Page 106 of Striking Heat

I lean in and do my Blaze on three cheer. Everyone shouts Blaze and we head into the locker room.

“Did you hear that?” I ask Cassie quietly as we make our way into the locker room.

She nods. “Yeah, I did.”

“Who said it?”

“I’m not sure,” she says with a shrug.

“What are you hearing?” I ask her. Girls talk and they don’t always tell the person they have a problem with what the problem is. I’m thinking this is one of those times.

“Don’t worry about it,” she says.

“No, tell me,” I plead with her.

“Let’s just get ready for the team dinner.”

We shower and get ourselves ready to eat with the team, but the whole time, all I can think about is what was said and who might have said it. What could the issue be? Is it Danny? I wasn’t aware anyone had any problems with what I had done. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if some of them really realized what was happening or when we started. But people talk, so it makes sense that it would have gotten out to the team.

At dinner, I find out just how bad it is.

Several tables are already full of girls. They’re talking, but when I enter, it stops. I look over at Cassie, who is already there. She just shrugs and motions for me to come over. I do and look at her.

“What’s going on?”

“Let’s just eat,” she says, redirecting me.

I hate hearing that answer. That’s exactly what she did to me on the field. I walk over to Coach Andie. She’ll tell me what’s happening.

“What is the drama, Andie?” I ask her when I reach her.

She sighs. “You.”

I nod and ask, “What’s happening? Is it in the media, or did the girls on the team find out about Danny?”

“Both,” she replies. “There was a small blog that reported seeing the two of you the other day leaving some diner, and they took a picture and put it out there. Because of whose son Danny is, a few other outlets have picked it up. It doesn’t help that when they called the paper where he worked, they said he no longer works there.”

I sigh and shake my head. “And the team doesn’t agree with it? They think it was unethical?”

She nods. “Yes, they do.”

“What do I do?” I ask her.

“I think Cindy is going to come talk to you after the dinner, but as far as the team goes, you just have to weather the storm. There isn’t any more for you to do. No speech or anything is going to make this better.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose. “How did I get here?”

“You fell in love,” she replies. “Oh, come on, you didn’t think you were going to get away with all of this scot-free, while Danny gets fired and has to restart his life and career, did you?”

I look over at her and smile sheepishly. “Well, it was beginning to look that way.”

“You poor, naïve girl,” she replies. “Now go eat. Coach’s orders.”

I nod and walk over to the table and start putting some pasta, Alfredo sauce, and chicken on my plate. I grab a piece before Marci, one of our midfielders, and it’s the last one.

“Figures you would take the last one,” she says, gritting her teeth.

“What is that supposed to mean?” I ask her.