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Us as in the predicament.
Not us as in ‘me and the arrogant, egotistical football player’ us.
I tied my shoes, carefully pulling the knot together. Adam was arrogant. I knew it. You could practically taste it when he had one of those deep smirks on his face, like he was daring anybody to defy the fact that he wasn’t the best of the best. But then…there was, there was…another Adam?
There was the Adam who yanked me into the pool. But there was also the Adam who yelled at a guy in my class for interrupting me. Adam who ruined my relationship and Adam who held me in the shower, with his hand around my throat, asking me to run away with him for another weekend. Adam who rolled his eyes at me and Adam who took the time to show me how to beat in a car window.
The more I tried to fold in all these different sides of him, the less it made sense.
Footsteps echoed down the hall and I glanced up before my eyes shot right down to the floor again.
Ryan Cross. Captain of the football team.
He sat in another chair by the door, about three feet away from me. He sat there, no expression on his face, arms folded over his chest. Zariah called him Mr. Intense and I had to agree.
Honestly, he scared me a little.
"Are you—uh—waiting for Adam?" I asked him, straightening up a little.
"Yes," he said.
"Oh." I hesitated. "Is he…in trouble?"
"Not yet."
I breathed out in relief. "Okay. Good."
His eyes flickered over to mine and he resumed staring down at the end of the hallway. For a moment, it was quiet, and then he nodded. "We go way back."
"Since the…accident?” I stopped myself. “No. Third grade. That’s what Adam said.”
Ryan’s entire body shifted on the chair, taut. He stared at me. "What did you just say?"
A flush crept up my cheeks.
"Piper?"
"I—uh—third grade?”
“No. Before that.”
I knew Ryan knew about the accident but I didn’t expect to see the look of complete shock on his face. I cleared my throat. “I—uh—”
"That’s a banned topic on the field,” he told me, a hard edge to his words. “Everyone knows they’re not allowed to talk about it. Who told you?"
"I—I—"
"Piper, you need to tell me. Now."
I swallowed. "Adam…told me?"
His eyebrows furrowed. "What?"
"He told me at—um—we were talking and he told me."
Ryan took his regular place back in the chair and gazed at me, confused. "Adam told you?"
"Yes?"
