Look out for the <>!!
On a sadder note, school is starting back up meaning I will have less time to update. I might have to start posting only twice a week again.
Darla H
I walked down the stairs with a yawn and a smile on my face on the Wednesday morning, knowing I wouldn't be at the stadium today. With dad in meetings all day long, he canceled practice, allowing me to have the day off too.
"There's food on the table for breakfast," mom called out from the kitchen as I walked into the dining room.
"Thanks," I said as I looked at the cut fruit laid out for me. I took a seat and grabbed a banana and ate it as dad walked in with his standard khakis and polo outfit. A monogrammed O was on his right side of his chest showing his OSU support. "Morning."
Dad smiled at me for a second before turning his attention to the paper he held in his hands. He was distracted, and I wondered if it was because of the meetings. He was normally so calm, but something in his eyes told me this time, things were different.
"Ready to crush these meetings?" I asked.
Dad nodded as he looked at the paper in his hands. "You betchya I am."
"Paul, are you really wearing that outfit to the meeting with the president of the university?" mom asked with a tired sigh.
Dad looked at his outfit and shrugged, seeing nothing wrong with it. "Don't see why not?"
Mom shook her head as she sat down at the table with us. "Fine, I guess they should expect that from you."
"Nojo, I know I gave the day off to everyone, but could you get my phone? I left it on the field overnight," dad said as he bit into his apple.
I nodded. That was a simple enough request and if it helped him out, I would do it in a heartbeat. "Sure, I can pick it up."
He smiled at me. "You are a total rockstar."
I smiled back at him as he opened a briefcase and pulled out some papers from it to thumb through. I don't think I had ever seen him take a briefcase to an interview before. There was something very official about this which made me question what it was about. "What are the meetings about today?"
"Just about the team and the upcoming games," dad said as he waved his hand.
The vague response made me frustrated. I was his assistant, I wanted to know more.
"Are they worried about something?"
"The team isn't playing as well as they should, and Charles has been spreading some pretty outlandish lies which has added fuel to the fire."
But I was sure Charles wasn't the only one to blame. Everett had made no effort to talk to anyone on the team. Whenever he walked into the room, it was like a silence followed him.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" It was a pretty poor question, but it was better to be asked then to sit quietly.
He shook his head. "It'll blow over like a summer windstorm real quick. We just need to hunker down as it moves in."
Yes, maybe the whatever news going on about it would blow over, but the team still wasn't playing like it should. Maybe there was something I could do about that. But as dad turned back papers, I figured this wasn't the time to hassle him for such questions.
"Paul, you'll be late if you don't leave now," mom said as she looked at her phone.
"Gee wiz, you're right. I gotta get out of here fast. Love you both, stunning ladies. I'll be back tonight," with that, he got up from his seat and walked out the door to get to his meeting.
Mom turned to me with a sigh as she sat down. "He's trying his best to heal the team, but there was some real damage done to them last year."
"From Charles, right?"
Mom nodded. "Dad's trying not to let it get him down, but it's frustrating. He's doing all he can."
"What did the team member do?"
She shook her head. "The news said it was for cheating in classes, but dad said it was so much more. The university is just really good at covering things up."
A pang of frustration hit. If what he did was so bad, why didn't the school make this public knowledge? The school should let the public know because the fans still liked him. I saw that the bookstore still had his jersey for sale. That shouldn't be possible if he was such a bad person. "It's hard addressing the terrible past when people still are found of it."
She nodded. "Well, anyhow, do you want a ride to the stadium? I am free all day and I could take you whenever."
I shook my head. "I think I'll bike there."
"Are you sure? It's supposed to be super-hot today."
I nodded, even though the thought of biking in the heat made me feel a little queasy. However, if I agreed, she would probably want to combine her university trip to a place that I didn't want to go. "I'll leave now, before it gets hot."
She smiled as she walked to the fridge and handed me a frozen water bottle. "You can take this."
I took it from her then adjusted my oversized T-shirt, trying to make it fit better. It wasn't my standard outfit, but it would be fine for just a quick run to the stadium. "Thanks."
"I have to run to the store later today, is there anything you want?"
I thought about the strawberries I ate last night while in bed watching a show. Berries were the theme of summer and I already I wanted more. "More strawberries please."
"I can do that. Anything else?"
I shook my head. "Nah, that is enough." I walked into the entryway and pulled on my sandals, happy with wearing different shoes for the day. "I'll be back later."
"See you later then."
With that, I walked into the garage to get my bike, which stood on the side, covered by a dusty tarp. I pushed the tarp away, praying there wouldn't be any spiders in my path, and gave a sigh of relief when I didn't see any.
