Chapter Text
Brett Moon
The school day just started and I already managed to piss off two of my friends, That's a new record. Who knows, perhaps he'll come around to it before the end of the day. I feel down as my friends are an important part of my life, and seeing them upset because of something I did affects me. Someone suddenly covers my eyes from behind while I grab my books from my locker. "Guess who?" a familiar voice says.
"Betty White?" I questioned.
"That's such an odd guess" Kate uncovers my eyes as I turn around and meet her gaze, her smile drops when she sees my sad face. "What's with the sad face?" Kate asked "My friends think I'm an asshole," I said. Kate smiled and shook her head, her hands reaching toward my hair as she styled my hair back. It's the small acts of service that she does that brighten my mood and put a smile back on my face "There we go" Kate smiles back at me then kisses me. "And they don't think you're an asshole, they think you're annoying, which you can be sometimes" Kate holds her hands up in defense.
"Well, my annoyance got us a double date tonight... probably," I said "Who?" Kate questioned " You and I, Eli, and Sydney Morgan" I said, "Wait!" Kate shakes her head confused written. "Eli? As many times you tried to set him on a date, I just assumed he was -" "BRETT!" a deep voice blared through the hall, Gavin Harper was the culprit, a player on the soccer team. "Coach wants everyone on the field in uniform now," Gavin said "I have a math test" I responded "I'm just the messenger," Gavin said and continued his speed walk down the hall.
"I'll see you tonight," I tell Kate.
I arrived at the gymnasium later than usual. Lately, I've been losing interest in the sport and I've considered quitting. However, my Dad and I agreed that it would be best for me to continue playing a sport to help take my mind off things about my Mom. He's also been very supportive, coming to my games, and helping me with my training. It's just hard to quit with that type of support.
I headed into the locker room, changed into my soccer uniform, and headed to the field.
The team stood shoulder to shoulder and paid close attention to their captain, Adam Lloyd. As soon as I stepped onto the field, Adam stopped speaking and said, "There goes the vice-captain, leading by showing up late" I refrained from rolling my eyes and joined the team in line. "Before I was interrupted," Adam began talking again before I cut him off "I didn't interrupt; you stopped talking, now I'm interrupting," I said and then smiled at him. Adam smiles back then continues, "The State championship is this November and I need everyone in their right mental and physical capacity. May I remind you all how we almost lost by five points at the regional's"
"Maybe our goalkeeper is losing his shine" I murmured.
"Would the Vice-captain like to say anything?" Adam announced.
"I was just pointing out how it was our goalkeeper that put us in that situation," I said. Adam walked back to the front of the line and stood before me, towering over me by three inches. "Maybe if someone listened to me we wouldn't have had so many penalties" Adam rebuked. I step closer to him to back my ground "Maybe the coach should've picked a better captain" I said. Adam lightly chuckles then looks back at me "Are you still bothered about that? I was picked because I'm better than you" Adam said, and the team snickers at his comment. "Prove that statement is still true," I said. Adam shakes his head and grins "I don't have time for this" Adam says.
"What's the problem? You know you can't help yourself to prove me wrong" I said.
Adam looks down at me, smiles, and then sighs.
"Gavin!" Adam waves over to another teammate "Go get a ball and some gloves from the equipment room" Adam commanded. A few moments pass and Gavin comes back with a soccer ball and two pair of gloves. Adam puts on his pair of gloves and then tosses me the ball "Five shots, you vs me. Let's see who's the better goalkeeper" Adam said.
The rest of the team stands on the side of the field, Adam walks over to stand in front of the goal net, and I walk to the middle of the field.
Once I was ready, I performed an instep kick for my first shot. It was a powerful kick that sent the ball like a missile towards the goal. Adam threw himself to the side and caught the ball mid-air. "Nice try!" Adam shouted. Adam rolled the ball back to me, and this time I performed a power kick toward the left corner of the net. Adam jumped to catch the ball, but it passed through his hands. In the next two shots, I barely managed to score into the net, which surprised Adam. Adam rolled the ball back to me for my final kick, and the threatening mood on his face alone told me he was determined to keep this shot from reaching the goal.
I wined up and kicked a powerful shot; from the way I kicked the ball, it curved inward towards Adam, his reaction time was faster than I thought because he was already on the ground with the ball in his hands.
