The Introvert and the Football Player

Chapter Twenty

Valerie's POV:

"How's my baby?" I gushed into the phone. I could hear Nova cussing out the stove as she burned herself."The little shit is fine Val." she grumbled. "What are you cussing out now?" I asked her. "This stupid stove; Tommy's hungry again!" Nova snapped. I laughed at my best friend as she continued her verbal assault on the stove. "You could come over here." I offered. I needed to talk to her about school today, and I really wanted to see Tommy. "He's sick Val. If you got sick because of him, you'd be angry with me." She answered. "Get in the car and come over! I don't care!" I yelled into the phone. I needed to see Nova. "TOMMY! WE'RE GOING TO VALERIE'S COME ON!" I heard her yell to her little brother. "We're on the way!" Nova said breathlessly into the phone.

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"What happened at school today?" She asked me as I cooked mac and cheese for Tommy. I looked over at her and shook my head. "It's not bad but it's not good." I told her honestly. Nova looked like she had just seen a ghost. "Bo?" she whispered. "Something like that, yeah." I answered. After we fed Tommy and turned on Spongebob for him, we went up to my room.  "So what happened?" she asked me.

"They were celebrating their victory as they usually do, and someone made the comment about Bo and Bailey." I told her. "That's it? That's what was so bad?" Nova asked me. "No there's more. Jason was angry because someone said Bo and Bailey were the cutest couple at Taylor, and he punched Bo." I said. "Bo fought back, and they both got suspended for 10 days and Coach is considering kicking them off the team for the rest of the season." I continued. Nova stayed quiet as I told her all of this. "So what does this have to do with me?" she asked me. 
"Someone made a comment about you and him kissing at  the game Friday, and one of Bailey's cheerleaders called you Number Four's Whore" I told her. "The fuck? We don't even date!?" she screamed. "Nova--" I began. "Watch Tommy for me. I have to go find Bo." Nova said as she cut me off.

Bo's POV:

I hit the punching bag like it was Jason's face. The little bitch got mad because one of Baileys' stupid teammates said Bailey and I were cute together.  When he hit me, I didn't see it coming.  I would've blocked my face if I knew the bastard was going to hit me there. The whole cafeteria got quiet as I hit the ground, and I remember thinking The fuck  as I dropped to the ground.  The rest of the team backed up as I got off the ground. "Come on Bo. Hit me back." Jason growled. He wanted this fight. I swung back and it hit him square in his jaw, and it only escalated from there.
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"Why the hell are you two fighting?" Coach yelled. "Because Bo doesn't know how to back off of my girl." Jason spat. I rolled my eyes at his answer. "You two fought over  a girl?" the coach said coldly. "He fought over her. I fought back for self defense." I told the coach. I didn't start the damn fight, so how was it my fault Jason couldn't control himself. "You both have your 10 days, but I still have to decide if you still have your spots on my varsity team. I need the best of the best, and you two fighting over this cheerleader will only damage my team." he told us plainly. I froze after he finished; football was my life. It was the only reason I stayed at this school.  I nodded my head to keep from setting the coach off even more. "Coach you can't kick me off the team!" Jason screeched. "I can and I will. This is my team and I won't have it being shot to hell before we can even get it going!" He yelled again.  I still didn't open my mouth. "Smith you can go, I need to have a word with Jason." The coach said. I walked out of his office and it was like all of the disappointment from his lecture just hit me. The team and the cheerleaders were still outside as if they were trying to make it look like we were still celebrating, but I knew they just wanted to know what happened between Jason and I. "The perfect duo isn't so perfect after all." A junior varsity player said. "If he didn't hook up with Number Four's Whore then they still would be." Bailey's minion said. "Oh shut the fuck up will you!" I yelled. Nova wasn't my whore and Jason and I have never been a perfect duo. I walked out to my truck as quick as I could, and when I got there I saw Valerie waiting there for me.
"I'm not in the mood to argue." I told her.  "Good because I'm not either." She answered. "Are you okay?" When she asked me that, it was like it all just hit me. I shook my head no, and she gave me this look that made me feel like it was going to be okay. "It'll be fine Bo. You know the coach won't kick you off the team because you two are his best players." She said. "I don't know what I'm gonna do if he does. Football is my life." I told her. She looked off into the distance and nodded. There's no way she understood what I was going through but the way she was acting made me feel as if she did. "I heard what that girl called Nova." Valerie said. Of course she did. "I hate that they think of her like that." I said. What was I supposed to do? I couldn't go around smacking girls because they called my girl a whore. "Are you going to tell?" She asked me. "I don't know. I know I should, but I'm scared she'll back away from me if she heard what they said about her." I told her honestly. It felt like I just got Nova to open up and I was definitely trying not to ruin it. "Yeah I understand." Valerie said. She started walking away then and I shook my head at her retreating form.  She was going to tell Nova. It didn't take a genius to figure that one out.
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"Bo." She said, her voice dragging me out of my daze. "Nova." I said as I got up to go over to where she was. "Are you okay? Valerie told me everything and I just--" She babbled. I cut her off by kissing her, I couldn't stop myself. "I'm fine now." I told her honestly. "What happened?" She asked. "I thought Valerie already told you." I answered. "She did but I'd like to hear it from you."  Nova told me. The way she looked made it impossible to say no. I cut off the music that was playing in the background and began to tell her. I told her everything from him hitting me to the Number Four's Whore; she sat there quietly as I told her. "Do you think you're going to be kicked off the team?" She asked me. "I couldn't tell you honestly." I answered. As I said that, my phone rang. It was one of the assistant coaches, and my blood ran cold. I was definitely kicked off the team. Coach couldn't even tell me himself.
"Hello?" I answered. "Hey Bo, Coach told me to call you and say he expects you to show up at practice tomorrow with 110% effort as always. He said he's not kicking you off the team because you've earned your spot on this team." The assistant coach told me. "So I'm not kicked off?" I asked to make sure. "No. You're a promising athlete Bo. All of the coaches can see you, and he said he couldn't kick you off the team and kill your dreams of football. Just no more fights." He said. "Alright I'll see you at practice tomorrow." I answered. I wasn't off the team! "You will and have a good night Bo." The coach told me as he hung up. Nova looked at me waiting for me to tell her what was going on. "I'm still on the team." I simply said. My smile was probably about to break my face in two but I didn't care. "Oh my gosh Bo that's good!" Nova said as she hugged me. I hugged her to me and kissed the top of her head. "Let's go out tonight." I told her. "Why?" She asked. "Dinner date?" I asked back. She smiled and said "But you aren't dressed to go out."
"I'll be ready in 10." I told her. "Okay fine. But you're buying." She said. "Well it wouldn't be a date if I didn't baby girl." I said as I walked back to the locker room.