The Quarterback's Girl

Chapter 5

Just to clarify, Kim and Poppy are both 15 years old in the 10th grade and then all the other characters (excluding Kim/Jason's dad) are 16-17 in the 11th grade

"So I'm thinking that word spread about what went down this weekend?" Poppy says as other 10th graders give weird looks in our direction as I get a couple books into my locker before class starts.

"I'm guessing so, I don't think they know about you though."

"Me neither, it's you they're starring at."

"That's so much better." I scoff deciding not to take the temporary attention too seriously. "Who cares? It'll only die down anyway."

"I guess you're right." Poppy agrees.

"Let's go." I say closing my locker.

"Oh shit." Poppy says nudging me and looking quickly to the ground, moving her hair in attempt to cover her face. I peer through the hall and see Ellis and Noah heading our direction.

"Poppy." Ellis says stopping in his tracks.

"Uh, hi." She says looking up at him, she moves her hair away from her face, attempting to act  as if she wasn't hiding from him.

"Can I talk to you a second?" He says.

"Sure." Ellis looks at me, then at Noah and then takes Poppy's hand and leads her around the corner to where no one will listen. Which leaves me standing face to face with Noah.

"I can't thank you enough for what you did on Saturday night, you were my savior."

"The pleasure is all mine, I couldn't have abandoned a damsel in distress." He smiles. "Crazy about those rumors though." He rolls his eyes as if he's heard them all before, which he probably has. "Sorry to have dragged you into that."

"Are you kidding? Sorry to have dragged you into that!" I tell him and he laughs.

"Seriously though, a piece of advice, stay away from Morgan and her friends."

"Thanks, I think after Saturday night that 's what I'll do."

"I'm taking an educated guess and assuming that Poppy told you what went down between her and Ellis on Saturday night?" He asks.

"Yeah, she told me."

"Ellis comes off pretty bad in that story but, I swear, he's a great guy."

"For Poppy's sake, I hope so."

Ellis and Poppy approach us just as the bell rings, "See you around." Noah says and we part ways.

"So what was all that about?" I ask Poppy nosely.

"So when he took me aside he told me about how sorry he was about Saturday night and insisted that what he did was a terrible thing. I explained to him that it really wasn't and that he didn't have to be sorry for anything." She paused.

"Then what happened?"

"He hugged me and thanked me for not hating him, then asked me if I wanted to hang out sometime and gave me his number so I can call him." She beams.

"Oh that's great!"

"I know, I'm so happy."

"So you like him don't you?"

"Yeah, I do." She grins as if it's a guilty pleasure.

The bell rings and we start to make our way to French class. Ugh, French is not my forté, if you'll pardon the pun. I'm sorry that was just terrible. As soon as I sit down Fleur immediately turns to me and asks "Is it true?"

"Excuse me?"

"I said, is it true?"

"That my middle name is Anne? yes. That I have an evil twin? No." I open my text book and look down at the page. "I'm sorry but you'll have to be more specific." I tell her, despite the fact that I know exactly what she is referring to.

"Do the words Saturday night and Noah McConnell ring any bells?"

"If this is about some stupid rumor then no, it is certainly not true."

"So you do know what I'm talking about?"

"Well yes but-"

"I think that says it all." She begins writing things down in French.

"Says what?" I ask slightly aggravated by her smugness.

"It's so obvious that you two did it, it's written all across your face."

"Oh wow, your deduction skills are marvelous considering the fact that my virginity is still intact and you couldn't be more wrong."

"Whatever you say." Fleur says.

I'm sure she's still thinking that I'm lying and that my testimony is fake, if anything it could have worsened the situation. Through the entire lesson I'm so irritated that she's probably still thinking about it. Could it be that more than just Fleur are thinking about it? I go through the day with people questioning me like Fleur did and people looking me up and down like Fleur did. I feel like I've somehow lost my innocence, like what everyone's been saying is true and now I feel guilty about what I've supposedly done. That's utterly ridiculous though, looking back of on my dating records I'm more likely to be a prude than a slut.

"Today has been great." Poppy beams, "No one has said a thing about Ellis and I."

"I wish I could say the same." I reply.