Josh also avoided getting involved in his friends’ tiff. Instead, he pulled his bottle of pain killers out of his backpack with trembling hands. He knew Andrea was justified in the dirty look she was shooting him. He really was taking them more than he should. But for some reason, he couldn’t get rid of his migraine. And he had too much to do with yearbook shoots and wrestling practice to be slowed down by a stupid headache.
After he swallowed the pills, washing them down with a few sips of cola, he noticed a strange white residue on his fingers that he had never seen before. He brushed it off on his jeans; figuring one of them had just broken apart. After all, his backpack got banged around quite a bit, and the bottle always wound up on the bottom of the bag. He forgot all about it when Kevin leaned over and tousled his hair, being as rough as possible, and sending a shooting pain from Josh’s temples to his neck.
“Knock it off, man!” Josh complained, and shoved Kevin’s hand away.
“Aww, what’s the matter, Josh?” Kevin scoffed. “Does the poor baby have a headache again?”
“Lay off him, Kevin!” Jim said, sounding a little disgusted. “You’re really being an ass today!”
“Geez, no one can take a joke around here.” Kevin sulked. “I was just kiddin’ around.”
“Whatever,” Josh said, and drained the last few drops of his soda. He picked up his backpack and stood from the table. “I’ve got to go take some pictures of the cheerleaders for the yearbook. I’ll see you guys at practice.”
“So long,” Kevin said as Josh strode away.
The hallway was deserted as Josh made his way to his locker. Half of the student body was in the cafeteria, and the other half remained in class. Josh could hear one of the teachers lecturing about World War II as he spun the combination and pulled open his locker. He unzipped his bag and took out his digital camera. Then he tossed the bag inside the locker and slammed it shut. He double-checked that the batteries were fully charged before making his way to the auditorium and the waiting cheerleaders, all the while wondering how Elena and Nadine had found out about the other two girls.
Chapter 6
Josh was heading to the gym to meet the guys for wrestling practice when a stabbing pain shot through his stomach. It was so intense that he stopped short, gasping for breath, and doubled over. The pain passed after a few seconds, but was quickly replaced by an even more horrendous wave of nausea. He flew into the nearest men’s room which was only a few feet away. Still, he barely made it there in time. He was fairly certain that everything he had eaten for the past week made a reappearance as he hung his head over the porcelain bowl.
When it was finally over and his stomach was empty, Josh closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the cool metal of the stall, waiting for his heartbeat to return to normal. He took a few shaky breaths, and wiped the sweat from his forehead with the sleeve of his shirt. His head was pounding in time with the steady ache in his gut, but Josh forced himself to his feet, however unsteadily. He couldn’t miss the first wrestling practice of the year. Not if he expected to be named captain of the varsity team, something that had been his main goal since freshman year.
Josh walked over to the sinks and splashed some water onto his peaked face. The paper towel dispenser buzzed as he waved his hand past the sensor. He pulled the stiff sheet free with trembling fingers and dried his face off. Then he dragged himself down the hallway and into the locker room where Kevin and Jim were waiting for him. They were already dressed in their red and white one-piece singlets. The tight uniforms showed off every ripple and sinew of the muscular teens.
“Hey, Josh!” Jim called as Josh slipped out of his jeans. “I think you might have made an enemy.”
“Yeah.” Kevin agreed. “That jerk Bryan Grant has been dogging on you since he got here.”
Josh felt his face flush. “What do you mean? I barely know him. What’s that guy’s problem anyway?”
“I don’t know, but you better watch your back,” Jim said, running a hand nervously through his hair. “He’s been telling everyone he’s going to kick your ass, both on and off the mat.”
“Is that so?” Josh demanded. “Well, we’ll just see about that.”
Josh had just finished pulling on his uniform. He shoved his backpack and his street clothes into one of the lockers before slamming it shut, not even bothering to lock it. He stormed out into the gymnasium, with Kevin and Jim fast on his heels. Despite the fact that Josh still felt awful, or maybe because of it, he was in no mood to deal with Bryan and his attitude. He was taking things too far, and Josh planned to set him straight, one way or the other.
