youngblood | a.i.

eighty four || we are alright

Wednesday, October 13th, 2021- 3:07 p.m.

× One Year Later ×

"Annie!" she called through the phone.

"Mom!" I called back with the same tone.

"You know what I told you! You can not make it there and back before your game starts," she explained again, for the fiftieth time.

"I know, mom. You've only told me eighty times," I rolled my eyes, gripping my steering wheel tighter as I fought my way out of the student parking lot.

"Anastasia Marie Hemmings," she started- it was never a good sign when she used my full name. "You are team captain. You can not miss your game."

"Mom, I'm not going to miss it!" I called back, trying to get her to understand. "I'm leaving the school right now, and it's approximately.." I glanced at the clock on my dash, "3 o'clock. It takes less than an hour to get there, so before 4, and less than an hour back, before 5. My game doesn't start till 6 and I don't have to lead stretches until 5:30. Plus, Coach will understand if I'm-"

"You are not going to be late," she stopped me mid-sentence.

"Fine, then I won't be late," I defended myself. "But I have to be there for at least part of his game, mom. This is so incredibly important to him and no one else will be."

She sighed through the phone, knowing, in the end, I was right. "You just better not prioritize his game over your own."

"I won't!" I immediately defended. "I'm just going to watch a little bit, make sure he notices I'm there and then say my goodbye quick so I can get back. He'll understand."

"Yeah, he better," my mum responded. I could hear her eye roll through the phone, making me laugh on the other end. "Why is this game so important to him anyway?"

"It's his first time starting," I quickly explained, knowing how big of a moment that was. "He's a freshman on one of the top national teams and he is starting when his coach has twenty other options. He picked him."

"Well, you're supposed to start your game too!" she quickly defended. "On the same team that won the state title last season and is headed towards another."

"I know, mom," I rolled my eyes again, finally making it onto the freeway. "And I'm not going to miss it. I promised you that. I promised Coach that. Hell, I promised him that."

"Yeah, well we know your reputation with broken promises," my mom fired back, making me scoff in return at her, hopefully, sarcasm.

"I'm going to go now so I don't crash my car. It's always a pleasure speaking to you, mother," I responded, using the same sarcasm that has laced her previous sentence.

She laughed at me. "Bye now. Drive safe, and don't do anything stupid to make you miss this game!"

× × ×

My watch read 3:56 as I finally got to the bleachers of the stadium. Kick-off was set for 4, and because UCLA was a top-level school, this stadium was huge and hard to maneuver. Thankfully each player got two season passes to a special area with easier access to give out to their closest family- and I'd been lucky enough to score one off him.

I made my way to the section, seeing it was pretty empty since this was a normal game to everyone but us. I stood at the fence dividing us from the field, watching as all the blue jerseys found their spots. I watched him run on field, starting in the center like he always does.