I head straight for homeroom, and I slink down in my chair. TJ and Beau come in a few minutes later.
“Sup,” Beau says as he sits down. TJ ignores me.
“Just making do, I guess,” I say to Beau, even though I’m not sure his question wanted an answer.
“Sorry, man,” he says, giving me this pitying look. But beneath his eyes is exactly the kind of emotion I’d have if I were in his position. You can’t exactly feel sorry for someone who got in trouble for doing something wrong.
That’s not the whole truth, I want to yell. TJ was there too. It was his idea.
But I did it too. I participated. Hell, I had a blast destroying that greenhouse. Admitting that makes me feel the worst kind of shame. Had I known that greenhouse was being used, and that it belonged to the daycare instead of the school, and that it washers, I wouldn’t have touched it.
I wish I could make Clarissa believe me.
She slips into the classroom just seconds before the bell rings, which is a first for the girl who is normally here early and ready to take notes.
She doesn’t make eye contact with me as she walks down the aisle and toward her desk. Just before she sits down, she slaps a paper on my desk.
“Morning,” I say, but as I expect, I don’t get a reply.
She sits down, leaving a wake of strawberry goodness behind her. I breathe it in slowly, remembering how it felt to be next to her at the beach. To have her in my lap. To have her lips next to mine.
I look down at the paper.
Greenhouse Suppliesis written on top, followed by a list of supplies and quantities. At the bottom she’s written, Estimated total: $450
Damn.
I have the money, which is good, but that’s nearly all of my savings. I lean forward and say, “I’ll get right on this.”
She doesn’t reply. Doesn’t shake her head or even acknowledge that she heard me.
Clarissa Vale is back to being that cold girl she was on the first day of school.
*
Coach calls my name as I’m walking to my truck at the end of the day. I stop and turn around, almost wondering if I was hearing things. Coach has no reason to talk to me now. He’s standing there at the end of the gym, hands on his hips. He motions for me.
I walk over there, totally not in the mood to be reamed by yet another person. My friends have shut me out, Clarissa has shut me out, and my parents are in some battle with each other that I want no part of.
“Yes, Coach?” I say, wondering what you’re supposed to call a coach who isn’t your coach anymore.
“I’m disappointed, Voss.”
His lips press together into a thin line as he looks me over, disbelief and regret all over his face. I know he’s probably thinking that I’m the only straight A student on the team. That I’m the only good one. Well, not anymore.
“Me too, sir.” I sigh. “I don’t even know what got into me. I don’t know why. It was reckless and stupid.”
“I know you weren’t alone.” He looks me in the eyes, giving me that same look he gives us right before we start a game against our rival team. “If you tell us who helped you, I can talk to the principal. I can try to get you reinstated.”
“And kick the other guy off the team?” I say with a snort. “No thanks. I can’t be a snitch.”
“So itwasanother member of the team?” Coach says. I cringe. I’ve already said too much. “Someone’s alibi was faked. Good to know that I have two liars on my team”
“Coach…it’s shitty, I know. And I know it doesn’t even matter anymore, but I was the one trying to stop it at first. The other guy deserves the worst punishment. Or at least equal,” I say with a grimace. “But trust me. I’ve learned my lesson.”
“Tell me who it is,” he says. “I’ll work with you. Try to get you back on.”
I shake my head. TJ would kill me. He’s not even a good friend, so I have no idea why I’ve got his back. Or maybe I do know. It’s because we’re a team. If I betray one of them, I betray all of them. And right now, they’re all I’ve got.
