Sweet Like Revenge

17 - Weak Points

I pulled my school sweater tighter around my shoulders as I waited in line to get on the bus, trying my best to ignore the brisk morning air that pricked at my cheeks. It was six a.m. Far too early for my liking. Which was only made worse by the fact that I had barely gotten a wink of sleep the night before.

Just as Matt predicted, Neabar had asked me to fill in as centre in the Interschool Games. While that was exactly what I wanted, and exactly what I'd hoped would happen after Poppy's suspension from the team, it didn't make the challenge any less daunting. Despite my hatred for the fiery redhead, even I had to admit that she had left me incredibly big shoes to fill. And I knew that any loss by our team would fall squarely on my shoulders.

"Elle!" Kat called from further along the car park. She was standing with Chontelle and Kirsty next to Sienna's brand new white Range Rover. Astor's car was parked next to it, an obnoxious matte black Rover with Irvine-green rims that I was sure were custom.

"No stinky bus for us." Chontelle winked as she took my backpack, then added it to the boot of Sienna's car.

Of course. More special treatment for Walsh's darlings. At that point, was I really surprised?

"Is Coach okay with this?" I asked.

Kirsty laughed at my concern. "Walsh is, and that's all that matters."

I started to prod them further, since getting on Coach's bad side was not how I wanted to start the weekend. But my questioning stopped when I saw that Kat's mouth had fallen completely agape. She stared at something over my shoulder, a shiver that I assumed wasn't caused by the cold rippling through her body.

I followed her gaze to the smoky mountain fog that surrounded us as if we were in some cheap horror movie, half-expecting a zombie or vampire to appear from the mist. What did appear, though, was much, much worse.

"Poppy..." Sienna greeted her friend with a sweet but strained smile. "I thought the board said that you couldn't come on the trip—"

"I know what the board said," Poppy snapped. "I want to talk to you. In private."

Sienna opened her mouth to object, but quickly decided against it. She motioned for Poppy to follow her away from the rest of us.

But there was something in Poppy's tone, and in the way that Sienna had submitted to her so quickly—almost like she had been expecting her—that piqued my interest.

"I need to grab my suitcase from the bus," I declared, throwing Kat and the others my best attempt at an innocent smile. "I'll be right back."

I headed for the luggage compartment under the bus and found my suitcase instantly. But I continued to rummage around aimlessly, my ears finely tuned to the real reason for my diversion.

Sienna and Poppy's conversation.

"Are you kidding?" the latter asked, her voice starting to shake. Gone was her confidence, her arrogance, her holier-than-thou attitude. Standing in front of her best friend, Poppy sounded ... defeated. "This is our last class trip together."

"What do you want me to do?" Sienna whispered urgently.

"Don't go."

"Kat and I are writing about it for the school paper. I can't not go."

That was true. The two of them had found a nice little loophole to the 'athlete-only' rule when they joined the school paper. They got to attend most of the sporting trips and camps without lifting a finger, in exchange for writing an article or two and taking photos of the teams' victories.