Strings of Fate: The First Loop

CHAPTER 43

I stayed quiet. It was rare for Coach to go personal.

“But God,” he continued, “doesn’t keep score the way we do. Sometimes what feels like losing is just Him showing us the truth.”

I exhaled. “And what if the truth breaks you?”

“Then maybe,” he said, eyes narrowing against the sunlight, “that version of you needed to break.”

A whistle blew across the court. One of the juniors waved, calling us back for lunch.

Coach stood up, brushing dirt off his shorts. “You’re still in the game, James. Whatever comes next… just remember who you're playing for.”

And with that, he walked toward the dining hall, leaving me in the silence under the tree.

I sat for a second longer, letting the wind skim my skin. I didn’t pray out loud. But something inside me whispered toward heaven anyway.

"If You’re still writing my story… please don’t let this be the chapter where I lose her."

Then I stood.

Lunch could wait.

But the reckoning?

That was coming either way.

Lunch smelled like overcooked chicken and instant gravy, nothing fancy, nothing worth remembering. I sat at the far end of the mess hall, food untouched, legs aching from drills and my head heavier than any weight I’d lifted all week.

My phone buzzed once.

Betty 🦋: want to call while i eat?

God, yes.

I slipped outside to the far side of the building, into the shade where the breeze still remembered how to cool skin. Pressed call. She answered on the second ring.

“Hi,” her voice came through, warm and lilting, like a prayer said under soft sheets.

“Hi,” I replied, quieter than I meant to.

She must’ve noticed. “Hey, are you okay?”

I smiled into the phone, just a little. “Yeah. Just tired. Coach is turning us into monks out here.”

She laughed. The sound made something in my chest unclench.

In the background I heard Inez yelling something about “too much ketchup, Corey!” and someone laughing, probably Betty again.

“Who’s with you?” I asked, already knowing.

“Just Inez and Corey. We’re eating under the tree near the gym,” she said, voice full of sunshine and crumbs. “Matt’s grabbing more napkins.”

There it was. That name again. A sharp flicker behind my eyes. I froze, not in jealousy exactly, but in fear.

Olive’s shadow hadn’t left me. I could still picture her smile like a trap ready to spring. If she had something… if Matt knew something… if Betty ever....

No. Not now.

I pulled in a breath, grounding myself in the sound of her chewing. In the soft rustle of trees on her side of the line. In her.

“I trust you,” I said.

The other end went still.

“I mean... thanks?” she replied, puzzled but amused. “Where did that come from?”

I chuckled, pressing my forehead to the brick wall behind me. “Nowhere. Everywhere. I just… wanted to say it. In case things get noisy.”

“They already are,” she murmured. “But I hear you.”