Chapter 15 Public announcement
Maya's POV
The rink was freezing.
I'd forgotten how cold it was here. The ice gleamed under the bright overhead lights, smooth and white and unmarked.
The bleachers were packed with students everywhere and whispers bouncing off the walls like hockey pucks.
I shouldn't have come.
I stayed near the back row, one step from the exit. If this went wrong….and it would go wrong, I could leave.
What is he doing?
Justin stood at center ice, his hands shoved into his jacket pockets, his shoulders squared like he’d decided something and wasn’t backing out of it.
He wasn't putting on a helmet or skates. Just his shoes on the ice, his breath fogging in the cold air.
My stomach dropped.
What are you doing?
"Can everyone hear me?" His voice echoed through the rink. The murmurs died down. Phones went up, of course. Everyone was recording.
My pulse started to climb.
No. No, don’t do this.
“I’m not going to take long,” Justin said. His voice was steady, but not rehearsed. There was a slight roughness to it, like he hadn’t planned the exact words.
“I just… need to clear something up.”
A ripple moved through the crowd.
I sank lower in my seat, pulling my sleeves over my hands.
This is about me.
"I've been hearing a lot of rumors lately," Justin said. He wasn't reading from a script or looking at notes. He was just... talking. "About a girl in this school. A beautiful, innocent girl who never did anything to deserve what's happening to her."
Oh my God. He's talking about me. He's actually talking about ME.
My face was on fire. My hands were shaking. Every eye in the rink was on him… and soon, every eye would be on me.
Stop talking. Please stop talking. You're making it worse.
"I don't understand," Justin continued, "why people would sit down and decide to destroy someone else. I don't understand why cruelty is entertainment and why the truth doesn't matter anymore."
Oh my God. Oh my God. This is going to disgrace me even more.
I sank lower in my seat as if the seat would embrace me. Pulled my hood up and wished the earth would open up and swallow me whole.
Why can't he just keep his mouth shut?
"But I know this," Justin said. His voice was louder now. "I know that bullying isn't strength. I know that spreading lies isn't courage and that hiding behind a screen and tearing someone down doesn't make you powerful, it makes you a coward."
The rink was silent. Even the whispers had stopped.
He's giving a speech. A whole speech, in front of everyone about ME.
I wanted to die. I wanted to disappear. I wanted to run out the door and never come back.
But I couldn't move.
"So I'm asking everyone here," Justin said, "to say no to bullying. Say no to the rumors. Say no to the lies. Because that girl, that beautiful, innocent girl…. she doesn't deserve any of this."
Stop. STOP. Please.
"She's helped me in ways I can't explain," he said. "She's made me a better person. She's made me want to be someone worthy of her."
My heart stopped.
What is he saying?
"And I just want to take a moment," Justin said, "to appreciate the love of my life."
The love of his life.
Did he just…
Did he just call me….
"Maya Sandoval."
My name. He said my name in front of everyone.
“Come down here.”
No. No no no.
I shook my head and pressed myself deeper into my seat. Pulled my hood tighter.
No no no no NO.
Everything in me went cold.
No. Absolutely not. I'm not stepping up to that place so that these people can laugh at me again.
I didn’t move. I couldn’t.
A few heads turned back toward me. Then more, like a wave reversing direction.
I shook my head. No. But Justin didn’t look away, he didn’t even repeat himself.
He just waited.
I have to find a way out. A way to escape. How do I do that? Run. I was going to run like my life depended on it.
But it was too late. Before I could plan my escape, hands grabbed me from behind.
I yelped and spun around.
The hockey players, all of them, the whole team. They were surrounding my seat, grinning and reaching for me.
This was fucking planned. Justin did this.
"What are you…. no….put me DOWN…."
They lifted me like I weighed nothing. Like I was a trophy they were carrying to center ice.
"PUT ME DOWN!"
No one listened.
The crowd was cheering. Actually CHEERING. The same people who'd been whispering about me an hour ago were now clapping and whistling and stomping their feet.
What is happening?
They carried me down the bleachers, across the ice. Justin was waiting for me at center ice, his hands in his pockets, his mouth curved in that almost-smile.
He planned this. He planned ALL of this.
They set me down in front of him. My legs were shaking, my face was burning and my heart was pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears.
"What are you doing?" I whispered.
"Just follow my lead," he whispered back.
Follow his lead? FOLLOW HIS LEAD?
His hand found my waist pulling me closer.
He's touching me, in front of everyone. Oh my God.
"Smile," he murmured. "Your opponent is watching."
I looked up and saw that bitch.
Sarah.
She was standing at the far end of the rink, near the exit. Her arms were crossed and her mouth was open. I wished a fly would get into her mouth.
She didn't see this coming. She didn't see ANY of this coming.
For the first time since this nightmare began, Sarah Dean looked like she'd lost.
And then I saw him. Luke.
He was sitting in the front row, his face pale, his eyes locked on me, Justin's hand on my waist and on the way Justin was looking at me.
He looks like he lost something.
Good. I felt very satisfied seeing this.
He should have believed me.
One of the players appeared beside us, holding flowers. A huge bouquet, red roses, white lilies, something that smelled like a baby's breath.
Justin took them and the crowd went quiet.
"Maya," he said. His voice was loud enough for everyone to hear. "There are rumors going around that you seduced me, that you manipulated me. That you used me to be your boyfriend."
I couldn't breathe.
"But I'm here to set the record straight."
He let go of my waist and stepped back.
And then, in front of the entire school, in front of Sarah, in front of Luke, in front of everyone who had ever doubted me…..He went down on one knee.
The crowd gasped.
He's on one knee. He's on ONE KNEE.
"Maya Sandoval," he said, looking up at me with those blue-gray eyes, "will you be my girl?"
What?
WHAT?
No one clapped, not at first.
People just… watched.
And then, slowly, one voice, then another and then the rink exploded. Whispers turned to shouts. Someone behind me screamed "SAY YES!" A group of girls started clapping in rhythm.
This isn't real. This can't be real.
But it was.
He was on one knee, holding flowers and looking at me like I was the only person in the world.
Oh my God.
Oh my God.
Is this happening?
"Say yes," Justin whispered sharply. His knees hurt. I could see it in his eyes. "My knees hurt."
I snapped back to reality.
I nodded.
I couldn't speak. I just nodded.
The crowd ERUPTED.
People were screaming, clapping, whistling. Some girl was actually crying. A group of hockey players pounded each other on the back.
They're happy for me.
These people, who were laughing at me yesterday, are happy for me.
Justin stood up. He pressed the flowers into my arms. I took them automatically, my fingers numb, and my heart racing.
He's going to kiss me.
Is he going to kiss me?
He's coming closer.
Oh my God.
He's going to KISS me.
His hand found my waist again. His other hand cupped my face and his thumb brushed my cheek.
His lips.
He's so close.
I can smell him.
I can feel his breath.
Oh my God oh my God oh my GOD….
"Is this okay?" he murmured, so quiet only I could hear.
I couldn't answer. I couldn't speak. I couldn't think.
All I could do was look at his lips, his perfect, stupid, beautiful lips.
He's going to kiss me.
It's happening. It's actually happening.
Oh my God….