Marble Hill was in a small town about two hours from Boston. There was one main street with stores and restaurants that most students called ‘The Square.’ The one place that never failed was Atlas, a restaurant owned by an older couple. The restaurant was named after their son who died from leukemia. They didn’t have any other kids, but all the students at Marble Hill became their family. From the sport teams to the film and production students, Atlas was a place everyone could rely on.

That being said, it was still only a small restaurant that couldn’t contain more than a couple hundred people. When weekends and game days rolled around, it was usually first come, first serve.

Declan found a parking spot in the crowded lot behind The Square and I quickly prepared myself for the chaos Atlas was going to be. Ever since high school I would get panic attacks if I was in a large crowd with loud noises. My mom took me to see a doctor and psychiatrist, both concluding it was an effect of a traumatic event, a.k.a., the car accident.

I had therapy sessions all through high school, and soccer helped me adapt to crowds and loud noises again, but I would still have a panic attack once in a while.

“You good, man?” Declan asked, patting my shoulder. I looked up and saw we were in front of Atlas, “Dirty Little Secret” by The All-American Rejects playing on the speakers inside. “We can tell the guys something came up if you don’t want to—”

“No,” I interrupted. “No, I’m good. I was just getting stuck in my thoughts.”

“Just give me the word and we’ll leave, alright?”

I nodded, and Declan opened the door to the restaurant. A little bell above the door jingled faintly among the loud chatter and music.

The restaurant interior was like one of those pubs in 90s movies. Dark leather booths, round leather padded stools at the bar, and dented wooden floors from years of dancing, parties after big games, and events. The slatted window shades were mostly closed for the team dinner, and most of the team had already taken seats in the booths and at the tables.

“Alright, now we’re only missing the Lanzi brothers and…” Aidan sighed. “Adrik.”

Most of the upperclassmen groaned, and I glanced at Tyler sitting at the nearest table.

“What’s the deal with Adrik?” I whispered.

“Right…” Tyler said slowly. “He’s a great player, don’t get me wrong, but he’s also known for disregarding anything team related outside the game. At the end of last year it got really bad, but this is the first time he’s skipped a team dinner.”

The bell jingled and everyone looked over to see Nico and Ramiro Lanzi walk in. The brothers looked almost identical, except Nico was almost a head taller than Ramiro. Ramiro’s dusty blond hair was also longer than Nico’s. They were each holding one of Adrik’s arms, and Adrik had a frozen bag of corn against his right cheek.

“We’re here,” Nico said, yanking Adrik forward to trap him in a booth.

“Should I even ask?” Charlie asked.

“He was fighting with a lady when we were leaving our building,” Ramiro said. “She hit him.”

“Probably deserved it,” Tyler muttered to me.

Aidan sighed. “Well, now that everyone is here, let’s get this team dinner started!”

The next few minutes were a bustle of activity as people ordered food and drinks. Classes weren’t starting until next Tuesday, but we had another game over the weekend against a conference team. Liam, Charlie and Tyler were strategizing how to practice for the next three days leading up to the game.

I found myself in a booth in the corner with Declan, the twins, and Noah Barink. We were all sophomores, but Noah was the only one not in the starting line up. He didn’t seem to mind, though. Hailing from The Netherlands, he was happy to be studying abroad while playing soccer.

“Come on, Alex!” Kevin exclaimed, tapping my phone with his finger. “You’ve been staring at your phone for, like, 45 minutes already. Whatever girl your texting clearly isn’t interested!”

“Shut up, dude!” I exclaimed, swatting his hand away.

“Someone’s in a mood,” Kyle said. “Classes haven’t even started yet and you’re all uptight. What’s troubling our little baby.”

“You’ve gotta stop calling me that,” I said.

“But you’re the baby of our group,” Declan teased. “You need a fitting nickname.”

“Wow,” I said, pushing Declan’s arm. “Get up. I need to pee.”

Declan got up, letting me out of the other side of the booth. I walked down a narrow hallway where the bathrooms were. No one was inside the men’s room when I walked in so I took the opportunity to desensitize. Pulling up Instagram again, I went to look for the guy again, but the image of his face was already being overlooked from flashbacks of the match. I pocketed my phone, walking back out to the booth.

“Just in time,” Declan said, scooting further into the booth to let me sit on the end. “Thing One and Thing Two said they know the kid you crushed during the game.”

I whipped my head to look at the twins.

“Really? How?”

“He was in our French 1 class last year,” Kevin said. “He’s smart. Really smart. His name was Paul something.”

“Paul Simon, dumbass,” Kyle said. “He’s a sophomore like us with a perfect GPA. I think he was a journalism student. Wanted to travel the world reporting on sporting events or something.”

“Now you have a name, year and major,” Declan said. “I’m sure that’s enough for Mr. Popular to track him down.”

I was already taking my phone out when Declan said that last part. Typing ‘Paul Simon’ into the search bar, he was the first name that came up. Mutual friends included Jack Calaway, a high school classmate, and—

“Skylar?” I murmured aloud.

