“Shit, man, what happened to you?” Archer asks.
Before Priestley can call me out, I tell them the truth. “I got jumped.”
Ben is at my side in another second, the others following closely behind. I’m bombarded with questions.Who was it? Did you get a good look at them? Did they take anything valuable? Did you call the police? What are they doing about it?
“Let him sit down,” Priestley orders. Everyone does as he says and he leads me into the main room where we usually watch movies. I take a seat on the end of the big leather sectional and everyone gathers around me.
“I don’t know who it was. I gave a description to the police. There were other witnesses, so we’ll just have to wait and see.”
Priestley asks the question I’d been dreading. “Where did this happen?”
“Yeah, was it on campus?”Miles asks.
“No, I was … visiting a friend. In a different neighborhood.”
“A sketchy neighborhood?” Priestley probes.
I instantly get my back up. “No, not a sketchy neighborhood. Actually, it’s the neighborhood I used to live in.”
“What were you doing there?”
“I just told you, I was visiting a friend.”
Priestley throws a pointed glance at my wrist.
“So, I’m guessing this spells the end to your season,” he says finally.
I swallow a lump in my throat. “Yeah, probably.”
Everyone looks away. I have to bite the inside of my lip as a lump forms in my throat and the back of my eyes start to burn.
The guys all get ready to head out to classes, bringing their racket bags to head straight to the match later. I grab my books and laptop, fumbling only a little as I put them in my backpack. There’s no point of my grabbing my racket bag, which I stare at with regret on my way out of my bedroom door.
Ben pats me on the back as we head to our business class.
“I’m sorry. Nate. This must really suck. Is Evan okay?”
I smile at him, so fucking grateful he asked. “Yeah, I think so.”
“I can drive you where you need to go until your wrist heals.”
“Thank you, that would actually be really helpful.”
He shrugs. “Any time. That’s what friends are for, right?”
I nod as I take our seats in class. Making a mental note to set Ben up with the most awesome guy on the planet if it’s the last thing I do.
Thank God I have my laptop to make notes, because myhandwriting is a mess when I try to write with my left hand. After class, Ben asks me where I want to go.
“Shall I take you back to the house?”
“No way, I wanna watch you guys kick Cornell’s butts.”
His face lights up. “Are you sure?”
“Yep. Anyway, I’m going to need to talk to Coach Sanchez, obviously.”
“Just remember, none of this is your fault. Okay?”
