A bullied girl meets the popular new student.
*****
"Still saying that you're perfectly okay?" Max whispers.
I'm surprised to hear that his voice is shaking.
"I'm going to find who did this to you."
*****
One time, I was the most popular girl in sch...
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It's not only Coach Williams that watches me with expectations as the football tryout goes, but also the upperclassmen. Tyler Gates, the current captain, eyes me with interest, while Coach looks for the proper technique I should demonstrate during position-related drills.
First, my speed is assessed. Coach asks me to make a 40-yard dash as a basic indicator of my speed. I break into a full sprint while Coach times me -- he wants to know how fast I can run and my muscular endurance over such a distance.
I think that he's happy by how he gives me a nod of approval while looking at his timer.
Then he puts me to a battery of drills that include throwing and taking a snapped ball from under center. A smirk touches my lips as Coach watches me throwing a ball with a spiral a short distance.
Then he calls me to receive passes from himself and another run through obstacle courses with tires.
My skills are evaluated further by attempting field goals from different distances and by punting the ball as far as I can. I also have to perform hitting and blocking drills on a padded blocking sled.
Fuck. I fucking love football.
By the end of the tryout, Coach grabs my shoulder firmly, a big grin on his face, before he walks off to talk with the other tryout attendees. Good. I think that I just nailed it.
I can't wait to join the team and play football.
Tyler Gates strides to me and gives me a fist bump. "Welcome to the team. Glad to have you with us, Max."
I return his smirk. "Coach hasn't said anything."
"He'll let you in, and by how happy he looked just now, he won't be able to wait until tomorrow to let you know that you're in," Tyler says. "Expect the result later this evening."
My chest is filled up with excitement. Later this evening? I can wait for that.
While doing so, I will be occupied with my weird classmate, Luna, doing our goddam English assignment.
Speaking of that, I should go to the locker room to clean myself, because I'm more than sure that she wouldn't appreciate the fact that I'm soaked with sweat.
Just in time, I spot the said girl sitting on the bleacher, a book on her lap. Her eyes are glued on the pages of whatever it is she's reading, while she's shutting away all of the other things around her.
Yeah, right. Luna Klein and her own world. I bet that many guys want to be her books.
My eyes follow her as the breeze blows through her hair and she tucks a strand of her hair behind her ear, her eyes still locked on her book as she wets her lips.
Goddammit, it doesn't have to be slow motion. That girl annoys me even from such a distance.
"What the hell is she doing here?" Tyler's voice snaps me out of my trance.
