Love, Apple [On Hold]

What's wrong with Luka?

Luka was trying to catch his breath, no matter how many times the coach yelled to 'pull it together' he couldn't, and it annoyed Luka to the point of letting someone on the opposite team tackle him, resulting in him to where he is now, sat on the bench out of the game.

He watched on as his team played and all he could think of is, 'what the fuck is wrong with me?' and every time he'd ask, he'd be left speechless because he didn't know.

All weekend he had been in a pit of gloom, but thankfully it wasn't because of his parents divorcing, it was because he couldn't stop thinking about the note and money someone left in his locker.

It's been a week since that damn note made Luka question everything and everyone around him, and since then there hasn't been an apple since.

In fact, Luka had gotten no response whatsoever from this mysterious girl.

It had annoyed him, on the day of the biggest football game of the year to find that there was nothing in his locker, so annoyed that he left a response as his sister suggested he do, and he did.

Yet why was it affecting his performance? He was captain, this was embarrassing for him to be tackled and put out of the game so early, but he only had to wait until he was cleared and called back into the game.

The time he spent on that bench, sweaty, out of breath, right up until he was called back into the game, he swore to himself that he would find whoever this girl was by the end of the week, he would go to all lengths to understand why him, why would she choose him?

That night, that game, he had never pushed himself so hard, never played so well, he was sure that even his parents would be somewhat proud of how he performed after getting back into the game.

They won and he was made MVP of the game, but even so, he knew he wouldn't avoid a tongue lashing from the coach, or questions from his teammates about why he was off his game, it was so noticeable that he even heard some of the crowd yell at him constantly.

"You okay bro?"

Luka simply nodded and walked alongside his friend, who has asked him three times now how he was feeling, and every time he answered he said the same thing, 'I'm ok', even though he was angry at himself, yet proud of what he accomplished for the team, despite his early performance, he redeemed himself.

"I can't believe the coach went off on you like that." Jake laughed.

"Don't let it get to you dude, coach rode me hard for a week once, just for dropping a towel on the floor, and he yelled just as hard then too." Ronnie said, grimacing.

Luka didn't mind being yelled at, in some way he deserved it, he knew he messed up and he accepted that in fact, he doesn't even know if he heard a word the coach had said to him, Luka blocked most of it out.

"Nah, I was just a little off my game, I got it back though." Luka said.

The three of them were close to their lockers, and no matter how hard Luka tried to not think about it, he couldn't help himself, he was excited to see if there was a response to the note he left.

Whoever she is, knew I wouldn't be able to see who she is from the game he just played, and if she knows who he is, then the game would be the perfect time to go into his locker and put a reply in.

Luka watched Jake grab his bag from his locker, which is near his. "Right bro, I'm off to the shops do you need anything?" Jake asked.

"Nah, I'll see you at the dorms."

Jake grinned and nudged Luka's shoulder. "Aight, later." He said, before leaving with Ronnie down the hall towards the building exit of the college.

Luka waited until they left before he fast-walked to his locker further down the hall, he put the pin in and opened the locker door, he didn't know why he was excited but he had gotten so used to the unusual gifting of apples this past year that every time he opened his locker, he always got a strange feeling of happiness.

Luka didn't need to look hard, whoever this Apple girl was had left a reply. His fingers were shaking and his heart was pumping, he was excited to know her reply to his, he will admit that he was quite bold with what he wrote to her, yet he couldn't wait any longer, the curiosity was killing him.

He left his number for her, and on that note, he left for her, in the corner of the ripped page was a reply in beautiful handwriting, so neatly written that he was even more nervous.

The note was simple, yet it made Luka excited because she had written 'Ok'.

A simple OK was enough, and now all he had to do was wait for her to text or call him.

Was Luka crazy to give his number to a girl he didn't know? Possibly, he had never done it before, not even with girls he had sex with, it was always casual and even though Luka was popular and had admirers, he had never had a girlfriend.

It was weird and it attracted Luka that some strange person could change something about him without even meeting him, he liked that and he wanted to know more about this person, after a year of doing nothing he wanted to do something.

Now Luka wanted to know who she was, because whoever this person was had definitely got his attention, and now it was his move to make. Leaving his phone number was only the beginning and now that whoever they were had it, he was looking forward to finding out who they were.

Luka got back to the dorms and took the note and money that was left in his locker with him, Jake wasn't back yet, probably because he got caught up talking to someone, Luka had lost count of how many times he had stopped and talked to people when Luka joined him shopping.

He definitely didn't go shopping with him after noticing that he stops and talks to everyone, it was a good trait to have, but when you just want to get home to eat the food you bought, Luka had decided they take turns shopping.

He had stared at his phone for a good ten minutes before he started scrolling Instagram and Facebook, in the time he had moved here his online followers had peaked by fifty thousand and it was all because of a picture his sister had taken of him, the summer before they both moved for college.

Since then, Luka had spent little time on social media, he rarely posted anything other than pictures of him with friends outside of college, there were really no pictures of just him, he liked his privacy and found it weird when girls would only be attracted to him because of how he looked.

Luka wasn't a typical jock, no matter how people looked at him, he knew who he was, he wanted what every normal guy wanted, he didn't want to be adored or have wealth and everything that went with popularity, he wanted to be Luka.

It was getting late, and Jake had texted him, first he thought it was the Apple girl, but his excitement went away when he saw it was Jake, telling him that he's spending the night with some girl, surprisingly not Vee and that he would get food in the morning.

It was whatever... Luka was used to how Jake was and he left it at that, he put his phone down and prepared for bed, he didn't know why he thought she would message him on the day, but a part of him hoped that she would, a simple 'Hi' or something.

But Luka knew it was late, almost eleven and he had practice in the morning, as much as he wanted to stay up, he couldn't, not really.

Just when he found his comfortable spot in the bed, his phone's screen had lit up the room and that made him groan out annoyed, because he wasn't in that happy mood anymore, if anything he was straight up irritated.

He grabbed his phone and noticed he had a text message, but it wasn't from anyone in his contacts, and that made Luka sit up straight in his bed and open his phone.

When Luka opened the text, he was beyond speechless, because she had texted him, it was her, and he was suddenly lost with words and thoughts about how he felt about it, he should be worried about her state of mind, knowing its not normal to ask people questions as she had asked him.

Luka would be a hypocrite, he could've stopped this a year ago, he knew it was partly his fault, and perhaps in his own way he has problems too, but none of that mattered, he had left his number and she had texted him, he didn't feel worried or nervous.

He was excited because she replied to him.

'Hi 🍎'