"Briar!" I heard Valentina screech.

My head snapped in their direction and Wesley took the opportunity to steal the ball from me. I recognized the stress in Val's tone. It was the same tone she'd been using when we were kids, like the time I tried flushing her stupid barbies down the toilet. That was how I knew something bad had happened.

Girls from the cheerleading squad were huddled around someone and my feet moved on their own. I made my way through them to find Briar on the floor, clutching her wrist and blinking through a pained expression on her face.

"I'm okay," she quietly responded to Coach Sommers. "It's probably just a sprain."

Coach Sommers gently took her wrist to observe it herself. "Still, practice is over for you. You should go down to the nurses office anyway. Where else does it hurt?"

"I hit my head a little," Briar responded, almost sounding embarrassed. Her eyes locked on mine for a second until they roamed around the small crowd that formed around her. She looked down as her cheeks began to flush at the attention.

"I'm okay, really," She insisted and moved to get up. I stepped closer to her and reached down to help her up. She gave me a tight-lipped smile as she took my hand with her good one and let me help her up.

"You little bitch," Valentina's voice cut through the silence. Heads turned towards her and her attention was targeted towards Naomi.

"Language," Coach Sommers warned.

"What are you looking at me for? That wasn't my fault," Naomi defended aggressively.

"Coach, you need a base to swap out with Naomi. This wouldn't have happened if she wasn't the one expected to catch Briar."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Coach Sommers questioned.

"It means jack shit Coach. I don't like the girl, but that doesn't mean I would intentionally let her fall!" Naomi looked thrown from the suggestion. I didn't know if her response sounded genuine because she was scared of Val or if she actually meant it.

Briar shifted beside me. I looked down at her and nodded my head toward the door. She let out a breath of relief as I guided her out of the gym. We left the arguing girls behind us as Coach tried to calm them both down.

"Woah, woah. Where are you going?" I tug her arm toward the way I intend on taking her. "Nurse's office is this way."

"I'm okay, Roman. I think that's my cue for the day. I just want to go home and rest," she practically whined.

"You hit your head and you need to get your wrist checked out."

"Here," she threw her wrist in front of my face as we kept walking towards the nurse's office. "Check it out. It's still mobile and I can- ow!" She cut herself off and clutched her wrist back towards her chest.

I threw her an unconvinced look and she followed me silently now.

The nurse wanted to be sure Briar had no concussion first and foremost. She sits at the edge of the bed with her legs dangling as the nurse shines a light in her eyes.

Nurse said that the majority of her weight must have been caught before anything serious happened. Briar must have caught the rest of herself mainly with her wrist, so no concussion. She would likely have a headache for the next few hours.

Her wrist wasn't fractured or anything serious like that. She did have a sprain and the nurse recommended ice and a brace for good measure. It would heal itself easily in a week or so with rest.

"I'm sure your Coach won't mind that you go home now dear." Briar nodded her head in response. The nurse told Briar she would be back, that she ran out of ice packs and she would have to go get some from storage. Briar thanked her on her way out and then it was just the two of us.

"What happened?" I asked.

"I fell," she said in a tone that was telling me she thought I was dumb for asking. Smartass.

"What I mean is," I said in a warning tone. "Why did Valentina think it was intentional?"

Briar gives a lame shrug and it pisses me off that she doesn't say anything further. "Do you think Naomi let you fall? On purpose?"

Briar frowns as she considers it. Then she looks me in the eyes and gives a confident shake of her head. "No, I don't. I think she hates me but I don't think she's malicious like that."

"Why does she hate you, Briar?"

Her frown is back at the seriousness of my tone. "You know, I think I prefer it when you call me Bear." She was trying to change the subject.

"Briar."

"Yep, definitely like Bear better than that." I step closer to her and don't stop until her dangling feet knock into my shins. I observe the bob in her throat as I lean forwards to rest my knuckles on either side of her.

"Are you gonna answer my question or not?" I manage in a softer tone. I wait for her response as she looks at me with those big blue eyes and that innocent blinking with her long lashes.

She suddenly looks awkwardly to the side as if she's trying to think of something else. Then, she meets my eyes again and says, "I'm going to be perfectly honest with you, buddy. I don't remember your question." She gasps dramatically as I process her words. "What if I do have a concussion or something?"

I feel a lift of my mouth as I keep a smile back. "Or something..." Smartass.

Her eyes light up as she watches my mouth and smiles. "That makes two almost-smiles in one week. You think we're setting records now?"

That reminded me that I asked her a question first. She was really good at deflecting, I'll give her that. I let out a sigh and adjusted myself to lean on the bed beside her. She goes back to swinging her feet now that her space is free again.

She sensed my shift and her response was to bite her lip and stare down at the floor. I open my mouth to push the question again but before I can do that, we hear Myles and Valentina bickering from down the hall.

"What did the nurse say?" Val wastes no time when she walks through the open door.

"Hey, Briar. You doing okay?"

"I'm okay. Really, I am. There's no concussion and it's only a sprain. The nurse went to grab an ice pack, it'll be okay."

Valentina rolls her eyes and cusses something long and irritated in Spanish. "Val," Briar said. "I don't think she did it on purpose."

She rolls her eyes again but she doesn't cuss more. "I don't really know if she did or not. She seemed convincing when I kept grilling her about it but..." She shrugs.

"Honestly," Val continues. "I noticed how uncomfortable you got, so I figured yelling at her would cause a good distraction and it would be satisfying too. Two birds with one stone."

Briar lets out a laugh at that. It was short but it was genuine, a nice laugh. I study her as Valentina closes the distance between them and hugs her.

Briar deflates in her arms. I cross mine over my chest as I watch.

✎ A/N: I'm not sure how I feel about this chapter yet so let me know ...

It feels good to have a consistent schedule with these updates (: till Monday <3