Page 21 of The Surprise Play (Nolan U Football #3)

ELIZABETH

“Who was that bitch?” Wily spits.

I flinch and he huffs, lowering his voice immediately.

“Who was she, Satch?” He pulls me to a stop once we’re around the corner, his eyes rich with concern as his voice drops to a controlled, husky growl. “Do you know her?”

Opening my mouth to respond, I swear I try to say something, but nothing is coming out!

I can’t believe he just did that. The way he spoke to her. The way he stood up for me .

I… I…

Oh shit, she’s gonna tell Jade, and she’ll be so pissed!

“Satch?” Wily’s still holding my hand, his thumb now rubbing circles over my palm. It tickles a little, but I don’t want him to stop, because…

He told her to shut up and leave me alone. He shouted it at her.

No one ever does that.

They usually laugh and give embarrassed little headshakes. Sometimes they’ll softly murmur, “Come on. Don’t say that.” But Wily full-on threatened Jade’s friend. I don’t know what her name is, but she’s the blonde member of Team Evil 2.0.

He called her names! He told her to watch her mouth.

Worrying my lip, I start to panic that he’ll get in trouble for doing that. What if she reports him for verbal abuse or for threatening her? What if the people standing around heard him say that stuff and they report him?

What if she’s now meeting up with Jade and planning a revenge mission against me—the hippo girl she’s been trying to keep in her place ever since elementary school?

“Hey, stop doing that.” Wily brushes his thumb over my bottom lip. “You’re gonna make yourself bleed.”

I give it one more nibble before pressing my lips together so he can’t see them anymore.

“Satch.” He wiggles my hand. “Tell me who that evil little viper was.” The way he spits out the last couple of words is a clear indication that he’s getting agitated again, and I really don’t want him heading off to class too angry to hear anything.

So, I force out a breath and try to play it off the way I usually do. “Don’t worry about it. Honestly. It’s not a big deal.”

“Are you kidding me?” He bends down so he can get in my face. Tipping my chin up, he looks me right in the eye. “Satch, it’s a big deal. People shouldn’t be talking to you that way.”

“Well, it’s…” My shoulder hitches. “People hassle each other sometimes.”

His eyes pop even wider, his mouth opening in clear vexation. “That was not playful hassling, that was outright verbal abuse!” His expression is so exaggerated it’s almost comical, but I can’t find it in me to laugh because I’m still burning with humiliation.

I dip my head and swallow, figuring I’d rather melt into the concrete than have to admit all the nasty words I’ve had thrown at me over the years.

“Who else has spoken to you like that before? Has she?” He points behind himself and I peer around his body, sudden terror seizing me.

Is she there? Did she come back?

But the coast is clear.

It’s just us. Hiding around the corner of the building. I’m safe here. With him.

I sag with relief, but that only makes Wily’s eyebrows flicker, his expression deepening with concern.

Crap. I need to tell him something, right?

But…

I don’t want to!

It’s so humiliating.

I don’t want him to know all the things that were done to me. Why should I give him reasons to see me the way they do?

Lowering my chin, I bite my lips together again and wait out the silence. It’s awkward and horrible, and Wily will get impatient soon. But that’s good, right? Maybe he’ll huff and walk away, and we can just forget this whole thing.

“You know her, don’t you?” he finally mutters. “She’s definitely spoken shit to you before, and you just let her.”

“What?” I look up, not sure how to feel about that. “I… you don’t… I…” I huff and finally manage, “People are entitled to their opinions. ”

“That wasn’t an opinion,” he hisses. “It was bullshit!”

“Well, isn’t it better to just ignore it, then? I mean, how else am I supposed to respond?”

He tips my chin again, his eyes bright with intensity. “You look at her, and you tell her to shut the fuck up .”

My eyes bulge, my skin starting to burn like I’ve just been dancing naked in a sandstorm.

“I… I can’t…” Shaking my head, I take a step away from him. “I can’t say that to someone.”

