Page 68 of Breaking Free
“What?”
He gazes up at me. “I came out to my parents, and I was so excited to tell you about it, just to have this happen.”
“Nothing happened, Campbell.”
“Except me finding out why I really got benched.”
“You’re being ridiculous.”
“And you’re a lying asshole. I told my parents I had met someone.” He laughs humorlessly. “Joke’s on me, I guess.”
“I didn’t tell you to tell them about me. In fact, I told you not to come out because of me.”
“I didn’t come out for you. I explained that,” he says, standing up and meeting my gaze. “And I wanted to tell them about you. I thought—”
“Thought what?”
“Just forget it,” he says before turning and storming off.
I watch him leave, hating myself for being such a dick, but he jumped to a conclusion that holds no merit. I’m not starting because of some deal between Coach and my mom.
I should’ve congratulated him for coming out. I should’ve been happy for him, but instead I was angry and frustrated, and the fear of being vulnerable crept back in.
He clearly thought enough about me to tell his parents, and it creates a heady mix of feelings. Happiness, fear, worry, insecurity, and pure bliss.
27
Monday and Tuesday go by,and me and Trevor avoid each other like the plague. Jayden is curious considering the last time he saw us we were announcing to him that we’d been hooking up, but he seemed to catch on right away that neither of us wanted to talk about it.
On Wednesday and Thursday, I’m out sick with some sort of stomach bug, which means when I show up to school on Friday, Coach has put Trevor in the starting spot. I’m not even mad. I don’t blame him, but Trevor seems to take his place on this team a little more seriously than me.
When we’re on the plane, heading for Glen Prep, me and Trevor end up toward the back on opposite sides, with him just a row behind me.
Campbell:Don’t do me any favors. I want to earn my spot. Not have it given to me because you choose to not show up to practice in the days leading up to the game.
I turnand look at him, but he quickly snaps his attention back to his phone.
Me:Yeah, I’ll be sure to tell my stomach to keep your feelings in mind when I’m throwing up. I didn’t just not show up to practice. I wasn’t in school at all. Not everything’s about you.
He doesn’t respond,so I switch the app to Spotify and change the song to blast something loud in my ears while I close my eyes and ignore his presence.
My nap comes to an end a couple hours later—maybe forty minutes before we’re due to land, so I get up and head to the bathroom at the back. Trevor’s eyes track me as I move, perhaps hoping I’m not coming back to talk to him, but I swear I see a tiny glimmer of hope in those green orbs, but I ignore him and close myself in the small restroom.
I don’t know what to do regarding me and him. He’s angry at me for something that isn’t true, and I’m angry at him for not believing me. I can’t keep repeating the same thing, and he’s not gonna believe me no matter what anyway. Stubborn ass. On top of that, I worry what squashing the beef between us would mean. Would that put us on the road to a relationship?
When I exit the bathroom and head back to my seat, Trevor’s standing up, grabbing his bag from overhead storage and effectively blocking my way.
He glances my way, looking me up and down before taking his time unzipping the bag and shoving his snacks and bottle of water back inside.
I sigh and he looks at me again. “Need something?”
I force a smile. “Nope.”
Once he zips the main pocket, he casually spins it around and unzips another part, just trying to piss me off. Instead of going off on him and drawing attention to us, I grab ahold of his hips as I slowly squeeze past him, pushing my crotch into his ass as I slide past.
“‘Scuse me.”
He shoots me a dirty look, but I chuckle lightly as I get back into my seat.