Skinner Hughes POV
I was at soccer practice, but my head wasn't in it, which was weird; usually I wouldn't let anything get me off my game. So many things were crammed inside my head. On the way to practice, I got a text from Zoey saying Sarah crashed at her place at 10 last night and that Ted tried to rape Sarah again.
That new girl on the soccer team, Claire, was also really good. Claire was probably my biggest competitor on the field; she was a senior and had clearly been playing since she could run. I could tell Coach liked her better than me already. It sort of bothered me, I was always Coach's favorite, but that didn't get me anywhere, my talent did.
We were scrimmaging, juniors and half the sophomores versus seniors and the other half of sophomores. Since I was a junior, I was of course playing against Claire. The time to prove myself worthy of being on this team was now.
Claire had the ball and was in front of me; she charged and knocked me over, but she wouldn't have gotten flagged for it if it was a real game. I felt myself hit the turf and my head bang against the ground. Coach blew his whistle because Claire scored; Julie, a sophomore I was playing against, helped me up. I looked over at Claire, basking in the praise of her apparently fantastic goal on Desiree.
"Are you okay, Skinner?" Julie asked, "You look pale."
"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks. I think I just need some water." I replied as Reagan, a junior, came over to check on me.
As I got some water, Claire came over, "Hey, Steiner. Are you alright?"
I tensed, I hated my real name, "It's Skinner and I'm fine."
Claire smiled, "Damn it."
"Go to hell, Claire," Reagan said, her Brooklyn accent shining through, "the only person here that likes you is Coach, and he only likes you 'cause your good at soccer."
After practice, I decided to go to Zoey's.