Friday, September 24 --> Saturday, September 25
When the game began, Charlotte and I stood next to the fence. We had our phones out to take notes, but I honestly little to no idea what was happening. Charlotte was nice enough to help me out. She told me about the different formations the team used, the positions, and the types of fouls players could receive.
After Alex was yanked to the ground, I glanced at Charlotte. She reassured me that most of the time players are better than that and do not try to injure other players.
Charlotte went over to meet with a group of friends, and I was left to take notes for the second half of the game. Alex and the others kept trying to score, but failed. The other team had a very strong defense that didn’t allow any of the shots into the net.
With only ten minutes left on the clock, I could tell our team was getting annoyed that they hadn’t scored yet. It was getting colder, and I zipped up my flimsy jacket. I should’ve brought a better one. Charlotte was nice enough to drive me here, but I was so busy writing something for the school newspaper that I didn’t have time to grab something better.
“You look cold,” Charlotte said, holding a cup of hot chocolate for me. “I noticed you haven’t moved from this spot so I got you a cup myself.”
“Thanks,” I said, taking it with shivering hands.
“Are you going to be alright?” she asked, looking at me. “You look like you’re going to pass out.”
“No, I’ll be fine,” I lied. “There only about ten minutes left.”
“If you’re not feeling well, then I can give you my gloves.”
“Please, Charlotte. Don’t worry.”
There was a whistle, and I looked onto the field. Alex was being surrounded by his teammates, all of them with happy expressions.
“Alex scored again!” Charlotte exclaimed, putting her arm around my neck. I smiled, looking at the scoreboard. First half we were up by one. Second half we were up by two. Seven minutes left on the clock.
I smiled at Alex who grinned back.
“That was another goal for Crows,” Charlotte said, typing it on her phone. “Alexander White was the one who scored.”
“I can’t believe I missed it,” I muttered, looking at the field. The players already started up again, and I saw Alex and the others pushing hard to get another goal. Unfortunately, both teams didn’t score, but we won by two. Alex and the others shook hands with the other team, and then started walking back towards the school to change. Charlotte was going to drive me home, but when I looked at her, she had a devilish grin on her face.
“What is it?” I asked as we walked to her car.
“Nothing,” she said. I could tell she was lying, and had a very bad feeling about getting in the car with her. “What are you waiting for? Get in. We don’t have all night.”
“You’re going to take me home, right?” I asked.
“Yes,” she exasperated. “Come on.”
“You’re going to take me straight there?”
This time there was a half a second of hesitation. “Yes.”
“Nope.” I walked away from her car. “You’re just going to drag me to Alex’s party and then I’ll be stuck there. Not happening. I’ll just walk home. My house is like fifteen minutes from here.”
“Oh come on, Paul!” Charlotte called after me. “I want to include some things about the party!”
“No!” I insisted.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” someone said. I looked around and saw the soccer players coming out into the parking lot. Alex was leading them, of course. “Why’re you shouting at each other?”
“I’m not going to the stupid party,” I mumbled to him.
“Oh I see,” he said. “Fine then. I’ll take you home.”
“You said you were driving me over,” Travis said.
“Right,” Alex tapped his chin. “Ok, I’ll drive both of you. Since Paul’s house is fairly close, it’s not a problem.”
“I’m sorry, Alex,” Charlotte said. “I was trying to bring him.”
“Nice try,” Declan said. “I don’t think Paul’s that stupid, though.”
“Can I just go home?” I asked.
Alex looked at Declan and Travis. “My mom isn’t home, so don’t do anything stupid. And please try not to set anything on fire before I get there.”
“Come on, dude,” Declan said, patting Alex’s shoulder. “There's gonna be like less than twenty of us, and most of us have been over your house and know the rules. We’ll stay outside or on the deck, no going upstairs, no trashing the house, and no alcohol and drugs. Plus, we’re athletes. Coach would kick us off the team without hesitation if we were caught by anyone. I think I’m taking your sister and the others there since Skyler’s not here by now.”
“Thanks,” Alex said when Declan finished. “I’ll see you guys there.”
Charlotte gave Alex a sticky note with my address and we walked over to his car. Travis got into the passenger seat while I got into the back. Alex started his car and got into the line waiting to exit the school grounds. I looked out the window at started feeling a little drowsy. The hum of the car and the silence between the three helped me fall asleep.
I don’t know how long I was asleep, but when I woke up, it was morning.
I sat bolt upright, and looked around. It was definitely my room. I pat my clothes, looking at them. They were the same ones I wore yesterday. I wasn’t under my sheet and comforter, but there was a blanket covering my body. I didn’t remember how I got inside, or when Alex and Travis left. I looked at the clock on my desk and saw it was around 8 AM.
Sighing, I lay back down, to go back to sleep. Turning on my side, my eyes widened as I saw Alex sleeping there.
I sat up, looking around and moving away from him. I reached the end of the bed and fell on the floor. My back hit the rug with a thud! but my head hit the corner of one of my books that was left on the floor.
“Whasgoinon?” Alex asked, waking up. He sat up and looked down at me. “Sorry I crashed here. I hope you don’t mind.”