The gym was laid out with bright red mats that covered most of the room. A few of the younger team members were already messing around, taking turns tackling each other as they waited for the coach to arrive. Josh noticed Bryan right away. He was sitting alone on the bleachers with his arms crossed and an angry scowl on his face. Josh didn’t pause for a second before heading in his direction.
“Hey man!” Kevin called to him. “Remember, no fighting on school grounds. If you get suspended, the whole team is gonna suffer!”
Josh knew Kevin was right. The smart thing to do would be to ignore Bryan and walk away. He wasn’t even sure he could take Bryan down in a real fight since he was almost twice his size. Yet, despite his bulk, Bryan couldn’t wrestle half as well. Besides, Josh was too angry, too frustrated to let it go. It took all his self-control to resist the unsportsmanlike urge to hit Bryan while his back was turned. Instead, with a testosterone driven burst of courage, he walked up behind the larger boy and tapped him roughly on the shoulder, taking a second to notice he barely had any neck at all.
Bryan turned to face him with an angry sneer, hardly surprised to see Josh standing there. He crossed his arms over his bulging chest. “Well, well, well. If it isn’t Mr. Hot Shit Hanover himself,” Bryan said bitterly.
“What’s with you, buddy?” Josh asked him. “Do you have something you want to say to me?”
“Yeah, I have something I want to say, rich boy!” Bryan told him, his voice belligerent. “You make me want to puke.”
“What did I ever do to you?” Josh demanded.
“You were born, loser!”
Bryan stepped down from the bleachers and stood in front of Josh, but made no move to attack. It seemed like he was all talk and no action. Josh was getting tired of playing guessing games, and he certainly wasn’t going to let Bryan coerce him into throwing the first punch, no matter how tempting it was.
“I’m not going to stand here and exchange insults with you,” Josh told him, somehow managing to maintain his composure in spite the fact that he was spitting mad. “If you’re not going to be straight with me and tell me what your problem is, I’m leaving.”
“Go ahead and walk away like the little wuss you are, rich boy,” Bryan called to Josh’s retreating back. “I guess you don’t have the nerve to face a man. You can only mess with innocent girls, like my sister!”
Josh stopped dead in his tracks, honestly shocked. He whipped back around to see Bryan had rolled his hands into fists at his side. His teeth were barred in obvious fury. Everyone else in the gym had grown quiet, focusing on the two boys. The tension was growing between them until it was an almost physical thing. Josh felt his muscles tightening, preparing for what seemed like an inevitable fight.
“Are you crazy?” Josh asked him. “I have no idea who your sister is!”
“No, I’m not crazy. Are you? You must be if you thought you could juggle those four girls without getting caught!” Bryan fumed. “I tried to tell Lily what a creep you were. I told her about Elena from the start, but she wouldn’t listen to me. She thought you could do no wrong. Well, maybe once I tell her about the other two girls, she’ll finally believe me about what a jerk you are.”
“Lily? Lily is you sister?” Josh was stunned. It was hard to imagine sweet, tiny little Lily, being related to an ignorant beefcake like Bryan. “How can that be? You don�
��t even have the same last name.”
Bryan laughed sorely. “And people say I’m stupid. We have different fathers, moron. Things like that happen in the twenty-first century.”
“You’re really Lily’s brother?”
Bryan snickered sarcastically. “Yeah, genius, I really am. And now that we have that established, there’s just one thing I want to know before I kick your ass. How could you treat Lily so badly? I don’t know why, but she really cared about you.”
“I never meant to hurt Lily,” Josh defended himself, but it sounded lame even to his own ears.
“Don’t give me that bull crap!” Bryan yelled. “You had to know it would hurt her that you had three other girlfriends!”
“It was you!” Josh said, suddenly enlightened. “You told Elena and Nadine about Lily and Jasmine.”
