Mark My Words

88 | The In-Law

a/n: I heard My Chemical Romance is relevant again?? wtf??

Coach's email was first opened by Kim Simons in the middle of lunch period and was then opened by everyone at the table. Rosalie had initially been surprised to see the request, but it wasn't unheard of. Sophomore year, Coach had called such a meeting after several of the upperclassmen were caught at a party that was serving alcohol and therefore were kicked off of the team.

They all assembled in the cafeteria that was empty all except for students heading to the courtyard to leave for the day. The main doors were on the other side of campus, but the courtyard was a quick jaunt to the parking lot if they happened to be in this wing already. The final bell had rung, and now, athletes were the only ones occupying the Bradshaw campus.

"What's this about?" Jordan whispered to one of the underclassmen, Mia Elgin. She shrugged and shook her head, saying, "No idea."

Rosalie already had an inkling of dread settling in her chest ever since lunch period. Joanna hadn't come to their lunch table, which wasn't odd, but upon further investigation, she wasn't with Dylan, either. "If she's suspended, she'd be at my place. I'll text my moms," Dylan had said, but nothing became of that. Neither of Dylan's moms were at home at that time.

She watched Ray approach the group from where she and Lennie had stopped to talk on the outskirts of the cafeteria. Jamie-Lee was with them, and he waved to Rosalie and Juliana where they had migrated together towards the front of the pack. Rosalie raised a hand back, her smile tight on her lips. Something wasn't right, and it was preparing to claw its way up her throat.

The group was quiet. Rosalie felt itchy. She bit at her thumbnail, scanning the faces of her teammates and mentally ticking each of them off. Brynn, Lu, Jade, Mia, Kim, Jordan, Juliana, Ray—everyone but Joanna was there.

Alyssa, Rosalie thought, eyes wide. She turned to Juliana to mention it, but was interjected by Coach rising from her seat.

"Thank you all for coming on such short notice," Coach said. "As most of you have probably heard, two of your teammates started... a food fight over prom." With this, she scowled at them all. Rosalie swallowed hard, sweating, even though she didn't do shit to engage in the food fight. She had the distinct feeling that they were all in trouble, regardless of how much or how little they engaged with the shenanigans. "Maddox and Spencer have both been suspended for two weeks and won't be attending practices for their participation in the food fight. On top of that... since Spencer was decidedly the instigator, she won't be attending Nationals."

Rosalie was too shocked to scream the way Ray did. "What?! Are you kidding me? It was a food fight. No one died!"

Did I hear that right? Rosalie thought. The punishment didn't exactly match the crime, but she could see where Principle O'Gallagher had to up the anty. The number of students who likely complained to their parents about their thousand-dollar outfits being destroyed probably pushed his hand.

"In case you all forgot," Coach said, raising a hand to silence the complaints, "Spencer joined the team as punishment. It's only fair that the school restricts her travel privileges. She won't be coming to Nationals because of it. State, Regionals—Regionals especially. It's a vacation for players that aren't on the field. We're all there to support the team, but Spencer has made it clear she isn't a team player.

"We all have a responsibility to the team to be on our best behavior. She hasn't been. Your actions impact the team. Let this be a warning to the rest of you if you plan on acting out. This means we are sticking to the sports conduct code to the T. Anyone who breaks code will not be coming to Nationals. Maddox got off with a warning and a suspension, but next time, it won't be that easy."