After Fire - Dreamnotfound

Ten|georgenotfound

He wondered how Sapnap was doing; he didn't seem to line up with the classic signs of someone being 'okay'. Though, George didn't see their break-up as a bad thing— if two soulmates don't love each other, then they shouldn't be together. It was such simple logic that, had Sapnap known, could have saved him from unnecessary heartbreak. Maybe Sapnap didn't know why Clay had broken up with him, even if there weren't many other reasons for these break-ups to happen.

"How'd your soccer game go yesterday?" George asked instead. He sat back and gazed at Clay's empty seat in front of him.

"I messed up bad, George," She replied. "I was out of line and I kept missing the goal. It was bad. We got destroyed by St. Francis."

"I'm sure you did better than you think you did."

"No, I did just awfully. I'm glad you didn't go. It's so embarrassing."

"Well, all great athletes have terrible games. If anything, that gives you something to have in common with them. You're one step closer to the big leagues now."

Drista chuckled lightly. "Yeah, I guess. This is why I go to you when I feel bad."

"Yeah, it's only one game— and it's the first game of the season at that. It's good to get all the bad plays out now rather than later."

"Why did the season have to start so early?" Drista groaned. "Clay told me soccer season starts after Thanksgiving break. It would have given me more time to prepare."

"You'll be okay. It's only one bad game. Were your parents there?"

"Obviously. They never miss a game," Drista replied. "I've been playing soccer since I was seven and the only game they've missed was when Clay ran away. But even then, they made it to the last half after finding him."

"Wait, he ran away?"

"He always does. Every time he gets in trouble he claims he's running away and never coming back, but he always comes back by curfew," Drista replied. "Mom told me he's just doing it for attention. The last time he ran away was, like, a week before you arrived. Nobody went looking for him and he was back home by curfew."

"Ah," George mumbled.

"What do you mean 'ah'?"

"Are your parents worried about us at all?"

"Oh, mom's pissed." Drista laughed. "They saw your little money withdrawal all the way in North Carolina and they freaked. They thought you guys were just driving around the block or something." George heard the faint ring of a bell. And the chatter was replaced with the scuffling of the students around her. "Welp, got to go, George. Oh wait, one last thing. Will you be back in time for my next game? It's on Thursday, and it's a home game."

"Um, we can try to make it. I don't know when Clay is planning on taking us home. I've just been going along with whatever he wants."

"Oh, that must suck. We can talk about it later. Bye." She quickly hung up before George could say goodbye.

He decided that if Clay wasn't back yet, he probably wasn't coming back and decided to pay and take the leftovers with him. Clay stood in front of the windows, pacing back and forth. Occasionally, he'd stop and say something before returning back to pacing with his open hand fidgeting with his sweater. George waited inside until he saw his phone lower from his ear and him sit down on the sidewalk with his head bowed.