extraordinarylove.

8: Serious vs. Curious

"Ayo, Klay!" Steph yelled from the sideline. "Make a free throw, man!" Klay shook his head and sighed before walking to the line to shoot his last free throw. He grants Steph's wish and gives him a look before running back down the court. Good thing they were hitting their last minute of the game because he couldn't stand being on this court. And he couldn't stand playing horrible in front of his team. 

"Are you doing okay, Klay?" Coach Kerr pulled him aside as they walked into the locker room.

"Yeah, I'm alright Coach."

"You sure? You look like you need to get your mind off of things."

"You don't even know the half of it." Klay chuckled to lighten up the mood. "I'll be fine though. At least, before the season rolls around." Coach smiled and lightly patted his back before walking ahead of him. 

When in reality though, he didn't think all this would be over before the season came around. 

Meanwhile, back at home, Sheri sat on couch with her legs propped up. She faced Alyssa as she was scrolling through her phone.

"I really think it's that one girl we were eyeing at practice."

"What? You think he's seeing her?"

"Yes, I just have the worst feeling about her."

"Well, you can't assume until you talk to Klay."

"Do you really think he's gonna come out with it?" Sheri looked at her, as if to tell her the answer was obvious. No.

"Well, I would like to think he would."

"Jesus. Like, where did I go wrong?" Sheri laid her head on the couch as a few tears dropped from her eyes. 

"Aw, girl." Alyssa pouted and hugged her best friend. She hated being in this position, so she knows exactly how Sheri feels. The pain is no joke. The fact that Stephen's bestfriend was now the one acting shady was beyond her. She didn't understand how he'd let that happen even after seeing everything her and Stephen went through. 

But hey, what do you expect? Guys are more than capable of pulling this shit. Unfortunately. 

"It's gonna be okay."

"I just don't know. I miss him so much." She cries onto Alyssa's shoulder. "I don't know what I did wrong."

"No stop that. You didn't do anything wrong. He's just being ridiculous. And I'm sorry honey, but that's on him. If he can't realize how good you are to him through all the ups and downs, then is it really worth it?"

"Everything used to be worth it."

"Well, what do you want? What does Sheri want?"

"I want him. I want the old him and the way everything used to be."

"You're gonna have to let him work on that by himself. No matter what you do, or how many times you try to force it, it's not gonna work Sheri. He needs to learn himself." 

"This sucks." Sheri cried harder, soaking Alyssa's shoulder. Alyssa continued to console her, but her eyes glanced over at her phone that lit up. 

It was Christian.

Christian: Well, I hope you had a good day. When are the twins gonna be here? 

Yes, she agreed to work on being friends with him. But on one condition: she wouldn't see him. 

She was gonna talk to Sheri about it, but clearly, it could wait. Her best friend needs her right now, and Christian wasn't important. 

She quickly locked her phone to hide the message for a later time. They've been having a simple conversation and Alyssa didn't really find any harm in it. He's fully aware of her family and Steph, which was kind of odd, but the thing that mattered the most was that it seemed as if he knew his boundaries.

So maybe he did change.

"Shit." Sheri shot up as she looked at her phone.

"What?" 

"Klay's calling me."

"Okay, so go pick it up. Talk to him!" She nodded and made her way to Alyssa's backyard. She closed the door behind her as she picked up and put the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

"Hey."

"Hey. How was your game?"

"Uh, could've been better. But it's whatever. It's just preseason."

"Did you win though?"

"Yeah, it was cool."

"Oh okay. That's good then." She smiled a bit. It was silent for a minute before she decided to break the awkward silence. "What are you doing?"

"Packing my stuff."

"Ready to go home?" She nervously chuckled.

"Yeah." Silence. But this time, Klay was the one to break it with a sigh. "Sheri."

"Yes, Klay?"

"We need to talk." Her heart began to pound. She dreaded those words and she definitely wasn't ready for whatever was coming. She just knew it was bad.

"Can't wait till you get home?"

"Uhm, not really."

"Well whatsup hun?" He sighs once more.

"I'm just gonna come out with it & say it. I don't think it's right for me to be dragging you along anymore. I can't do this. You don't deserve to be treated this way and right now, I just need to do my own thing." He stumbled across his words, trying to get it out there as quickly as possible. 

"W-what? Klay?" She said, her heart breaking to a million pieces because she heard everything perfectly fine.

"I don't wanna hurt you, Sheri."

"I don't get you. I don't get why we can't just-"

"Because!"

"Because what?"

"Because." He paused and lowered his voice. "I've been seeing someone else."

-

(I Dont Wanna Hurt You - Latif)

Sorry, a bit short again! But starting with the next chapter, everything is going to be turnt all the way up, I swear. Lol. Prepare yourselves. 

Also, I've been thinking about writing another book on Steph. It's mainly gonna focus on him & the main character. It'll definitely be more serious than this one though. More serious, more scandalous, more everything. Let me know if I should do it or not!