Total pages in book: 56
Estimated words: 54196 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 271(@200wpm)___ 217(@250wpm)___ 181(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54196 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 271(@200wpm)___ 217(@250wpm)___ 181(@300wpm)
I shake my head, not trusting myself to speak.
“C’mon, who?”
“Ramona, just forget it, okay?”
She’s still smiling at me when suddenly, her eyes go wide.
“Whoa. Whoa. Hang on.” She slowly shakes her head. “Oh my God, it’s not one of them, is it?”
I swallow, but my total lack of an answer that involves words just lets her know she’s on the right path.
“Holy shit, Zara! Are you serious right now?”
“Ramona—”
“Okay, okay! I know you have to go play, but I want to hear more about this love triangle thing!”
“No triangle,” I groan, biting my lip.
“Bullshit!”
“No, it’s just…” I close my eyes, swallowing.
“It’s just slightly more complicated than that.”
She pauses for half a second before her jaw about hits the ground.
“Zara Bateman!” She gasps, her eyes going wide. “Tell me everything, right now!”
I groan, my face blushing. “Ramona, I’m going onto that stage in like five minutes, okay?”
“Okay! Okay!” She beams at me, her eyes wild and her face flushed with excitement as she stares at me with this sort of awed look.
“My God, girl.”
I blush fiercely, and she grins as she hugs me tight.
“Okay, go rock and roll. But we are so talking about this later.”
I smile wryly at her, and she hugs me once more before she turns to run off after the others. I let my breath out, shoulders slumping as I turn back to the sound of the other band launching into their last song.
It’s almost time.
“Ms. Bateman?”
I gasp, whirling, and my face goes white as I look up into the face of Coach Stokes.
Fuck.
“Coach Stokes, I—I can explain—I have a note—”
“No, you don’t.”
I swallow, my legs shaking.
“I—I’m—”
And slowly, he starts to grin.
“Yeah I’m just messing with you.”
I stare at him as he starts to chuckle, my heart racing as the freaking second Winchester teacher in two minutes sees me off campus way after curfew and seems to be totally fine with it.
“Coach?”
He grins, raking his fingers through his hair. “Bet you’re wondering what I’m doing here.”
I smile curiously nodding. “I mean, that was one of the thoughts I had.”
“And why I’m not hauling your ass back to campus and writing you up for a suspension?”
“Yeah, that would be the first thought.”
He grins. “Because I get that there’s more to an education than just books and tests, Zara.”
“Like football?”
He nods. “Sure, but also music, art, creative writing, whatever.”
He sighs heavily. “Look, you got wronged yesterday, but you’re blaming the wrong guys.”
I frown. “What?”
“I know about Griff, Anders, and Carson being in the band.” He shrugs and winks at me. “Actually, I might just be one of Chasing Glory’s oldest fans, you know.”
I arch a brow, looking at him quizzically.
“The Back Room, in Northstead?” He smiles. “One of my favorite spots. And I do believe I was lucky enough to see the first ever Chasing Glory show there. You kids are talented, you know.”
I smile wryly. “Thanks, Coach Stokes, but—”
“But you were screwed over.”
I swallow, looking at the ground.
“Like I was saying, you’re blaming the wrong guys. Those three were ready to walk away from an entire lifetime of football and more hard work than you can imagine to get to that show yesterday. They were ready to leave their entire team in the dust for you.”
I blink, my heart racing as my mouth goes dry.
“Coach, I don’t—”
“I had to be the biggest asshole I’ve ever been to get ’em to stay,” he says quietly. “Had to threaten them with suspension and fucking up their college prospects. All of it. I’m not proud of it, but it’s what I had to do for the team. And even then, they almost still came.” He sighs. “I hope you can forgive me, or at least understand where I was coming from.”
I just nod quietly.
“I—yeah, I do,” I say quietly before I look at him quizzically, chewing my lip. “Why are you telling me this?”
He nods slowly, scratching at the scruff on his jaw.
“I’m not even gonna try to pretend I understand the nature of your relationship with those guys.”
I blush fiercely, and he just holds his hands up.
“Hey, I really don’t care, Ms. Bateman. It’s a whole new world from when I was a kid. Guys datin’ guys, girls datin’ girls, guys becoming girls. And shit, I don’t honestly care about any of that. Loves love, right? Who cares what the rest of us think? So, I don’t know what is going on with those three, but I do know it’s about more than just a band.”
My face is still burning hot as he smiles kindly at me and puts a hand on my shoulder.
“Anyways, that’s my piece. I owed you that much.”
“Thanks, Coach Stokes,” I say quietly, smiling. “Thanks for telling me.”
“Zara?”
A familiar voice has me turning to see the same MC from the previous night’s qualifiers smiling at me.
“You ready? We’re going to have you on in just a few.”