Y'all had me dying last chapter. Y'all really ain't messing with Julian💀
Natalie
"ONE MORE LAP LADIES" our coach screamed from the other side of the field. The team and I are currently running around the massive track. In total we've ran six laps and after the second one, I was already on the verge of tipping over. My feet rushed towards the finish line, thirsting for the end goal, which is a mouthful of water. "Oh, it's finally over" I hollered, running on the sidelines, not hesitating to drink a big gulp of water.
Once the entire team got done running. The coach gave us twenty minutes to take a break and relax. Putting in my earphones, I took a walk around the track to cool me down. The light breeze felt nice against my heated insides. My eyes went to the field, still seeing a little of the saying and drawing that weren't the easiest to get rid of. Shaking my head, I admired the fall leaves, loving the colors.
A reflection shined from the sun setting, catching my eye. I squinted seeing the diamonds glitz from a pile in the dirt. Letting curiosity take over me, I jogged over towards it. Wiping my sweaty palms against my leggings, before bending down to pick up the item. Holding it in the air, I immediately frowned by the name of the owner, Julian. Apart of me wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt but it's hard. There's no way he left this at one of the games and didn't notice it missing for almost a month straight.
"I'm sooooo fed up" I mumbled to myself, trying to hide the obvious anger starting to boil up. Here goes another secret I'll have to hide from my brother to save Julian's ass once again. I can't believe my boyfriend probably was the fool behind all of this and I wondered who tagged along. "You definitely have some explaining to do".
Slipping the chain into my lunch bag, I stretched ready to continue practice and hopefully take my mind off of this for a few hours.
Practice ended a hour later and I'm currently in the car with Nathan on the way home. My head was spinning , trying to hold my tongue. My foot tapped aggressively against the black rug on the ground. Nathan looked at me oddly, turning down the radio. "You had a rough day at practice" he questioned, concerned. "You look heated"
Giving a fake smile, I nodded. "I'm just a little tired, nothing a shower and some sleep won't fix" I lied, leaning back into the passenger seat. He gave me the state that meant he knew I'm speaking complete bullshit but decided to not speak on it, which I'm thankful for. We finally made it into the house, being greeted by our guardian, Luke.
"What's popping, peeps" he greeted, opening up his arms for a group hug.
"Nothing much, practice has been a bitch" Nathan vented, going in the fridge and grabbing a blue Gatorade. "Coach been working us like a dog, all I want is a shower, I feel nasty"
"You smell like it to" Luke retorted, as Nathan ran upstairs ignoring the comment. We laughed at him being sensitive once again. Washing my hands, I went to the fridge to take out some things to make for dinner after I get out the shower. "You're quiet today, everything okay" Luke questioned, observing my stance. "Yup, that constant shaking, talk".
"How do you be there for someone that you love but their going down the wrong path?" I frowned on the verge of breaking down in the middle of the kitchen. I sat the frozen nuggets on the counter, trying to fight back the tears. "I'm trying to be there but it's hard because it's like the person is getting worse." , Luke seemed caught of guard but he was in deep thought.
He sat on the counter and I followed suit. "You tried. At the end of the day it's up to them, you can't control their actions. The only thing you can do is be there for that person and try to guide them in the right direction, but-" he paused, pointing his finger at me. "If it continues to be the same pattern, you might have to let that person go. Don't run yourself dry trying to save someone else.", I nodded , taking in the advice.
Walking over the hug him, he squeezed me in his arms. "Thank you, I really needed the advice" I said and he nodded. "Of course, now go take care of yourself and I'll cook y'all food" he said and I didn't think twice before rushing towards my room.
After a hot shower, I sat in my room in nothing but a plain yellow towel. Reaching in my lunch bag, I picked up the piece of evidence , just staring at in disbelief. Maybe someone else has the exact same chain with the exact same name on it. It's just a confidence that it's close near the crime scene, no buggy. Looking in the mirror, I ran my hands over the chain, staring blankly. "Yeah, I'm calling him" I said aloud, picking my phone up from the nightstand. "Play it cool, Nat. Play it cool" I chanted to myself as my finger hovered over his contact name.
