One of the Guys

Chapter 22: Up in Flames

Cecelia's POV:
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"Congrats on the game yesterday boys!" Another random guy says as he passes our table.

It wouldn't be so bad if he was the only one. I get it, sometimes people forget that there's a girl who plays as well. Who am I kidding, how do you forget? People have been congratulating the team all day, but every time they do, they make sure to say boys and completely ignore me. Lindsay keeps sending me smug smirks every time and I know she's behind it.

"What's got you down?" I look up at Wesley, who is sitting across from me, and give him a tight smile.

"What do you mean?"

"You're killing that pasta." He chuckles and gestures to my food.

I push away my lunch. I'm not really hungry anymore. Ashton scoots closer, so he's pressed up against my side, and lays a hand gently on my knee. I sigh and lean back in the cheap, plastic cafeteria chair.

Wesley frowns and glances away briefly before looking back at us. "Seriously though, are you okay?"

I nod, but Ashton decides to turn away and ignore him. "She's just trying to get to you."

I clench my jaw. "She's doing a damn good job."

"Who?" Wesley looks confused.

"Are you blind?" Ashton mutters, but thankfully Wes doesn't hear him.

"Nobody is congratulating her on purpose." Emmet interjects nonchalantly with a shrug.

A few of our team members are listening now and Ashton's grip on my knee tightens. "That's stupid, you did great yesterday." Wesley furrows his eyebrows in thought.

"But nobody cares about some weak girl who had luck at her first game." Emmet sneers.

I widen my eyes in shock because he's the last person I'd expect to hear something like that from. Some of the guys are glaring forcefully at him and others are just shifting uncomfortably, unsure of whose side to take. I don't understand why he's saying this, he's like family. Ashton just sits there looking back and forth between us.

"That not true." I angrily spit at him.

"Little girl can't take criticism?" He smirks. "Don't you guys agree she needs to get over it?"

I watch a few guys nod silently and I blink in disbelief. "It is kind of a stupid thing to get hung up on." Brodie says hesitantly.

This seems to give others a little confidence. "That's a little selfish, the whole team played yesterday." Aaron scratches his neck nervously.

Chris shrugs his shoulders. "It's not a big deal."

Wesley opens and closes his mouth to protest, but he just looks in shock. I notice Nate, Blake, River and quite a few other people are in the same state. Others are definitely leaning towards Emmet though.

Nobody speaks for a few beats and finally I angrily push my chair back and stand up, causing the chair to tip back and catch most of the cafeteria's attention. "Don't speak to me."

Emmet's eyes widen and he stands up too, his mouth opening and closing like a fish. I turn on my heal and take a few steps. "Cece, wait! I'm sorry!"

I turn back around and look sharply at all of them. "Don't speak to me. In fact, all you, don't utter a fucking word to me because I don't want to hear it!"

You could hear a pin drop in the cafeteria, nobody said or did anything. I walked to the doors and slammed them angrily behind me. My eyes start burning and I hear pounding footsteps and shouts behind me. I break into a full run and dash into the library, past a freaked out librarian and into the deepest corner in the back.