Ask Him Yourself
Nikkis jaw drops the moment she sees me. She points at me, standing from her spot on her nket.
"Y-you''re wearing Aiden''s jersey!"
I smile, "I am."
"Did he ask you to be his girlfriend?"
"Yes," I whisper, though he didn''t really ask me. It doesn''t matter though, I''m his girlfriend now and that''s the important thing.
Nikki squeals, pping her hands together as she turns to dig up something from her bag, "I have something to show you, too."
She pulls out her own jersey, this one with the number 16 and thest name ck. My eyes widen. "Is that Parker''s jersey?"
She nods like crazy. "I was going to tell you yesterday, but you didn''te to school."
She beams down at the jersey while I sift through my thoughts
Chronomentrophobia: Fear of clocks.
"He took me out to dinner Sunday night, he got me this," she points to the cute little ne she''s wearing, gold with white flowers.
"That''s beautiful!*
"I know, right, he has such good taste."
I snort. "Well he chose you, so yeah, I''d say he does."
"That''s right, bitch," She yfully nudges me and we sit down to eat lunch.
I tell her about my weekend, about Aiden. I leave Zaid and Jake outpletely, because even I have a hard time no judging myself. For now, it just has to remain my secret.
She tells me more about her and Parker but she stops halfway through her sentence when
Ask Him Yourself
shadow appears behind me. She lifts her face to look up and her eyes widen.
I turn, frowning at Jace. He stands there looking between the two of us with his nostrils ring. "You happy?"
I recoil, standing. "What?"
He scoffs, his eyes taking in the jersey I''m wearing. "I can''t believe you," he sneers, frowning as he looks down at me.
I can feel Nikki stand behind me, her presence wee. Jace is alone, which is
odd but I say nothing about that. "What are you talking about?"
"What do you mean what am I talking about, do I really have to spell it out for you?"
"Do I look like I can read your mind?" I cross my arms over my chest.
he He scoffs, looking away as he drags his hand down his face. When he looks back at me, has a sorrowful look in his eyes, a serious expression in his set jaw. "Zaid? After everything, you''re just walking around sucking face with Aiden, wearing his jersey? Aiden of all people?"
I sigh, rolling my eyes. "I don''t owe him anything for saving me with Will, Jace. And if he has such a problem with it, then why doesn''t hee and talk to me himself?"
Even as I say the words, I hope to god that Jace doesn''t repeat them to Zaid. After the way he kissed me at Parker''s party, I did not want to be anywhere near him.
“Oh,” Nikki sighs, cing a hand on my shoulder. "You haven''t heard?"
My eyes swing between them, "No? Haven''t heard what?"
"Zaid got expelled," Jace spits.
My eyes widen. "What?"
Nikki nods. "Will''s parents were furious and got all involved and shit. They demanded Zaid not be allowed on campus ever again."
The tips of my ears burn hot and I shake my head, my voice breathy."That''s not... that''s not fair. Zaid was just defending me."
Ask Him Yourself
Jace nods, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, we know that."
"What happened to Will?"
He shakes his head, "Nothing. He yed the victim well. He''s still recovering from what I heard, but he should be back in sses next week."
My stomach turns at the idea of seeing him again, and my chest constricts with guilt. "Why didn''t they ask me, I would have defended Zaid, why didn''t they call me? Will should be the one that got expelled."
Jace frowns. "Will didn''t bring you up, that would only make things worse for him."
That makes sense, but still. "What about Zaid? Bringing me up would have helped him."
"He refused to bring your name up."
I rub my arms to calm myself, my thumb finding the scar on my wrist. "Why?"
Jace shakes his head like he can''t believe we''re having this conversation."Why don''t you ask him yourself?"
"I don''t know if that''s a good idea," Nikki mutters.
"You know, you all give him such a bad rap, have you ever stopped to think that maybe he''s not the bad guy around here?" Jace is exasperated and he walks away, shaking his head like he''s disappointed with us.
I turn to Nikki who has her lips twisted together, but when she notices my expression she immediately shakes her head and parts her lips. "Alina, don''t cry. This isn''t your fault."
She wraps her arms around me and holds me close. I rx into her. "Why does it feel like my fault?"
"It''s not, I promise. If it''s anyone''s fault, it''s Sadie''s. And Will''s."
"But Zaid got expelled, because of-"
"Hey," Nikki pulls back, keeping her hands on my shoulders as she reads my expression. "Is it wrong for me to think he would have eventually gotten expelled
on his own? I mean he hardly even showed up to ss."
Ask Him Yourself
I shake my head, holding back myugh. "He never did."
The bell rings and I sigh, pulling away from her hold. We pick up our stuff from the
floor and make our ways to our respective sses.
I sit next to her in ourst ss, where she finally put on Parker''s jersey.
"Hey, wanna head to my house after school? We can chill out there until the game starts."
I agree immediately, the thought of going home making my stomach revolt. "Yes, please."
"We can stop at the store on the way there and get some snacks."
I smile wide. "That sounds fun!"
We get through the rest of ss and half an hourter, we''re at her house, in her
room with chips and ice cream on her bed.
"Parker told me there will be scouts at today''s game."
I take a spoonful of mint chocte chip. "Aiden told me, too."
"Is he interested in ying in college?" She''s eating rocky road, and tilts her head
in
question.
"I think he is now, though that wasn''t always the case."
"Yeah, I don''t remember him ever talking about it."
I roll over to my stomach. "This could be a life changing night for the both of them,
it''s
exciting!"
We get ready together, adding school colors in our hair in the form of ribbons, and
make
our way to school,