Penalty: A Bad Boy Sports Romance (Alpha Second Chances Book 3) by Rowena

the same school year after year. So many dynamics and relationships already established.
    I was the new girl. The weirdo who didn’t even go to real school for several years—although they learned quickly I wasn’t at an academic disadvantage; in fact, I was quite far ahead.
    No one could knock my previous schooling when I outscored the vast majority of them, and it wasn’t long before I became known as ‘one of the smart ones.’ One of the nerds.
    I didn’t talk much; I tried to be as invisible as possible until I could get a better feel for my surroundings, the personalities.
    I have always preferred to observe.
    I did pick up a friend, thankfully—an easygoing girl who made my transition easier.
    I eventually learned she mainly tried to fish out info for others, but she became my friend in the end—right up until my mom and I moved again and I had to do it all over.
    Again, I had to move through an unfamiliar place, a potentially hostile environment. Again, I had to endure people staring at me, wondering what I am.

    * * *
    Present Day
    I feel like everyone is looking at me.
    It’s exactly the way several of my nightmares start, only to end with me discovering I’m walking around with no bottoms on or that I’m not me after all but some chimera or ghost.
    Luckily, when I glance down, I see that I’m fully clothed and my fly is up.
    I detect nothing embarrassing from what I can see, and I wipe my eyes and slyly swipe at my nose to make sure no stray boogers are hanging out.
    Seriously, the last thing I want or need is everyone suddenly noticing me.
    Then I realize what it is—the attention must be because I started dating Abe.
    Guess I better get used to people checking me out.
    When I open my dorm room door, I catch Judy looking guilty, and I realize she had just been going through some of my stuff.
    “What the fuck, Judy?”
    “I was just… Look, no one wants to live with a weirdo.”
    That’s rich, coming from the girl with metal through her nose, the girl whose wardrobe is allergic to color. The girl who looks like she’s dating the Grim Reaper. This girl doesn’t want to live with a weirdo?
    “It’s just… I heard some things, and I wanted to make sure. I needed to see if there was any sign what I’ve heard is true.”
    Something shifts in me. I guess it’s dread forming.
    “What have you heard?” I ask evenly.
    “Like, that you were a part of this hippie group, and that you were way too close to your brother or something… ”
    It’s so ridiculous, I’m trapped between squawking with laughter and open-mouthed shock for a moment; in fact, I might actually look like a lunatic right now, smiling emptily.
    I don’t even have a brother!
    “…And you wear your hair crazy long, and no one does that but hippies and cult types… ”
    Laughter wins for now.
    When I catch myself, I ask, “Who the hell told you this?”
    “Like I said, it’s going around.”
    “But who would make up… ? Oh, shit, it’s Beth, isn’t it?”
    All humor completely disappears as I realize that this is probably the reason I thought I was getting a lot of stares earlier.
    “Beth?”
    “Bethany McGrath—Abe’s ex. She’s been sort of after me ever since Abe started showing me attention. And now that we’re officially dating, I guess she has upped the ante. ”
    “Okay, so once Abe dumped Bethany for you, she’s been doing what exactly?”
    “She kind of threatened me when she first suspected he liked me and told me ‘Run away, bitch,’ or something, but then after he and I started actually being together, I found this.”
    I reluctantly fetch the manila envelope I hid away and look off to the side as I hand it to her so I don’t have to put the hideous image in my head again.
    “Holy fuck,” Judy says as she stares at the photo. “What am I looking at?”
    “My mom and me. She had hair like mine, and she died from cancer after losing her hair from unsuccessful chemo. She had all her hair at this