Glass from the light bulb shattered as Ridgway cursed so loud it carried into the hallway, and within seconds, footsteps pounded outside the door.
A couple of guys from the team crowded into the room. Somebody behind them tried to peek past their shoulders. Another voice cut through the noise with, “Get him.”
Then somebody else. “What the hell?”
“Are they fighting?”
I didn’t move.
I’d spent the past year sneaking around with Keaton, kissing him in my room, touching him in his car, talking about getting out of high school and figuring the rest out later, and themoment Ridgway caught us, I did the worst thing I could have possibly done. I panicked, shoved Keaton away, and let the lie slip out of my mouth before I thought about what it would do to him.
Keaton dodged a punch, but the next one clipped his face and knocked him into the wall. He came right back and drove his shoulder into Ridgway’s chest hard enough to shove him onto the bed, both of them falling onto the mattress.
A few guys at the door reacted all at once.
“Shit.”
“Dammmmn.”
“Hell, yeah! Get that emo kid.”
Every part of me knew what I needed to do. Step in. Tell the truth. End it.
Instead, I didn’t. My hands stayed at my sides as Ridgway shoved Keaton off the bed and threw another punch. Keaton took it, then fired one back. Blood appeared on Ridgway’s mouth. He wiped it away and lunged at Keaton again.
Keaton was driven into the wall. His shoulder hit first, then the back of his head. His body jerked with the impact, and that should’ve been enough to snap me out of whatever the hell had locked up my body.
It wasn’t.
I just stood there and let Keaton take it.
He slammed his fist into Ridgway’s ribs and tried to push past him, probably to leave the room, but Ridgway snatched his hoodie and yanked him back.
“Where are you going?” Ridgway snapped. “You don’t get to come in here, pull some shit, then walk out.”
“I didn’t do anything to you,” Keaton shot back.
Ridgway pushed him again. Keaton stumbled, caught himself, then turned to me.
Not to Ridgway.
Not to the guys crowding the room, but tome.
Blood stained his lips. His breathing was rough, his mouth slightly open, and the disbelief on his face made me feel sick.
He was waiting for me to fix it.
But I didn’t.
Ridgway hit him again. Keaton’s head snapped back from the punch, finally prompting one of my teammates to act. He pushed through the guys in the doorway and grabbed Ridgway by the shoulders.
“Break it up,” Windsor barked. “This is getting out of hand.”
Another teammate came up behind him and tugged Ridgway around the waist, pulling him back when he tried to lunge again.
“What the hell’s wrong with you?” Hanover snapped. “Coach will bench you if he finds out.”
Keaton wiped at his mouth and stared at me. “Rowan.”
