School was worse than it was yesterday. Everyone was mad at Dane and me for screwing up practice. I looked down at my food and smiled when Gabe told me I looked nice.

“You look nice today too, Gabe.”

“We’re taking a poll,” Gabe said as he secretly handed me half of his chocolate chip cookie.

“Okay, what kind of poll?” I asked as I set it down next to my turkey wrap.

“What is it about Zach Shaw that girls find so amazing?”

I froze. Did they know? Surely not. I swallowed hard and shrugged.

“He’s hot, I guess.”

“Well it’s definitely not his attitude. He treats people like complete shit, yet he gets these women that I swear are not human. They’re too perfect to be human. It’s insane, and we’ve been trying to figure it out for years,” Gabe said, and all of the guys except for Dane and Trevor agreed. The girls at the table started whispering, and I swore I heard Zach’s name several times.

“Maybe he has a really large dick,” Caleb said, making everyone laugh.

“And knows how to use it,” Gabe added.

I almost spit out my water. Dane looked at me.

“Dude, enough. Zach’s not like that anymore,” Dane said angrily.

“What brought this up anyway?” I snapped, and Dane raised a brow at me, which told me I was being way obvious so I cleared my throat. “I mean, we should be talking about things we need to work on at practice later, not some guy.”

“One of the girls brought it up so we all started talking about it,” Gabe said with a slight shrug. He looked at Dane. “And yeah right, man.” Gabe laughed and so did the other guys. He looked at me. “We just wanted to know your opinion since you’re a girl.”

“I don’t give a shit so my opinion would be invalid.” I wouldn’t make eye contact with anyone.

I was just about to take a bite of my green beans when all the girls at our table started laughing together. I set my fork down and looked at Gwen who was laughing the hardest. She made eye contact with me, and I knew whatever they said was about me. I watched her whisper something else.

“That’s it.”

I got up. On my way to the girls, the guys from the team tried to grab my hands to stop me.

“What’d you say, bitch?” I asked when I got to Gwen.

Natalie, I think her name was, spoke up first.

“She said it was funny the guys would ask a dike about someone like Zach Shaw. You don’t like dick, do you, Hailey?”

I lost it. My fist plummeted into Gwen’s face, and just when I had her pinned to the ground ready to really fuck her world up, some of the guys pulled me off her. I heard Dane say something to her as the principal walked over.

“Office. Now,” he snapped.

Dane grabbed me when I tried to go after Gwen again. He practically dragged me to the office. I heard Coach Elliot’s name over the intercom, asking him to come to the office. When we got there, Dane stayed with me. The principal and Coach walked in, and the principal shut the door behind him.

“What happened?” Coach asked as the principal sat down behind his desk.

“Gwen and some of the other girls were being bullying bitches,” Dane said without taking his arm from around my shoulders. “So, I... punched her,” he said, sounding unsure.

Coach pinched the bridge of his nose.

I rolled my eyes. “Dane, they clearly saw me beating the snot out of her.” I looked at him and held up my knuckles that had blood on them. “Don’t lie for me.”

Dane shrugged. “Well only half was a lie. She is a bullying bitch.”

“Dane, mouth,” Coach said with a groan as he leaned against a wall.

“And you dated her.” I rolled my eyes again.

The principal shook his head. “I don’t understand. Hailey, your file is absolutely perfect from your other school.”

“I didn’t deal with this kind of stuff there,” I said simply.

“I’m guessing she grew up there and didn’t have to put up with being called a dike and lesbian,” Coach said, shocking all of us. “What? I’ve been sick not dead. I know what happens to my players at school.”

The principal sat back in his chair. “I had no idea this was going on. Why haven’t you reported it?” he asked me.

“Because I can handle it, and I did.” I looked at my blood-stained hand.

“There are different ways to handle these types of situations, and what you did will not fix anything, Miss Grayson. I will have to call your parents in. The handbook says I have to suspend you for this type of action.”

I looked at Coach apologetically because I knew that meant I couldn’t practice.

Coach sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Can we come up with another punishment?” he asked as he started rubbing his temples. “How about community service?” he asked hopefully. “She could work for Zach. No one likes that.”

The principal laughed. “While your brother is a good form of punishment that I’ve used before for these kinds of cases, I’m afraid I can’t this time. That being said, I can’t say anything if you hold practices somewhere other than the school property.”

Coach gave me a half smile. “Good to know.”

“You can go get your things and head home. I will call your parents and talk with them.” The principal stood and opened his office door.

“Do you have to call my parents?” I asked, hoping he’d say no.

“We have these things called school policies,” the principal said with a laugh.

I got up and walked out of the office. I stopped when I saw the entire team waiting in the hall.

“Suspended,” I said as Gabe handed me my backpack.

“That sucks,” Trevor said as he put his hands in his pockets.

Coach and Dane came out of the office.

“Practice will take place at the house for the next week.” Coach smiled at me then walked back toward his class.

I heard Gwen’s name over the intercom as Dane and I walked out to the student parking lot. I looked at him, and he grabbed my hand in his.

“You okay, Hales?”

I gave him a half-smile. “I would be even better if I was able to really beat the shit out of her.”

He laughed.

I took out my cell. “I should go. My dad just texted me to come home now.”

He hugged me. “Call if you need me.” Then he headed back inside the school, and I got in my car and left.