Angelica "Freak Two" Munson

Chapter 22

"Yeah, I know." She sighs once more, "Hadeed said that if I missed any more days, then I'll have to retake this semester, and it could put me at risk not to graduate next year."

"Well, then don't miss any more days. That should be easy enough." He grins encouragingly, not seeing the issue.

"Yeah, but it's not that simple, Steve."

"Why not?"

"I- because," She hesitates, "because what if something happens again?"

Steve gazes at her worryingly, finally realizing what she's worried about.

Without even checking the hallways, he pulls her in for a hug. She immediately melts into him as she continues speaking.

"What if something happens again and I can't get to them? What if I can't save them?" Her voice wavers, "I don't ever want to have to choose between my future and theirs... because then I wouldn't have a future anymore, Steve."

He consoles her by soothingly running his hand through her hair, "It'll be okay, Ange. It won't come to that. I promise."

Steve knows he couldn't possibly control what that future holds, but he relates to her so much. He, too, would sacrifice his future to save any one of their kids, and that scares him so much. What if one of them does sacrifice themselves? What would they do then?

"Hey, Harrington!" One of the sophomores yells as he turns the corner.

"It'll be okay." Steve whispers before departing abruptly, "I'll talk to you later, okay?"

She just nods as she heads to her class in the opposite direction.

                               [?]

"So, how was your first official day back?" Jonathan asks, meeting Angie outside of his car.

"It honestly wasn't that bad. I was already far enough ahead that I'm not behind in any of my classes. For once, I'm actually right on time." Angie shrugs, scanning the parking lot.

"That's great and all, but we both know that wasn't what I was asking about." Jonathan lowers his voice.

"I didn't run into any of them today. I'm not sure if that's a coincidence or if they were avoiding me." She swipes her hand across he forehead, "Apparently Billy and Steve both gave them a pretty good beating, so they might stay away from me... at least for a little while."

"I'm glad that Steve finally came to his senses about everything."

"What do you mean 'came to his senses'?"

"Let's just say that Steve and I had a run in of our own, and I politely said a few words... maybe more than a few words... and I yelled them." Jonathan admits bashfully.

"What did you say?"

"I just helped him along a bit. We all know he can be a little slow sometimes."

"That doesn't exactly answer my question, Jonathan." Angie states in agitation.

"You'll figure out what it was all about eventually. I mean, if he will ever get over himself and tell you."

She searches the parking lot again, "I don't know what you're talking about."

She definitely knows what he's talking about...but they haven't told anyone; not even their closest friends.

"Okay, who are you looking for? You checked the parking lot almost a dozen times since we've gotten out here." Jonathan exaggerates.

"I'm looking for Harrington."

"Why? Did he finally say something to you?"

"Kinda. I don't know. I'm just trying to give him the benefit of the doubt," Angie tries her best to fake it, "He said that he wanted to talk to me later today, but I haven't seen him since then."

"Maybe he's at practice?" He suggests.

"No, they don't have practice today. Coach had to pick up his daughter from school today."

Jonathan stares at her, confused as to why she would know any of this information. He chooses to ignore it for the time being.

"I don't know then, Angie." He opens the driver side door and climbs into the car, "We should probably go, though. I have to pick up Will before four."

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I'm so sorry that it's been this long since I've updated. I'm a student athlete in high school, and sometimes it can get a little busy. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I promise I'll try harder to get more chapters out sooner rather than later.