Oh How Times Have Changed

XIII

I was walking down the corridor towards the art rooms to eat lunch there (despite Daxx not working here today), when I heard somebody yell my name. I spun around and saw my football coach at the end of the corridor, waving his hands to get my attention. I wonder what he wants; whatever it is, I can't imagine it being a good thing. Maybe I should pretend I didn't hear him. We had already made eye contact, so that would be difficult to pull off.

"Coach?" I called reluctantly, watching him jog towards me.

"Have you got time for a chat?" He asked, finally catching up to me and slowing to a stop.

"Yeah, sure." I nodded, what the hell is this about?

I hadn't spoken to him since I got kicked off the team three weeks ago. I was still sort of salty about that. Kicking me off the team permanently seemed like a personal punishment from coach, so it's no wonder I had taken it pretty badly. A lot of the other goons had gotten into fights before and he had simply let them off with a slapped wrist. Yet I get kicked off the team? Hate crime... Joking, obviously. 

"Look, Jimmy came to speak to me. He told me what was happening. I'm sorry about it kid. Once you feel better, your old spot on the team is still free. It's yours if you want it."

I was confused. Jimmy spoke to him? What did he tell him exactly? I'm pretty sure Coach already knew that the team were bullying me, since they didn't really bother hiding it. Were people really that oblivious to my torture? If not, why did he care all of a sudden? 

"I'm not sure, Coach. The team don't exactly like me." I shrugged.

As much as I love football, I don't want to put myself back in that situation. The incident in the car park had been the final straw, I didn't want to be their punching bag anymore. I wasn't brave enough, or strong enough to stand up to them, but I could at least avoid them for the rest of our senior year. I was so close to being free I could almost taste it.

"You sure? You'll be missing out on potential sports scholarships."

That caught my attention. Since Angel and I were going to be going through university at the same time, it was a financial strain on our mother. My student loan wasn't enough to cover everything. Also, I didn't want to have to turn to Daxx for money if he was going to be raising a child of his own.

"I'll think about it." I reluctantly sighed, knowing I probably should do it for the money. 

"Get better soon, and let me know." 

With that, Coach was gone. It was weird to hear him wish me well. Before now, he had barely spoken to me. He mostly communicated through sounds and grunts. I was surprised by the whole conversation. Hearing Coach basically say that he thought I was good enough for a sports scholarship was strange; he was actively encouraging me to be on the team. I thought he hated me.

I entered the art classroom and took a seat, tucking into my lunch.

As for Jimmy, it seemed he was really trying to put things right. It was a nice surprise. I bit my lip thinking about it, looking forward to seeing him later at our study meeting. It was the last one before mock exams started tomorrow. I hardly focused during my final lesson, heading straight for the detention room the second it was done.

I plopped down in my seat and sat, patiently waiting. My leg was bouncing and I kept checking my hair every five minutes. After our conversation last night, I was convinced that Jimmy really had made progress with accepting himself. Obviously I didn't know him that well, what his likes and interests were, but I could tell he really needed a friend to help him through this. I guess I wanted to give him what Felix had given me: acceptance.

After ten minutes, my smile had faded. He was a no show.

I packed up my stuff and left the room, feeling stupid. I had sat there and waited for him, only to be stood up. I thought we had made so much headway yesterday, but it was always one step forward and two steps backwards with Jimmy Wellot. 

I all but threw my backpack into the car, climbing inside in a huff. We had exams tomorrow and he really wanted to sulk instead of study? I don't know why it had upset me so much, but I felt mortified for sitting there- grinning- waiting on a guy who never planned to show up.

I whipped out my phone, dialling Felix's number.

"He stood me up today. We're going out tonight." I stated as soon as he picked up, just wanting to drink away any memory of today.

"We are?" Felix's jolly voice chuckled from the other end of the line, "Jimmy didn't show for tutoring?"

"I want to dance and relax. Forget about school."

"Andy, hon, usually I would jump at a chance to hang out, but you have exams tomorrow. Go home. Study. He's clearly working through some stuff. Forget him."

"I don't care about exams! Let's hang out, please." I begged.

"Sorry. I'm not gonna let you sabotage your grades."

Felix hung up. I frowned and let my phone drop to the floor of the car. I sat there for a while. I guess Felix was right. As much as I felt terrible right now, I know deep down that Felix had made a wise decision. I'd thank him later. I headed home and pulled into the drive, noticing that the drive was empty. Mum was out, probably working late. I jogged up to my room and jumped into my desk chair.

I whipped out a textbook and put all of my energy into memorising that thing from front to back. Go big or go home. If Felix wasn't allowing me to let loose, I was going to smash these exams. I was determined to get amazing grades and get the hell away from that school. Screw everyone, including Jimmy Wellot. 

After a few hours of hitting the books, I took a break to grab some dinner and shot a quick thank you text to Felix. What would I do without him? I noticed the time and decided to get an early night, so that I would be prepared for tomorrow. As I was about to go back up, Angel wandered down into the kitchen and smiled at me, grabbing a drink from the fridge.

"Hey." I smiled back, "Good luck for tomorrow."

"You too." She nodded at me.

"I spoke to Daxx the other day- he and Connor are thinking about adopting. I just thought I'd let you know, since it came as a bit of a shock to me."

"Really?" She asked, hopping up on the counter and eating some biscuits.

"I told him they'd make good parents. How would you feel about being an aunty?" I teased.

"I hope it's a girl. Our families becoming overrun by men at this point." She stated dramatically.

"I beg to differ. It's only Connor, Daxx and I. The girls have you, Mary, mum and Anne."

"Oh. I guess you're right. I forget about Mary and Connor's mum."

"Don't let Anne hear you say that, she'll murder you." I joked, making Angel laugh.

"So what happened with the Will guy? Did you ever go on that date?" She seemed genuinely interested in my life, looking to have a conversation with me. 

"I didn't hear from him again after the mugging. I'm not that bothered, though; if he's not interested then neither am I."

"You sound so mature. Wish I was the same." Angel sighed, looking at me with admiration. 

I stilled at that as she headed back upstairs, taking the biscuits with her. I had been jealous of Angel for as long as I could remember. I had always thought she was the more attractive twin, funny and popular. She was everything I'm not. It never even crossed my mind that maybe she compared herself to me sometimes too. Huh.

I guess we all have our insecurities.