All the Little Lights(71)

“What did they say?” he asked.

“It doesn’t matter,” Madison said. “I don’t believe it.”

“Now you have to tell me,” Sam said, a frown on his face.

She shifted her weight, fidgeting. “That you’re cheating on me with Anna Sue.”

Sam and Elliott bent over, their entire bodies shaking with laughter.

“So that’s a no,” I said, amused.

When they finally settled down, Sam looked disgusted. “They’d better not be spreading that around school. Gross.”

Madison hugged him and kissed his cheek. “I didn’t believe it for a second.”

Elliott stood up, taking a deep breath. “Well, don’t think that’s all they have up their sleeves.”

“We’ll stick together,” Madison said, hooking her arm in mine. “They won’t touch her.”

“Maddy has two older brothers. She can be scrappy if she needs to,” Sam said, hugging her to his side.

Madison took off her knit cap and quickly twisted her long platinum hair back into a tight bun. “Let’s just say I’ve got this . . . probably. I can try.”

I turned to Elliott. “I’m not afraid.”

Elliott brushed my hair from my face and kissed my nose. “Catherine isn’t a name for a princess. Sounds like a warrior to me.”

I grinned. I’d always loved the story Mama had told about how my name came about and I loved it when my dad called me Princess, but everything was different now, and Elliott’s version fit me better.

He hugged me one last time before he stepped onto the bus.

Sam waved to Madison, and we walked together to her 4Runner. My feet crunched against glass at the same time the locks disengaged, and I hopped in, trying to find some relief from the cold.

Madison turned the heat on full blast. We shivered for a moment, rubbing our hands together while Madison texted her father. I held my hand in front of the vents, anxious for the moment the air turned warmer.

She chuckled. “He’s not even mad.”

“That’s good,” I said.

“I’m just telling him we’re heading out, and then we can go.” She tapped a few more times and then put her hand on the gear stick, shifting into reverse. Madison flipped a switch a few times, frowned, and then pushed open her door, walking to the front of the 4Runner. Her eyes grew wide, and she covered her mouth.

I jumped out, joining her at the front of the car, but two steps in, I could feel the glass under my shoes again, and I already knew what she was looking at. The headlights had been bashed out.

“Those . . . those . . . I’m going to kill them!” Madison screamed.

The buses were still sitting at the stadium, so I gathered our things, shut the doors, and yanked on Madison’s coat. “We have to catch the bus before it leaves, or we’ll be stranded!”

Madison stopped being dragged and ran with me. I was out of breath halfway there, but the first bus was leaving, and the second would follow right after that.

Just as the bus pulled forward, I banged on the door. The bus driver slammed on the brakes. He glanced behind him and then down at us. Madison banged on the door, too.

“Let us in!” she cried, her cheeks already wet with anger.

Elliott appeared at the door, pulled on the lever, and helped us up the steps.

Coach Peckham stood. He’d been sitting next to Mrs. Mason.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“We need a ride home,” Madison said.

Coach Peckham placed his hands on his hips. “We can’t do that.”

“Someone bashed in her headlights. There’s glass all over the parking lot,” I said.

“What?” Elliott said, sudden rage in his eyes.

The coach sighed. “Must have been the other team.”

“It was Presley Brubaker and her friends,” Madison said. “They told us if we came to the game, they were going to do something!”

“That’s a serious accusation,” Mrs. Mason stated. “Call your parents. Make sure it’s okay for you to catch a ride on the athletics bus.”

“Becca, we need to clear it through the athletics director. Maybe even the superintendent,” Coach Peckham said.

“We can’t leave them here. With the weather like it is, it could be morning before their parents could get to them. I’m on the bus, so they’ll have female supervision. I’ll text Mr. Thornton and Mrs. DeMarco and update them on the situation.”

Coach Peckham thought for a moment, prompting Elliott to speak up. “What is there to think about? You’re actually considering leaving them over two hours from home in freezing temperatures?”

“Youngblood, that’s enough,” Coach said. “There are rules to consider.”

Elliott turned his body, standing in front of me a bit as if he were protecting me from the coach’s decision. “If the rules mean you’re leaving them here, then the rules are wrong.”

“Just let me think a minute!” Coach Peckham yelled.

All the excited chatter in the back of the bus stopped, all eyes focused on the front.

“It’s not unheard of, Brad,” Mrs. Mason said. “The managers are on the other bus. Those girls ride with the team all the time.”