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“Hayes!” he screamed at her, clearly frustrated.
“What?” she snapped back, uncaring of the fact they were gathering a bit of an audience.
“I asked if you went home with that fighter, or are we good to go out this week?”
With her head ringing, she wasn’t thinking clearly as she answered him, “Yeah, sure, whatever.” He needed to just leave her alone.
“Hayes!” she heard Lys call. Shocked that the other girl was at school when she had a free period first thing. Dustin was about to say something.
“Would you people stop yelling at me?” she griped.
“What’s wrong?” her friend asked as she approached them.
“Nothing, I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine,” Lys complained.
“She looks pretty fine to me,” Dustin commented.
“That’s ‘cause you’re looking at her ass, you ass. Now piss off.” Count on Lys to make them run.
“Thanks,” Hayes murmured through tight lips.
“No problem. What happened to you?” she asked again.
“Just overworked myself is all.” It was a straight up lie. She had done exactly what her doctors ordered her not to do and forced her body to run the way she used to.
“You want some help?” Lys asked, gripping one arm around Hayes' waist, not waiting on an answer. “Dad’s picking me up so we can take the Mustang to some shop to be looked at during my free period. I just gotta drop my books off, so we don’t have to go back home.”
“Why don’t you just take them with you?”
“’Cause then I’d have to carry them back on the bus.” Her voice held a note o
f censure, as though Hayes should have known that.
As they entered through the front doors, she told her friend, “I’m fine. Just gonna get to Algebra and be done with this day, I think.”
“Why would you even come in? You’re in so much damn pain. I can have Dad take you home.” Her offer was sweet.
“I’ll be okay. Got that big test in Algebra today, anyway.”
“Call me later, let me know how you’re feeling?” Nodding, they parted ways as Lys spotted Brett down the hall with some football players.
Limping to her first-period class, Hayes almost wished she could have skipped school today. Her pain level was as high as ever, and she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to concentrate on the test, anyways.
No one said this would be easy.
She could practically hear Ryder’s voice in her head when she first started her Olympic training. With those dreams in the trash, she needed to ace her classes if she wanted to study Food Science and Nutrition at Colorado State in the fall. She’d been accepted months ago, but she still felt like she was coming up short in her work.
She felt like she wasn’t good enough.
Getting settled into a seat that was always empty in the back, she didn’t want the teacher, Mr. Pike, to notice just how much she was struggling. He was one of the few teachers that paid attention to his students, and she knew he’d catch on to her discomfort, immediately.
Students started trickling in one by one, and the more noise they made, the more her ears rang. It was almost like her head was trapped in a tunnel, and the other kids were screaming and banging on the outside.
There was an echo she couldn’t explain.
When Mr. Pike entered the class, everyone quieted down without him having to say a word. He went directly for the tests he’d had prepared, handing them out individually.
