Mark My Words

51 | The Rat

Rosalie tipped her head against Sami's shoulder and sighed. "We just have to deal with Drew The Shrew and it'll all be over," she said with a sweep of her hand.

"Wait, Drew?" Isaiah said with a light laugh.

Rosalie paused, stilling against Sami, who put his free hand on his chin and said, "Drew... Drew Mendoza?"

Rosalie sprung away from them, and her shock only registered confusion on their faces. Sami continued to look uncertain, as if wondering if there was another Drew on the Eagles' team. Sami turned to Isaiah, squinting his eyes, and Isaiah jumped as if shocked.

"What? I mean, I've told you about Drew. That guy I met over summer break," Isaiah said, and Rosalie didn't miss the way Isaiah's ears flushed.

Sami clapped his hands and cried, "Oh! Oh, that Drew. They came to the River Heights practice meet and you introduced me."

"What? Are you kidding?" Rosalie cried.

"I came to see the Eagles—and, well, the Knights, but Drew and I had a thing over the summer," Isaiah explained. Rosalie put her hands to her face in horror, which stopped Isaiah from going on. Isaiah looked over at Sami, who was now watching Rosalie combust.

Rosalie leant back with a sharp laugh and said, "This is unbelievable. You told Drew about my deal with Joanna!"

"What? I didn't think it was a secret," Isaiah confessed. "Did I—? Did I do something wrong? They asked about what your goalie's deal was."

"I'm so confused," Rosalie moaned, dragging her hands down her face. Here she had believed Joanna's impeccable gay-detector. Isaiah and Drew Mendoza? Surely there was a mistake. She shut her eyes and shook her head, stammering, "I- I thought—Drew isn't—I didn't think Drew had a... you know!"

Isaiah squinted at her, and Sami was no better. Rosalie stared at them desperately, gesturing to her crotch. Isaiah waved his hands in front of him. "Yeah! I mean, no, Drew still has a dick, if that's what you mean. It's a nice one, but that's besides the point. So you met them?"

"How are they allowed on a girls team?"

"They've been on androgen blockers since middle school," Isaiah said. "I mean, the Mendozas aren't exactly affluent, but they were cool about everything. The River Heights coach made a case for them since the boys team didn't want them, but the soccer coaches wanted Drew at their school. I don't know the specifics."

"What did you tell them about Joanna?" Rosalie demanded, stepping towards him. She wanted to shake him by the shirt, but the alarm on his face convinced her that Isaiah had no clue what he caused. "Because Drew threatened us. They threatened Joanna to bench herself before the game."

Sami's eyes widened, and before he could ask more, he looked at Isaiah. Isaiah bit his lip, a pained expression dissolving his earlier confusion. Isaiah glanced at Sami out of the corner of his eye before putting a hand over his forehead and sighing. "I am not still seeing them—romantically or otherwise. We just text sometimes!"

"Yeah, sure," Sami said, turning to Rosalie with a shake of his head. "What's the deal with Drew? How are they planning on benching Joanna?"

Rosalie threw up her arms and said, "If I knew, we wouldn't be having this problem. Something happened in Germany and Drew's digging shit up. This isn't just about the game anymore—I think Joanna and I have a pretty clear shot at getting onto the Seattle Huskies team after the Cougars match."

"Then what is it?"

Rosalie stopped herself from speaking, because at that moment, the elevators opened across the lobby. She turned towards it, and she heard Isaiah curse from beside Sami. Her eyes narrowed at the culprit, at the Eagle standing at the edge of the lobby, their shoulder pressed to the column.