Invisible String

until one very specific event happened

That was the first time I saw her crying and the first of many times I comforted her because of that guy. It would be easier for me if I only cared about her as a friend or a teammate and didn't have other feelings towards her involved. But seeing her so hurt because that spoiled motherfucker only cared about himself was affecting me more than I liked to admit. I wish I could not only tell her, but show her how she should be treated and what it looked like to be with someone who cared about her and would never do something to hurt her. But I was too scared to say something. I was too scared to admit my feelings for her. I was scared because I didn't even know what it was like to be with a girl and yet I was 100% sure I would love the feeling to kiss Cari's lips and hold her with my arms. But I didn't think I had other options than to put aside those feelings and never let them see the sunlight, not until one very specific event happened.

It was about six months after I got back. We had turned 16 years old already at the time. The whole team was at Julia's house celebrating our most important victory of the year so far. Since the beginning of the party I had realized that there was something wrong between Cari and Tyler. They barely looked at each other and didn't touch once through the entire night. I didn't give it much importance because I knew that their relationship had become turbulent since a while ago, but what worried me the most was the fact that I had never seen Cari drink so much before. From a distance I could see how sad she was and how her boyfriend didn't give a damn about it. She was clearly using the alcohol as an escape, an attempt to not feel so bad about the thing that put them in that situation.

I was keeping an eye on her from afar after she started dancing dangerously near the edge of the pool. Everyone else was having fun and I think I was the only one aware that Cari was not doing well that night. It was probably because of the fact that I was also the only one that really cared about her to begin with, so naturally I was the only one who gave a fuck. When I saw that she lost her balance and almost fell into the water, I decided it was time to do something.

"I'll be right back." I told the girls who I was sitting with at the outdoor table and started walking towards her, feeling Tyler's gaze following every step that I took from the beer pong table.

"Hey, Cari." I said, putting my hand on her lower back and pushing her away from the pool a little. "Are you alright?"

"Shanny! Hi!" She said as soon as she noticed my presence, putting her arms around my neck and hugging me tightly. "Where were you?" The words came out of her mouth with difficulty, almost incomprehensible.

"Right here, all the time." I said holding her by the waist and trying not to trip because of her drunk body weight on top of me. "Do you want to drink some water or something?"

"No, I want another one of these." She said letting go of me and waving the cup in front of my face before drinking the rest of the liquid inside.

"I don't think it's a good..." I started saying, but was promptly interrupted by the presence of someone else. Tyler arrived suddenly, without me even noticing it, grabbing her by the arm and making her drop the already empty glass on the floor.

"Cari, let's go."

"Ouch, Tyler!" Cari complained when he started to pull her towards the door. "Let me go!"

"Hey, stop it." I said when I saw that Cari was trying to get rid of him with a pained face.

"Keep yourself out of this, Beveridge, this in none of your business." I realized how much he was trying to contain his anger at that moment, but I also saw that he was very close to bursting at any moment, but that didn't stop me from following them and trying to make him stop whatever he thought he was doing.