"Coach put in Makayla to start instead. It's not fair! She tripped me during warm ups on purpose, and my ankle hurt so Coach said she didn't want to risk it getting worse." Susan recounted the events that had led to her being a bench warmer.
"Didn't your coach say anything to her about tripping you?" Jon was fairly sure the coach wouldn't reward this Makayla girl with Susan's spot if they had seen what happened. He turned and glanced at Sarah, remembering her as the cheer coach. She had her own favorites and way of doing things in that life, so it could happen. For all he knew the original coach had been swapped out with some girl who was biased, or even racist.
"She didn't see it happen, and Makayla's friends told her I was reckless and clumsy." Susan pouted.
"It was hard to tell from the stands." Sarah sounded unsure of the story.
"How would you know? You were reading your book and ignoring me the entire time!" Susan yelled back.
"It looked like the two of you collided and you went down. I'm just saying, from where we were you wouldn't have been able to tell conclusively." Jon could see where Sarah was coming from, but he wasn't happy with her casual insensitivity.
"Sarah, she's your sister. As the older sibling it's your job to make sure she is alright, and believe in her. If you take family for granted you'll regret it one day." Jon was solemn. The younger girls looked into his pained eyes, and took his words to heart.
Jon had learned plenty in the last few days. One careless mistake had cost him nearly everything. His best friend, little sister, mom, house, family history and more because he had been selfish. His words were those of a weary man beyond his years, and carried more weight.
Sarah felt her heart thumping in her chest. Jon was so cool! He was wise, strong, thoughtful and kind. She could just imagine the future, his strong arm lovingly wrapped around her as they read books next to the fire. The version of herself in her imagination had much larger breasts, and a round butt. Even in her daydream she was competing with Tiffany.
"Is your ankle alright Susan?" Jon asked, getting on one knee to check.
"Uh, y-yeah. It doesn't hurt as much now." Even Susan couldn't help blushing.
"Good, then we'd better get to work on your studies. Your parents are already mad at me, so putting it off may actually make your mom decide to kill me." The girls giggled, but Jon stayed stone faced. Based on what he'd seen of Mrs. Kim so far he was serious.
Meanwhle in what had been Jon's house, laying on a bed in what had been Jon's room, Tiffany was extremely worried. She had sent a few pictures to Jon to try cheering him up. He seemed so down after they nearly got caught. She'd initially thought it was because he was upset they hadn't gotten to the fun part. She remembered how forceful he had been. She'd never seen him take charge like that, nearly tearing her pants as he readied himself to take her. She kept thinking how much she loved the idea of him taking her and making her his.
But he had seemed so off when they got to her house. Like he was completely lost. Now he wasn't answering any of her texts. Was he ignoring her? Was his mom angry at him for spending time with her again? It wasn't the first time Jo had his phone taken away to teach him "responsibility". Something about this time felt different, and Tiffany was starting to freak out.
