Getting Over You

hello mason

By the time Monday had rolled around, I was at peace with the situation that occurred the previous Friday. I didn't want to hold onto the anger and hurtful feelings, so I chose to be the bigger person and move on. 

I also didn't realize it but Dean had basically become a part of my every day routine. Every day would start out with him driving me to school, hanging out in class and at lunch, before he'd drive me home. We'd frequently hangout later at night and talk for hours about anything and everything. We had an understanding of each other's thoughts, and talking to him felt relaxing. 

After school that day, I decided to go to the library and get some work done while I waited for Dean's football practice to end. I finished on my calculus homework before moving onto my history homework, which involved writing a paper. Thankfully, I finished it within an hour and had a little bit of time to spare before practice ended. I packed up my things and put everything into my backpack before leaving the library. I walked down the hallway to my locker to switch my books before heading out the front door to the parking lot.

Dean's car was parked close to the building, so I waited around by his car for him to come out. In the distance, I saw him leaving the field with the team to head to the locker room, so I knew he wouldn't be much longer. 

After about ten minutes, Dean was exiting the main door of the school, followed by some of his teammates. He looked over to where I was standing and smiled before waving goodbye to his friends. When he walked over to the car, he unlocked the doors, sliding into the driver's seat. I opened the passenger door and got in, closing the door behind me. Dean looked distracted and deep in thought as he pulled out of the parking lot. 

It took me only a few minutes to realize something different about Dean's appearance. His right hand had bruised knuckles and a finger on his left hand looked purple, probably jammed. 

"Dean, what happened?" I asked, hoping that he didn't get into trouble. 

He wouldn't look at me as he quickly responded, "Nothing."

"That doesn't look like nothing," I said, reaching over to touch his hand while we were stopped at a light. He moved his hand away after my hand made contact with the bruises. 

"Lainey, stop," he snapped. "There's nothing wrong."

I stayed silent the rest of the ride. I felt hurt that he was keeping something from me. I thought he could trust me, and here he was shutting me out. I knew I shouldn't have been upset that he snapped at me because it wasn't my business and I was prying. I was just worried and I needed to know to calm my nerves and understand.

When we finally got to my house, I almost expected him to drop me off at the end of the driveway but he pulled in the way he usually did. However, instead of just dropping me off, he turned off the engine. I looked over at him, confused, while he stared at the steering wheel, his hands gripping it tightly. 

"Question game," he said, causing me to stare at his eyes, hoping he'd turn to finally look at me. 

"Ok," I said softly. I was trying my best not to be pushy and I was kind of afraid that he was going to snap at me again. 

"That guy, Tyler, your ex," Dean began. "Is he on the football team?"

I froze, extremely confused as to why he was asking that question. I know he's on the team so he'd find out eventually but it was weird to bring it up out of the blue like this.

"Yes," I said, facing him to see his reaction. He gripped the steering wheel tighter and clenched his jaw. He looked pissed but I couldn't understand why. 

"Dean," I said softly, touching his shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"Tyler's been targeting me at practice," Dean said. "It started out with him just being a little pushy and on top of me while we ran drills, but eventually he got more physical. Every time he'd tackle me, he'd ram into me to do as much damage as possible. He even shoved me to the floor once, jamming my finger."