Read Falling (Bits and Pieces, Book 1) for Free Online Page B

yearbook picture perfect. Food, friends and laughter. I could tell there were three couples in the group. Patrick, Bobby and Jason had either an arm around or holding hands with their respective girlfriends. There were two other guys in their group, who, didn’t seem to mind the others were coupled. They were just as much part of the circle of friends.
    I opened up my notebook and worked on physics. The more I got done at lunch, the less I’d have to do tonight and the more I could practice before my parents got home from their dinner. By the time the bell rang ending lunch, I only had one problem left to do. I was pleased with my progress.
    I hurried to math class. Ms. Adams asked if there any homework problems we wanted to go over. Students shouted out different problem numbers. Seventeen came up the most often, along with 15 and 16. It seemed most of the class had a hard time starting the problem. Patrick looked over at me and chuckled. Ms. Adams always called upon students to write their answers on the board and share their solution.
    “Patrick. What did you get for number 17?” She extended out the marker to him as an invitation to the board. He got up from desk and headed to the board. “You can bring your homework with you.”
    “It’s okay.” He got to the board empty-ended and took the dry-erase marker from her. He wrote his solution on the board and took a step back. He reviewed his answer before handing the marker back to her.
    She looked over his solution. “Okay. Thank you, Patrick. You can sit down. Who can explain his answer?” Ms. Adams liked having one person write the answer and another one explain it.
    The room went quiet as no one wanted to draw attention to themselves. I looked around and saw confusion in my classmates’ faces. It was obvious she wasn’t going to call on the people who had requested the problem to begin with. She scanned the room, her gaze finally falling on someone. “Liz, can you explain what Patrick did?”
    Thankfully, I didn’t have to go the board. I nodded and explained his written work.
    * * *
     
    When class ended, I packed up my stuff and rushed to the door. Patrick was still at his seat when I heard him, “Liz!”
    I turned back and paused. “Yeah?”
    “Don’t forget! Just a friendly reminder. 3:00pm!” He laughed.
    “I know. I know.” I rolled my eyes. I guess he had to make sure that he reminded every class we had together.
    “You better be there. You said you would.”
    “I will.” I quickly nodded and hurried to my last class. I hated to think what he would say if I didn’t show up.
    * * *
     
    When the bell rang to end the school day, I had to fight the urge to hop in my car and go home. I had promised to go to the game today. I hated it when people broke their word and so I tried very hard not to do it. The game wasn’t going to start for about forty-five minutes, but I didn’t know where else to go, but to the gym. I hoped the doors were unlocked, so I could just go inside and wait.
    When I got to the gym, the doors were propped open. I could hear the squeaking of the sneakers on the floor. Did the game already start? I thought Patrick told me 3:00 pm, repeatedly. It’s wasn’t 3:00 yet.
    I walked inside and glanced around. The teams were warming up. Patrick’s team was at the basket closest to me, the opposing team was at the far end. The stands were fairly empty, it was still early. I could see groups of friends scattered in different spots. I didn’t know where to sit. I was sure there was a ‘home’ and ‘visitor’ side, but, having never been to a game, I didn’t know which side was which. I stood there, indecisive. I didn’t want to sit with the wrong side. I wanted to just turn around and leave. I almost did.
    “Hey, Liz.” Patrick waved at me as he ran to get a loose ball that whizzed by me. “You made it!”
    “Yeah. We had a deal.” I was very uncomfortable. I didn’t know what to do with myself, but I knew I was in