I’m so focused on O’Keefe that a slap on the back makes me jump. “Hey, King, right?” Juan David’s BFF says. I can’t remember his name, but he doesn’t wait for me to answer. “I heard a rumor that our roots started in the same place.”
I smack his upheld palm. “MS 74?”
“Awww, you went to Hawthorne? Dayyyummm, I went to MS 158.” His smile tells me he has a million questions.
“What was that, your boarding school?” Theo jabs.
“Where did you find this guy? He be trippin’.” He turns to O’Keefe. “If you were from New York, you’d know those schools are in the projects. Boarding school.” He shakes his head as if it’s the funniest thing he’s ever heard.
“That’s not true,” O’Keefe barks.
My brain is still stuck on the fact that Theo won over Bex and averted a crisis situation with Juan David within an hour of each other. I can’t process what he’s objecting to or his anger.
My mom tries to see the best in everyone, and I would do well to follow her example.
Bex tugs his sleeve to slide by him on her way to Juan David. Another day we’ll need to talk about having self-respect and boys treating her right.
“Don’t think we let people make fools of us, Mr. Owner Man. If someone claims to be from the projects, we do our research. You’re looking at Nathaniel Hawthorne Middle School’s greatest success story.” She slow claps. “Can we eat now? I’m starving.”
“I wanna hear your stories,” the kid says to me, and finds a seat.
O’Keefe’s stare burns the back of my neck, and a shiver races up my spine. I have no idea if he’s angry at me or angry in general.
All these kids deserve a second chance if they need it. Maybe this is Theo’s second chance. Mom always says, “Just because people have money, don’t mean they don’t have problems.”
Theo tells Benz, “He’s not really from the projects. That’s bullshit.”
I don’t hear Benz’s response because my anxiety has spiked, and my heart beats way too fast, so I slip out the side door. I’m not sure what my team knows about my past. The guys have heard me talk to kids at The Q Solutions and know I went to public schools but not the specifics.
I’m not ashamed, but middle school doesn’t come up in conversation.
Ever.
Could be Theo has trauma in his past.
I can’t judge on what I think I know. It’s the second time he’s brought up boarding school. It’s absurd, but he believes it.
I text my dad for advice, but it takes forever to figure out what to say.
Me: How could I go about befriending someone who hates me?
Dad: Friendship is based on trust. Do something that requires trust on your part. Can I ask who this is about?
Me: No
Dad: *laughing face emoji*
He knows. He always knows. It’s like he has a sixth sense about me even though he’s not my blood father. I really wish he was.
Chapter 10
Theo O'Keefe
We’re out at a team dinner celebrating a preseason win. I should be happy. I played fucking fantastic and had an assist.
I’m done eating and plan to put distance between King and me by going to a high-top table. King’s one seat away and keeps trying to include me in his conversation, but I don’t get what he’s doing.
We have a standard, bland beige banquet room with our own bar, a convenient place to escape.
