Fake Skating(105)

They have to hate me.

And that made my heart hurt almost as much as leaving Alec had.

I’d always known it would happen, but the thought of no longer having them as friends made my chest hurt.

“You have to be better by tomorrow,” Cassie said, gesturing for me to sit on the other side of her. “I don’t care if you’re puking your guts out, you’re going to be with me on that bus.”

“What?” I plopped down between her and Liz. “What bus?”

That made her give me a weird look. “The game is Wednesday, Co-Manager Who Should Know This, but we leave tomorrow.”

“You didn’t know that?” Grandpa Mick asked, his eyes narrowed.

“I mean, I…”

I trailed off, not really knowing what to say, but I was saved by my grandpa’s phone ringing.

“I gotta take this,” he said, then stood and walked out of the room.

“Okay, you need to talk fast,” Cassie murmured, turning to face me and lowering her voice.

“Kyle told us what happened after the game,” Lillie said.

“He did?” I asked, wondering what he’d told them.

“I can’t believe Zeus kicked Ben Worthington’s ass,” she said, talking fast and a little too loud. “It’s all the guys could talk about. Kyle thinks that since we’re playing St. John’s Academy on Wednesday, Ben probably pissed him off on purpose to try to make it so Zeus couldn’t play.”

Wait. We were going to be playing St. John’s in the quarterfinal game?

How had I missed that?

It made even more sense now, why Benji wanted me to do it.

God, I hate him so much.

“The weird thing is that nothing happened,” Cassie said, grabbing the remote off the coffee table and turning on the TV. “He didn’t end up calling the cops.”

“Vin thinks it’s because the St. John’s guys were drunk at the time. All I know is that everybody hates him, so this is the perfect scenario, knowing he got his ass kicked but no one’s on the hook for it.”

“Yeah,” I said, feeling unsettled but relieved to have confirmation that he actually didn’t call the police.

“According to Kyle, this could’ve been a really big deal because Zeus is eighteen now. He was a minor when he was arrested the first time, so even though the charges were dropped, it could’ve shown, like, a pattern or something.”

“Wait—Alec got arrested?” I repeated.

“It was a long time ago,” Cassie assured me, looking like she was worried she’d blabbed a secret.

“How long ago?”

“Back when Z’s dad had his accident, so a couple years, I guess. They got in a fight at a party, and the next day the cops showed up at the hospital and arrested him for assault and battery.”

“Wait. They arrested him at the hospital?” I asked in horror.

“Oh yeah,” Cassie said. “Ben’s parents eventually dropped the charges. It came out that Ben threw the first punch, but it was scary for a little bit. His mom and her husband are both lawyers, and they did not want to let it go.”

No wonder Alec hates him so much.

“So it’s a miracle that Ben isn’t being Ben about this,” Lillie said.

Oh, but he is.

“I think it shook Alec up or something, because he isn’t talking about it at all. To anyone. If someone mentions it, he tells them to shut the hell up. He’s crazy grumpy without you, so you need to get your ass to school tomorrow.”

I didn’t want to say it so badly, but I had to tell them. I cleared my throat and quietly said, “Actually, um, just so you know, we broke up.”

“Yeah, that’s part of why we’re here,” Cassie said, pursing her lips and tilting her head. “You okay?”

What?

I nodded, unsure of why they were here and being nice to me if they knew I wasn’t with Alec anymore.

“Listen,” I said, my voice so thick I sounded like Kermit the Frog. “I know he’s your friend, so I totally get it if—”

“So are you,” Lillie interrupted.

“Yeah, but he was your friend first so—”

“Who cares?” Liz said, looking at me like I was being ridiculous. “It’s not like we’re going to take his side because he tagged us first or something.”

“I know, but—”

“You are our friend and we’re here for you,” Cassie said, pointing the remote control at me. “Even though we love Zeus, too.”

So… this is real?

I looked at them, at my friends for real, and felt like crying again.

But happy tears this time.

Because when did this ever happen? I’d never found this at the other places I’d lived, as much as I wanted to and as hard as I’d tried.

Have I landed in the place I belong?

I shut that thought down instantly, though, because even if my new friends were actually genuine, that didn’t change the fact that I might’ve ruined everything else.

“And we’re going to have so much fun tomorrow that you’ll forget all about him,” Cassie said with a grin before she left. “My dad said they’re giving the team bus a police escort out of Southview—that’s how batshit wild this is gonna be.”