I have steered clear of Emmett because I want him to calm down and see that I wasn’t attacking his brother, I was just throwing out options. Do I think Carm would do that to Ember? I’m not sure, to be honest, I don’t know him. Is it probable? Yeah, it is. But Wade has a higher probability. He’s also steered clear from me, going as far as to take his bike to school this morning.
Adri texted me this morning asking to pick her up since Emmett wanted to take his bike. He must be super pissed if he couldn’t even come tell me that himself. It just means I need to talk to him and make him see my side.
After picking up Adri and just barely getting us to school on time, I run into homeroom and nearly crash into Vin’s chest. He raises a single brow over his green eyes and takes a step back.
“What’s up, Bro?” He questions.
“Sorry, just running late.” I walk around him and set my bag down on my desk.
“Mr. Gamry is late anyways.” He nods at the clock. “Trouble in paradise?”
“No,” I shake my head. “Everything with Adri is good.”
“I meant with Emmett.”
My head snaps around so fast, I fear I’ve just given myself whiplash. “Uh… what?”
“You think I don’t see shit?” He grins. “You two are always giving each other eyes.”
“We do not give eyes.” I roll my eyes.
“Yeah, you do.” He points into my face, “is that why you’re sharing Adri?”
“Shh!!!” I smack his shoulder, “what’s wrong with you?”
“Nothing. Who cares what anyone thinks?”
“I do.” I mutter, “besides it’s not like that.”
“I know you and Adri love each other and I also know Adri is dating Emmett. Is that not strange?”
“Dude, stop.” I moan, dropping my head to the desk. “Don’t tell E about your wild ideas.”
“Oh!” He snaps and then laughs, “you’re scared about what Ember will do.”
The teacher thankfully comes at that moment and forces my big mouthed brother to shut up. I can’t believe he figured that out and it makes me nervous when I try to think about who else has figured it out. If Ember knew, she would’ve told Vin, right?
The bell rings, ending homeroom and I breathe out with relief.
“We’ll talk at lunch.” He looks over with a smirk.
Yeah, I’m not avoiding him today.
Thankfully, the day does go by quickly and I made it out of lunch without falling prey to Vin’s incessant questioning. It’s unnerving how much the fucker actually picked up on. I need to learn to never judge how much someone is paying attention by how quiet they are.
I grabbed all E’s work from trig and noticed how Emmett barely looked at me all period-just like during chemistry. I’ll just stick to the plan and talk to him when we’re at home. No need making a scene here at school where more people can deduce our relationship.
I see Jeremy is back at school once I hit the locker room for last period. Kevin sees me and gives me a brief nod before nodding his head in Jeremy’s direction. I nod back and continue changing for practice. When most have cleared out, it leaves me, Jeremy, Kevin, and a few stragglers.
“Hey Jer.” I call out to him.
“Sup?” He asks.
“Can I have a word with you after practice?”
His eyes widen and flick quickly between Kevin and I. Yeah, he already has an idea of what’s going to be said.
“Sure.” He nods.
Coach Wheeler sticks his head in the locker room and yells at us to move it. Practice is pretty much the same as it always is and I find myself becoming more and more bored with this sport. I’m a good baseball player but it’s not something I want to continue with beyond high school. I would like to maybe become an author or write screenplays. That shit is interesting. The thought of taking over a business that belonged to the man I hated, makes me feel so fucking worthless.
After baseball, we all take our showers and Jer, Kev, and I slowly get ready, waiting for everyone else to clear out. This conversation absolutely cannot be overheard. As soon as the place clears out, both Kevin and I look to Jeremy.
“What’s up?” He asks as I detect a slight waver in his voice.
“Last night I was thinking about the time you missed baseball practice for two weeks. Remember grade nine?” I say to him.
Kevin’s brows come together as he thinks about what I just said.
“Yeah, I remember.” Jeremy says as his shoulders slightly fall.
“What happened?” I ask him.
“Yeah,” Kevin’s head pops up, “you were there even when you fucking had Mono.”
Jeremy runs his hand down his face and shakes it out, “I could barely walk, let alone sit on a fucking bench.” He answers quietly.
Yeah, I know that feeling all too well. I also had a week off after what Coach did to me that first time.
“The first time?” I ask.
“Yeah.” He whispers.
“That first Saturday you missed practice, was my first time too.” I tell him.
Kevin slumps down to sit on the bench and exhales loudly, “mine was the summer before.”
We’re all quiet as we think over the actions one man did to us all. The silence is like a heavy blanket, wrapping us closer together.
“I don’t want anyone to know,” Jeremy stresses. “I’m just glad the fucker is dead.”
“We just want to make sure you’re okay and to let you know we’re here for you.” Kevin says.
“Okay.” He nods and gets up to grab his bag. “Me too.”
We watch him leave and we silently grab our shit too. Kevin clasps me on the shoulder and throws me a nod before he leaves the locker room. I feel a lot better knowing I have people I can talk to about this and they know exactly how I’m feeling.
I get home and see Emmett’s bike parked in the driveway. I don’t want to lose him over something we can easily work
