When Trust is Gone - The Quarterback's Regret

Annoyed in the Lunchroom

Chapter 5

Addison’s POV

“This is not your class, Tammy. Get out of here now, or I will report you to the Principal, not your father. You can’t go around trying to hit people. Just in case you were unaware, that is assault,” my teacher, Mr. Cooper, told her.

“I’ll catch you later, Addison. You won’t be so lucky next time I catch you,” Tammy murmured to me before she turned around and flounced out of the classroom with three squad members trailing behind her.

“Are you OK, Addison?” Mr. Cooper asked. We were alone in the classroom, so he stood near his desk, looking to see if I had been injured. Mr. Cooper had caught Tammy’s show before, and he didn’t fall for her innocent act. Mr. Copper was one of my two favorite teachers. He was in his late thirties and passionate about teaching Science.

“I am OK. She snuck up on me this time. Usually, I hear her coming,” I told him. I got up to pick up my book from where it landed on the floor, about five feet away.

“I can’t understand how she has so many fooled. You need to be careful. She is hard to deal with. I know her father runs interference for her, but he shouldn't. He is doing her no favors by allowing her to do whatever she wants. He has created a monster. I will mention this to Principal Carson. I know for a fact that she will try to catch you again this week. I don’t believe any seniors will be here next Monday, as graduation will be the next day,” Mr. Cooper replied.

“Thank you, Mr. Cooper,” I replied respectfully. I knew that Mr. Cooper was good friends with Principal Carson. When he pulled his cell phone out and started texting, I knew he was relaying the information to Principal Carson, and I was glad he did it. She knew as well as I did that she wouldn’t be able to pull this off anymore the moment we graduated. Time was not on her side. I could guarantee that if she tried to come to my house, my mother would straighten her out quickly.

My mother was a wonderful person. She was loving and kind, but if you messed with me, God help you. She was very protective of me. She wouldn’t care that Tammy’s father was the vice principal. She would show her claws quickly. My mother doesn’t suffer fools, and Tammy was a fool if she thought my mother would give her a pass on bullying me in my own home.

I focused on studying for the final and was able to finish it quickly. I turned it in first, ignoring the glares I got from the rest of the class. Mr. Cooper graded my test while he waited for the others to turn theirs in. I started studying my notes for my next test. I took all the AP classes, so I knew that none of these tests would be easy to pass.

As I walked past his desk to leave after the bell rang, Mr. Cooper said, “Excellent job, Ms. Vilario. It was my pleasure to have had you in my classes. I wish you well at Texas University, but with your focus, I am positive you will succeed without it.”

I flushed at his praise and sincerely replied, “I will miss you too, Mr. Cooper. You have been one of my favorite teachers. I will try to make you proud. I appreciate the recommendation you wrote me. See you tomorrow,” I quickly pulled my hood over my hair and left the classroom. I was a little emotional about his words. Mr. Cooper doesn’t give out very many compliments. His praise for me was rare, and I appreciated him saying what he did. I blinked back the tears and headed to my next classroom.

Testing went smoothly throughout the morning. Now that it was lunch, I knew a problem was about to arise. Tammy and her friends were not in my classes. I know, big surprise. So, I only had to worry about Tammy and her slut squad while I was in the lunchroom. Unfortunately for me, it was time for lunch.

Before you judge me too harshly for my unflattering opinion of them, you need to know that every one of them, Tammy, Summer, Whitney, and Misty, were precisely as I said. They had all been caught in the act multiple times. They may be beautiful, but they all wanted to marry a pro player.

They were willing to do anything to make that happen. Only a few would ever make it to pro status, so they were trying to hedge their bets, so to speak, to make sure they had a good outcome. They were willing to do what they had to get in on the ground floor. Many players wanted a wife who liked them for them, not the big paycheck they would potentially earn.

This was the route they decided to take to try to achieve it. The guys they attached themselves to were enjoying what they so freely offered. None of them realized that when they went and slept with so many members of the team, it was well-known by the whole school. It was a bragging right for them to have hit the trifecta of having slept with the four of them. Their innocent act didn't live up to what they were known for doing.

