Stone Creek by Davis, Lainey (reading diary .TXT) 📕

feel myself crashing and burning as I deliver my portion of the project. I make the mistake of looking up at Talon and feel his penetrating glare. He's angry, and I tell myself it's because I'm spoiling our presentation. Months of work for a project that's 80% of our grade, and I'm crashing and burning. Just great, Serena.

Talon takes back over, his smarmy TV voice smooth as ever. I slump beside him, watching him talk, and something shifts inside me. I become angry. I did nothing wrong here. All I ever did for the past few months is share my honest feelings with Talon Kelly. I made one dumb mistake back in January with Professor Jacobs, and then he got all handsy with me in his office.

And this is my future career! Why am I letting anything get in the way of this presentation?? When I hear my cue to speak again, I am laser focused. I smile warmly at the other students and set down my notes. I gesture to our poster, and suddenly I am just sharing information with friends. Talking about my passions. I can feel myself kicking ass. As I wrap up the presentation, the class erupts into applause.

Matt coughs and thanks us. He's in the middle of explaining that we will have an email with his comments, when Talon grabs the poster and storms out of the class.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

 

 

"Tell me again what the email said." Alissa sits half propped up in her lounge chair slurping a pina colada. She nudges the pitcher closer to me with her foot.

I sigh and pour another glass, explaining again that Professor Jacobs' email to Talon and me was super weird. "It just said 'Excellent research. 100%.'"

"He's such a sleaze, Serena. I still think you should report him. What if you end up at Dartmouth?" Erin actually just found out she was accepted into the Chemistry PhD program at Dartmouth. "I sure as hell hope I don't have to interact with him when I'm there," she scoffs.

"Erin, I love you, but I'm not going to apply to Dartmouth's stats program. I don't know where I'll be going now…but it's not there." I actually owe Coach Burns a phone call. He wants to talk about the details of the Green and Gray game and needs me to tell him who to bug about getting me into graduate school. "Did I tell you guys Coach Burns offered to fly me back first class if I left a day early to meet with coaching staff before the game?"

"You said yes, I'm assuming?" Sara is still mad about sitting in the middle seat the entire flight down here. "First class a day early rather than crammed back in the fart box with the rest of the hungover undergrads. Sign me up!"

"I actually haven't gotten back to him." I hesitate. "I was going to back out of doing stats for the game."

"No." Mindy stands with her hands on hips and glares at me.

"What?"

"No. You are not throwing away your opportunities because of these men. First you change your life goal of doing grad school at Dartmouth because of some sleazebag and now you're skipping an amazing opportunity because you don't want to face Talon. Who, by the way, has no right to be angry with you and is a total baby for not even taking your calls to discuss it."

Sara and Erin and Alissa start applauding as Mindy sinks back into her lounge chair. I sigh. "I don't even really like football, guys."

"Bullshit!" Alissa slurs her speech, drunk from rum and too much sun. Alissa snatches my phone from me and before I can scramble for it back, I see that she's pulled up Coach Burns's number. She presses call and cocks an eyebrow at me. "Do you want me to talk to him or are you going to accept his offer?"

Three days later, I am back in the athletic department at SCU for a meeting with Coach Burns. I hear him in his office, growling at someone. Based on his tone, I assume it's one of the players. I decide to wait in the hall rather than knock as his voice increases in volume. I startle when I hear the door open. Coach Burns yells, "Now get the hell out of my office, Kelly, and quit being a god damn moron."

I freeze. Talon meets my eye. I catch a flicker of pain in his face before his expression turns back to stone. He begins to walk away as Coach sticks his head into the hall. "Serena! Sweetheart, I was just talking about you." He puts an arm around my shoulder and ushers me inside.

"You were talking about me? To Talon?"

He nods and sits on the edge of his desk, arms crossed, legs crossed at the ankle. "When I get a grade report and see that my star quarterback has a 100% in any class, I get real suspicious, cupcake. Claw may not be a dunce, but I don't give these boys enough free time to earn any sort of 100%."

"Our presentation was amazing, Coach, and--"

"Oh, he assured me he'd worked very hard on it. So I phoned up this professor to ask about this glowing example of statistics work from my star quarterback, and I caught a whiff of something real foul during that conversation. Now, Serena, I know I didn't fart into my good office chair. Want to tell me why I'm smelling skunk here?"

I shake my head at him.

He plows on ahead. "Kelly didn't want to talk about it, either. Want to hear my theory before we talk shop for the Green and Gray game?"

"Not particularly, Coach. If it's all the same to you, I'd really like to--"

"Tough shit, kiddo. Here's what I think, and you interrupt me if I get something