Noah
One month later...
"And the athlete of the year award goes to Allie Wes!"
Allie sits beside me, tightly holding my hand in her lap, mainly because I think the flashing lights are too much for her liking but she won't admit it.
At the end of season for all the student athletes at our school, the school invites all of us to a big ballroom where they host an awards night.
They give out close to two hundred awards, not nearly enough for the seven hundred athletes that sit cramped in the hot room.
The most respected awards are the athletes of the year since they only give out only two or three.
Allie blinks as they call her up, the sudden attention from everyone who turns in their seats to clap at her has her blushing at the tips of her ears.
She walks up with grace in the gold dress that brushes her shins, her compression brace barely noticeable.
Her back is completely open, thin delicate straps creating X's along her muscles that become even more defined when she reaches for the plaque that is placed in her arms.
My team are all on their feet, their hollers and claps blocking out everyone else's congratulations.
The woman who handed Allie her award guides her to the microphone, leaning down to whisper in her ear, what I assume is to urge her to speak.
"I don't have a speech planned but firstly, I would like to thank my coaches, along with Kyla and Seth. Thank you for always pulling me from the water when I felt like drowning."
Kyla wipes away a tear that falls onto her dress, while Seth kisses the top of her head before looking at Allie like a proud parent.
"I would also like to thank our D1 hockey team for welcoming me with open arms and always keeping me entertained."
Allie gestures to our tables where my team is, their ego definitely getting a major boost.
Allie locks eyes with me before speaking again.
"And Noah. I just want to say I love you and thank you for being you. My love for you only continues to get bigger each day I'm with you and I'm excited to see where we end up."
Drinks are raised as Allie walks off, my teammates all standing and flattening their suits to each hug Allie, who welcomes them each with a grin.
"It can go right beside the other millions of medals and awards you've earned."
I tell her as I pull her chair out for her, kissing the top of her golden hair before sitting down beside her, dragging her chair as close to mine as possible.
She flashes me a smile that reaches her eyes, her smile never once leaving her face as she spins her head away towards the stage, her smile getting even bigger when my teammate's start making fun of me in a suit, her laugh the best sound I've ever been granted to hear.
My team makes her happy. Makes her feel included with some of the best people in my life.
When they found out through paparazzi and news report that she had been raped, I sat down with them and trusted them enough to lay out what has actually happened and not what the reporters have stated.
I told them their opinion should not change of her, that she's still the girl they binge watched Die Hard with and the girl who stops by the arena with cookies for us.
And their response was better than what I could have imagined.
"She makes you happy. Makes you complete. So she's family. Our family. We'll watch out for her with our lives."
YOU ARE READING
Not So Alone (West Coast Campus Book 1)
RomanceI had to flee. To escape. I couldn't take the pain of people telling me to be okay. That I was a survivor. But what about me being a victim? All because a few people refused to hear me when I said no. Now I carry around pain, fear, a disgusting fe...
