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“I did make them,” Sierra said shyly.
“No way!” Red carried on with the praise, Sierra blushing at the compliments, Skyler adding to them. Everybody raving about the delicious donuts.
If anyone could have gotten a glimpse inside the football captain’s head, they would have been horrified that my judgment was evaporating.
“Okay, let me try one,” I said, desperate to be included, to be able to shower Sierra with accolades, terrified that Red was about to capture her heart.
Red had the plate in his hand now, and he held it out to me. I chose the plumpest one of the few that were left. If I was going to do wrong, may as well make it worth it.
“Smells good,” I said, cinnamon wafting around me. The sugary crystals skimmed across my lips and my mouth widened, about to devour the donut in one mouthful when a brutish hand grabbed my shoulder and my father’s voice pierced the air, and my ear, with my full name.
“Cullen Franklin Mercer,” he said, “you should think twice about putting that in your mouth.”
Chapter 5
Sierra
Coach Mercer’s voicemade me jump, and that made Redmond take hold of my arm. I think he thought I was about to fall down. Maybe I was, because Cullen had taken one of my donuts. It was a well known fact that Cullen was weird with food. I say that because whenever we had movie night at our house he asked for unbuttered popcorn. I didn’t even know there was such a thing. And if there was, who would eat it? You may as well eat a piece of cardboard.
The donut was at Cullen’s lips when Coach Mercer sneaked up on him. And he did sneak. I saw him approaching, stealthily, like a panther in the night. It was a miracle that the donut didn’t bounce onto the ground.
“Cullen Franklin Mercer,” Coach said, “You should think twice about putting that in your mouth.”
Apart from the menacing tone, I was thinkingFranklin, Cullen’s middle name is Franklin?
“No sir. I—”
As Cullen tried to justify the donut, I had a sudden rush of blood to my head brought about by the flicker in Cullen’s eyes. I wouldn’t want to call it fear, but he certainly looked alarmed. Instinct made me act in haste. I snatched the donut from Cullen’s hand and said, “Sorry Coach, I wanted Cullen to rate my donuts. It’s a new recipe. Do you want to try one, Coach?” I offered him the very donut that Cullen had been about to taste.
“Thank you, Sierra, but no thank you,” Coach Mercer said, his eyes narrowing—but not because of the donut thrust into his line of vision—but Red’s arm around my shoulder. At that exact moment it was impossible to shrug away from him because he was holding the plate, and I didn’t want the remaining donuts to go flying. Also, Cullen had already turned away and was following his father, taking Siri, who was wearing his hoodie, with him.
“Poor Cap must be on a sugar-free diet,” Skyler said with a chuckle.
“Sucks to be him,” Red said, “but hey, I rate your donuts ten out of ten.”
“Thanks,” I mumbled, surprisingly finding no joy in that compliment. I reached for the plate so I could move away from his touch. “I’ll just take this inside.”
