Wingman by Jean Mills

Author:Jean Mills [Mills, Jean]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Published: 2023-01-31T20:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

“Always fun to watch a star fall,” says Jared.

The guys around him laugh. The Cougars are sitting there like a gang. They’re at the next table in the cafeteria at lunch. Dev, Mitch, Shawn, Frankie and I look at each other, but we don’t react.

They’re talking about Trace and his meltdown at practice, of course.

“Hey, Nilson!” calls Jared. His voice is just loud enough that people turn to look. “Did Brewster get a game misconduct for that hit last night?”

“Ignore him,” says Mitch.

It’s hard to ignore the Jareds of the world. I want to stand up, walk over and smash my fist into his face. I’d like to feel his nose break and see blood come pouring out. All over his chin. I’d like to see his eyes go all wide and surprised.

I can’t help glancing over at him. He sees me and grins.

“Hey, man, where is Brewster anyway?” he asks.

Trace didn’t come to school today. This explains why the Cougars are having such a great time throwing comments our way.

“Max, just ignore him,” says Dev.

“Poor guy,” Jared says to his buddies. “First he doesn’t know his own net. Then he starts taking goon shots at his own guys.”

“Sad, really,” says Parker, one of the Cougars sitting at the next table. “There goes his shot at being picked first in the draft.”

“Embarrassing,” Jared says, nodding. “Especially with all the hype he gets every time he steps on the ice.”

“Ignore him, Max,” says Frankie, beside me. He can see my fists opening and closing. “Everybody knows Trace is the best.”

“This is just, you know, a blip,” says Dev.

This is no blip. I haven’t told the guys or anyone else about going to Trace’s house last night. They didn’t hear what I heard. They didn’t get a text from their best friend telling them to stay away.

“We’ll tell you all about the Elite Six tournament, okay, guys?” says Jared, and his gang laughs.

I stand up so fast that my chair almost falls over.

Fuck off, I mouth at Jared and give him the finger. Then I grab my pack, stuff the rest of my lunch into it and walk out of the cafeteria without saying another word to anyone.

I run straight into Cate.

Maybe she’s been watching the little show Jared was putting on and saw me getting more and more pissed off. It’s as if she was waiting for me.

“Ouch!” she says, stepping back and rubbing her arm. But she also smiles a little.

“Shit! Sorry,” I say. “I didn’t see you.”

“I could tell,” she says, nodding toward Jared. “Assholes can have that effect on people.”

“Yeah, well,” I say. I turn and start walking away from her, but she reaches out and grabs my arm.

“What happened?” she asks. “With Trace, I mean. Something’s happened, hasn’t it?”

“I went to his house last night,” I say. “I wanted to ask him what the hell is going on with him.”

She nods. “Yeah, that scene at the mall was pretty weird,” she says. “So you went to his house.

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