The girls all believed they might get lucky one day and become the wife of a pro player. That was their dream. I don’t know how they became so convinced of that actually happening to them. It was like lightning striking. There weren’t enough pro football players to go around. Three members of our high school team are currently being looked at for development. Garrett was one of them. He had gone to numerous camps, and his father networked for him. They knew how to help Garrett be able to achieve his goals. Garrett has the ability to be able to play at a professional level.

It has been Garrett’s dream since he was old enough to have one. He loved the sport; truthfully, he was an excellent quarterback. My mother and I have gone to his games since he made the first string in his junior year. We usually sat with his parents and his younger brother, Holden, who was sixteen. At six feet tall, Holden had a slightly smaller frame than Garrett did, but he had no interest at all in playing football.

Holden was always playing video games. He loved them and wanted to be a game developer. He even went so far as to bring a power bank with him to ensure he never had to watch the game. Their daughter Valerie was on the cheer squad and had been down on the field. She liked me when she was younger, and we were friends. But, just like what happened with Garrett, the moment Tammy showed up, Valerie dropped me like an unwanted pest.

I saw Holden sitting at our lunchroom table, with Kate sitting across from him. We were all three considered to be geeks or nerds. Well, at least as far as the jocks were concerned. No one wanted to sit with us, but we were fine with it. We didn't want to sit with them either. I knew that Holden had a slight crush on me, but it was too late. I was already in love with his brother. Holden was their dad made over, with his handsome face, brown hair, and soft brown eyes. He was attractive but felt more like a brother to me than anything else. He had a direct gaze, and it intimidated others when he stared down at them.

“How did your tests go?” Kate asked as I walked up and set my tray down.

“Good. I am glad my finals are all almost over,” I told her as I sat next to Holden.

“Happy birthday, Addie,” Holden said as he pulled a boxed cupcake out of his backpack. I teared up as I saw that he had bought me a vanilla cake with chocolate frosting. This was my next favorite, right behind the strawberry cake my mother was making for me.

“Thanks, Holden,” I said before giving him a side hug. It meant a lot that he remembered my birthday. I tried not to get too emotional thinking about how Garrett used to do something sweet for me for each birthday. It was Holden's Sophomore year, and this was the second time he had given me a cupcake.

It brought tears to my eyes as I remembered how his family had come to my house to celebrate my birthday over the years. We had cake and ice cream and watched a movie before they all went back home. Over the past three years, I learned that we would no longer be returning to that kind of celebration again.

I opened the box and was just about to take a bite when I heard, “Do you really think that you should be eating that cupcake, Addison?” Tammy’s annoying voice came from directly behind me. I heard the laughter of her friends as I willed myself to calm down before I turned around.

“Tammy, why are you here? I feel like I can speak for the table when I say that none of us want you here,” I replied, setting my cupcake on my tray.

“I figured your little friends here needed some relief. I know that I can’t bear to listen to you speak, so I came over to rescue them. I wanted to let them know they could sit at the table next to ours to get away from you. Not you, though. Seeing you would only make Garrett and Valerie sick. Too sick for them to be able to eat anymore. Hey, that’s an idea. Maybe you should try putting a mirror in front of your face while you are eating. It might help you eat less, too,” Tammy said with a laugh, which caused others around our table to laugh as well.

I wasn’t stunned that she would say something like that. She always attached my weight. It was the one thing she knew would get a reaction out of me. I knew she was hateful, but she must have been pissed off about what I said to her earlier. So I dealt a low blow right back to her.

“Tammy, I realize that you are mad at me for catching you having s*x with Garrett last night. But that is not on me; that is on you and Garrett. I don’t mind putting together a quick tutorial on opening and closing shutter blinds for you. It will be a quick video as it is pretty simple. Well, pretty simple for most of us," I laughed before continuing, "The bottom line, Tammy, is if you don’t want people to see you in action. Try closing the blinds.” I snapped at her. The laughter that had just stopped came back much louder at my comment.

I heard the collective standing behind her gasp as if I had leaped up and slapped her across the face. None of us were speaking quietly. People heard us all over the cafeteria. Just because they were scared to speak up against her didn’t mean I was, too. I knew I had embarrassed her. I didn’t know that was even possible, as her s****l exploits were legend around the school. It was only her father who was kept in the dark as to what his daughter was capable of doing. He would be in for a shock when he found out.