Page 34 of Lucky 14

I’m broken out of my thoughts when I see Harley get up from the squad’s table and leave the room. Quickly, her two other shadows follow. The way they’re looking around the room makes me tense.

I scan the room for Connor. He usually shows up with his football buddies, but he’s not here. In fact, there are quite a few guys missing.

Abandoning my meal, I dart into the hallway. There’s already a crowd gathering around, and people are yelling. A sinking feeling hits my stomach, and I shove forward. There’s already a staff member here, but she’s alone, and everyone is ignoring her shouts to stop.

When I make it to the front of the line, my stomach sinks. Connor is facing off with another kid from the team. Connor’s eyebrow is bleeding, but he’s grinning. The other kid is big, and I can hear him sucking for breath.

“Hey!” I shout.

“You threatened her!” The other kid steps forward to shove Connor, who just side steps him.

“I told her to keep her hands off my girl.” Connor grins, and it’s a wild look.

The kid rushes forward, throwing a punch that misses. Connor easily ducks it and gets behind the kid, but then another from the circle comes in and grabs Connor from behind. He yells, “You threatened to kill her!”

Off to the side, I see Harley’s barely hidden grin.

No, no, no! I try to reach the kid holding Connor, but an arm shoots out, getting in my way.

The first kid whirls, and while Connor is shoving away from the last kid, manages to get a hit in. I gasp, feeling the pain like I was the one who got hit. This is all happening because of me.

Connor whirls, catching my gaze as I try to push toward him. As he does, his eyes soften for a second, then he throws me a wink. That white streak over his eyebrow catches in the light. Then Connor is up, and he’s throwing punch after punch.

He catches a fist to the jaw. Connor goes down and hits the floor hard. Someone next to me hisses. For a brief second, I wait for him to get up.

But he doesn’t.

The other two swarm around him, kicking him, while others try to pull them off.

“Get up!” I shove my way around two bodies, getting pressed between them. By the time I get past them, people are murmuring.

“Connor.” I drop beside him, shaking his shoulder. Connor’s eyes are open. Someone else starts shaking him, but all I can focus on is that white streak of hair. My heart pounds, and all I hear is rushing in my ears.

I’m shoved aside, and there are adults here with a flurry of voices. I try to scramble up to stay with him, but more adults are fitting themselves in, pushing us back. There’s nothing I can do to get close to him, but I stay as close as I can. Surely he’ll wake up soon. He can’t pass out for this long, right?

Medics come down the hall. Relief fills me. They’ll help him. They’ll get him awake.

I see Harley in the back of the hall, and that relief turns to anger. Someone said that Connor threatened to kill her. He did no such thing. Connor would never.

I rush at her. “You lied!”

Harley raises her hands, but I’m already on top of her, throwing punch after punch. Using the techniques that Connor taught me, I guard my face, untuck my thumb, and lay into her.

I don’t get enough hits in before I’m yanked off of her while she cries with blood pouring out of her face.

She lied. She lied, and now Connor is hurt.

The rest of the day is a blur. The cops come, and I can’t understand why. They talk to me, then call my parents. My parents don’t pick up. They’re in some other country, probably partying it up with no service. I keep waiting for news about Connor.

I wait by my phone for the rest of the day, but Connor never texts. By the end of the day, rumor has it he’s in the hospital in a coma.

My stomach sinks, and dread washes over me. I’ll go see him. I need to see him.

I find my way to the hospital in town, but no one will tell me if he’s there or not. I don’t know Connor’s mom, nor do I have her number.

The next week passes in agonizing slowness. I get Connor’s mom’s number, but she can’t tell me anything. There’s no news. Every day it’s the same: no change. Which I keep telling myself is good news. Right? No news is good news.

On day nine, Harley has a meltdown in the lunchroom that results in screaming between her and the other bitch squad. She acts like she’s distressed, but she never really knew Connor, so I can’t find it in me to care. Performative bullshit. On day eleven, I pass out from not eating, and the nurse has to call Dad. On day thirteen, I skip school. I can’t eat. I can’t sleep. I’m a shell of a person at school. Things feel even more empty than when Connor showed up.