Four Doors Down (18 page)

I smile sweetly back at Jessica. “Lucky you. Maybe you should ask your friends for tips because he’s already been around all of them, hasn’t he?”

There are a few snickers and muted laughs from around us and I realize that some of the football team are also in this class and were listening to our conversation.

Jessica narrows her eyes at me and crosses her arms, glaring at me. I glance at Jake, and he’s shaking his head at me in annoyance. “That was harsh, Becca,” he says. I shrug. Ryan can take it and he’s definitely dished it out enough to me over the years. Besides, it’s true.

“So what happened to you on Friday, anyway?” Jake asks, changing the subject.

“Friday?”

He looks at me like I’m stupid. “The game? You were supposed to come.”

Oh, right. “Um, yeah. Charlie got tickets to this gig so we went there.”

Jake pulls a face, like my reasoning is unacceptable. Geez, it was only a game.

“Well, you missed a great game. Ryan did awesome,” Jessica states loyally.

I roll my eyes and turn to Ryan, who is staring straight ahead, jaw clenched. “Well done on the record. Erica said you did great. And so did my parents,” I say graciously.

“Shut the hell up, Becca!” he snaps back angrily.

My eyes widen in surprise.
Okaaay, he’s clearly in a bad mood.
The next hour or so is going to be too much fun.

It turns out Ryan is pretty good at dodgeball. I know I shouldn’t be surprised really considering he’s a football player and all, but he’s definitely in a foul mood and making our opponents pay. He’s throwing the balls so hard at the opposition that I swear half the class with be covered in bruises tomorrow. To begin with, I actually do try to get involved, moving out of the way and trying to catch the ball if it comes my way, but it would seem that Ryan has decided that I’m not necessary in this game and catches all the balls before I can get to them before firing them back over the line to get the other team out. I soon lose interest and start glancing at the clock, hoping time will fast forward so we can get this dumb game over with. Ryan does so well at covering me and not letting me get near a ball that I’m the only girl who makes it out of the group stages without even a single life lost.

We’re about to start playing the quarter-finals when he seems to remember that there are two of us in the team. He holds a ball out to me. “You want to have a throw?”

“I think you’ve got this,” I say sarcastically, stifling a yawn.

This just seems to infuriate him even more and he quickly throws the ball at me so hard I don’t have time to react and it bounces off my left hand.

“Ow!” I cry out.

There are snickers from the watching crowd.

“Ryan, you’re not supposed to get your own teammate out,” Mr. White says grinning. This gains further laughs from the watching kids. Now that the group stages are over, there’s only one match at a time so that everyone else can watch.

The game starts up again and I start to realize that maybe Mr. White was a bit crafty in arranging the teams, as now we’re coming up against some of Ryan’s teammates and it doesn’t seem as easy as it was earlier.

I’m still just kind of hanging around the back of the court when a ball comes flying past my head. Ryan sees it and when it comes time for us to regroup for a couple of minutes, he tells me to go stand in the corner of the court.

“Why?”

“Because they can come at you from too many different angles when you’re in the middle and I might not be able to cover you.”

“So? Maybe I should just let them get me and then we can sit out and watch for the rest of class.”

He looks at me in disbelief. “You’re joking, right?” This comes out louder than I think either of us expected.
Geez, he’s competitive.

“It’s only a game, Ryan.”

“Yes, well, Becca, I like to win. So we are going to win this tournament,” he bites out through gritted teeth.

I just stare at him blankly.

“BECCA!”

“Why are you shouting?” I ask feeling slightly bewildered. What is his problem? Shouldn’t he be on top of the world? Still high from his football game and college offers?

“Cause you’re being annoying. Just do what I say and we’ll win.”

“Hey, Jackson, do you want to finish this lover’s tiff later? We’re up next and want to play sometime today,” Jake calls from the sideline which causes snickers from his and Ryan’s friends.

We both turn to glare at him, although it would seem that Ryan doesn’t glare for as long as me because before I know it, he’s slipped his arm round my waist and has picked me up and dumped me in the corner where he’s been telling me to stand. I’m so surprised I can’t think of anything to say. I shove him away from me and hear further laughter from the crowd and know I’ve gone bright red.

Asshole.

We sail through the next couple of games, although I might as well not be there, then we’re up against Jake and Jessica in the final and I couldn’t care less.

“What’s wrong, Becca? Don’t wanna play?” Jake taunts me from his side of the court. I flip him the finger and get a stern warning from Miss Greene and a chuckle from the rest of the watching class.

They send a couple of balls our way which we manage to dodge and Ryan manages to throw one back and hits Jessica on the leg. After a few more throws no one is out and it’s time for us to collect the balls from around the court. Jessica and Jake hover together looking like they’re coming up with a strategy, I glance briefly over at Ryan but he doesn’t even look my way, he’s just stood there radiating tension. I have no idea what’s going on with him.

Miss Greene blows the whistle and Jake and Jessica run forward as one and both launch their balls at us hard. Ryan goes to catch one from Jake but misses and leaves me wide open, Jessica’s ball slams into me. Hard. Well, into my left breast, to be exact.

“Shit!” I hiss and double over in pain, feeling like I’ve been punched. I hear muted laughter from the crowd as I clutch the spot where it hit, only just stopping myself from rubbing my boob because even
I
know that’s a bad idea. I glare over at Ryan, “What the hell? I thought you were covering me?”

“I went for Jake’s ball.”

