Quiet || hs

24

Monday morning, coach Payne started the workouts for us. I kept quiet as usual and went through the workouts with Monique by my side questioning me.

"Do you know why he's not here?"

"No Monique, he's not my boyfriend. I don't keep track of him." I whisper to her.

"Well, I thought yo-"

"Monique," I snap. "I'm not going to talk about this now. Didn't I tell you enough last night?"

"Does he know I know?"

"No, he left before I got the chance to." I tell her. "Please, can we stop talking about it?"

Monique stops talking to me and pays attention to coach Payne. The gym was full with the JV and Varsity together again. I was hoping no one heard our conversation. It was doubtful because we were spaced out.

The end of the workouts came and coach Payne lets us stop earlier than usual. He answers some questions about the next few games and playoffs. Then someone asks about Harry.

"It's not my business to be telling, but he'll be here for practice." Coach Payne assures us. "You girls should go get ready for school."

-

Harry wasn't there for first period, so I went the whole day dreading to tell him about Monique. I head to the gym and bump into a boy getting picked on. I roll my eyes at the group and walk up to them.

"Rylee, how's it going?" Colton, one of my classmates, tries to shake my hand.

"I have practice," I tell them, glancing at the familiar boy.

He's quiet like me, but he barely gets involved in any school activities. He keeps to himself which reminds me of my freshman year. I had no one but my brother and he wasn't very friendly in school. When I switched to another town and school, I decided that I need to open up a bit. That's when volleyball and Monique came into my life.

"Wilfred was just looking at some pictures here." Colton laughs, snatching a camera from the boy's hands. "Do you want to see them?"

"No stop!" Wilfred demands, taking the camera back. "Just leave me alone."

"Did Wilfred actually speak?" another guy taunts.

"He did," Colton says, looking shocked.

"Guys, leave him alone." I defend. "It's 2016, so stop the bullying."

"We're not bullying." Colton argues. "We were just wondering what he does all alone here. Then we caught hi-"

"I saw the two of you making fun of him." I point out. "Come on Wilfred, you don't have to deal with them."

Wilfred nods, following me down the hall. "Thanks," he says softly as we walk towards the gym. "I like to be called Will by the way. I hate the name Wilfred."

"Alright Will, you're welcome." I smile, looking at him.

Will was a tall guy and kind of skinny. There was a little grease in his sandy hair and his glasses covered little acne spots. I bet if he cleaned up a bit, he'd be quite good looking.

"They've been like that towards me ever since I came last year."

"Yeah, don't take them too seriously. Just shrug them off and walk away." I advise him. "They did the same to me when I first came my sophomore year. They stopped bothering me when I didn't answer to them." I tell him then tilt my head. "Well, they didn't quite stop because they like messing with me to get a reaction, but they're actually cool once you get to know them."