Students of the Game Read Free Page B

even photography. She spends a lot of time doing an independent study in the art wing of the school and tends to reflect her creative nature on the outside. Right now she’s doing the whole punk rock thing and as I look down at her fishnet tights tucked into knee high boots, I think about how much I prefer my beat-up Chuck-Taylor’s over something like that, any day.
    Farah pulls out of the lot then glances at me with her black rimmed eyes. “So, first I see Bryce Colton lounging against your locker, then you weren’t at lunch…and I know how much you love food,” she laughs. “What in God’s name is going on, Joy? You’d think we’re in a parallel universe or something.”
    “He wasn’t lounging, and it’s not my fau lt,” I protest. “I’m going to tutor him…and Carver Halsey.” I add this last bit hoping to deflect the subject away from Bryce and it works.
    “Carver? You’re kidding right?” she exclaims in disbelief. “You’ve been crushing on him forever!”
    “You don’t have to remind me,” I retort sourly.
    “So, what about Bryce? Why did you look so pissed off talking to him anyway? I mean…believe me, jockey football players shouting “Freaky Farah” at me on a daily basis aren’t my cup of tea either. But what’s the big deal if it’s only one semester? It’s not like you have to be best friends with the guy or anything.”
    “Yeah…funny you should say that,” I answer reluctantly, leaning my head against the glass of the passenger side window. “Farah, there’s something I’ve never told you…about my past.”
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

CHAPTER FIVE
     
     
                “Please don’t tell me you were Bryce Colton’s secret love slave!” Farah actually looks scared saying this. “Wait…Should I pull over?” She glances over at me and steps on the brake. “I can pull over.”
    “What? No…I know I’ve told you about my dad’s accident,” I begin tentatively, “but there’s actually more to the story than that.”
    I knew this conversation with Farah was inevitable as soon as I said ‘yes’ to Ms. Higgins, honestly there is no way around it. As we drive home, I tell her about how Bryce’s dad and mine were best friends growing up, and continued to stay close even after Mr. Colton became a college football star. They both got married an d ended up back in North Tide, our mom’s just happened to get pregnant around the same time, and had Bryce and myself within days of each other. Needless to say, we were inseparable from birth. Bryce was my best friend. My only friend really, because…well, I didn’t need anyone else. We did everything together. 
    I sneak a glance over to the driver ’s side to see how Farah is absorbing this new information and tell her, “Bryce was over my house when my mom got the call about my dad’s accident. You already know that he was hit head on by a drunk driver and died on scene, but at the time, I guess I didn’t really understand. My mom just said ‘accident’ and I thought…OK, he fell and skinned his knee, it’ll be fine…I remember Bryce’s dad coming to pick him up, but my dad never came home.”
    I fiddle with a loose thread on the hem of my shirt as I tell Farah that soon after the accident Bryce started to change. He didn’t want to see me anymore and spent a lot of time involved with sports and other kids. I focused my energy on schoolwork because that was something that had been important to my dad. Bringing home A’s was the only thing that could get my mom to smile again. She would tell me that my father would be proud and maybe part of me thought that if I excelled in school it would bring him back. Obviously that was an impossible hope.
    “Farah, please don’t be mad I never told you,” I beg. “No one at school even knows. It’s just not something that needs to be remembered. Our parents grieved and moved on with their lives. Bryce obviously moved on, too.”
    “Wow, what a jerk