The Football Coach • l.t. au

Chaptee Twenty

Chapter Twenty

Meg's mum is beyond cold. Her stares pierce. The total opposite of Meg, I presume.

She invited me in but Meg hasn't really gone down their staircase yet. Their house now is the completely opposite of their house before. Everything is fancy and... Expensive. I wouldn't live in this place even I want to.

"Can I talk to you outside?" She asks. She didn't wait for answer, instead she turns around and opens the door.

Their yard is much larger than those of normal England home yards. If I'm not mistaken it's also well landscaped.

"I think Meg's very fond of you." She says suddenly before turning her back to face me.

I stay silent. What does she expect me to say?

"I think she's said more words to you than she has to me the past 5 years."

What?

She smiles at me for a moment and looks down. "Sit." She says, pointing at the bench. I sat down and stare at her. Where is she going with this.

"Let me just remind you that Meg's not like those girls who shows and shares every bit of information about her life to get sympathy."

"How would you know?" I ask but in the end I regret it.

"Because she's my daughter. She's been keeping her problems, mistakes and regrets to herself that it's driving her insane."

"Why won't she tell you?" I ask her. Her mum's not that bad, so far.

"She doesn't trust me. Didnt I tell you she barely talks to me? Our conversation wont even last for 10 minutes." She says. Now she looks hurt. How can a mother feel when her troubled eldest daughter doesn't trust her?

"And here you are, ironically her little sister's coach turns out to be her boyfriend?"

I widen my eyes at her and look down. Meg's not my girlfriend right? I never really asked her but... She still isn't. I just met her and that's.... Wrong. I love spending time with her. She's mysterious but fun.

"Meg's not my girlfriend, actually." I say, rubbing the back of my neck.

"Doesn't seem like it. But you make my daughter happy. Something I obviously cannot do so I'm thankful she met you."

I smile at the thought. I make Meg happy.

"Thanks." I said quietly.

"It's been a while since I saw Meg smile or hear her laugh. It's been a while shes had a friend."

"What?" I ask her

"Meg doesnt have friends. She doesn't even try to. When she moved to university all she ever focused on was graduating that she barely socialized." She says with a shrug.

"And when she comes home?" I ask.

"She locks herself in her room."

She sounds more like a 15 year old at this point and I shake my head with a smile. Meg acting like a 15 year old would be adorable. But think about a troubled 15 year old girl...

"But she's more mature than most people give her credit for. I haven't told her this but I think she'd survive without me." She says.

"Then why don't you?" I say.

"Because," she sighs, "she'll just give me a sarcastic come back or she'd roll her eyes at me and walk away."

I cocked my head. That's true. The first few days I've met her she'd always do that to me.

"But I'm serious about it. I'm really proud of her. She's turned out to be a really responsible and independent woman even after what happened."

What happened? I keep quiet because I know this is something personal. If Meg tells me, okay. But I don't want to find out through her mum.

"I guess..." I said awkwardly. Her mum looked at me with a grin . Wow thats scary!

"If you can get that message to her, that would be great but I doubt she'll believe it."

I stop myself from talking more. Instead I nod and stand up. I need to get out of here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

= MEG'S POV =


I'm going to have to give Milly's shirt back tomorrow... In London. Oh god.

I dry my hair before changing into a pair of jogging pants and a plain green T-shirt. I tie my hair in a ponytail and flipped the lid of my laptop open. There's no way I'm going down there to face my mum after last night.

My door swung open and Holly stomped in. I roll my eyes and ignore her.

"Wow for a 21 year old you aren't acting like you." Holly says but I didnt respond.

"What do you want?" I ask her coldly.

She spins my chair around so she'd face me. Or me face her. Either way it's the same thing.

"Isn't it a coincidence that we're in the same house now? Basically it's mine since it's my dad's so you don't get to boss me around anymore, hm?"

I scoffed and pushed her by the shoulder. "I don't think I look like I care, right?." I say turning away from her.

"Then I guess you'll start caring when my dad proposes to your mum. Don't be too surprised cause it will happen."

"Then let it happen. It's not something I look forward to." I say.

She scoffed and walked out. Luckily I'd be back in my dorm in a month. I can barely breathe in this place with Holly around and Rick and my mum. We're a happy bunch aren't we?
The door creaks open again. I groaned and turned around but only to see Em walking towards me. More like skipping.

"Meg I'm bored here." She says, wriggling her way so she'd lie down on my lap.

"What do you want me to do about it?" I ask her as I squeeze her face.she groans and pushes my hands off.

"Take me somewhere. Get me ice cream. Anything. I can't stand it here!" She says, slipping away from me. I chuckled and got up.

I agree. This house is huge and we're not used to this. If mum love's this kind of sorcery fine but there's no way I'm staying here.

"I thought its just me. Go change, I'll meet you downstairs." I tell her and she runs off all smiley.

I got off my bed and opened my closet. It's not like we're going anywhere else, really. I pull out my denim shorts, a large whit sweater and my brown combat boots. I slipped them on and let my hair down. I grab my bag with my Oyster card inside and my phone.