It was now Adam's turn to kick. I caught his first kick, but he scored the next three shots. It all came down to the final shot. My heart frantically beat as I waited for Adam to wind up. He released a powerful kick toward the right corner of the net. I threw myself to the side, sliding through the grass and dirt, the ball brushed past my fingertips and flew into the net. The team gathers around Adam to cheer him on "And that is why I'm the captain!" Adam shouts and beats his chest. I was about to walk off the field when I heard the coach's voice.
"What the hell are y'all doing?" the team silenced immediately and went back into standing formation "Adam you were supposed to be going over drills and positions" the coach announced. I grin to myself, finally seeing the star captain get reprimanded for once "This was going to be quick but since we can't follow orders everyone, give me three laps and start on your drills" coach shouts.
We all suck our teeth and groan as we start running our laps.
After running our laps and doing our drills, the team and I went to the locker rooms to freshen up. I waited until everyone was done and out of the locker room before entering the showers. I have never been comfortable showering naked around my teammates, especially since they're guys. After I'm done with my shower I change back into my regular clothes. As I was grabbing things from out of the locker a sudden loud bang startled me, I saw Adam laughing to himself as I shut the locker door "Hilarious" I sarcastically said. "I don't know about you but I'm trying to get a college admission here, stop trying to make me look bad" Adam warns then proceeds to hand me an excuse note and walks off.
If you couldn't tell, Adam and I have a history. Let's just say we had a fallout before high school. Instead of discussing the problem, he would rather act disrespectfully. Yes, I could also address the problem, but how can you mend a bridge with someone who doesn't want the bridge fixed?
The rest of the school day went about as you would expect: a lot of notes were taken, ate some food, and give a sh*t ton of homework the usual. Eli and I meet together at Ren's car, he still looked bummed from this morning; instead of saying anything that would put him in an even more bad mood Eli and I get inside the car. "What about Sky" Eli asked "She's riding with Leon" Ren responded, Sky waved us bye as Leon's car drove past us. We all stayed quiet on the drive back with only the radio playing in the background, I looked up from my phone to take a look at Eli: He had his face buried in his phone, and his head resting on the side of the car. He didn't seem to be in the same mood from earlier but still, I could sense something was wrong.
Are you still angry at me?
I send Eli a text message.
I was never angry just annoyed
I rolled my eyes as Kate's words about my annoyance came back to haunt me.
I shouldn't have snapped at you like that
I appreciate you're unsolicited help
That's a big word. Someone's using their big brain lol
Eli sent me a GIF of Jimmy Neutron and I couldn't help but smile at myself.
Ren dropped off Eli and me at my house, I had offered Ren to hang out with us but he had some things to take care of at home. Eli and I headed inside the house, I didn't bother calling out for my parents since Dad's car wasn't in the driveway. The living room was in much disarray: the wheelchair was left in the middle of the room, pill bottles were scattered on the coffee table, and dirty dishes were left on the table. I go to collect the dishes off the table to be greeted by a note: Hey bud, sorry about the mess, I had to take your Mom back to the care facility. Could you take care of this mess for me? I'm sorry, but I promise to bring back some pizzas for us -Dad
I crumple the note and start to clean with Eli's help. As I wash the dishes Eli asks, "How's your Mom been?" Talking about my Mom has always been a difficult conversation since she was diagnosed with early-onset dementia. It first happened when I was thirteen, Dad and I came home to find the house trashed, Mom saw us and held us at knife point screaming bloody murder to get out of her house and saying that we were burglars. That day traumatized me, part of my Mom was gone and it breaks my heart to say that. The entire family was devastated by the news; meanwhile, my grandparents believed it was best to put her in a care home, Dad on the other hand decided to take care of her himself. However, after some time, it became too much for him to handle, and she was sent to a care facility. "She's... doing her best, the doctors say it's good for her to be around familiar surroundings so it's been good to have her around the house".
Tears stung my eyes as I blinked them away, letting out a heavy sigh "Sorry, I know that's a touchy subject" Eli said "It's fine, things are just... Help me put these dishes in the dish rack" I replied. After cleaning Eli and I completed our homework, after, we went to watch an anime show: Attack on Titan, Eli's favorite, it's part of this arrangement where he makes me watch these shows and in return, I force him to watch classical movies. The episode ends on a cliffhanger, leaving me surprised "Hold up, season one just ends like that?" I cry out. Eli laughs, he's about to put on another show when his phone buzzes "It's Sydney, she's excited about tonight" Eli said "We can always cancel" I suggested. It looked like Eli was battling some internal thoughts but he shook his head and said "No, she was excited and I'd hate to be the bearer of disappointment even if I was forced" "Sweet!" I exclaimed "I promise tonight will be fun," I told Eli.