“You’re really something, aren’t you?” I asked, getting up. “Saying that without a care.”
“You’re bleeding!” Alex exclaimed, getting up and hurrying over to my side. He gingerly touched my head and I winced, moving away from his hands.
“It hurts,” I said. “I’ll just wash it and wrap a bandage on it.”
“Come on,” Alex said, grabbing my wrist and walking into my bathroom. “I’ll be gentle. Where do you keep the bandages?” I opened my mirror and showed him all the stuff I kept in there. A box of Baind-Aids, some unopened toothbrushes and other things that I didn’t care about. The First-Aid Kit wasn’t in there, so I went over to the small closet and looked inside. There were towels, extra toilet paper, and the First-Aid Kit. I took it out and handed it to Alex.
“So are you going to tell me why you stayed over my house instead of going to the party?” I asked as he started tending to my wounded head.
“Well,” Alex started, “last night you fell asleep before we left the school. You were really that tired?” I nodded once. “After we got here, I took your key out of your pocket and I let myself inside. I brought you to your room on my back, and after making sure you were alright, I went back outside. I don’t know why I wanted to stay, but I guess it felt wrong to leave you alone. So I gave Travis my car keys and he took my car to join the others while I stayed here with you.”
“You’re so stupid,” I sighed when he finished wrapping the bandage around my head. “I’m usually always alone. My parents are always overseas working for the company with my brother who will inherit the company.”
“Your parents own a company?” Alex asked. “What company?”
“It an electronics business,” I explained, staring at myself in the mirror. “It’s really popular in Europe these days, so that’s where they are. Since my brother is out of college, he went with them to learn the ropes. I was not seen as a good inheritor so I’m basically non-existent. And after-” I caught myself before saying something that I was never going to talk about again. I looked down at the tiles. “I mean, right before freshmen year something happened. Father won’t even talk to me while Mother just calls to make sure I’m still alive. Only my brother Scott still cares about me.”
I could tell Alex didn’t know what to say, so I just turned around and smiled.
“I’m fine being alone. I don’t really get scared of things like that. I know how to take pretty good care of myself, and Auntie comes by every so often to check on me.” I took a deep breath. “Come on. I’ll make us some breakfast.”
“You can cook?” Alex asked, following me downstairs.
The stairs led into a living room, dining room and kitchen area. There was a small screened porch, and a large island near the kitchen part of the area. On either side of the staircase, there was a hallway. The left hallway had a bathroom and a room that looked like an office. The right hallway had a storage closet and an identical office room. The two rooms were my parent’s home offices, and they were connected. Besides those two rooms, the living and dinning areas were empty. The second floor had two bedrooms, each with their own bathroom. The third floor had the master bedroom and bathroom.
“I can cook the basics just like anyone else,” I responded. “Let’s see. Last week Auntie bought stuff at the store. I think I still have some bacon. Oh! How do you like your eggs?”
“Sunny Side Up is fine,” Alex said, sitting at the island. I started preparing to cook bacon, eggs and toast with Alex’s eyes staring into my back.
“I’ve told you about myself,” I said, “so it’s your turn to tell me something about you.”
“Fair enough,” Alex said. He thought for a moment. “I can’t really think of anything too serious like you. My Mom’s a nurse, and my Dad works at some business that has him go travel from time to time. Now he’s in California until the end of September. I’ve played soccer since elementary school, and have been friends with Declan and Travis since middle school. I hope to get a soccer scholarship in college and then get drafted for a pro team.”
“I never would’ve guessed,” I said dryly. Alex made a sound of protest and I just turned to smirk at him. “Well, I guess we both have different goals in mind.”
“You’re a nice guy to talk to,” Alex said. “When you’re not pestering me about my grades and schoolwork.”
I snorted. “Yeah. The only person who knows everything about me is probably Jack Calaway.”
“Jack Calaway?” Alex repeated. “Where have I heard that name before?”
I looked at the ceiling for a moment and then went over to a bookcase in the corner of the large room. I shuffled around, and found one of my photo albums. It was a little rough around the edges, but the pictures were still intact. I went back over to the island and flipped to the section with me and Jack.
“That’s Jack,” I said, pointed at him in the pictures. “And that’s me.” Alex flipped through another page of pictures, and I cringed at how stupid I looked in most of the pictures.
“The eggs,” Alex said, pointing at the stove.
“Ahh!” I exclaimed, running over and pulling the pan off the heat. The eggs were alright, and the bacon was cooking nicely.
“You look so cute in this one!” Alex exclaimed, turning the album so I could see. It was a picture of me at the beach with my brother and Jack. We were all laying on a towel with our hands behind our heads. We wore sunglasses that were too big for us, and we had big smiles on our faces.
“You’ve seen enough!” I called when Alex flipped the page. “Close it and never speak of those pictures to anyone else!”
“Ok, ok,” Alex chuckled. “Just one more page?”
I glared at him, turning back to tend to breakfast. If I remembered correctly, that was the last page of pictures of me and Jack. The next one was…
I spun around and ran over to grab the album. Alex slowly looked at me, a shocked expression covering his face.
“You saw them?” I concluded quietly.
“Have we… met before?” Alex asked.
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