new girl meets bad boy

Chapter Sixteen.

Ethan really knew how to get under a girl's skin. It was fourth period, and we were learning about the electron transport chain, but I couldn't focus. Ethan was scribbling down notes, his left hand brushing my leg as he reached down to grab something out of his backpack.

I shuddered, desperately trying to keep up with the notes. I could see Ethan smirk out of the corner of my eye. He knew what he was doing to me.

As soon as the bell rang, I hightailed it out of class. I needed to get out of there before I did something stupid.

Later that day, Ethan managed to get me alone before soccer practice. We were in the storage room, gathering some small pop-up goals for a drill coach wanted to try.

Ethan was looking at me, nothing but desire in his brown eyes.

"Stop looking at me like that," I shied away from his eyes.

"Like what?" He asked, all innocent like.

"Like you need me," I replied, unboxing a goal.

"But I do," He said.

"No, you need ATP," I grabbed the goal, walking to the door to leave.

"Wait," Ethan called after me.

"What?" I turned around to face him.

"Nothing," He grinned. "Go ahead."

I rolled my eyes and left him in the storage room, making my way to practice.

After running suicides for warmups, I began to get cramps that were growing worse by the second. When I started to feel light headed, I took off sprinting inside. I wasn't about to pass out in front of everyone again.

"Lola?" Ethan called after me, but I wasn't going to look back.

I burst through the double doors, into the air conditioned hallway. I dropped onto my hands and knees, curling into a ball on the floor as the world grew dark around me.

"Lola!" Suddenly Ethan was there, his hands under my head.

Everything came back into focus and I sat up.

"Are you okay?" Ethan asked.

"Great, just forgot to drink water again is all," I lied and stood up, a bit shaky.

"Lola, please promise me that you'll see a doctor. This is the second time this has happened to you," He held my arms firmly as he looked in my eyes.

"I promise," I nodded. He didn't have to know that I wouldn't go to the doctor until February for my yearly physical. "Let's get back to practice," I removed myself from his grip and walked back out the double doors.

"Lola," He began to argue, but I was already running back to the field. I made up a lame excuse to coach and went back to practice. I could feel Ethan's eyes on me the whole time.

The next couple of weeks passed with Ethan flirting and driving me crazy. Ash avoided me at all costs. Jeremey finally came out and the two of them were having a grand time together. I had to tell Tyler no to a date, making up the excuse that I was busy. Tiffany seemed to be sleeping with the whole basketball team. Madeline was in full class president mode, planning grad bash and prom and graduation.

It was the week of Thanksgiving, and we were about to go on break, but we had our last soccer game. It was a home game, against a difficult school that had beaten us before. The pressure was on for me, my whole family would be there to watch. My sister had brought her boyfriend for Thanksgiving, and my dad was off.

"No matter what happens, I'm proud of you girls, and I wouldn't trade you for the world," Christie gave a pep talk in the locker room before the game. "Lo?" She looked at me, and I put my hand out, the rest of the team following.