Eleanor
I drew in a long slow breath as I steadied my grip on the ball, the chatter of the gym fading into the background.
The rhythmic squeak of sneakers against the polished floor, the sharp whistle of the coach, the occasional bursts of laughter from the other players…it all blurred together, a dull hum in my ears.
Focus. Just focus.
I tossed the ball in the air, my muscles tensing as I jumped, swinging my arm forward.
And just like I had envisioned the ball soared over the net, but instead of feeling satisfied, all I could think about was yesterday.
I did run after Jake just so I could speak to him but it was obvious that he didn't want to talk to me and if he didn't want to talk to me then he was obviously not going to listen to anything I had to say.
Ugh.
I exhaled through my nose, shaking my head.
I didn't know how long I was going to be able to keep this whole act up. It was seriously draining the shit out of me.
And the worst part was the one person who happened to put me in this situation was nowhere to be found.
I reached for my forehead, wiping it with the back of my hand as I fixed my eyes on the ball, waiting for it to get to my side of the court again so I could smack it over the net again.
Whatever had prevented Liam from making it to school yesterday must have done the same today because apparently I couldn't find him anywhere and the fucking moron refused to swap numbers so I couldn't reach him even if I wanted to.
Maybe I should just start spilling his secret and he'll appear out of nowhere like he always does.
Just then one of my teammates sent the ball flying towards me and I had thought I had calculated my timing just right but apparently I was a second late and I missed the ball sending it out of the court instead of hitting it over the net like I planned to.
"Damn it." I cursed as the sound of the coach's whistle pierced through my ear drums for the nth time this afternoon.
"Roberts, eyes on the ball." She chastised. "One more screw up and you're out. Got that?"
"Yes coach." I muttered under my breath trying real hard not to roll my eyes.
So I might have missed the ball quite a few times before that…okay maybe not a few but yeah it was pretty obvious to the whole team class that I wasn't on my game today, they just didn't know what was the cause of it.
"Dori, are you okay?" Sofia whispered from the other side of the net and I gave her a quick nod with a small smile.
Today we happened to be on different sides of the court because we were put in different teams but it was still cool. I mean it was just a practice game.
Luckily for me, Naomi was on her side and not mine so I didn't need to worry about bumping into her on the court. It seemed that ever since I confronted her about Liam and me which was yesterday…she's been looking for an opportunity to get back at me.
Little did she know that I was actually saving her careless butt because If she somehow found out about Liam's secret, he wouldn't hesitate to get rid of her.
I mean now that I think about it I was indeed lucky that he had no choice that day. He probably helped me because he knew leaving me in there would implicate him and only worsen things and now…
"I never actually planned for anyone to know the truth but since you do, I guess I'm going to use you to my advantage."
A lump formed in my throat.
…I guess I know why he hasn't gotten rid of me yet.
"That's it Roberts. You're out."
I stiffened when I heard my name. When I noticed almost everyone on my side of the court was glaring at me I turned to find the ball rolling further and further away from the court.
Crap, I must have missed it.
Well…at least now I was out of volleyball practice.
Without a word I moved towards the bench, plopping down beside my bag and pulling out my water can. I sat there watching the rest play until the time was finally up.
As expected Sofia came up to me in the girls locker room to ask what was wrong but I just brushed it off and told her I was feeling a bit sick.
Just when we were leaving the girls locker room we caught sight of Jake, Micheal and some of his other friends passing by and I felt a gnawing sensation in my chest when our eyes met.
Breaking up with Jake was one thing but breaking up with him and dating someone else a few weeks later was just being cruel. Now he's going to think Thea broke up with him just because she liked someone else.
Just like I had expected, Jake looked away the second he noticed me and picked up his pace so I wouldn't try to talk to him even if I wanted to.
"Do you think he's mad at you because you're with Liam now?" I heard Sofia whisper from beside me and I just turned to her with both of my eyebrows raised.
An expression that spelled out 'What do you think?'
She then pressed her lips in a thin line before turning back to watch Jake disappear from our sight.
God dammit.
I was ruining this story with my impulsive attitude and lack of foresight and now everyone else had to pay for it.
My gaze drifted to Sofia who was walking right beside me.
Even Sofia.
Oh gosh.
"Umm…what's our next class again?" I swiped through my notifications, knowing fully well I had asked Sofia the same question about an hour ago when we were in the locker room.
"Philosophy." She sighed, sounding a bit tired. "But we have like a few minutes before…"
She trailed off all of sudden causing me to tear my eyes away from my phone screen and turn to her.
"What's wrong?" A frown tugged at my lips but then I followed her gaze over my shoulders to meet a familiar pair of eyes peering down at me.
It was Liam.