Slave to Love

Chapter Two

Dedicated to Floats because I'm in love with Bra Boy. If you haven't yet, be sure to check it out.

 

Chapter Two

Do you know the feeling when you just snap?

It happens to me sometimes. Actually, I snap more often than normal people. At least that's what my mom says. She says, I shouldn't let small things throw me completely off balance, but I guess it's easy for her to say because she's not a teenager anymore.

"Bruckner!" Coach approached me, after he checked on Heidi and made sure she was okay. "That's enough! You're doing laps around the field until the end of this practice."

I nodded, still looking at Heidi, who was now pretending to be having a near-death experience. Seriously, it wasn't that strong of a hit. I could have easily bashed this girl's face in, if I wanted.

Preferably with a baseball bat.

Not that it was at hand, but since we're speaking hypothetically…

When I started jogging through my first lap, Loughlin added, "And you see me after you've changed!"

I glared at him, my stomach twisting into a knot. A thought flashed through my mind: Is he about to take away my captain title? I felt guilty for the first time since hitting Heidi, and I was mad at myself for letting her provoke me. Because of that bimbo my position in the team was endangered.

On second thought, maybe I was not in the best place mentally to continue leading this team. Maybe that immature crush on Ryan Perry was getting the best of me…I shook my head in frustration.

 After forty minutes of running I was tired, thirsty and sweaty like a pig. But, as much as I wanted the running torture to end, I dreaded facing angry Coach Loughlin more.

With my hair still wet from the shower, I knocked on the door to Coach's office. I heard Loughlin's voice invite me in. He was sitting at his desk, shuffling some papers. He frowned when he looked at me and I resisted the urge to make a run for it.

"Bruckner, do you mind explaining what the hell today was all about?" he asked me, after I sat down. His voice was quiet and calm, which was unnerving.

"I'm sorry, Coach," I muttered, staring at my hands. I was afraid that if I looked into his eyes, he'd see how not sorry I really was. "Heidi was teasing me and I just‒"

"I don't want to hear this," he cut me off. "You are the captain. You have no right to lose control like that. You could have seriously hurt her. That's unacceptable."

I sat there silently, feeling Loughlin's eyes bore into me. I wanted to break the awkward silence, but nothing came to my mind. I only had stupid explanations and childish excuses. All of this would humiliate me further.

Finally Coach spoke up, "First of all, you'll apologize to Heidi." I winced, but my head was still bowed, so Loughlin couldn't have noticed. "Second of all, I'm afraid I have to suspend your captain title. I don't see any other way around this. It's not even about today but more because of your overall lack of commitment lately."

I released a breath I didn't know I was holding. The worst scenario had just became reality and I couldn't say I didn't expect that. I lifted my head, trying not to look crestfallen. "I understand," I said. And I really did, but still, my heart squeezed painfully in my chest.

"Nicole will replace you for the time being," he said, looking at me expectantly, but I had nothing to say to him. "Finally, I should assign you a detention."