“Uh, not anymore,” I muttered. “And don’t change the subject. If you knew the truth about what happened last night, why’d you tell those girls that story about the fight club?”
“Just trying to help out a friend,” Seth said. “Parker’s got a reputation to uphold. Although, it’s kind of difficult when you immediately debunk my carefully crafted rumors.”
“Parker’s reputation is not my problem.”
“It is if you don’t want the whole school to think you’re crazy.”
“I’m not crazy. He really did sneak up on me.”
“That’s not how they’ll see it,” he replied. “Parker has a very dedicated fandom.”
Perfect. I’d picked a fight with the popular playboy hockey star and was destined to be a pariah at my new school after only one morning.
“Leave her alone, Seth,” Jaz said, coming to my rescue. She tucked her arm through mine. “We’ve got to get to class.”
“Well, it was nice to officially meet you, Mackenzie. You’re welcome at the fight club anytime.” With a wink, he turned and strode away.
I sighed. “I really need to learn to keep my mouth shut.”
“Are you kidding?” Jaz laughed. “Please don’t. I haven’t hadthis much fun at school before the first class all year.”
“I only just got here, and I’ve already got a growing list of new enemies.”
“I always say you’re not doing life right if you don’t step on a few toes.”
“What about punching hockey players on the nose?”
She laughed. “Yeah, that might not be the smartest thing to do at Ransom High. But personally I’m fully in favor of it. Come on, let’s get you to math.”
Chapter 6Parker
“What the hell is that?” I stared in horror as Elliot Ford slowly and carefully moved into the art classroom, a pair of crutches clicking with each step he took. His foot was elevated off the ground in a large protective boot.
“Ford, what did you do?” I cursed. Only he could be selfish enough to get injured before the season had even started.
His eyes narrowed in response. “Ididn’t do anything.”
“Well, it sure looks like you did! Or is this some kind of joke?”
“I wish,” he grumbled, gradually making his way to the front of the room. Still, I had no answers.
“Do you know what happened?” I spun to face Seth who was leaning against the table beside me. Although he didn’t take art, he had a free period now and had come to gleefully update me on how Mackenzie Foster was letting everyone in school know the truth about my injured face. She’d already tried her best to ruin my hockey career three years ago; now she was back to ruin my reputation. It wasn’t even lunch on her first day.
“Apparently, he slipped and fell whilestretchingin the shower last night,” Seth said with a smirk.
“Stretching?”
“Yeah, probably had a bit of tension to release…”
“Wellthat’sa graphic I never want to picture again.”
Seth laughed, but I couldn’t find the humor. This was a serious problem.
“How long are you going to be wearing that thing?” I called across the room to Elliot, who had taken a seat.
“Not sure.” He shrugged. “I need to go back for more tests, but the doctor said it could be at least six weeks.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Don’t get me wrong; I had often dreamed of some terrible mishap befalling Elliot so another player could take over as starting goaltender. But our first game of the season was on Friday, and we didn’t have a backup goalie. Not a good one, anyway. Elliot was quite literally the devil we needed.