“Well, you should.” He gives me an emphatic look like I’m the crazy one for not immediately jumping all over this. “Besides, she’s not a someone. She’s a viper! A full-blown, foulmouthed bitch. And she deserves to be put in her place.”

“It’d just make it worse.” I grip my bag straps. “It’s better to stay quiet and walk away.”

“I’m guessing that’s what you’ve been doing for the last however many months, right?” He huffs, his expression dangerous. “How long has this been going on?”

I don’t respond. No way! He will lose it if I tell him everything.

I glance up in time to see his eyes narrow like he’s trying to study me and read my mind, scan back through my history and watch all those ugly, demeaning situations play out in full color.

That can never happen.

I squirm and shuffle a few more steps away from him.

He closes the gap in one smooth stride. “It was last year, too, wasn’t it? Has she been tormenting you ever since you got to Nolan U?”

I close my eyes and shake my head but wonder if it’s just easier to let him believe that .

“She’s not in your dorm, is she?”

I shake my head, relieved that part is true.

“Satch?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” My voice is so quiet, I sound like a timid little mouse.

Running a hand through his hair, Wily huffs and looks back over his shoulder, like he wants to chase down the viper and let her have it again.

“Shit, I can’t believe you’ve had to put up with that.

Where the fuck does she get off anyway? Calling you a hippo and talking about your weight like that.

What the hell does that stick figure know? ”

Oh gawd, I don’t want to talk about my weight!

“I have to go,” I quickly mumble, trying to dart around him.

“No, no, no, I’m sorry,” he rushes out. “I’m trying to make you feel better, not scare you off.”

“You’re not scaring me. I just…” Gripping the sides of my dress, I give them a nervous tug and glance up with a curious frown. “Why are you trying to make me feel better?”

His eyebrows pucker, his head tipping to the side. “Because… someone was mean to you. I didn’t like it, and I’m sure you didn’t either.”

“I… I…” My shoulders hitch, and I’ve probably just given away the fact that I’m so used to this now. I never like it, obviously, but maybe I’m getting better at shrugging it off? “I don’t know,” I end in a whisper.

“Satch…” Wily rests his hand on my arm. “You know it’s not okay for her to talk to you like that, right?”

I nod.

“And you can’t let her get away with it. So, if that ever happens again and I’m not there, you’ve got to promise me you’ll stand up for yourself.”

My face bunches as reluctance storms through me with a resounding No way!

Irritation flashes across Wily’s expression, but his voice comes out soft. “Ignoring them is one strategy, I guess. Walking away works, I’m not saying it doesn’t, but damn… I want you to show that bitch that she has no right to treat you that way. I want you to stand tall?—”

I snicker at the absurdity of that statement.

He stops and takes a second to laugh with me before correcting himself. “Okay, fine. I want you to stand as tall as your body will let you, and I want you to tell that girl to shut. The fuck. Up.” He bends down to catch my eye again. “Can you do that for me, Satch?”

“No.” I shake my head and cringe. “Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t.”

He gives me a skeptical frown, his left eye twitching. “Yes, you could. Come on. Say it to me .”

“What?” I bulge my eyes at him. “No way.”

“Satch. Come on. Tell me to shut the fuck up.”

“No.”

“Say it.”

“No.”

“Say it!” He points at me.

“I can’t!”

“Yes, you can. Now do it.”

Clamping my lips together, I shake my head until I feel like it’s gonna come right off my neck.

Gently taking my face between his large hands, he stills me and starts chanting, “Do it. Do it. Do it, do it, do it, do it, do it?— ”

“Okay, stop.” I raise my hand to shut him up.

He lets go of my face and stands tall, crossing his arms and giving me an emphatic look. “No. The words are shut the fuck up .”

I flush hot, my insides writhing as I look around to make sure we’re alone before glancing up with a pained frown and whispering, “Shut the fuck up.”

