The Water Girl

River "Miss Stephenson, wake up!" Our math teacher, Ms. Davis, shouts at the girl sitting next to me. I give her a gentle shake to wake her up, but as always, I get yelled at for it. I've always been the odd one out, the outsider. I'm the water girl for the football team because I can't play any sports. My two left feet always hold me back. One of the popular girls on the team, Marie, insults me, calling me the "nasty girl" and saying she'll have to scrub her arm until it bleeds to get my "nastiness" off. I'm not sure how I got this reputation as the "nasty girl" in school, but it's been that way for a few years now. Thankfully, this is my last year here. I've already sent in all my college applications and I'm just waiting for the right one to accept me. I look over at my best friend, Sydney, as she defends me against Marie's insults. Sydney tells Marie to go eat pussy and leave me alone. "God, Sydney, do you have to be so vulgar?" I ask her. "Ah, River, d

River It's Saturday morning, and unsurprisingly, my dad is not at home. I'm pretty sure he's at Martinez's place. Maybe he'll even move in with them and leave me here alone in this house. One can only hope. Suddenly, I hear a loud noise coming from downstairs, so I go out of my room to see what's happening. "What are you doing here?" I ask Rock when I reach the bottom of the stairs and see him and some of his football friends carrying a bed. "Hey sis, I'm home," he says. What the heck? "What do you mean you're home, Rock? Why are you bringing a bed into my house? Where is my dad?" "We're moving in, roomie... and your dad is at the other house helping my mom with her things." Oh my god, this can't be happening. "What room am I going into, River? This is getting a little heavy," Rock asks. "Um, take it back out the door and put it in the room it came from," I tell him, just as my dad walks through the door. "River Nichole Darby, that is no way to talk to your soon-to-be stepb

River "Hey dad, how's your trip going?" "Don't 'hey dad' me, River. Why on earth did you think it was a good idea to throw a party? You've never done anything like this before. Is this your way of rebelling because Gab and the kids moved in?" "I didn't throw the party, dad. I was at work." "Oh, don't you dare try to blame Rock... River?" Of course, he doesn't believe a word I'm saying. I give up. "What do you want my punishment to be while you're gone for two weeks?" "Don't you dare talk back to me. Put Rock on the phone." "Why, dad?" "Do it, River, or this will be even more difficult for you." "Is this some kind of joke?" "Never mind, River, I will call his cell phone myself." "Oh, look, River, your dad's calling me," Rock says from the door. He must have followed me to my room. "Good evening, Mr. Darby, how's your trip going? I'm terribly sorry about the party. I was assured it would be okay." Rock listens to dad for a few minutes. "Yes, sir, we both can do that. We both

River River: please don't panic, but I believe Rock injured his leg during practice today. He asked me not to inform you just yet, so I suggest waiting before reaching out to him. Gabriela: oh my gosh, what are they doing for him? Will they take him to the hospital? River: take a deep breath, Gab. The medical team is currently attending to him. They are preparing to transport him off the field, and yes, it's likely that he will need to go to the hospital. I will update you as soon as the coach informs me of more details. Gabriela: thank you for letting me know, River. Please keep me updated. River: I will. And please don't mention to him that I told you. He didn't want you to find out just yet because he didn't want you to worry. Gabriela: I promise I won't, sweetheart. I observe from the sidelines as the team places Rock onto a cart to take him back to the locker room. It doesn't look good for him; his leg appears to be severely twisted. Once he's off the field, I resume my d

River "Hey River," Brody calls out to me as I step out of my jeep. "Hello Brody." "How's Rock? I tried texting him over the weekend, but he never answered." "Besides driving me crazy, he's doing fine. His medication has him sleeping a lot." And trying to kiss me? "I'm sure he would enjoy you guys stopping by after classes are over. He's going out of his mind sitting at the house all day by himself." "Yeah, I'll tell the guys we should all go over there and cheer our captain up. Well, I've got to run. I'll talk to you later... Maybe we can get a bite to eat later." Okay, that wasn't weird at all. I don't understand guys sometimes. Brody's behavior towards me has changed since Rock got hurt, and I don't understand why. ... whatever, I really don't have time for boys and their wishy-washy attitudes. I make my way into the building that holds my first classroom and walk over to where Sydney is waiting for me. "What took you so long?" Sydney scolds me. "I got stopped by Brody outsi