This is what I wanted, right?
I track Freak through the crowd as he leaves, towering over almost everyone in the room, stopping to talk to a few people, then heading out the front door without even as much as a glance back in my direction.
Not once.
It’s irrational, but I feel abandoned.
I don’t know how long I stand staring at the door when Aaron grabs my hand and guides both Kia and I toward the elevated platform where they’ve placed the deejay turntables.
I can feel the eyes of strangers on my back as some of them whisper about us as we walk alongside Aaron. I hear a few rumblings of “who are they” and “how do they know Freak and Aaron?”
I should be excited that I’m being gossiped about. I’m not just boring little nurse nerd Willow tonight. Hell, I’m walking through the hottest party of the year with the Aaron Hill.
Party god of the school.
I should feel on top of the world. I’m not going to graduate college having been a complete bore.
Yet the only thing that I can think about is how Freak just called me by my real name, Willow, instead of using his usual nickname for me–Teach. And the look of utter indifference on his face as he said it.
It felt like a smack to the face.
A hard one.
Freak
WEEK TWO
“Yo, man, you do realize that we’re on the same team, don’t you?” my teammate Russell B asks.
I’ve been running plays with some of the guys on my offensive line today, and they’re all acting like a bunch of bitches.
“Yeah, you caved my chest in twice,” complains Campbell, rubbing his ribcage.
“Stop your whining,” I lambaste them. “This is football.”
“You’re throwing the ball at us, not to us. Are you trying to take our heads off of our necks?”
“Yeah, what did you do to you? This feels personal.”
“Coach says I’m using my legs too much.” I suck my teeth. “He wants me to work on staying in the pocket, so that’s what I’m doing.”
“That’s not all you’re doing and if you keep it up, you’re going to put us all in the hospital.”
“Because y’all can’t catch a ball?” I spit.
I’m over this.
I toss the ball high and long into the empty stadium stands and stomp my bitter ass into the locker room.
“Work that shit out soon, man!” Russell calls after me. “No pussy is worth all that.”
I wish he hadn’t said that.
I turn around and start running towards him at break speed. I’m going to kill the fucker. Lucky for him, Russell ran track in high school and gets a head start. I stop at some point when I’m out of breath and head back to the lockers. That’s when the quarterback coach calls me over for a chat.
“Freak, let me talk to you for a second.”
“Yeah, coach?”
