Every love has a story. How you first met. Who said the first word.
Even mine does.
Seven o'clock is not the time anyone will think of falling in love. But as our worlds collided, we did just that. In a moment...
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CHAPTER 13
The sound of the volleyball filled the gymnasium as it hit the floor and ricocheted from the wall. Loud as it was, I felt my heart reverberating in my chest.
"Brooks, I'm getting worried," I said, shifting my gaze to Jane, who was practicing wall-spikes, and back to Brooks.
"Maybe we should let her go on. Just for a few more minutes," Brooks replied, confused.
"She seems exhausted."
"But it's making her feel better, I guess." Brooks shrugged off her shoulders. We were sitting on the bleachers, waiting for Jane to let it all out and calm down. She was in a bad mood since yesterday, and we were concerned about her.
Jane stayed behind after their volleyball practice. Just to make sure that she would be okay, Brooks and I lingered behind to watch her from afar. We didn't let her know we were here to pick her up. Ariel also wanted to come, but she had a Saturday morning dentist appointment with her mom.
"Do you have an idea what's going on?" I asked Brooks. Jane was focused on slamming volleyballs to the floor. I wondered what was troubling her mind.
Brooks gave it a thought. "I'm not sure. She mentioned something about her parents a few days ago."
"What did she—"
"He said!" Jane shouted in frustration, her voice echoing loudly across the closed space. "She said!"
"Come on," Brooks urged me to go down. We ran to where Jane was having a breakdown—her knees hit the floor and she covered her face with her hands. She didn't hear us coming and got startled when Brooks wrapped her arms around her in comfort.
When she realized it was us, her voice broke off midway, as she said, "You two... what are you..."
I took her clammy hands in mine. "Are you okay?"
"Silly, you could have just told us what was bothering you. You're getting us all worried out here," Brooks scolded her.
Jane tried to smile. "Have you been here the whole time? Didn't we agree on meeting at Athan's place later?"
"Nah, we were just passing by to make sure you haven't lost your mind or anything," Brooks replied, making her laugh. "But seriously, you're scaring us here. What's going on?"
Jane sniffed. "Oh, you know, the usual drama with my parents."
Carefully guessing, I asked, "The he said, she said?"
Jane nodded, but she didn't say a word at first. We let her take her time. After a moment, she told us, "I just had enough of it. They refuse to talk to one another, and I'm stuck here, sick of being their bridge. Mom's like, tell your dad this and this. Ask him for your tuition money. Tell him you need this for school. And Dad will be like, tell your mom this and that. I'm really getting tired of them refusing to discuss things like adults."
