I was not able to sleep last night. I was crying for the whole night while trying to contact Zac, who just left me that evening. I tried to call him a hundred times but he won't pick up his phone.
"Melissa!" Toni shouts as she runs to me. She grabs my hand and pulls me. "Come. You need to see this."
We are running along the hallway of the west building of our university. I don't know what's going on but she looks like she has no time for questions, so I shut my mouth up and run with her.
We run until we reach the gymnasium. My mouth hangs open as I see it to be fully packed with people. My mouth opens wider upon seeing that the reason why people are here is because of a basketball match between our team and Zac's team.
Toni pulls me again, dragging me to where Erika is seated.
"Thank God you're here." Erika says, full of tension as I sit beside her.
"What's happening?" I ask.
"AU and RU is having a tune up game and it's getting really intense. The players are getting physical with each other specially those two." She answers pointing at Alexander and Zac. "They have been tough against each other even before the game begins. I won't get surprise if they fight any time from now."
Oh shit! I cover my hand to my mouth as I stare at the guys who are seriously getting head to head on against one another. The tension that surrounds then is almost visible to me. I follow them with my eyes, scared of what's about to happen. With what happened last night, things would surely get bloody.
I did know that there is a tune up game today. Neither of them told me about it. Shit!
I am nervously sitting beside my friends watching the game proceeds. My heart is crazily beating hard that I could even hear it out loud. The tension is killing me. I know anytime from now, this basketball game would turn out to be a boxing match.
As the game goes on, it becomes more like a showdown between Alexander and Zac. They are executing incredible moves while giving their teams points. Everyone's eyes are on them. They both look exhausted but no one wants to give up, they are just vigorously smashing every point for their respective teams.
I don't care about the points. I don't care who wins. All I'm praying is that they would not fight and end up hurting each other.
This time, Alexander has the ball, dribbling his way to the basket. He makes it looks so easy as he passes through all the opponents with incredible speed. Once under the basket, he jumps for a dunk but Zac is already there, jumping his way to block him. It's already impossible for him to shot that ball but he still dunks it with all his force, hitting Zac's hand, knocking the latter over the floor.
Everyone gasps. All suddenly becomes silent while looking at Zac, lying on the floor. Alexander just throws him a look and walks away. All eyes are on Zac as he moves and slowly stands up. He bends down and reaches for the ball.
I haven't realized it but I am already standing with my hands on my mouth. My knees are shaking in fear but I could not bring myself to sit.
To my surprise – to everyone's surprise, instead of giving the ball to the referee, Zac throws the ball to Alexander. The ball hits his head.
Alexander furiously heads back to Zac grabbing him by the neck and punches him straight in the face. Zac goes a little wobbly but he recovers quickly and kicks Alexander in the stomach making the later to slightly bend down in pain. Zac kicks Alexander for the second time but the later was able to catch his foot and pulls it hard, knocking the other to the floor again.
Everyone gasps in horror.
"Oh my gosh!" I cry. I immediately run to get down the court.
"Melissa?" Toni shouts grabbing my arm. "Where are you going?"
"I'm going to stop them."
"You can't stop them!"
"I don't care." I pull my arm away and run down the court as fast as I could. I don't know how to stop them but all I know is that I should stop them in any way I could. I rush to the court, and when I reach there, I could see that a few people are holding them both, restraining them to prevent them from clashing once more.
Alexander has a wound on his cheek while blood is dripping down his lips. There is also that bruise from last night on his right eye. Zac on the other hand can barely see from the blood dripping from his brows. I am getting light headed just by looking at these two bloody figures in front of me.
"Know your place and don't step into someone else's property!" Zac shouts. "Don't make a move on my girl because she's mine!"
"Yes she's your girlfriend but how sure are you that you are the one that she is inlove with? You're maybe her boyfriend, but for how long?" Alexander smiles teasingly provoking Zac.
"Fucker!" Zac violently shakes off the people that are keeping him away from Alexander but he fails.
"Hey stop that!" Coach Nick, RU's head coach exclaims authoritatively making not only the two of them silent but also everyone. "Whatever your problems outside the court don't bring it in! This is a basketball game not a boxing match! We're only playing a sport and not trying to kill someone. Where is your sportsmanship, boys?" He turns to Zac and gives him a cold gaze. "I'm so disappointed in you."
Zac's looks softens. He looks so down all of a sudden. His team mates set him free as he walks away from the court. He stops when our eyes meet but he looks away and walks pass me. He is looking at me coldly and it brings shivers down my spine. He looks at me like he doesn't know me – no, he looks at me like he detests me.
I was staring at him until I could not see him anymore.
He hates me.
"Your boyfriend needs you." Alexander says, standing behind me. It surprises me how he's just there all of a sudden. "I think you should go after him."
I turn around and look up to him. "Are you sure? Is it okay with you?"
"Actually no." He answers honestly while wiping away the blood on his lips. "But I am the bad guy here. I should be the one hated and not you. Everyone knows that he is your boyfriend so it's just right to go after him. You should talk to him. This might be the right time you are waiting for." He smiles bitterly.
I stare at him for a couple of seconds, trying to read him. His expression doesn't change, still standing firm to what he just said. "Thank you." I immediately run to where Zac went. It takes a while before I find him in the parking lot as he is about to get inside his car. "Zac!" I call him out.
He raises his head to look at me but just like what he did a while ago, he looks away and continues on what he is doing like as if he did not hear anything at all. Before he could entirely get into his car, I pull his arm.
"Let's talk please." I beg.
"About what?" He asks, beaming me with cold gazes.
"Us." I say in shaking voice. "You just went away last night before I could even explain myself properly."
"Explain yourself properly?" He laughs sarcastically. "You cannot even answer my questions! I am not dumb, Melissa. I know something is going on. So what do you want to tell me?" He stares at me, waiting for how I would respond, but I remain silent. What could I say to that? I am guilty. He's right something is really going on. I'm definitely cheating on him right now. "See? You could not even give me a proper explanation."
He brushes off my hand but I grip it harder. "Zac listen." I clear my thoughts and raise my head to meet his gaze. I could feel my heart beating so hard almost reaping my chest apart. It hurts a lot. "I don't want it to end up this way. I am really happy with you. You did nothing wrong – "
"Enough." He cuts me off. "That's enough. I don't care what you did, I won't ask for an explanation so you don't need to say anything." His voice trembles. His expression is still the same but there is a hint of fear present on it. "I forgive you so please just don't continue what you are about to say. I'm begging you." His voice shakes as he bites his bottom lip. I could see water forming on his eyes. "We'll be okay. We'll be fine. Just don't say a word."
"Zac."
He pulls me and hugs me tightly. "Shut up. Please. Don't continue your break up speech because I won't allow you to break up with me. We will be fine. We will get through this."