Closing my bedroom door, I clicked his name, waited for it to say connecting...
Soon enough, Julian's face popped onto the screen with a wide smile. I returned it, almost forgetting about being upset but I couldn't help it. "Hey babe, how was practice" he asked and I looked up at the ceiling, trying to find a word to describe it.
"Hmmm, baffling"
"Why" his eyes screamed curiosity as he got comfortable against his headboard.
I shrugged. "I've just been finding out a lot of stuff, it's hard. Nothing I can't handle" I switched to another topic. "How's everything been with you, I know it's been stressful with the team".
He leaned back on his arm, blowing out a breath. "It's been hectic but the team and I having fun in the mist". I'm sure y'all are having amazing fun, tearing up someone's school for no reason. It's one thing to play a funny prank but that's taking it a little far with the cursing and coming for teams, my team at that. It made me kinda look at him sideways, especially about the dance comment. Did he write that or why would he let someone else write that? Knowing I'm on the team to, so if they suck, I'm apart of the sucking.
"That's nice, did you hear about what happened at my school last weekend." I rolled my eyes. "What fools would do some dumb shit like that" I questioned in somewhat shock, that he sat there and pretended to be surprised.
"I heard about it from Instagram, who the fuck spray paints. That's some lame ass shit" he complained as if he played no part in this whole thing. Counting to three in my head, the tiny smirk on his face made me want to throw the phone across the room. Turning the microphone off, I grabbed my pillow, stuffing my face in it and letting out a muffled scream to keep my sanity. Putting my face back in the camera, I put on a smile, batting my eyelashes. "Right, I hope whoever did it gets caught" I said, watching as he looked off into space in deep thought. "You good" I giggled, wishing he would just fess up to take some the ease off of me wanting to slice him in two.
"Yeah. That's some foul ass shit, they did"
"Hmmm" I hummed, squinting my eyes, looking at his neck that usually sported his chain, that's currently on my bed. "Where's your chain, babe" I caught his attention as he felt on his empty neck. His eyes widened but he shook his head, coming up with a quick lie. "I think I lost it at one of the practices" his voice kinda got high and just bobbed my head in complete shock.
"Baby, are you in a towel" he broke his neck to get a full view of me. "Wanna do a little dance for m-" , if I sat here any longer, I had plans on exploding.
"Woooowwwwwwwww" I dragged out, throwing the phone across the bed. "Your really a straight dub and you have no remorse", I picked the phone back up as he gave has clueless written all over it. I felt around the bed for the chain, once I caught on to it, I dangled it's in the camera catching him by surprise. "Yeah so I'll that wack ass lying you did was for nothing, stoopid"
"Natal-"
"Do you take me for some dumbass? Like you've been blowing me this whole semester, my nigga. Not only did you diss the school but then you coming for me at that? Like who the fuck does that, you could've at least thought about your actions" I ranted, getting more heated by the second.
"N-"
"Nah, homie. Don't talk if you finna pull another lie out your dirty ass" I spat, watching him clench his jaws, annoyed but I didn't give a single fuck. "Sooooo fucking foul"
"How did I come at you" , confusion was written all over his face and apart of me wished this was in person. "You or your lil teammates talked about the dance team. Talking about some 'the dance team need work to', like don't fucking play with me. I take pride in that so did you write or some else did"
"Laila did" he tried to whisper it but I heard it clearly.
I let out a cackle, stomping my foot against the carpet floor, tilting my head to the side. "Laila been your best fucking friend, huh. You've been spending hella time with her and all, that's cool. More time with her than your own fucking girlfriend" I let out another laugh as he seemed scared of my next move.
Julian was silent but of course he had a comeback. "You've been neglecting me to" be frowned, balling up his fist. Funny he says that when I'm the one usually breaking my neck to stay in contact after a long day of school and practice.
Instead of responding, I simply hung up the phone not even bothering to entertain him anymore. Going to my list, I blocked his number, feeling no guilt towards it. We needed a break from each other and if deleting him out of my life for a few days did that, so be it. The nonchalant attitude and the lying isn't much of an effort to show he cares anyways.
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Is Natalie blowing the issue out of proportion?
Should she keep it a secret or tell?