Winning Pass - A Football Romance Read Online Free

humiliate me in front of everyone.
    “God, Paige, you’re such a baby. Are you seriously crying? I barely even touched you,” Jessie screeches, laughing along with her friends. “Look at her. She’s like one of those sad little dogs that never get fed at the shelter.” 
    I know that if I don’t get up, I’m going to regret it, that I need to stop letting her treat me like dirt and finally do something about it. She throws more insults my way, and just as I’m trying to think of the best comeback, I hear shoes shuffling behind me and I see Jessie’s smirk turn to a frown.
    “Better than being one of the circus elephants puttin’ on a show,” someone says behind me. I slowly turn and look way up to see a tall boy standing right over top of me. I think I remember him now—he’s a new kid who transferred from another elementary school in the next town over. 
    “Excuse me?” Jessie fumes, crossing her arms across her chest. Mandy and Nicki copy her move exactly, and the boy and I laugh at the same time.
    “My point exactly,” he says, pointing to her copycats. “All we need is one of those funny clown cars.” 
    He’s helping me up, but I don’t know why. “Do you always let them say that kind of stuff to you?” 
    “Not always. Sometimes, I walk away before they get the chance.” 
    I don’t like the way he looks at me, like I’m some poor little girl. I mean, I am a poor little girl, but still. He introduces himself, even though I’m trying to hurry and wipe my face before he sees me cry. “I’m Elijah Simmons. Who are you?”
    I’m grabbing for my giant red-framed glasses, glad no one stepped on them like last time. When I put them on, I finally get a good look at the blurry tall boy. But he’s not blurry any more. And I’m pretty sure I’ve swallowed my tongue, because I can’t talk. He pushes his floppy black hair out of his face, and then the rest of me is frozen.
    “Do you want me to guess?” 
    His words don’t make sense, but that’s probably because I can’t hear over the loud way my inner voice is screeching in my ears, telling me this is a cute boy and to proceed with caution. This is not a drill. “Do I want you to guess what?” 
    “Your name. Didn’t you hear me? Usually, when someone asks you who you are, you give them your name.” 
    “Oh. Uh, Paige.” And now I’m dying, because ew, why am I such a dork? A dork with flaming red cheeks that hurt from smiling so hard.
    He smiles back. “Uh, Paige. That’s a new one.” 
    I don’t know why, but Elijah thinks I’m at least cool enough to talk to every time we see each other. Most of our classes are together, but he usually sits in the back of the room while I sit up front. It’s only been a couple of weeks since he started school here, but Elijah gets pulled out of class. He looks mad when he comes back in a little later, but he won’t tell me why. Since we talk a lot now, I’m surprised, but I don’t want to make him mad by asking him about it, so I don’t. 
    The park is our new favorite place. We ride our bikes, and Stacey is mad because we share one, and she wants to go ride around with her boyfriend. But she’s only fourteen, and Mama says no, so I win this time! 
    Another couple of weeks go by before he tells me his real story. He lives close to me, but his mom works at the only lawyer’s office in town, so they’re not as poor as we are. But sometimes, he has to do the cooking because his mom works long hours, and that makes me feel better because I do, too. Stacey is supposed to, but she refuses to do anything except stay on the phone when Mama’s working.
    Elijah gets mad when I ask him if he’s read one of my favorite books. I finally stop asking him and bring one to him one day. It’s my absolute favorite, The Secret Garden . He gets really quiet and then pulls me into his room and makes me promise not to tell a secret. I think he’s about to tell me something super cool like his dad is a