Page 15 of Embrace
“That’s the girl who got her shit rocked, right? I’ve watched the video of her fall a million times,” the frat guy says.
I’ve become accustomed to the misconstrued facts about my best friend, but they still make me grind my teeth. “Of course she can walk. She’s skating again actually.”
Crystal hums. “There’s another party later, you two should come by.”
“Yeah, you should,” the guy adds, eyeing me expectantly, suddenly too forward for my liking.
My palms grow sweaty. I wish I could ignore the insinuation. It makes me pity freshman me who lived off this kind of attention. It’s like I only picked guys who I was sure could never give me what I needed to avoid feeling any real loss when they inevitably left.
They look at me, waiting for my response, but I drop my gaze, focusing on pouring water in my ramen. “I’m a little busy.”
The frat guy nudges my foot. “It’s one night. You’ll love it. I can make it fun.”
“She said no.” Sierra’s smoky voice cuts in. She’s glowering, arms crossed like she could take them both. She probably could.
Crystal’s eyes widen like she’s staring at a ghost. “Uh— Okay. Nice to see you, Si! We gotta go. Sorority meetings, you know? Text me when you get sick of Iona,” she says to me, making the guy follow.
I give her a half-hearted wave. Sierra stands beside me in her training gear, her pink gym bag hanging off her and still glowering after them.
“You didn’t have to do that,” I say, staring at my half-cooked noodles.
“He’s not allowed to talk to you like that.”
“But that’s for me to decide!”
Sierra flinches at my tone. We’ve had this conversation a lot through the years, but my best friend can never just stand there while someone disrespects me. I love her for it, but I don’t need her to fight my battles. She has enough of her own.
“Okay,” she concedes. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t,” I sigh. “Don’t apologize, Si. You were trying to help.”
“No, you’re right. I’ve been overstepping. I won’t do it again.” Then she pauses before amending, “I’lltrynot to.”
I smile. “Thank you.”
“I’ve got an hour, then I’m back on the ice. Please tell me there’s real food that isn’t instant noodles.”
“Hey, this is a perfectly nutritious meal.” And the only one that I can chow down fast enough to get back to studying.
“Right. Who doesn’t love consuming enough sodium to make your face puff up like a balloon?”
“Don’t give me a health lesson. I’ve taken enough biology to last me a lifetime.” Only for it to go to waste because I switched my major.Good call, Scarlett.
“Sorry. My brain is in training mode. That does smell good though.”
I tilt my chin toward the chalkboard with today’s specials scribbled in white marker:Sloppy Joes. Sierra wrinkles her nose, grabs a tray, and stalks toward the salad bar. I watch her squint at the nutrition card like there’s a secret ingredient hiding beneath the spinach.
When I sit, I open my laptop to my sociology syllabus, but it’s pressed shut the moment Sierra takes a seat across from me. “Just eat, Scarlett. A few minutes won’t kill your GPA.”
I almost scoff. This is the girl who’s skipped countless meals so she could spend every hour training instead. But this is how Sierra’s always been, looking out for me with no regard for her own detrimental habits.
“Okay, but only if you stop rehearsing your routine in your head,” I challenge. “And instead we can talk about a hockey player.”
She furrows her brows. “Please don’t tell me they’ve got video of me yelling at the guy now.”
I chuckle. “Nope, but another one of my dad’s players is in my study group, and he was asking me to tutor him.” I leave out the fact that it’s Kian Ishida. She doesn’t know about my stupid crush on him, and I’d like to keep it that way.
“Seriously? Man, if these guys knew Kilner was your dad theywouldn’t dare breathe the same air as you.” She laughs, and I put on a plastic smile, not liking how true those words are.
