Practice went by in the blink of an eye, and while the players went inside the locker room to change, I helped to carry back all stuff into the storage shed. I didn’t have to do this, but I would’ve felt useless if I hadn’t helped.

Inside the shed, it was dark and cool, compared to the melting heat of the sun. It was a place where I could finally breathe…until the odd sound of my standard ringtone broke the silence.

I gulped when answering the call. “Holland…”

“Well? Did you talk about me already? Yes?”

She hardly gave me time to reply. “N…not yet. We…”

“You’re freakin’ slow!” She exclaimed. “But…effective. How did you get Drake and his boys to throw a tantrum like that? That was awesome?”

How did I get them to do it?

Awesome?

I felt sick.

Did she honestly believe that it had been fun for me?

“So, you think you’re friends with him? Just because you’re sitting next to the field?” I could hear that she wasn’t satisfied. “Has he even talked to you? Shared something personal?”

Personal. Personal… It clicked. “He likes to read!” 

Silence.

“Like…magazines?”

“No. I mean novels. Fantasy novels!” 

“Huh…” I could see her wonder without having to see her face. “I guess everyone has a flaw.”

Ouch. I winced. 

“Fine,” Holland said after a while of silence. “The reward will be waiting for you in your locker after practice.”

Shutting my eyes, I leaned my forehead against the cool frame of one of the iron shelves. “Thank y..."

“Now,” she interrupted me. “About task number two.”

Right…there were more tasks.

“Let’s give it a deadline this time.” I didn’t like the sound of that. “You collect useful information about my Clay for – let’s say – two weeks. And another grand will be yours.” 

Two weeks. I gulped. “Fine.”

“Perfect!” She shrieked and I winced. “Looking forward to chatting with you. Ciao. Ciao!” 

Ciao…ciao. I closed my eyes and prayed for five minutes of silence. I needed a breather to calm down, hoping that normalcy would someday come back to me.

“Here you are. We…”

Five minutes! Was it really too much to ask?

“Hey…you okay?” Clay, who had already changed back into his grey t-shirt and blue shorts, was standing in the doorframe. 

“Sure.” I straightened my shoulders and went past Clay onto the field. “I gotta go.”

The sports ground was empty, all players either in the locker room or already gone. And I hadn’t even noticed. It was this very moment that made me wonder what all of this was actually good for. As soon as I left school grounds, I’d be fair game. So, why delay the inevitable?

Of all players, only the three tall ones who had helped Clay were left. They showed no reaction when I passed by them in the locker room to pick up my backpack on the way out.

On the way to my locker, I corrected myself and jogged towards our school building. The clubs were over, most students were already gone, so I was not the least surprised that I was the only student in the hallway when I hurried to open my dark blue locker. Indeed, there was a white envelope waiting for me. No sender, no note attached. Just a bundle of dollar bills. I didn’t have to count them to know that it was the grand we’d agreed on.

“Wait, Ken!” I hurried to throw the envelope in my bag when Clay caught up to me. “You can’t seriously believe that I’d let you go home alone.”

I couldn’t?

My gaze must’ve been as thunderstruck as it felt since Clay rubbed his nape. “C’mon. All of this would be useless if I left you alone now.”

Everything in me wanted to run, be alone. But I couldn’t. Not anymore.

So, instead of telling Clay that I was fine on my own, I murmured: “But I’m not going home.” It was no lie. Not that I’d ever let Clay Prescott see my home.

“To Book Den, then?” Clay pulled the keys to a brand-new blue sedan out of his pocket. It welcomed us by flashing its turn signals twice when we slowly approached our school’s parking lot.

I hesitated when Clay asked me to get in. “You honestly don’t have to do this.”

He rolled his eyes and drummed on the car’s roof. “Get inside. I’ll take you wherever.”

I thought about the envelope. “To North Western Medical?”

His hand stopped drumming on the roof. “You okay?”

“Yes!” I hurried to say. “My mom…” …is in a coma. “…works there as a nurse.”

Not a lie, yet, not the part of the truth that mattered.

Chapter 5 - End