Never Be the Same

Never Be the Same IV

IV

                I looked up at him hoping that my emotions weren’t easily read from my eyes. “I’m sorry,” Coach Stiles apologized, running his hand over his shaved head after removing his cap. “I probably shouldn’t have been the one to tell you, but I felt that the sooner you knew the better off you’d be.”

                Nodding my head I slowly lowered myself until the cold metal of the players’ bench was under my rear. I lowered my head into my hands and my head between my knees. This couldn’t be real.

                Coach Stiles remained silent as he stood beside me watching Beck lead the team in stretched. He wouldn’t look at me once he spoke to me, wouldn’t even glance down for a second. But, then again, why would he? According to the stalls in every single boy’s bathroom in the school, I was a slut who was a great fuck; to begin with, there was far worse lingering in the stalls he claimed he couldn’t mention.

                The sound of feet pounding against the track only quickened my attempt to stop the tears from calling. “Coach, what happened?” the voice was full of concern and worry; it almost mimicked the one I’d used when addressing the messenger from Coach. A hand tenderly dropped on my shoulder as another tried to prompt me to lift my face. “Adri, what happened; what’s wrong?”

                I couldn’t bring myself to speak for I was too afraid that my voice would give away the true emotions I was feeling. So I shook my head, or I tried to shake my head as best I could from the position I was in.

                A part of me wanted Coach Stiles to tell him so he could beat up the idiots who decided to spread these nasty rumours. Another wanted Coach to keep his mouth shut so Beck would have to worry about one thing and one thing only; the game at hand.

                “There were several young men who decided to plaster profanities all over the stalls in the boy’s bathroom about Miss McDoom,” I was tempted to bash my head against the metal bench beneath me in order to get out of the situation I was in. Beck already had enough on his shoulders; he didn’t need to worry about me.

                Beck’s calloused hand left my chin and the one on my shoulder began slipping down my arm. “Do they know why it was?” he sounded like he was clenching his jaw, he sounded like he wanted to kill. When Coach didn’t answer he just got angrier. “Did the office find out who did it, Coach?”

                He sighed loudly. “Alistair, that’s not something you need to worry about. Principal King has been looking at the tapes since lunch in hopes of finding out who did this,” he tried to keep his voice level, calm, but even as a teacher he wound up losing grips on his anger.

                A whoosh of air beside me prompted me to raise my head. Fury clouded Beck’s handsome features and I found myself springing to my feet as he stormed towards the bleachers. I grabbed a hold of his broad shoulders and dug my heels into the track. “Beck let it go,” even though I could feel the tears streaking down my cheeks I tried my hardest to keep my face level.

                Red flashed viciously in his eyes as he whirled around. “No, I’m not going to let it go Adrianna!” he threw his hands up in frustration. “Whoever did that is going to have to suffer the consequences for their stupidity. It’s not something I’m going to let slide.”

                I placed my hands on his cheeks, forcing him to stare me in the eyes. “Beck, just leave it until after the football game,” he opened his mouth and I sent him a pointed stare. “This is your game, your team and your win. I don’t want you focusing on me while you’re carrying your team to victory.”