Hollow Breaths|✔️ (Unspoken Words book 3)

5. The Weight Of Emptiness

Rolling my eyes, I started shoving my things in my duffel bag.

"Dude, she's dating that freak, Cayden Bloom now. She moved on from you ages ago. You should too," Connor continued.

Freak.

Every time he called Cayden that, anger zapped through my veins in lightning speed. That was one of the many times I genuinely wanted to hurt him.

"Anyways, if you do decide on moving on with another girl who's going to last more than a week, try better than Hope Lance. Pretty sure, your dad doesn't approve failures like her."

My dad doesn't approve a shit.

I didn't say anything besides picking up my speed on zipping my bag to get the hell out of here as quickly as possible.

The other guys started jumping on each other in front of the mirror, fighting to show off their muscles and six packs. I remained seated on the bench, swallowing hard as I felt like a goldfish in a sea of sharks. A weak, scrawny goldfish surrounded by strong, built sharks.

And I was the captain of this team. Ironic.

When the walls started crashing in on me from all four directions, I bolted out.

As I hurried out of the locker room, Coach Ryan saluted me on the way as he was talking to a college scout who offered me a big (proud) smile. I smiled back, making sure I was completely out of their sight before I let it crumble.

"Hey, Northwood! Wait up," a familiar voice called, slowing me down.

Cody Morgan caught up with me, his chocolate brown eyes locking with mine. Cody was actually one of the most genuine guys on the team and did not get on my nerves as much as the other guys did. I actually considered him a friend.

He was always teasing me about being better than me even though he was ranked second best by the whole town. Sometimes, I told him he was indeed better than me. A lot better.

"Are you going to Connor's party?"

"Nah. Don't really feel like it."

If he were somebody else, he would've flipped out, because Nathan Northwood never said no to a party or to getting wasted till he couldn't remember a thing. But this was Cody. I could be slightly real with this guy.

"Yeah, me neither. You wanna grab a bite at the Green?"

I didn't mind hanging out with Cody, but I couldn't drop out of my work out schedule and I could definitely not grab a bite and ruin my diet regime. I couldn't lose control, because if I did...well, I didn't even want to think about that.

"Nah. I'm good. You go. I'm going to the gym."

Stunned, Cody stopped short, but I continued walking. "To work out? Now? Bro, aren't you tired?"

"Nah. I'm good. I'll see you tomorrow." I said, pushing the heavy doors open and letting myself out of the school building and into the crisp, dull night.

Before the doors slammed shut behind me, I heard Cody's faint, voice. "Okay..."

As I headed down the street blanketed by the night, I brushed past a few freshman guys who were discussing tonight's game. I tensed when I heard praise for me being passed back and forth between them.