Nineteen

Chapter Seventy-Nine

I hang up the phone and try not to look at Mac. I type in Clark's name on my phone next. It rings and rings, but no answer.
"Does Clark have practice or something? His class should be over."
Mac looks at me but shakes his head. "We practice everyday around four. He should be free."
I hang up the phone and lay it on my bed.
"If he doesn't get back to me later, I may need that overnight pass you offered."
He smiles at me. "That's what I'm here for."
I rub where the bandages cover my face. "You should unwrap it and let it air out. We should change them too, they have blood on them," he says as he reaches for my head.
I nod and let him unravel them. When they are off, my face lights up in pain. My jaws are barely together and they feel as if they have been set on fire.
The cool air feels funny on my skin. Mac takes a wet paper towel to get off any blood that was on my face. I close my eyes as if I'm a child who's mother is cleaning her from a day of play.
"Why are you helping me?" I ask when he moves his hands. I instantly regret it, because my face shoots pain through it.
"I like you. We're friends, or at least I thought we were."
I nod my head up and down.
"It's also my job," he says as he points to his uniform and smiles. I wave my hand at him in an attempt to threaten him, but he only laughs.
He then grabs new cloth from his back pocket and starts to wrap my face back. After he's finished, he places the rest of the cloth on my desk, to use later.
"I have to go here soon, to get ready for practice, but I'd like it if you came with me. I'd feel better if you wasn't left alone just yet," he says to me.
I don't want to be alone, at all, but I'm not sure if I'm ready for others to see me.
"We can go early, and I'd set you up in the announcers center. Nobody can go in there, but you'd still be able to see me."
I really want to be with Collin, but he's working all night, and I have nobody else. I nod my head in agreement, and he lets out a breath of relief. I stand up and gather a few things.
"How long will we be there?" I say.
"Around three hours."
I grab my iPad and my book bag and throw it on my bed. Mac picks it up and asks if he can carry it for me.
When we get outside of the dorms, I realize the attention I'm getting. I have a bandaged face, and I'm being escorted by what appears to be a police officer.
Once I sit down, my stomach aches and makes a loud noise, and I'm almost embarrassed that Mac heard it. "We can stop and eat after we stop by my dorm," he suggests. I nod and agree.

We first stop by campus security and trade vehicles, leaving the patrol car and jump into his. We drive through a few streets until we're at his dorm building. It's one across campus where most of the athletes stay at. Clark is the only one I know who would rather stay in the building near mine.

The thought crosses my mind that I need some friends that are girls. There's some things you can't do with boys that you can with girls, for example: talk about boys.
Clark is my best friend, but his best friends are teammates of his, one being the guy I'm with right now. I make a mental note to get out and make new friends.

"This is the pad," he says when he swings the door open to his room. It's small, like mine, but the other half is stacked full of football things, showing he doesn't have a roommate.