Free Beautiful by Ella Bordeaux

he treated me. Ever.”
    Michelle nodded as she pulled up to my house. “Good. That was the answer I wanted to hear.”

    A few hours later, Michelle and I were sitting in the bleachers with two Frito pies, two Diet Cokes, and smiles on our faces. I hadn’t really dared to dream that things would go back to normal, but I had hope for the first time in a long time. People still whispered, and I still got looks, but somehow, none of it mattered when I was with Wyatt. He had a way of blocking everything and everyone out.
    “Seriously? Did you not learn anything from Charlie?”
    My head lifted to see Jenny and her crew standing in front of me.
    Deciding the best thing to do was ignore her, I turned to Michelle. “So, are you looking forward to tonight?”
    Michelle smiled. “I am! It is going to be one of the best nights ever.”
    Jenny let out the evilest laugh I’d ever heard. “Do you honestly think you can ignore me, whore?”
    Michelle’s eyes turned dark, and I simply shook my head.
    “Hey, obnoxious cheerleader, get out of the way. You’re blocking my view, and I didn’t come home from college to look at your bitch face.” Russell Marko’s voice came from behind us. He’d graduated with my brother Skip.
    Jenny looked up at him and smiled. “So sorry. I’m wasting my time talking to this trash anyway.”
    Russell stood up and walked down to Jenny.
    Oh, shit. He is going to draw more attention to me.
    “Wow. I’ve seen some pretty shitty people in my life, but you take the cake, girl. Your jealousy is oozing off of you like waste. You might want to head over to the restroom and clean it off of you before you go out there and act like the prima donna you’re trying to be.”
    Jenny’s mouth dropped open as she stared at Russell. “Whatever, asshole.” She turned and stomped off.
    Russell looked down at me and winked. “Ignore lowlife pieces of shit like that.”
    I let out a gruff laugh. “I’d have to ignore the whole town pretty much.”
    Russell chuckled. “Good seeing you again, Sky.”
    “You, too, Russ. And thank you for that. I appreciate it.”
    He gave me a weak smile. “No one fucks with Skip’s little sister.”
    When he walked away, I could feel all eyes on me. I looked straight ahead and saw him.
    Wyatt.
    He was staring at me with an intense look on his face. I lifted my hand and waved, trying to reassure him that all was okay. Deep inside though, I felt like nothing was okay.
    Will Wyatt eventually get tired of all this nonsense? Surely, he will.
    He lifted his hand and smiled before the coach yelled for him.
    I couldn’t help the sob that escaped from my lips. “Nothing is ever going to change, not until I leave this town.”
    Michelle wrapped her arm around my shoulder. “I know, Sky. I know.”

Wyatt
    My head wasn’t in the game at all.
    The second I’d looked up and seen Jenny talking to Skylar, I knew she was starting shit.
    Who was the guy though? He looked older. Maybe a friend of Skip’s?
    Skylar’s face had looked horrified.
    Calling out a play, I tried like hell to focus. I was sacked three times and fumbled twice.
    At halftime, when I looked up at Skylar, she had the brightest smile on her face. She looked happy.
    “Mitch, who is the guy sitting behind Skylar?” I asked as we headed into the locker room.
    “That’s Russell Marko. He went to school with Skip.”
    Nodding, I looked at the guy. He was talking to some girl sitting next to him. Clearly, he’d set Jenny in her place.
    When I moved my eyes back to Skylar, she lifted her hand and waved. She seemed to be okay now, which eased my earlier tension. Maybe now I could focus on the second half of the game.
    Coach yelled, threw a chair, yelled some more, and then told us all to go and do our best. I would never get high school football coaches.
    The second half, I was totally focused. We moved ahead by four touchdowns. Coach had already told me a scout from Baylor University would be here tonight. I was glad