The Hockey Player’s Secret Tutor

Betrayal

Lyra's POV

I do not know what the hell I am doing here. I do not belong in this crowd, but I am here for one reason and one reason only, Nate Carrington! Even my brother mocks me for running after Nate.

They do not understand. Nate is the one who has always been there for me. He stood up for me when no one else would. When people like Veronica and her friends, and sometimes even Nate's friends, teased me and called me Miss Piggy.

Miss Piggy, yes, that is who I am. I have always felt out, like I do not belong, and that is why I was burying myself in my book. I have always been different than other young women around me. I do not care about the newest fashion trends, and my baggy close does not help cover my flaws. I think a woman should be judged by her value to the community and not the way she looks, but I know that is not how other people see it. My heroine is Marie Curie and not some popstar.

But back to why I am at a party I should not be at. Nate likes that I am different than other girls. He admires my brains and thinks of me as someone who can think for herself. I like that about him, and that is why I am so in love with him. When we are alone, he will call me sweety, and when I help him with his notes and studies, he listens and looks at me with admiration in his eyes. Tonight he invited me to the party, and I think it is because he wants to tell everyone that he likes me as much as I like him. Why else will he invite me?

I am full of expectations.

Most of the people will tell me I am not on Nate's level. I do not believe Nate is like the other boys who are only looking for girls with beautiful bodies and faces. He sees more in me.

I look around to see if I can see him, but he is nowhere to be seen. Maybe he is still getting ready. He invited me over after all, and he will not forget about me.

I am standing alone. I do not really have friends. My brother disappeared as soon as we walked in, and I know he will be drinking and partying with the others.

Peter and I were always close when we were children, but since he got interested in girls and became popular in school, he had pushed me aside. He hangs out with the cool kids, while I am the nerd and the bookworm, as he told me many times. At home, he and my father are the jocks and my mother the beauty queen. I am the odd one out. The ugly duckling, and they ignore me most of the time. So all I do is study, and I study the best when I snack. I guess that is why I gained weight.

I do not have hobbies or play sports like my brother. My father is the coach of the college hockey team. This is another reason why Nate and I click.

Nate is the stepbrother of Sebastian Carrington. Seb is the heir of the Carrington family, while Nate is just the stepbrother, and that is why I am helping him with his studies.

We all know that Seb is not very clever and is not doing well at school, so Nate hopes that his stepfather will see that he is the one with the brains and will let him inherit the family business one day instead of Sebastian. I help Nate with my notes I take in class, and I help him with his projects so he can outshine the arrogant Sebastian, who acts like he is always better than Nate because Nate does not have a father. That's what Nate told me.

Two girls walk past me and look me up and down as if they are wondering what the hell I am doing here. I lift my chin high and smile.

I have been invited to this party by Nate. Tonight, Nate will tell all of them that he likes me and that we are a couple. He will ask me in front of all of them to be his girlfriend. I have that feeling.

Although I am chubby, I have never cared what anyone thinks of me. I am the winner of the Harrington International Fellowship, and they will never be.

I learned a long time ago that it does not matter what others say to you as long as you know you are better than they think, everything will be fine. One day, I will be a famous scientist and a Nobel Prize winner while they are all in a dead-end job working nine-to-five. Some of them might even only be strippers. They can say to me and about me what they want to. I know my value.

Nate tells me that many of them are jealous of me because I have brains and they have nothing but beautiful bodies and faces. My whole life at this moment revolves around my studies and Nate.

Nate told me the only reason why he can hold this party tonight is that Seb and his stepfather are not home. The only one who cares about him is his mother, but she does not show it because she has to please his stepfather all the time.

The hockey team is away on a match. I am done waiting for Nate. Maybe I should go and look for him.

I know the Carrington house very well. I come here often to study with Nate and help him with his projects. Well, mostly I do his projects for him because he says I am the clever one and can do it so much better than he can.

"I wonder where Nate is?" I hear someone says.

"I saw him and Vicky disappear a while ago. I wonder what they are up to," Another says.

"Hahaha, those two are up to no good," Peter, my brother, says. I smile. I know better.

Victoria is not Nate's type, and she is dating Sebastian. Nate will never touch her. He told me that Victoria is always trying to make a move at him when Seb is not around, but she is too stupid for him, and although she is the head cheerleader, he does not want Seb's secondhand things.

Nate told me that when they were younger, he always had to wear Sebastian's secondhand clothes, and that is why he will never touch Victoria, not even with a broomstick.

I'd better go and see where Nate is. I do not want people to think wrongly of him.

I start walking up the stairs. Chris, one of Nate's teammates, bumps into me on my way to Nate's room.

"Look where you're going, Miss Piggy," Chris says.

I ignore him and walk on. I am breathing heavily as I go up the stairs.

At last, I get to the top and stand a little to breathe before starting to walk to Nate's room.

The door is slightly ajar, and when I walk closer, I can hear two people making funny s****l voices in Nate's room.

Well, the audacity of some people! How dare they make love in someone else's house on their beds?

"What are you doing in Nate's room ..."

I push open the door, and I start shouting, but then my heart stops for a moment, and I have to rub my eyes to believe what I am seeing.

I do not want to open my eyes and look at the two people in bed.

I do not want to see Victoria and Nate naked on his bed!

I stumble back, and my feet start moving automatically. I do not know if I want to laugh or cry. My whole world has come tumbling down on me in one second. A tear starts rolling down my cheek. I cannot stop it.

This is Nate! My Nate! In bed with the one he despises, or that is what he said.

I have to get out of here!

For the first time in years, I wish I were fit. I wish I could run.

"Lyra!" I hear Nate shout as I turn around and close the door behind me. It feels like closing a chapter in my life, and I am broken, shattered, and will never be the same again after the betrayal of the one person I thought cared about me.