The new, geeky kid in school gets partnered with a popular jock in biology. He believes that geeks and jocks can't be friends until this particular jock proves him wrong. And there may be something even better in the air...
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After his family mo...
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-Sky-
Oh, Lord... I couldn't remember if I had ever been as angry at anyone as I was at Stephanie. It was obvious she thought bad things about Gwen. There were two things that made it worse. First, Gwen realized it right away since Stephanie wasn't hiding her disgust, making her feel bad. All she wanted was to enjoy watching her son play, but the mood was ruined from the get-go. And second... there was something in Troy's eyes when they left us to go change their clothes. I had no idea why Stephanie was here, or what she meant to Troy, but it was obvious he got hurt.
On top of that, everyone in our big group gave ugly glares at Stephanie, who was following us, but keeping her distance. What was supposed to be a fun night out with our families had turned into this awkward, hateful event in a heartbeat. If I was this upset, I knew that Troy, Max and Luke were also upset, taking all the fun out of their game.
All just because of one woman who couldn't tolerate other human beings. Yeah, I was pissed.
There was a cafeteria at the side of the field, so we went there to get something to eat and drink. I stayed outside while my parents went in, and I wasn't the only one. Gwen stayed behind as well, and I assumed it was because Stephanie went in. I saw Gwen looking after her for a moment before she spotted me.
"Are you excited?" she asked with a smile.
"Yes, although I don't know much about the game," I said truthfully.
She nodded and peered back in. "So... That was Stephanie..."
"Yeah... I've never met her before, though," I said quietly. "I'm sorry," I added.
"Don't worry about me – at least she was decent enough not to say anything out loud. It's Troy I'm worried about. He seemed... hurt," she said.
"I don't think Stephanie knows about Troy and Luke," I said. "And I'm guessing Troy wished she wouldn't mind..."
"Yeah, Luke has told me a lot about him, and what's going on in his family. Poor boy. It must be horrible to have a family like that. It was for me..." Gwen spoke. "Having no family to count on is one of the worst feelings a child can live with. The fear and uncertainty eat you up, and what makes it worse is knowing that if something bad happens, you're on your own. A child should never know what that feels like."
I listened quietly while she spoke, and once she was done, I sighed slowly. "Sometimes I hate humans..."
Gwen patted my shoulder and smiled at me. "Thankfully, there are a lot of good people too."
"Yes," I nodded, trying to cheer up.
I turned to look around in the crowded yard. It was getting dark and cold, but no one cared. Everyone around me seemed hyped and excited, and the atmosphere was so strong it affected me as well. I really wished our team would win because then everyone would be in the highest of moods for a very long time. My dad, for one, would be moping for weeks if we lost – I knew that from experience. Max and Troy and Luke would probably be devastated, and because I was, well, me, I would exhaust myself trying to cheer them up. I didn't mind, of course, but... it still was just a game. But I had learned not to say that out loud. Whenever I said that, I got ugly glares.
