But hey surprise DOUBLE UPDATE. I'm just really hyped for the chapter/s right after this one, so I'm tryna get there asap. These two have sucked lol but hopefully it'll get better from here. 

Get the next shirt out, face the locker, definitely not the mirror. Pull the first shirt off and put it down holding it in front of you, then put the next one on the exact same way. It made her feel sick to have any risk of her teammates seeing the burns on her stomach, but she knew that changing in the stalls was not gonna fly anymore than more bandaids were. Besides, this had worked so far.

The team was too hyped to pay attention to little red spots on her stomach anyway. They'd just played a killer game. They'd made it clear they were the superior team from the first volley, and there was something about the kind of energy from matches like that, that was enough to keep you on a high that lasted for hours.

Usually, she felt that high, but tonight, she was having to fake it. Yeah, she'd played really well, and so had the rest of the team. But the misery of Sunday night and Monday had quickly bled into her Tuesday as well, and it was all she felt like she could do to keep breathing.

Once she was changed, Adira slipped into the bathroom area to wash her hands and face. But as she turned from throwing away her paper towel, Willa was in her face, her hand locking around her collar as she shoved her back against the wall behind her.

Adira opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, the other girl had yanked up her shirt, revealing three bright red burns. So her mouth stayed open, frozen, as she processed what had just happened. She was dead.

There was a sick smile on Willa's face. "That's what I thought I saw," she hissed. "You're a real ******* loser, aren't you?"

"I... I don't..."

"Don't bother," the other girl spat. "We both know there's no denying what those are. So here's your deal. You screw up bad enough next game that Lindsey takes you out, and I won't tell anyone. If you don't, though..."

And out of nowhere, she punched her again.

Willa released her, and she stumbled away from the wall, her vision spotty and her world spinning. The other girl just kicked one of the stalls behind them.

"That's your excuse."

"Everything okay over there?" That was Lindsey's voice. If she figured out what just happened, Willa would tell her what she knew.

Hurriedly, Adira tripped back into the main part of the locker room. She met Lindsey, on her way to investigate, just in time.

"Everything's fine," she told her, forcing herself to drop her hand from the eye that had just been punched. "I just ran into the stall door."

Since when was she so quick at making up lies?

Her coach nodded, but was frowning. "Were you changing in there?"

"No!" Adira replied hurriedly. "I'd already changed."

Once again, Lindsey nodded, looking her up and down one more time. "Alright." She clapped her on the shoulder. "Good job tonight. You were amazing out there."

"Thanks."

She couldn't believe this was happening.

POV-Change Sponsored by Bob Ross

"And then the other girl was like... so then Adira was like pow!"

Joel laughed as Jude reenacted the final volley of the match, which had ended with one of Adira's spikes. The boys had certainly had fun tonight... they all had. He had a feeling these games were going to find their way onto a fairly regular schedule for them.

He looked up, and smiled when he saw her down the hall. The moment she met his gaze, her face rearranged from looking like she'd just seen a ghost to a smile he instantly knew was far from real.

Courtney followed his gaze. "There she is!" she exclaimed as the girl got closer. "You were on fire out there!"

"Um... thanks," Adira swallowed hard. "We all were. And thanks for coming. You don't have to keep doing this."

"Are you kidding?" Moriah asked, walking over to squeeze her shoulders in that girl-hug Joel would never quite understand. "We love this! The boys had a blast."

Adira opened her mouth to respond, but before she could, Joel's wife noticed what he had the minute the girl had gotten closer.

"What happened to your eye? That looks like it hurts."

"Oh..." A forced laugh. "I ran into a stall in the locker room." She glanced at the other three. "You would think I would learn something, but apparently not."

"What do you mean?" Moriah asked.

"The first game they came to, it was a locker." She glanced at them again, and Joel couldn't help but feel like she was trying to see if they were buying it. "We just get so hyped after a win that we kinda throw caution to the wind, I guess."

Luke offered her a smile. "And I thought it was just boys who did that."

"No, definitely not." Another forced laugh. "We can be idiots too."

"Well, you certainly played well, Darling," Joel put in. "We honestly had a very good time watching."

"I'm glad we showed up for you," she replied, then glanced past them. "I should probably get Reagan home, though."

"Yeah, us too," Luke chuckled, looking down at the sleepy Leo he was holding.

"We'll see you on Sunday, though!" Courtney called as she turned away.

"Yeah, see you." She started to walk away, but Joel followed her a few steps before catching her arm.

"Darling, wait."

She turned around once more with a question and undeniable nervousness on her face.

"I know you have to go," he told her gently. "But I just wanted to ask... are you alright?"

She didn't meet his gaze as she nodded. "Yeah. Yeah... I swear I'm fine. I uh... I'm tired. Reagan hasn't been sleeping well this week. But I'm fine."

He inclined his head in understanding, but he knew there was a lot more that she wasn't telling him. "Alright, well, you still have my number, don't you?"

"Yeah. Um... it's in my phone."

"Good." She squeezed her arm a little. "Just know my offer still stands. If you need anything... someone to watch Reagan, even just someone to talk to, I'm just a call away. Alright?"

She nodded again, blinking back moisture from her eyes, which were still fixed to the ground. "Thank you. But we'll be okay."

Then, she walked away for real.

Joel watched her go with a pang of sadness in his chest. She was so sure she had to do this on her own. He didn't want to see what happened when it became too much.

He looked down at the hand he'd caught her arm with, frowning as he rubbed his fingers together. There was a light brown coating on parts of the hand, and he was pretty sure he knew what it was.

He walked back to where the others were waiting, offering it for Moriah to see. "Doll, does this look like foundation to you?"

She rubbed her thumb against a spot on his palm, rubbing against her other fingers as he had. "Yeah, I'm sure that's what it is." She looked up at him uncertainly. "Why? What's it from?"

He bit his cheek as he stared in the direction Adira had disappeared. "It was on her arm."