Let Me Love Him

XI.

"You have no right to be mad at Mandy. She's not your girlfriend."

Dan Wilson wipes his hair from his forehead and stares down the long hallway of the boys' dorm. He doesn't like the fact that the soda machine is in the recreation room, and he doesn't want to hear everything that happens there.

Ted Thompson is very mouthy and everyone listens to him, and if someone doesn't, then he gets hurt.

"But Ted freaks me out sometimes, too. I would even hit him, but he's our captain. And a very good player."

Screw him.

Dan got a few remarks during training. Dan got even more remarks during class. Hopkins almost hit Dan with a bike last night. Dan's been having bad luck lately.

He enters the recreation room and accidentally bumps into one of the preps — Dan doesn't look, but it's probably Chad Morris. He doesn't say anything offensive to him, but he snorts meticulously. Dan doesn't have to worry about getting into a fight with Chad — they don't need this right now.

In the recreation room Dan notices Bryce and Justin playing cards. By the window, on the opposite side, there are a couple of the greasers drinking cold cola from a soda machine. Some nerds are actively discussing, apparently, some school project, while the guys in white shirts are probably plotting against them.

Dan Wilson likes that kind of atmosphere, to be honest. He's too tired of insults today, so he just glances at his brother, Thad, and goes to the soda machine, nodding only to Bo and Kirby.

"And that Christy chic is grilling me. Like I wanted to set Mandy up. My ex-girlfriend," Ted Thompson looks at Damon West, and he nods accordingly. And then they both turn towards Lefty and Lucky. "If anyone should've had their faces smacked at the Carnival, it should've been you, greasers. 'Cause Vincent and I haven't decided anything yet," says the quarterback, shrugging his shoulders and putting both hands behind his head, leaning on the back of the sofa. "Where is he, by the way? I don't see him at school. Is our tough guy scared?"

Lucky can be intimidating sometimes and the irritation on his face makes Thompson be more careful with his words. The guy's not short and he's got red knuckles. Ted doesn't think he's gonna lose a fight, but there's something inside that makes him stay put and not touch the greasers.

Lefty would probably hit the soda machine with Thompson's head. He can literally see the quarterback smiling widely, the academy crest shining on his blue sports jacket, and the almost-healed bruise on his face being red.

"I've been thinking though," Ted says. Words come out slowly and almost lazily. "If the gossip about them was spread by someone from the school, it's definitely not gonna be a jock, right?"

Justin feels that the atmosphere on the ground floor is sticky, unpleasant, but smiles.

Ted begins to suspect that everything is just a well-established game.

Justin thinks he's not that dumb.

"No, seriously," Thompson says, frowns as he throws his curious eyes into the recreation room. "The guilty one is always the pathetic social scum who even can't get a girl. This quiet, gloomy dude who's a fan of this astrological bullshit," Ted straightens his shoulders, having this weird enthusiasm in his voice. "Like Thad."

What?

Dan's look changes and he hides his hands in pockets.

The first second his heart seems to stop and tears in half, pouring his chest with boiling water. And then it's fused together again. Dan doesn't clench his fists. Dan doesn't explode right away. Dan doesn't get mad because Ted is the team captain. He's in charge. In charge.