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Last year, we almost didn’t qualify because of them, and as soon as we reached Nationals, they destroyed us. Christine is their captain, their center, an absolute bitch. I look for her in the crowd of teams eating their dinner, but instead of finding her, I find Jake.
My heart skips a beat, accelerates and I feel it in my tight throat. My insides twist as I see he’s eating next to Billie. God, I hate her. She thinks she’s so strong and indestructible. She thinks no one can touch her because she’s part of a gang and because Jake fucks her.
That’s what it does to you, being in the king’s arms, letting him worship your body. You think you’re above everyone else. A queen among peasants. Jake makes you feel special, invincible.
Seeing Jake sitting with the North Shore High team and wearing their colors probably doesn’t only feel strange to me. He was Stoneview Prep’s beloved captain, the king of our school, the God among us mere mortals.
He’s talking to a teammate I’ve never seen before, but when he suddenly looks away from him and his eyes land on me, my heart kicks up. I’m breathless.
He is so gorgeous, it’s ridiculous.
His gaze stays on me as he bends down to whisper something in Billie’s ear. Her eyes flick to me and she laughs as Jake pulls away from her.
Bitch.
I refocus on my table just to find Luke and Emily talking to each other. They’re exchanging about how they’re going to celebrate once both teams go back to Stoneview, qualified for nationals. I can’t talk about this until I know for sure we are qualified. We’re good, but anything can happen.
Emily laughs at one of Luke’s jokes and Cole kicks my leg under the table. His eyes widen as we both think the same thing: are these two patching things up? If not, at least they’re going back to being friends.
Luke and Emily had one of those healthy breakups. Their relationship might have been a lot of trying to make the other jealous, but once they had broken up, they gave each other time to heal. The complete opposite of Jake and I trying to completely destroy the other.
After dinner, our teams head to a meeting with Coach Thompson in one of the hotel’s meeting rooms. It only takes half an hour, but I’m exhausted by the time we get out. I need energy for tomorrow. Emily catches me as I head out of the room.
“So…” she hesitates. “I’m going to go for a walk with Luke. Just in the area, we just want to talk.”
I laugh as she finishes her sentence. “Just a walk?”
She giggles in return. “I’ll try to be good, I swear.”
“Have fun,” I yawn as I head toward the elevator.
I slide the card and open the door to my room. I turn around to close it and stretch myself in another yawn, still facing the door. I start biting my cheek thinking of the upcoming days.
Tomorrow morning we’re watching the men’s team at 9 am, our pre-game warm-up is at 10:30 am and our first game at 11 am. Our second game at 4 pm is against Edmont High. We’ll beat them easily. The day after tomorrow we have an easy game in the morning, and St Anne in the afternoon. North Shore High is on our third day, in the afternoon, and on the fourth–
My thoughts are cut short when a hand slams on my mouth from behind, giving me a near heart attack and startling me hard enough for all my muscles to tense. I scream so loud my lungs beg to explode but the whole sound is muffled by the strong hand.
My fight or flight response kicks in straight away and I wiggle, kick one leg behind, trying to get my assailant in the legs. Adrenaline is running high, and my hands feel clammy as I try to pry off the unforgiving fingers digging into my cheeks.
He doesn’t make a noise, or maybe I can’t hear him over my screaming attempts. His height behind me feels like I’m about to get crushed under a giant. My heart is beating hard in my ears, they’re ringing, the skin on my back is already drowning in cold sweat.
I’m too focused on trying to breathe, on his hand on my mouth that I don’t realize until it’s too late that something slipped above my head. I only understand when my eyes are suddenly covered with something. It feels like a sleeping eye mask or something. My hands shoot up to take it off straight away, but they’re grabbed before I can reach it. Someone is holding them in front of me.
Wait.
Someone. Is holding them. In front of me.
And someone. Is. Behind me.
I think deep, deep down, my subconscious was hoping that it was Jake. The hand on my mouth felt like the first time he did this to me. I thought I caught a waft of his wooden and spicy scent, the frame behind my body felt like him.
But it’s not. Because there are two people manhandling me right now.
My screams double, still muffled by the hand. My knees buckle in fear but an arm wraps around my waist while the person in front of me still holds my wrists together in one mighty grip.
Tears spring to my eyes when I hear a belt unbuckling. I shake my head, the word ‘no’ not making it past my lips. I kick a leg in front of me, catching the person in front of me somehow.
A dark chuckle sends a shiver down my spine, but I don’t stop fighting, I kick again, miss. Again, and it lands against him.
