought Dad and Garrison decided you couldn’t go?”

“Yeah, that’s right,” I replied, as I eased into the parking lot.

“Well, he’s just being a douche!”

I fought the urge to laugh in my brother’s face. Trying to play it off, I merely shrugged. “Yeah, maybe he is.”

After easing the car into a spot, I glanced over at Luke. His fits were balled up. “Luke?”

He turned to me. His dark eyes were fury-filled slits. “He just better not be talking shit about you today. I swear, if anyone talks shit about you, I’ll punch his face in!”

“You don’t mean that.”

“Yeah, I do, Mel.”

I shook my head. “Promise me you won’t do something stupid that will get you in trouble?”

“Even if I was defending you?”

“You going to jail isn’t going to make me feel better in the long run. So think with your head, not your fists.”

He rolled his eyes. “That’s so lame.”

“Whatever. Just do it okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll do it.”

I smiled. “Thanks, bro.”

Luke snorted. “Gah, Mel, quit being lame!” He grabbed up his book bag and practically sprinted away from me. That was Luke for you—one minute my knight in shining armor, and the next feeling like I was a dork of the highest caliber.

Something slammed against the glass of the car window, causing me to jump. It was Lauren and JT. “Hey guys,” I said, as I climbed out of the car.

“You missed a good time last night,” JT said.

Lauren punched his arm. “Dammit, I told you not to say anything. You know Melanie couldn’t come.”

“Geez, Lauren, lighten up on the roids, mkay?” JT joked, rubbing his arm.

I couldn’t help but laugh. And for a moment, it actually felt good. There had been so little to laugh at lately that even one of JT’s dumb jokes lightened my mood. We fell in line with the other kids streaming from the parking lot to the school. “Um, was Will okay last night?” I asked.

JT answered before Lauren could stop him. “Dude, he was in one pissy ass mood. I mean, he seemed all stoked we’re doing the rally and all, but he acted like a complete dickhead.”

Lauren rolled her eyes. “God JT!”

“What did I say now?”

She waved him dismissively with her hand. “Forget it. Come on, Mel, I’ll walk you to your first period.”

“Bye JT,” I called over my shoulder.

I distinctly heard him grumble, “Women,” before stalking away.

“You shouldn’t be so hard on him,” I said, as we worked our way through the crowd.

Lauren sighed. “The dude has no common sense, Mel. Did he need to alert you to the fact Will acted like a giant tool last night? Nope, I don’t think so!”

I cringed. “He was really that bad?”

She nodded. “Yeah, he basically sat in the corner all night. He didn’t paint, he didn’t eat, he didn’t do anything but just sit there and stare into space. Everyone felt really sorry for him, but since I knew the truth, he’s a giant ass**le.”

“Thanks, Lauren.”

We hovered outside of my class. “So, has he called you?” she asked.

“Nope.”

“Texted?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know why he’s being this way. I mean, it wasn’t like I had a choice.”

The bell rang, and she made a face. “Dammit, I gotta go. I’ll meet you after, okay?”

“Sounds good.”

As I walked past two of Will’s teammates to my seat, they hushed their talking. They also refused to make eye contact with me. I guess Luke was right. Will had taken his anger at me out at practice, and now all the guys were pissed at me.

I remained in a fog all of first period. I could barely tell you what we even talked about. I hoped to be able to bum someone’s notes later on. That was so unlike me. I was usually the one giving other slackers my notes. In the matter of a few days, my entire life had fallen apart. I barely recognized myself.