Friday, October 2

   As Scott pulled into the school parking lot, I could hear shouts and whistles from the fields. I didn’t know exactly which way to go, so I just followed the sounds of the crowds. I found two large fields side by side, and saw the soccer team was using the left one. The JV team was still playing, so I decided to go find some people in the stands.

   “Paul!!” I heard a loud shout behind me and saw Skyler and a few of her friends running towards me. “Oh my God are you ok!? Is your wrist sprained? Broken? Fractured? What did those jerks look like?”

   “Slow down,” I said. “My wrist is fractured and it will take about two to three months to heal.”

   Skyler gasped. “That’s horrible! I can’t believe there are people who would actually injure another student! Oh! There’s my brother!” She pointed behind me and I turned around. Alex was wearing sweatpants and a jersey jacket over his T-shirt. He smiled when he saw me, and his two friends pushed him towards me.

   “I didn’t think you would actually come,” he said.

   “Who do you take me for?” I asked. He chuckled, and we started walking around the field.

   “So how bad is it?” he asked, pointing at my wrist.

   “It will take two to three months to heal,” I responded.

   “I’m sorry,” he said. “If I just went to the nurse when you told me to, you wouldn’t have gotten hurt.”

   “There’s nothing we can do to change the past. All we can do is move forward.”

   There was a silence, and we continued walking around the field. I felt Alex gentle hold my pinky finger. I glanced over at him and saw he was trying to keep cool. Smiling, I readjusted my hand, lacing my fingers with his. I could feel his warmth flowing from his hand into mine, and couldn’t help but enjoy it.

   “Hey so on the phone you said I was the one who took you to the nurses office,” I said. “Do you remember anything else?”

   “No, but Ethan told me what happened,” he said. “I’m sorry you got hurt because of me.”

   “As long as you’re feeling better, then it doesn’t bother me. I was just trying to help you out anyways.”

   “Don’t be so stupid. You got injured, and now I feel like I’m going to drown in debt to you. First it was staying at your house, now it’s the fact that you got injured on my behalf. I want to do something for you.”

   “Fine.” I thought for a moment. What would be appropriate? “Oh! How about you treat me to lunch tomorrow?”

   “Just lunch? You really don’t want anything else?”

   I thought again. “Actually, let’s make it a date. Well, not a date. Just a hangout day. You have to take me anywhere I want to go tomorrow and buy me lunch.”

   “Okay, but I have soccer at 5 so no later than 4:30.”

   “Fine.”

   We finished the lap around the field and walked over to the bleachers. I let go of Alex’s hand before anyone could notice.

   “Hey he’s alive!” a voice exclaimed. I looked up the bleachers and saw Ethan, Travis and Declan sitting on the first bench.

   “Are you alright?” Declan asked.

   “My wrist is fractured,” I said, holding up the cast. “It’ll be two to three months until it’s healed.”

   “The story has exploded all around school,” Ethan said. “I hope you don’t get any negative attention because of it.”

   “Stuff like that doesn’t bother me,” I said. “Thanks for being concerned though.”

   “If Alex isn’t going to make a move then I will!” Declan said, taking out a black Sharpie. He took the cap off and reached for my cast.

   “No fair!” Alex exclaimed before Declan could write anything. “I’m first!”

   “You don’t have the Sharpie, and you didn’t say anything! Just wait until I write my name!” Declan wrote his name in all capital letters, handing the Sharpie to Alex. He wrote his name in all capital letters as well, but made it a little bigger than Declan’s. Ethan wrote his name neater handwriting and in a smaller font. Travis wrote his name as well, putting the cap on the Sharpie and handing it back to Declan.

   “Ok we’ve got to change,” Travis said, turning to leave. “Meet us on the field when JV is done, alright Alex?”

   The three walked away, and Alex smiled at me. “You’re going to stay even though I’m not playing, right?”

   I nodded. “My brother’s in the car, though.”

   As if on cue, Scott walked up to us. “Who’s this?”

   “This is Alex,” I said. “He’s my friend from this afternoon and the student I’m tutoring. Alex, this is Scott. He’s five years older than me and is probably going to take over the family business.”

   “Nice to meet you, Scott,” Alex said. “Paul has been a very good tutor for me. My grades have gone up a little.”

   I snorted. “Be honest. How many grades have gone up?”

   Alex hesitated. “Chem.”

   “By how much?”

   “2.4 points.”

   Sighing, I said, “You didn’t need help with Chem, so just drop it. Your Calc and Gov grades are still pretty bad.”

   “And you have perfect A’s,” he said. “You don’t need to rub it in, nerd.”

   “Don’t you have a game to get to?” I asked, giving him a stern glare. He stuck his tongue out, jogging over towards the field. I stuck my tongue out at his back, gaining a chuckle from Scott.

   “I’ve never seen you this happy without Jack or the others,” he said. “You must really like him.”

   “No, I don’t,” I groaned.

   “Come on. You know I’m going to keep asking until you tell me!” I rolled my eyes, ignoring him. Not because I didn’t want to answer him, but because he was right.