Free Sell Out by Tammy L. Gray Page A

against him with all my strength.
    My second shoulder hit.
    Match over.
    It didn’t matter that I was taller and stronger and more skilled than Blake. Or that my sunburn gave him a significant advantage. All that mattered was timing, and Blake just proved himself the Alpha.
    “Nice job, Blake. Cody, get your head in the game. You’re worse now than you were at the start of the school year!” Coach Taylor turned to watch the next group of boys go at it.
    I pushed Blake off me. He stood and offered a hand I wanted to slap away, but I accepted the help back to my feet.
    He grinned as if we’d been playing Xbox and not vying for dominance. “Skylar’s parents are all kinds of strict, so we set up a group date on Saturday. And, don’t worry, I’ve already picked out your girl.” He slapped my shoulder and took off toward the circuit loop we needed to run through between drills.
    A fire that had nothing to do with my sunburn engulfed me as I stared at his retreating form. Blake had always been an arrogant jerk, but being king had multiplied it by a thousand.
    It wasn’t enough that he had a date with Skylar. He was going to make me watch every second of it.

SKYLAR
    H enry returned to school on Friday after missing two days. He walked by after second period with a hoodie pulled low on his face like he wanted to remain invisible.
    “Hey,” I said, leaning against the locker next to his. “Where have you been?”
    He shut his locker and looked at me.
    I flinched. He had a green and black bruise below his right eye. His lip had scabbed down the center. “Oh, my gosh, Henry! What happened?”
    “Car accident.” His answer sounded dull and rehearsed. “No airbag.”
    I wanted to reach out and touch him, soothe the pain I saw in his eyes. “Does it still hurt?”
    “A little, but the doc says I’m healing up nicely.” He pointed to his side. “Only one broken rib.”
    “I guess you’re tougher than you look.”
    An arm draped around my shoulders. “Henry, my man.” Blake put out a fist to Henry who bumped it with cautious eyes. “I heard you took out a very innocent tree.”
    “Yeah. Good thing I had a seatbelt on. From what I understand, it could have been a lot worse.” Henry kept his eyes locked on Blake’s.
    “Not anymore. I’m going to take care of it.”
    Take care of it? My mind whirled with a million questions.
    Henry shuffled back a step, his mouth open. “Really?”
    Blake nodded and a genuine smile crossed Henry’s face. A smile that radiated relief, joy, and surprise all wrapped into one shiny package. There may have even been tears. “I won’t mess up again.”
    Blake pulled me closer, although I was too absorbed in Henry for it to matter. “I know. We’re all good.”
    Henry walked backwards two steps before turning. His posture was now straight. His shoulders no longer slumped.
    Blake slid his hand down my back. “Everything’s all set for tomorrow night. We’ll meet you at Mass Theater 12 at seven. Play some pool. Watch a chick flick if you want.”
    I was still staring after Henry, hardly listening to Blake’s words. “What was that all about?”
    Blake tugged on my hair, and I turned. His mouth and eyes pulled down like he felt the same pity I did for Henry.
    “There was a big cheating scandal last year. Caused an uproar throughout the school.”
    “Henry cheated?”
    “No. He was the narc. Got a lot of students in trouble. Kids who were just trying to stay above the tide. It’s not easy to maintain Madison standards.”
    His words landed like a cement block on my chest. Right or wrong, Henry had broken the unspoken code among teenagers—never tell.
    “Is that why nobody talks to him?”
    “People take loyalty very seriously here. But I can’t condone violence.”
    My mouth dropped. “Wait, Henry just said he was in a car accident.”
    “Henry’s learned how to lie. Truth is, some guys jumped him for showing up at school during senior skip day. They wanted to make