Page 47 of The Switched-Up Playbook
“No. I mean, yes! I will! But it won’t be necessary. No more stomach flus. Or any kind of flus!” I promise hectically, but Coach has already skated off.
By the time we finish up training and return to the locker room, a new lineup has been taped to the flip chart.
***
I always meant to ask
When you stayed here
You brought your own mouthguard, right?
…
And cup?
:)
NICKO!
I snicker softly as I put my cell back onto the table, the screen facing downward so I won’t get tempted to pick it up again during lunch.
Across from me, Linden raises one of his fair brows. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing,” I answer quickly, shoulders raised in a half shrug, then grimace.
“Just something Nate said,” I add.
I don’t want my best friend to think that I’m keeping more secrets from him. Finding out about our swap hit Linden a lot harder than my other roommates, and not only because he’s worried about me ruining my own future.
Coming face to face with him at the dog pound and then lying to him about it really put a dent in our friendship. I know a simple apology won’t fix it, but it was a first step.
I’ve been back in my life for a week now, and over its course I’ve recounted every detail that happened during the swap to him—and dealt with his judgment. Based on their first meeting and our shared history, he isn’t the biggest fan of my drunken mistake with Hart, which is something we can agree on.
If anything good came out of this, it’s that we are spending a lot more time together. I didn’t even notice how far I withdrew from my friends until I came back to my eerily quiet room last week. It still costs me a lot of effort to linger around the living room in the evenings, trying to find my place in our little community again. I also had to realize that, despite living together for almost four months now, I barely know Marisol and Micah.
“Oh, I meant to tell you! Your brother was at the dog pound the other day. With that Hart guy.”
I focus so intensely on keeping my face neutral, it feels frozen in place.
“And?” I ask casually as I pick up my cutlery to dig into the spinach pasta. After another excruciating week of reflux, my stomach has finally bounced back from all the spicy noodles.
“He looked absolutely terrified of Violet.”
I snort, since I can imagine Nate’s face when being presented with even the smallest of dogs.
“Back in the Netherlands, our grandma adopted this overeager puppy. It scratched Nate when we were four. He’s been scared shitless of dogs ever since,” I explain. I’m honestly surprised thatNate agreed to accompany Hart. Looks like I’m not the only one who has some platonic groveling to do.
Although, since thatincidentat the party, I can’t help but wonder justhowplatonic Hart’s feelings are toward my brother. He obviously initiated the kiss thinking I was Nate, so the atmosphere must be pretty awkward over at St. Bernard’s.
I’m glad Linden and I got the kissing part out of the way fast, realizing we would make an awkward couple but pretty good friends just a few hours into our first and only date.
“He asked about you.”
“Huh?”
“Hart. He asked about you. Said he needed to talk to you, but you weren’t answering his messages.”
“Well, I’ve been busy. He needs to get in line,” I tell my friend. It’s kind of true—I’ve been busy declining a lot of dates Nate arranged for me. I don’t know if he was just bored or trying to drop a hint, but he really struck up some deep conversations on Grindr.