“You mean your sister?” Kyle asked. “How do you think she knows him? He said he was from LA.”

“I guess I’ll find out later,” I responded, clicking the request follow button.

There was a loud scrape as Adrik stood from the table he was sitting at. Almost everyone else stopped talking and looked at him. Adrik was glaring at Aaron Mills, a junior midfielder from Australia.

“Say that again,” Adrik growled, grabbing the front of Aaron’s shirt.

“Whoa, what is going on here?” Charlie asked, slapping Adrik’s hand off Aaron and stepping between them.

“I was just criticizing his footwork from today’s warmups,” Aaron said. “It was sloppy and no one playing midfield would appreciate the way he passes.”

“This is stupid!” Adrik exclaimed. “We’re done, right? I’m leaving.”

Adrik stormed out of the restaurant and Charlie sighed.

“I’ll talk to him later. For now, enjoy and be at the gym at 8 am.”

The chatter started again and I looked at my phone. No response from my follow request yet. Kevin and Kyle were setting up a heated debate, some of the others at nearby tables joining in. Atlas was full of laughter, and by the end of the night, we were in high spirits.

“Don’t sleep through morning training,” Aidan joked as we were walking out with the twins and Charlie. The three of them and Adrik lived off campus, a couple blocks away from us. The Flint Lane house and the Amber Road house became the two main houses for the soccer team. Most of the team parties happened at one of the two. Both houses were only a five minute walk from campus and a 15 minute drive from The Square.

“It was one time!” Kyle exclaimed.

Declan, Cooper Ramirez, Aidan and I got into Declan’s car, ready to head back home. Our house on Amber Road had four bedrooms but was on the smaller side. The twins lucked out with the house on Flint Lane which had more square footage. Declan, the twins and I drew lots to pick between the two houses, and, of course, the twins got to pick first. Despite that, Cooper and Aidan were great people to live with, and kept most of the communal spaces clean.

“How are you doing?” Aidan asked me. “I mean, you took a nasty fall during the game.”

“Oh, I’m fine,” I responded. I’m more worried about Paul, I thought.

“He’s more worried about Paul,” Declan said, keeping his eyes on the road.

“Who?” Cooper asked.

“Paul Simon,” Declan answered. “He’s the guy Alex used as a landing pad during his fall.”

“I’m not worried,” I stated. “I just felt like I knew him from somewhere.”

“Sure, sure,” Declan said.

I saw Cooper and Aidan glance at each other and we stayed quiet for the rest of the drive home. Declan parked on the street in front of the house and we all got out to go inside.

The house was a simple two story building with two bedrooms and a bathroom downstairs and the equivalent upstairs. The kitchen, living room and dining room were in an open concept fashion downstairs. Declan and I shared the upstairs rooms while Cooper and Aidan shared the downstairs rooms.

Before we all split our separate ways, Aidan gave one last reminder. “Weight training. 8 am. Be there.”

I nodded, but I couldn’t tell if it was because I was nodding off to sleep or not. Declan and I made our way upstairs, the bathroom at the top of the landing. Declan’s room was on the right, and mine was on the left.

“G’night,” Declan muttered before shutting his bedroom door.

“Mhm,” I responded.

As soon as I got in my room, my phone started buzzing. I knew it was my mom before I even saw the caller ID. It was a FaceTime call, so I quickly rubbed my tired eyes and answered the call.

“Hey, Mom,” I said, running my fingers through my hair.

“What’s going on?” she asked. “Why are you anxious? You’re running your hand through your hair.”

“Mom,” I sighed, giving her a look. She always overthought everything I did, especially since the accident.

“Sorry,” she said. “It’s an instinct. How was the game?”

“We won. We have another game Saturday.”

“How’s Declan?”

“Good.”

There was a pause as I rummaged through my dresser looking for a t-shirt and sweatpants to sleep in.

“Tell me what’s wrong,” Mom said softly. “I can tell something’s wrong.”

I sighed. “I saw someone I thought I knew. Considering, well…” I paused, glancing at a patch of chocolate colored hair on my forehead that hid one of the scars from the accident.

“Do you want me to look through some old photos?” Mom asked.

I hesitated for a moment. “No. I want to remember this on my own.”

Mom smiled. “If you want any help, I’m only a call away.”

“Mom,” I groaned. “Once a week is enough. And I just moved in, like, two weeks ago.”

“Mom!!” a female voice called from beyond the screen. “Where’d you put my textbook?”

“It’s in the living room!” Mom responded.

“I can’t—oh, wait. Found it!”

I yawned, blinking a few times when my eyes watered.

“I’ll let you get some sleep,” Mom said. “You deserve it after the game today.”

I smiled. “I’ll call you next weekend before classes start.”

“Love you,” Mom said.

“Love you, too,” I said before I hung up.

I had finally found something worthy of sleeping in, so I quickly washed up and changed before climbing into bed. Double checking that my alarm was set, I turned over and let myself drift off to sleep.