When I got downstairs, Holly and Karen are seated on the couch with their laptops. They're barely looking at each other. mum and Rick are nowhere to be seen, luckily. I leaned on the staircase as Em comes down in her jeans, t-shirt, converse and white jacket.

I push her slowly out the door. There's not a lot of places to visit in Doncaster. Except for the park but we go there a lot. When we got out, the sun is shining brightly. We don't get this much in England so it's best to take advantage of the weather. I check my phone for the time. It's only 1PM.

The whole time I dragged Em to the train station, she's getting frantic. She wouldn't stop asking where we're going. I got our train tickets. Now we're standing on the platform waiting for the train to arrive.

"I'm serious, where are we going, Meg?" She asks, tugging on my shirt.

"Just some place and stop pulling my shirt!" I said pulling it back up my shoulder. Em would've stripped me on the spot

She rolls her eyes just as the train arrives. The tube is packed but luckily we got a seat. I sat down while Em sits on my lap. Halfway through the journey, she fell asleep. My head's still spinning because I didn't sleep well last night. I was overthinking the happening so...

When we arrived in our destination, I had to shake Em a few times before she actually wakes up. She groaned as I held her hand and pull her out of the train station.

"Meg..." She groaned. "Where are we." She asked as she yawns.

"Cleethorpes Beach." I said.

As we went out the station, I can already smell the sea. This is where I usually go to when I was in high school to just refresh, relax and reflect. I always end up in a club afterwards and I passed out once on the beach. Yeah, high school was very exciting.

Em suddenly perked up and dragged me to the seaside. Which is pretty stupid since we're in the beach and I'm wearing boots and a sweater.
Em and I sat under an umbrella we rented. Despite the loud shrieks and screams of children, it seems really peaceful. I can breathe. The sun is shining brightly but the wind isn't humid. That's why this weather is just perfect.

"Hey Meg." Em asked as she sat infront of me.

"Yeah?" I ask.

"Where were you really last night? I won't tell mum! I promise." She says holding her hand over her heart. There's no one I can really trust except Em.

"I told you, I went to London." I said quietly.

"London? That's freaking far, Meg! You know what mum would've done if she knew?!" She practically yelled at me. I roll my eyes at her ignorance last night.

"Could you leave mum out of this? I'm trying to forget about her." I say.
"Anyway, I went along with Louis' college friends."

"Really?" She seemed amuse as she scoots closer. "What's uni outing like?"

"How should I know? I've had my first taste of it last night." I said with a chuckle. "Anyway, it was wild. Everyone drunk in every corner, snogging on the walls, dirty dancing on the dance floor... It's stereotypical."

"I don't even know what that last word means." She said with a laugh. "What were his friends like?" She asks again.

"They were crazy." I said with a laugh.

"Well we should have a toast for your first social gathering!" She beamed and raised her hands as if she was holding a wine glass. I chuckled and push her away slowly.

"Save that for mum's wedding." I tell her as a joke but she suddenly goes quiet. She took it too seriously.

"She's not going to... Marry Rick, right? I mean, she is still married to dad, right?" She asks. When I look at her she looks so worried and confused.

"I think it's time for both of us to stop denying, yeah? It's bound to happen, Em ."

"But if they do, do we have to change our last names?" She asks and I chuckle.

"I hope not. What is Rick's last name anyway?" I ask her.

"I hope it's not something ugly like Peebottom." She says and we both laugh. "I like dad's last name, for your information." Em says like shes taking a pledge

"Will you want to attend their wedding though? Let's be serious." I tell her. She shrugs.

"I'll go if you will." She says, looking up at me and batting her eyelashes.

"No, the whole ceremony will drive me crazy. You gotta take someone to keep me sane on that day" I tell her and chuckled. I can't stand the idea of mum marrying someone else. Didnt she promise God that she'll love Dad forever and ever? At least thats how I understood it as a child.

But dad's forever with mum was ended quickly.

"Someone to keep you sane, as in coach Louis?" She says, winking at me. Its so weird to hear Louis' name used with a title.

"Don't even go there." I scold her only to make her laugh.

She was right, though. This is the first time in 3 years that I've been with people. Or someone so close. Or with someone who actually matters.

"You're thinking about him..." Em said in a sing song voice. She was pointing at me lips and thats when I realize I have a stupid grin on my face. Damnit! I push her hand away and shake my head.

But yes I was thinking about him.

For some reason he doesn't leave my mind.

But I think I know the answer to why I can't stop thinking about him.


<<<*>>>

But Christmas break is coming to an end!!!! D;

What did you guys do?

I spent most of the time procrastinating over my term paper thats due in 2 weeks. Yay.

I hate Junior year! You have to worry about college and senior year and entrance exams for college and college courses and life choices and a lot of fucking exams!

Screw that, I hate high school!

Surely most of you are in high school right?

What's it like in your school?

Anything you've been procrastinating this break?

Well, amen to you too sister.

I'm out!

Adios!