“Yeah, I told them about Lily,” Bryan admitted proudly. “But they already knew about the other girl. I don’t know what any of those girls saw in a puny loser like you,” he continued. “Lily is still in love with you! Even after everything you’ve done. And since she’s too nice to stick up for herself, it’s up to me to defend her. Last night Lily cried her eyes out. Now you’re going to pay. No one messes with my little sister and gets away with it.”
“Are you threatening me?” Josh asked through clenched teeth.
Bryan gave Josh a hard shove. “You catch on fast.”
That was the beginning of the inevitable. A junior standing in the back of the room starting chanting, “Fight! Fight!” Others joined in and before long the whole team, with the exception of Kevin and Jim, were encouraging the brawl. Josh couldn’t walk away now. His reputation was at stake. Even though a part of him knew that Bryan was justified in his anger, Josh pushed him back, with so much force that Bryan stumbled backward and almost fell onto the mat. Bryan tried to throw a punch before he was fully recovered, and only managed to graze Josh’s shoulder with his fist. Josh ducked before Bryan could land a hit. He swung once and hit Bryan squarely in the jaw, splitting his lip.
Bryan was confused for a minute, and Josh took advantage of the momentary distraction to tackle him. In a classic takedown move called the ankle pit, Josh snapped out his hand, grabbed Bryan’s ankle, and lifted it to his waist. He used the captured leg as leverage to force Bryan to the ground. From there, he was able to grab his arm and twist it painfully behind his back, making it impossible for Bryan to strike out at him again.
The fight went no further than that. Coach Kubiak, a tall man with graying hair and an impressive physique, was suddenly in the gym and looming over the brawling teenagers with a stern expression on his face. The hoots of Josh’s fellow teammates hushed to whispers. Josh immediately let go of Bryan’s arm, and the muscular boy stumbled onto the mat. He rubbed his shoulder, but was still glaring at Josh from his spot on the mat. Josh had almost forgotten about his pounding head and aching stomach during the adrenaline rush of the fight. He was starting to feel a little shaky again, and he had almost as much trouble as Bryan when he pulled himself to his feet to face the coach.
“What is going on in here?” Couch Kubiak demanded loudly and with authority. No one replied, so he turned to the team leader. “Hanover?”
“Nothing, Coach,” Josh mumbled and looked down at his shoes.
“Josh and Grant were just warming up a little,” Kevin explained.
It was an extremely lame attempt at a cover up, and the coach wasn’t fooled. “I’m sure they were.” He stared at Bryan’s bloody lip through slanted eyes. “Grant, go clean yourself up.”
Bryan grudgingly obeyed, but made a point of punching the door before exiting the gym. The coach ignored him and turned his attention back to Josh. “Hanover, I’m going to forget about this. This time,” Coach Kubiak told him sternly. “But you better stay out of trouble, kid. You’re my star. I can’t lose you.”
“Right, Coach.”
Practice continued from that point on under the watchful eye of the coach, and there were no further incidents. Bryan emerged from the locker room with his lip swollen but cleaned of blood. Josh wrestled his best and won all of his matches despite the recurring pains in his stomach. At the end of practice, Josh was named captain. It wasn’t unexpected, but he was still excited. He had worked hard for the title the last three years. Everyone on the team offered their congratulations—everyone except for Bryan, who grunted and frowned at the news. When practice was over, and the boys retired to the showers, Bryan wasn’t with them. Josh didn’t think much about it as he slipped out of his singlet and back into his street clothes.
“I’ll catch you guys later,” Kevin said as he pulled on his red and white varsity jacket. “I’ve got to get out of here. I’ve got mad homework.”
Kevin strode out the door, leaving Josh and Jim alone in the locker room. Josh combed his hair into place and grabbed his book bag from his locker. He was feeling a little bit better, and when Jim asked if he wanted to stop and get something to eat, it sounded like a good idea. On their way to the parking lot, they noticed Bryan standing in the nearly deserted hallway with one foot propped up against the wall. He had a cigarette behind his ear, though even he didn’t have the nerve to light it inside the school.
“Don’t think you won anything!” He spat. “This isn’t over. You’re going to pay for what you did to my sister!”
“If you shut your big mouth, your lip would heal faster.”
