Against the Wall

Learning

"Nope," I replied with a sigh. "I mean, he told her that he didn't love her anymore, and right now, that's good enough for me." I glanced at Norah, and she looked like she knew something I didn't. "What?" I asked, looking at her suspiciously.

"Nothing," she replied, turning a bright red.

"You know something, don't you?" I said with realization. Norah shifted awkwardly, and I rolled my eyes. "You're not going to tell me are you?"

Norah nodded. "Well," she said, breaking the silence after a moment, "I need to get to class. What about you?"

"I've got a free period," I replied, "I'll see you at lunch, though." Norah smiled and hurried away, leaving me alone.

I wandered through the halls, towards the library, and I couldn't stop myself from thinking about what I'd seen between Kaia and Griffin. They'd had more history than I'd originally thought. At first, I'd assumed it'd been a hookup, but now, I knew that she'd loved him, and he'd felt the same way about her.

I didn't know what to make of it, honestly. I thought I should feel jealous, but after watching the way he'd dealt with her, I'd decided to trust that he was over her. However, that didn't mean I wasn't a bit curious.

*

"I'm no good at this!" I declared, dropping the stick head onto the ground. I ran a hand through my hair and placed it on my hip. "I have zero hand eye coordination."

Griffin laughed. "C'mon, Sawyer. It's not that hard."

I snorted. "Says the guy who has been playing this sport since he was six." Griffin shrugged, and walked over to me until he was two feet in front of me. Then, he picked up the ball that I'd completely failed at throwing, and he walked back to his spot.

"Ready?" he asked, and I nodded reluctantly, raising the stick in my hands. Griffin pulled the stick back, and the ball came flying towards me. Instead of catching it in the stick he'd lent me, the ball whacked me in the shoulder. I swore under my breath and dropped the stick, grabbing at the place where I'm sure a bruise would appear.

Remember when Griffin had offered to teach me lacrosse? Well, he hadn't had practice today since his coach was sick, so for the past half hour he'd been giving me lessons.

I was definitely sure that it wasn't my sport. The many bruises that were starting to form would agree with me. Griffin was trying to help, which was sweet, but I was purely awful.

I groaned and flopped onto the turf. "I think I'm done for the day," I said, propping myself on my elbows.

"You sure?" Griffin asked, and I nodded. He shrugged and scooped up one of the bright blue balls by his feet. He turned to the side and whipped back his stick before sending a shot into the nearby lacrosse net with a swish.

As I watched him shoot, the long sleeve shirt he was wearing accentuating his lacrosse muscles, I found my mind wandering back to what had happened this morning with Kaia and Griffin. I hadn't seen him at lunch, since he'd been making up a test, so I figured now was as good a time as ever to ask him about it.

"Hey," I said, and Griffin turned to face me. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure," he replied, and he came to sit down across from me. "Go ahead," he said, taking a swig from his water bottle.

"What happened between you and Kaia?" I asked, and his carefree smile was immediately wiped from his face.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, and I let out a sigh of relief. He hadn't denied it, which made me feel better.