Dead Girl Walking ― Aaron Minyard

17. the lucky one

and they tell you that you're lucky
but you're so confused
'cause you don't feel pretty,
you just feel used
― taylor swift

♦

MARA HAD FOUGHT MULTIPLE PEOPLE FOR KEVIN, and she would gladly do it again and again, but as she woke up at one in the morning to drive to Kathy Ferdinand's stupid talk show, she was seriously considering doing him bodily harm.

She'd ended up crashing in Kevin's dorm, since Mara's roommates had decided to throw a little party to celebrate the beginning of the season. Andrew wouldn't let Kevin sleep (since he was a bitch to wake up in the morning on normal days), so Mara stole his bed and got a solid four hours of sleep before Andrew was throwing a pillow at her to wake her up.

Mara slipped back to her own dorm to change into comfortable clothes for the ride up to Raleigh, following her miserable-looking roommates back out into the hall. Allison (and Seth) weren't going, so they got to sleep in.

Bastards.

Wymack looked way too awake for this early in the morning, and Mara wondered how many cups of coffee he'd already chugged.

Dan stumbled over to Matt as soon as he and Neil—who both looked equally exhausted—left their dorm, looping her arms around his neck and falling asleep against him almost immediately.

Andrew's lot was the last to show. Kevin had been wearing his wrist braces since the game last night and he still had them on now.

Wymack pointed at Kevin. "How the hell did they wake you up?"

"They didn't let me sleep." Kevin sent Andrew a sour look, but Andrew ignored him.

"Smart," Wymack said, and waved them toward the stairs. "Let's go."

Abby was out back by the team bus. It was Mara's first time seeing the bus, since it was usually locked in a gated compound to prevent vandalism. It was painted to match the stadium—orange trim and paw prints against a white background. On the inside, instead of the traditional two rows, the bus had only one. The cushions were big enough to comfortably seat two athletes or let one curl up and nap.

Andrew led his group to the back of the bus. Mara considered sitting with Kevin, but then decided against it and dropped into the open seat next to Aaron.

If he didn't look so dead tired, Mara figured he'd protest harder. As it were, he just complained sleepily, "Why can't you sit with Kevin?"

"He's all legs," Mara grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest and closing her eyes. "Now shut the fuck up so I can go back to sleep."

Aaron mumbled something profane under his breath, but didn't argue further.

♦

Mara woke an indiscernible amount of time later to a light poking in her arm. She opened her eyes, already glaring as she turned to look at a barely-awake Aaron, who she was much closer to than when she'd been awake.

She lifted her head, which had fallen onto his shoulder. She rubbed her eyes tiredly. "What?"

"Abby and Renee went to get breakfast," he mumbled, still clearly tired and regretting being awake. "Wake up."

"I am awake," Mara muttered unhappily.

"I was talking to myself."

Mara looked at her phone, seeing the time (and five missed calls from Jean—she made a mental note to call the next time she was alone). It was almost six by now, so they must have been in Raleigh already. Wymack had parked in some fast food place's parking lot, and now he stood in the aisle to face his team.