Bryan glowered and moved toward him. Josh dropped his bag in anticipation of another fight. Before either of them could strike, Couch Kubiak appeared from around a corner. He stood there staring at them until he was sure that both boys had gone in different directions. Josh and Jim headed into the student parking lot, but Josh knew his issues with Bryan were far from over. He was proven right when he heard the blaring horn of a car alarm. When he got a clear view of the sports car, he realized that Bryan had taken things to a whole new level.
“Damn it!” Josh swore.
“What’s wrong?” Jim said. Then he saw it too. “Oh shit!”
Chapter 7
Josh leaned against his locker and closed his eyes. The codeine he had taken that afternoon was doing nothing to help his pounding head. On top of that, his stomach was still in knots. He felt like someone was stabbing him in the gut, and he was so nauseous he was glad he hadn’t eaten anything all day. Even chemistry had been torture because they were taking their test, and Josh couldn’t talk to Rosa. After class, they had only spoken long enough to agree that he would pick her up at seven for the movie.
“Josh, you look like crap,” Andrea told him casually.
Josh almost smiled. “Thanks, Andy. You always pay me such nice compliments.”
I’m serious,” she told him, frowning. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” he lied.
“Did the cops snag Grant for slashing your wheels?” Kevin asked.
Kevin took off his letter jacket, and shoved it into his locker along with his book bag. He exchanged them for his wrestling singlet and mouth guard. The school day had just ended and the hallway was thinning out. The students were buzzing about the weekend and anxious to get out of school. Jim and Andrea had joined Kevin and Josh at their lockers to chat for a few minutes before practice started.
“No,” Josh told his friends. “They said they couldn’t prove it was him.”
“Do you really think it was Bryan?” Andrea asked.
Jim shut his locker. “Who else could have done it? Elena? She wouldn’t have risked breaking a nail.”
“No, it had to be Bryan,” Josh said. “He must have done it while we were in the showers.”
Josh was still furious about his car. Not only had all four tires been slashed wide open, someone had also keyed the entire left hand side and shredded the soft top. It was going to be in the shop for days waiting for a new paint job and parts. Fortunately, his father let him borrow his Mercedes, so at least Josh still had transportation. Bryan Grant was going to pay. One way or another,
Josh was going to get him back for what he had done. But it would have to wait, at least until the school hallway stopped spinning in circles.
“Josh?” Kevin called, just as Josh grabbed the door of his locker to steady himself. “Earth to Josh!”
“Huh,” Josh muttered. He took a deep breath to try to slow his racing heartbeat.
“We have to get to practice,” Jim told him. “Are you ready?”
Josh grimaced at the thought of rolling around on the mats. “I think I’m going to skip it today.”
Kevin shook his head in disapproval. “Coach won’t be too happy about that. We need all the practice we can get.”
“Well, he’ll have to get over it,” Josh said, annoyed. Who did Kevin think he was, preaching to him? Who was the captain anyway? Josh slammed his locker shut, and immediately regretted it. The clanging metal was like a sledgehammer against his skull.
“Whatever.” Kevin sneered, and shook his head. “But don’t expect us to make excuses for you.”
Kevin stalked off down the hallway without a backward glance. Jim shrugged his shoulders and gave Andrea a quick peck on the lips before jogging after him. Josh immediately regretted his harshness. Kevin was right. He really shouldn’t be blowing off practice, especially not the second practice of the year. Normally he wouldn’t even consider it, but he felt so sick. He planned on calling the coach to explain, but if he had told Kevin the reason he was skipping, he would have harassed Josh even more. The last thing he needed to deal with was taunting and name-calling.
“Are you sure you’re all right?” Andrea asked, giving him a suspicious look as she tossed her book bag over her shoulder. “It’s not like you to skip practice.”
“I don’t feel so hot, Andy,” Josh admitted. “I’ve felt like crap for a few days now.”
Andrea reached out and put her hand on his forehead. “You don’t have a fever,” she said with a concerned frown. “But you’re pale as a ghost. Are you still going to go out with Rosa tonight?”
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