Page 169 of The Way the Heart Breaks: Jade’s Story

“You will what?” Phoebe asks, coming up beside us, still breathing hard from the game. She looks at Carla, then at me. “Punch her in the face?”

I don't answer.

Phoebe looks past me at Carla, then back at me. “Jade, look at her. She looks rabid. You touch her and you risk getting all her skank on you. Herpes, chlamydia, gonorrhea, whatever the hell else she's picked up. This is about self-preservation.”

Becca snorts, and Phoebe points toward Carla with her stick. “I'm serious. You don't know where that gutter twat has been.”

I stare at her, trying not to laugh, because I am still so pissed.

“What?” she says. “I'm trying to save your life.”

Becca laughs, and Phoebe shrugs. “I'm also trying to keep her from getting suspended. Not one skank shot made it past you. The Lady Saints need you. That bitch, she needs to sink in her own skank!”

My eyes stay on Carla, and I feel Becca's fingers tighten around my arms. “Don’t. We’re better than that.”

“Obviously, we won, bunch of bitch-ass losers,” I say loud enough that she hears me, and hope the refs and coaches don’t.

Then I hear Tessa's name from somewhere behind me, and I turn and see she's sitting on the bench. The way she's holding her ankle. The way her shoulders are hunched forward. The way she's trying to look like she's fine when I know her well enough to see the lie from twenty yards away.

The anger doesn't vanish; it just drops. “I'm going to Tessa.”

Becca lets me go.

By the time I reach the bench, Coach V is crouched in front of Tessa, talking to her while she keeps her injured foot lifted.

“Tessa?” I start tearing off my equipment.

She looks up at me. “I'm okay.”

“No, you're not.”

Her eyes narrow. “I'm fine.”

“You don't have to be fine with me.” That shuts her up for half a second, and I drop down in front of her and look at her ankle. I don't touch it. I want to, just to know exactly where it hurts, but I'm afraid I'll make it worse.

“Where?” She points. I look at Coach V. “How bad?”

“She needs to stay off it.”

Tessa immediately shakes her head. “I can walk.”

“No.”

“I can.”

“You couldn't stand up.”

Her fingers close around mine. “I'm okay.”

I swallow hard.

“Alright, let me get in there and see what the hell we’re looking at,” Coach V grumbles.

“Go see your dad,” Tessa smiles. “I’ll meet you on the bus.”

I turn and see Tommy on the sidelines, three cups in his hands, smiling. Then I see Dad walking toward him.

I hurry, trying to rid myself of the rest of my gear. “So freaking much.”