The Courage of Stars

season 1 | chapter 12

"I heard something about period?"

Lyla and Max whirled their heads to the entrance of the room. Tyson and Johnny strolled to their lockers, proceeding to remove their own T-Shirts.

Her eyes stayed on their exposed upper half for no longer than three seconds. Belonging to a team of boys with her as the only female had trained her not to blush or ogle at their half nakedness. It indicated she could breathe in the same room as them without a hot rush of energy coursing through her, possessing her mind with highly inappropriate thoughts.

It also indicated whenever a soccer game was over and a serious eye candy happened to take off his shirt, it would cause many of the girls present to swoon in their seats with hearts in the position of their dilated pupils. Lyla's immunity would threaten to burst. She would sigh, pleading her friends to scurry away.

For her, they were bodies with heads with the exception of her teammates, where those bodies with heads would have personalities and would be her friends.

It demanded precisely three seconds for Lyla to appreciate the sculpted bodies of her boys. Goldstream Academy was indeed a fictional place painted to life with all those handsome boys striding in the halls. She couldn't begin to imagine the numerous girls who joined the school and the first thought that sprung in their minds at the sight of the dangerous level of male beauty was: damn, was that what I was missing?

She had included herself in the category but fell out after a year. Pretty faces weren't all she wanted. An appearance was necessary, important even, but it wasn't all she craved.

She wanted someone that would knock the strength out of her knees. Someone that would leave her star-struck in both terms of face and personality. Someone whose wit would balance his distracting features. She wanted it all and she wouldn't be offended if someone called her a bitch about it. She'd answer anyway.

A memory flashed in her head. Lyla's mind traveled back to that day where she, Hilary and Mariah had gathered in the cafeteria. Lyla had asked them, during the conversation, if what she was wanted was absurd.

She hadn't gasped from surprise once Hilary told her her expectations were sky-high. Her friend had justified her argument with the plain statement of boys remaining forever boys. A few of them would see the light of the day where they would be actual men, men that existed in fiction thus far.

Mariah had sealed her agreement with a nod of her head, but both girls consoled her with the reminder Lyla deserved everything after all the pieces of her heart were glued together. Her parents' divorce combined with the buried-in-the-past heartbreak, courtesy of her old, childhood best friend had almost brought her to the edge of her inner cliff, her heart wavering on the thin line.

All the pain she experienced had shaped her personality, strong and courageous, with an unexpected maturity and wisdom the majority of her peers lacked. Lyla deemed that this pain alone could be the reason as to why she craved from the bottom of her heart and wanted all of it.

She deserved her own fairytale.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Lyla blinked rapidly. She returned her consciousness to reality and cursed herself for not controlling the habit of getting lost in her thoughts, spacing out here and there.

It didn't take her long to register Tyson's palm placed on her shoulder, the warmth sinking in her skin. Her eyes snapped to meet his and he cupped her other shoulder, a towel resting on the curve between his shoulder blade and his neck.

"Yeah." She nodded, closing her eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine," she said when she opened them to face him. "I'm sorry, did I miss something?

Tyson pressed his lips in a grim line. He despised how Lyla could be vulnerable in the most random of places. He despised it because it meant there was something troubling her and Lyla's overthinking nature didn't serve to help.