“And you couldn’t do that from in front of me? I thought you were supposed to be a star footballer?” I hiss.

“How would you know?” he shoots back. “You’ve never been to any of my games.”

I look at him in confusion. Why is he being such a brat? Everyone knows he’s a star athlete, Surely he can cover two balls coming at him in a game of dodgeball? “Oh, I’m sorry if I haven’t seen you prance around a field in tight pants, throwing a stupid ball about.”

His fists clench at his sides and he looks like he wants to explode. “I swear to God, Becca. You need to shut up.”

I send him a dirty look, still clutching my boob. “You’re the one who wanted to make sure we saw this out. Well, next time do your job and cover me. That fucking hurt!” I spit at him.

“Oh. Want me to kiss it better?” Ryan says sarcastically, gesturing to where my hand covers my boob. This gains snickers from the crowd and I realize they’re all listening in. I can’t believe he just said that. Trust him to add to my humiliation.

“Okay, okay,” Miss Greene calls, “simmer down you two. And watch your language, Miss McKenzie.”

I turn to look at her and she’s trying unsuccessfully to hide her smirk. I glance back to Ryan. “What is your problem?” I demand quietly, trying to keep my voice as low as possible. He has no right to talk to me like this, I’ve done nothing wrong.

“You are,” he responds.

I shake my head at him in disgust and turn to face Jessica across the court whose eyes are glued to us. “Jessica, swap with me,” I call out. “You can finish off on Ryan’s team.”

She moves toward us and I start to walk across the gym toward Jake, but Ryan grabs my wrist and pulls me back roughly, “No way,” he hisses in my ear. “You’re on my team.”

“Yeah, well I’m over you treating me like crap,” I whisper viciously back at him. “I’d rather be on Jake’s team.”

“Trust me, I know you’d rather be on Jake’s team. I get it, you prefer him to me. In fact, I know you’d prefer anyone over me but you are on my team for this match and you are actually going to stick to something that you’ve agreed to for once!”

What the hell is he talking about?
He looks absolutely livid, his face is flushed from anger and his nostrils are flared. His hand is still wrapped tightly around my wrist. Jessica reaches us, flashing a cautious smile at Ryan and a dirty look at me. I turn to walk away, but his grip on my wrist tightens.

“Jess, go back over there,” he tells her. “Finish off with Jake.”

She looks like she wants to argue but when she sees the look on his face, she reluctantly turns and returns to Jake, who’s watching us warily.

“Get your hand off me,” I practically spit at him, tugging my hand away from him just as Mr. White blows his whistle.

“What’s going on?”

“I want to swap with Jessica.”

He shakes his head in annoyance. “You can’t swap now. You’re in the final. The bells about to ring and we need to finish.”

“She’s not swapping,” Ryan says firmly. His tone brokers no arguments.

I sigh in annoyance. “Fine.” I’m ready to storm off but realize it won’t get me anywhere and turn to walk back to my corner. What the hell have I done wrong for him to be treating me like this?

“Okay, okay. Let’s go again,” Jake is calling.

I resume my position at the back, Ryan covering me. The whistle goes and I mutter “total dick,” under my breath just loud enough for Ryan to hear. I just see his whole body stiffen at my words before I glance down and notice my shoelace is undone. I look back up just in time to see Ryan purposelessly step out of the way and the ball smacks into my face.

This hurts. This really, really hurts. I don’t even swear this time, I think I’m too shocked. No one really says anything. No one laughs, they just kind of murmur in sympathy. I think they can tell it’s worse than the previous hit. I look across and Jessica is grinning like she’s just won the Super Bowl.

The bitch!

The face is supposed to be off limits, and who knew she had such a throw on her? I actually feel a bit dizzy and tears have come to my eyes. I bite down hard on the inside of my mouth to stop them from falling. Have you ever been hit in the nose? I can promise you it hurts. I hold my hand to my face to see if there’s any blood.

“Shit, Becca, are you okay?” Jake asks, coming over and touching my arm.

Ryan’s behind him. “Becca, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”

“Shut up,” I snap at Ryan as I shrug Jake off me. “I’m fine.” I feel anything but fine.
Thanks, Ryan, once again you’ve made me look like a total idiot.

“Becca?” Ryan says. I won’t even look at him. He just let me get smacked in the face. On purpose. In front of everyone.

This is too much. I hate him, I physically hate him. I don’t care what his problem is. He shouldn’t be taking it out on me.

“Just finish the game,” I practically snarl.

He passes the ball over and we resume playing, but the excitement has gone from the game and everyone’s watching me waiting to see what my reaction will be. Great. By the end of school, everyone will know how Jessica smacked me in the face and how Ryan let her.

The bell rings and there’s still no winner. I drop the ball and walk to the locker rooms without looking back. I can feel eyes on me, like my watching classmates think I’m about to go crazy, and I feel humiliated, totally, totally humiliated. He’s done it to me again. Ryan Jackson has made me look like an absolute fool. Again.

It’s later in the day and I’m by my locker, my head still banging from the headache I’ve had since gym class. I’m still furious, and the curious glances and whispers that I’ve been getting from other students make it clear that the news of Jessica smacking me in the face has spread like wildfire.

I look up and see Ryan heading down the hallway, flanked, as always, by a couple of cronies. I slam my locker shut and stalk off in the opposite direction, ignoring him when I hear him shout my name. I’m almost at my car by the time he’s caught up with me and spun me around to face him.