She stopped fidgeting. Her gaze jerked to mine and she gulped. She heard the seriousness in my tone, and she held a hand up. “Wait. Mason, wait.”

I narrowed my eyes.

She ducked her head down. Her fingers slipped into her pockets, and her hands hung there. “I’ve been thinking a lot about our friendship over the years.”

I didn’t have a good feeling about this. “And I think that you started to assume I liked you. I didn’t.” Her eyes lifted, met mine, and looked away again. Her cheeks grew redder. “Okay, that was a lie. I did like you. I mean, I thought you were my knight in shining armor, the popular guy who became friends with me. I’m nothing. Then the girls started in.” She stopped and drew in a ragged breath. Her voice grew thick with emotion as she continued, “You have no idea the things they did.”

Regret stabbed at me. “They did the same to Sam.”

She still wasn’t looking at me. Her hand had been moving back and forth, but she stopped it. All motion froze for a moment. “Your girlfriend?”

“Yeah. She transferred to Public last semester and they tried to do some messed up things to her.”

“Like what?”

“Stealing her clothes was the nicest of their pranks, for one.” The image of Sam in that hospital bed, her face bruised up, and her body wrapped in bandages flashed in my mind again. It was seared there. I’d never get it out. “They put her in the hospital.”

“They did?” She lifted her head again. Her lip trembled. “They never did that to me.”

“Sam fought back.”

She flinched and looked away. “Oh.”

I grimaced. I had insulted her, but that hadn’t been my intention. “Look, I’m sorry. That wasn’t a shot at you. I was trying to tell you that you weren’t the only one who got hurt by Kate and her friends.”

A sad laugh came from her. “It wasn’t just Kate for me. It was half the school. All the girls hated me. All of them.”

“I’m sorry that I didn’t stop it.”

“I don’t know how you could have.”

“I could’ve tried. I did when they were hurting Sam, but I didn’t when they were hurting you. I should’ve stepped in. I’m sorry that I never did. I’m sorry that you had to transfer because of all that shit.”

She twisted around. Her friends were watching us. They moved closer when they saw Marissa looking at them. “I have to go.” She shook her head, and I could hear the sob in her throat. “I’m sorry, Mason. I have to go.”

She started for her friends, and they met her half way. Both of them put their arms around her shoulder, and they hurried from the parking lot. They headed down the sidewalk and into the main campus. I watched them for a moment and shrugged. Marissa wasn’t my problem anymore. I felt bad about what happened to her and I apologized to her. I meant the apology, and whether she took it or not, that was on her.

SAMANTHA

After changing into my running clothes, I headed to the field where everyone was waiting for the coach. The guys had been sent ahead, but we would be running the same course as them. I dropped down to the grass to stretch. When the other girls came out, some of them began stretching like me, but they sat away from me. A burst of laughter sounded from further down the field and everyone looked. A group of girls were coming towards us. Someone groaned a few feet from me, “Juniors. Honestly. Why do we have to run with them?”

I bent over my leg, reaching for my toe. The seniors kept their distance from me, so the juniors wouldn’t be a problem. A lot of them were just in awe that I was dating Mason Kade, but I heard my name, “Sam!”

I paused and cursed. Kris was waving at me. Dressed in running pants and a tight top, her hair pulled back in a ponytail, she bounced over to me. Literally bounced. She dropped down next to me. Bringing her feet together in front of her, she cupped them and bent over, but turned to me. She was beaming. “Hey! Did Logan tell you I was joining the team?”

Fuck no. I smiled at her. “He didn’t. I didn’t know you were a runner?”

“Oh.” She shrugged. Her knee was lifted and pressed to her chest as she hugged it for a moment. She did the same with the other one. “I like running. I’m not in your league, but when he found out, he suggested I join the team. I’m new, all for a team spirit, you know.”

Still smiling, still forcing it, I commented, “I’m surprised you didn’t do cheerleading.”

She laughed and spread her legs. She reached for her right ankle, cupped it, and began to lower down over her leg. “Oh, you know, I did think about it. I can be peppy and annoying, I know, but I would’ve joined to try and make friends. Not to inflate my own balloon, but because I’m dating Logan, I don’t have to try at being popular. Being his girlfriend makes a lot of girls super nice to me, if you know what I mean.”

My smile widened, and I showed my teeth. “That’s funny. They tried to kill me last year.”

She chuckled, switched legs, and continued, “Yeah, so there’s that. But, to be honest, I doubt my sister would come to see me if I was cheerleading for the football game or something. She’ll come to a cross-country meet, though. I know that.” She shook her head, wearing a fond smile. “She likes to stalk around in the shadows. She and I are completely different.”

“Kris!” One of the girls she walked out with waved. “Come here. I need a partner.”

“Oh.” Her chuckle faded. “I joined the team to hang out with you, but do you mind if I run with those girls? They’re in my grade and the friendships are new. You know how those things are.”

My eyes widened. She had expected to run with me? “Uh, that’s no problem. I run alone.”

“Oh yeah. Logan said something about that. Okay. Good.” She hopped to her feet and pretended to punch me in the shoulder. “I’ll see you later, if you don’t make us eat your dust too early.” Without waiting for a response, she went over and dropped next to her group of friends. They moved so they formed a circle, all of them facing each other, and it wasn’t long before they were counting out loud at the same time.

The same girl from before groaned again. “Fucking juniors.”

I grunted in agreement and went back to stretching. After I finished, I started jogging in place until Coach came out. As he did, everyone stood and he gave us our instructions. It was the same every day. We were told which trail to run, which we always knew because it rotated, and we were told to clock our times when we returned before another stretching period. He looked at me. “Strattan, stay behind a second.” He blew his whistle and the girls started off.