I couldn't remember the last time I rode my bike. It had to be over a year ago. Before I got my licenses, the bike provided such feeling of freedom, but since I got my driver's license, biking became less.
Before long, I found myself locking the bike against the gates to the stadium. I hummed a tune as I unlocked the gate, letting myself in and shutting the gate behind me. My humming grew louder as I walked deeper into the arena.
As I got to the hinged double doors that let out to the field, a yell echoed the hall. Panic caused my hair to stand on end as my eyes darted around the empty hall.
Another yell rang through the hall. This time panic was replaced with curiosity like pennies at the bottom of the well. Who else was here? No sane player would come on their day off.
Quickly I ran to the doors of the field and peered through the windows. My eyes widened as I watched Everett run down the field with such strength and speed. For minutes, I watched him go back and forth with such determination, as if trying to outshine his other half. Every time he crossed the white line, he stopped to look at his time, then ran again.
Dad said everyone needs breaks and insisted they took one today. But Everett wasn't slowing down. He tripped on something, falling on his face. He swore loudly as he took off his shoe and threw it in the air in frustration. He swore again as he ran his hands through this hair.
Watching him through the doors of the field felt like such an invasion of privacy. But I couldn't tear my eyes away as he broke down. He always seemed so collected and cool, but in front of me, he was none of that. He looked insecure, worried, frustrated. Seeing him like this made me realize that even the tallest mountains could crumble and just like Mount Everest was shrinking, he could, too.
He crawled to collect his shoe and as he tied it, I decided I couldn't hold it any longer; I needed to make my presences known.
With my head held high, I walked through the door and spoke up, "You know, practice was canceled."
Everett scrambled to tie his shoe, not looking at me as I continued to get closer. He sniffled as he stood up from the ground, finally looking at me. "I know," he said. "Why are you here?"
I looked around and spotted dad's phone on a seat by a foldable table. I grabbed it and waved it in the air. "He forgot it. Asked me to get it."
He nodded and for a moment we were silent, and I let it crush us. But I couldn't stay silent long. I had so much to say to him after what I just saw. "What makes you want to be the toughest, mentally inaccessible person on the field?"
"Who says I want to?"
I gestured to all of him as I raised my eyebrow. Even in a moment like this, it was so impossible to talk to him. Was he afraid of sharing his concerns? Who would I tell anyhow? "It makes you hateable."
"Do you hate me?"
I shrugged as I put dad's phone into my pocket. "I used to."
"What changed?"
"Seeing you here, now."
His face twisted up in emotions for a moment before he grabbed his phone on the sidelines. Taking long strides, he passed me in silence.
My stomach twisted in knots, knowing I said too much. I encroached too much into his bubble and he would retreat deeper into a place I couldn't reach.
But he never said enough, always keeping things from view, like the caves, hidden by clouds. I was right, Everett was Mount Everest, in all the ways possible. It infuriated me but seeing him like this, alone on the field, made me realize maybe Everett wasn't completely a dick.
I couldn't let him leave without a word. I needed to stop him, to talk to him more, so I grabbed his hand, not wanting to finish this conversation so soon.
He stopped shook me off before glaring at me. "Shit, Nora, what do you want me to say?"
"You don't have to say anything. But this person you are now, doesn't protect you from everything. I just want to know you and you make that impossible."
He frowned as he stared at me in silence for a moment. "Are we friends then?"
Friends was such a strong word when I still didn't know him. My hands grew wet, fearing I would regret this in the future, but for now I felt like the right thing to say was, "Yes". If being friends helped me learn more about the team and him, I was all in.
He nodded as he looked around one more time, making sure we were alone. "I do yoga every Saturday with middle-aged woman because they don't know me. They talk about their husbands and gossip about TV dramas, never about football or the local football news and I like that."
I stood in silence as his words hit me like a slap in the face. I was so sure he went for other reasons such as attention, but he didn't want that.
"Do you think that sometimes mountains don't want to be the tallest things on the planet," Everett shrugged as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Now your turn, why do you go to yoga?"
"Mom does yoga and invited me. I couldn't say no to her."
He nodded casually, as if he didn't actually care about my answer. "You don't say no often, do you?"
That simple question felt like an attack and instantly set me off. "You think I'm a pushover?"
He shook his head as he took a step back from me, as if afraid I would blow up. "I didn't say that."
"Then what do you think?"
"I think you're a people pleaser."
My cheeks grew hot as I frowned at him. I never thought about it like that, so he had to be wrong. I just wanted to help. Be there when needed for people. He couldn't know me better than myself.
He gave a tired sigh. "Well, I have to get going. I'll see you around, Nora," he said as he started to walk away once again.
This time, I didn't stop him, figuring I would end up fighting with him the longer he stayed. "See you around," I repeated as I watched him leave the field.