“Sorry, what was that?” He touches the side of his ear and makes a show of straining to hear me.

I fight a grin, biting my lips together yet again before finally saying, “Shut the fuck up?”

“Is that a question? Or are you telling me what I need to do?”

I wince.

“Come on, say it with some balls, Satch.”

“I don’t have balls.”

“Girl, you can have the biggest cojones in the world if you want to. Now show me some power!” He beats his chest like a gorilla. “I want volume. I want you to shout that shit!”

I flinch and give the person walking toward us a polite, awkward smile.

He eyes Wily like he’s a crazy person before spinning on his heel and heading back the way he came.

Wily’s oblivious, going on about decibels before taking my shoulders and giving them a squeeze. “Say it with some conviction.”

My teeth sink into my bottom lip. He brushes his thumb over the spot again before pointing at the ground. “We’re not leaving this spot until you do.”

“Wily, I’ve got class.”

“Then you better get on with it, because we’re not leaving this spot until you do .”

It’s impossible to argue with the guy, especially when he dips his hip and pretends to flick a lock of hair over his shoulder.

“What are you doing?” I grip my bag straps with a confused frown.

He struts away from me like a catwalk model, then spins and strikes a girlish pose. To say he looks hilarious is an understatement.

“I’m giving you motivation by pretending to be that bitchy little viper.

” Putting his hand on his hip, he checks his nails like a sorority girl from Legally Blonde or something, then gives me a scathing look.

“Got something to say to me?” His girly voice is too funny, and I can’t help bursting out in laughter.

“Say it, Satch. I want you to say it.”

I cover my mouth to try and control my giggles and finally manage, “Shut the fuck up?”

“That’s another question,” he singsongs in his high, girly voice. “Now what did you just say to me, hippo girl?”

My laughter vanishes. I feel like he’s just slapped me across the face. Hearing that word out of his mouth hurts. But it also pisses me off. I know he’s just playing, but grrrr ! Now he knows what they used to call me, and I hate that so much!

Jade has poisoned those girls against me, telling them all the things she used to taunt me with, and they’ve bought into it, picked up where Carmen and Katrina left off.

I’d rather die than have her poison Wily too. I can’t have another Peyton Feldman situation on my hands. I honestly don’t think my heart could take it .

Wily’s been different.

He hasn’t been the standard jock I was expecting.

He’s been sweet and funny, and he’s never looked at me like I’m less than.

If anything, he treats my smarts like a crown jewel and looks at me like I’m special.

And now he knows that I’m just some stupid hippo girl who?—

He doesn’t think that. He got super pissed that someone would even dare say that to you.

A soft growl builds in my throat.

“What was that, hippo?—”

“Shut the fuck up!” I shout, the words popping out so loud and fast that I end up surprising myself.

Wily blinks. And I blink right back.

And then he lets out a loud whoop.

“Yes!” He punches his arms in the air and closes the space between us.

Before I know it, he’s lifted me off my feet again… and I’m hugging him back in celebration.

Why I’m celebrating, I’m really not sure, but man… that felt so good!

I just told Pretend Viper to shut the fuck up!

“That’s my girl!” Wily laughs as he puts me back on my feet and gives me a playful wink. “My little potty mouth. I’m lovin’ it!”

Wrapping his arm around my shoulders again, he pulls me against his side, and we wander off to class. I swear I’m walking on air right now. What’s concrete? It doesn’t exist in this place. Only white, fluffy, euphoric clouds are under my feet right now .

No one has ever made me feel like this before. Like I matter, and not just because I’m related to them.

I matter.

Glancing up, I watch Wily as we walk side by side. He’s saying hi to people, grinning and greeting them like it’s second nature.

And I’m the invisible girl beside him.

But… not to him.

For just a moment there, I was the center of his world, and he wasn’t gonna quit on me until I’d said those four words and made myself feel like I actually had the power.

Even if it was for just a second… I’ll take it.