The QB's Nerdy Addiction novel · Chapter 5 of 24

Chapter 5: What He Said About SnapCount

Gage got an 88 on the media law midterm.

He held the paper up in the stacks at nine o'clock with both hands.

"Eighty-eight," he said. "Hallie. I haven't had an eighty-eight since I was in the ninth grade."

"Read me the comment at the top."

He put his finger under the line and read it out slowly, and he didn't skip a word.

"Clear grasp of the material. Come see me about the honors section."

"You're going to pass the class."

"I'm going to pass the class." He sat down hard in his chair and looked at me. "You did this."

"You did it. I read you a textbook."

"Nobody read me a textbook before."

I turned my face away because it was getting hot.

Dani had put Brecken's two hundred dollars in an envelope that morning and written NO on it in marker.

A friend on the equipment staff had left it in his locker.

I hadn't told Gage.

I hadn't told Gage a lot of things.

We worked until eleven, and the library went dark floor by floor below us, and then he did not pack up.

He sat there turning the paper over.

"Can I say something about the account again?" he said.

I went cold and wanted to leave.

"If you want."

"Last November, the week after we lost to Marlow, SnapCount posted a line about me."

He kept his eyes on the table.

"It said I play scared when my father is in the stands."

I said nothing.

"I read it in the locker room on my phone. I thought, there it is. Somebody finally said it."

He rubbed his thumb along the edge of the paper.

"My dad read it on the radio the next morning, and he laughed."

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