The Nerd [BXB]

39 𖠇 "I Didn't Know You Were So Talented With Balls"

Harvey Cohen is a competitive soccer player on the field and everyone that has attended one of his games can confirm so. However, he wasn't always the best at the sport when he first joined the team in high school. As a freshman, he had tough competitors that made him question his passion. Nonetheless, that same year he witnessed the success the sport brought to students like him that plan a career in the field. During a game, a recruiter of a well-known college near Sunset City sat in the bleacher to watch the boys get their uniforms dirty.

After the game, he stepped down the bleachers and headed to one of the MVP players, Ricardo Domingo. From there on, Ricardo not only became one of Sunset City's high best players but of the entire state. He got the life Harvey always wanted by playing for the big leagues.

And now that he's finally openly bisexual with the disapproval of his father, he wants nothing more than to get picked by a recruiter that will grant him scholarships. By doing so, he would not have to depend on a man that would much rather pay for his conversion therapy than a college education.

Today is that day for Harvey.

"Someone is a little too happy," I mention when I catch my mother smiling at her phone early morning.

She sets her phone down and ties her hair to a ponytail. "I'm entitled to being happy, ain't I?" she says just as Harvey steps into the kitchen. He walks to the cabinet and stops right there. "Your protein shake is inside the fridge, Harvey," my mother tells him. "I didn't want it to get heat up so I placed it in there."

"You're a sweetheart," he says, sighing in relief as he pats her shoulder. "I'm just a bit agitated today."

"Nervous is the word more suitable for that sentence," I let him know, zipping my backpack after placing books I plan to return in there.

My mother grabs the keys. "Why is that, Harvey?"

He takes a chug from his protein and grins widely. "There will be a university recruiter I've been waiting forever since I started playing soccer at practice today." Although there's a noticeable quiver in his voice, the excitement is still noticeable from afar.

"Harvey, that's awesome!" my mother cheers for him, giving him a side-hug. "You'll do great, honey. Just shake the nerves away and forget he's even there."

Harvey's nervous breakdown was so evident to my mother that she decided to drive us to school. Sadly for me, the entire ride, she goes on and on giving him tips to control his nerves and proceeds to remind him as she drops us off. "Deep, slow breaths, Harvey!" she yells from the rolled-down window.

"I hope you wrote all that down," I say, walking by his side to the high school building.

He chuckles while shaking his head. "Love your mother, but no advice is capable of calming my nerves." He glances at me. "Actually, there might be."

I am about to ask what that is, but his eyes on me give me the response I was looking for. "Of course I'll be there, Harvey. Especially now that you've told my mother about today's game."

There is a smile on his face that I can't help myself but stare at until it fades away. "At least you two will be there," he says, looking down at the tiles as we walk through the hallways.

"You haven't spoken to your mother?" I ask him before we apart to our first classes.

We stop at a corner of the hallway. Harvey leans his back on the wall and I remain standing by his side with my hands tucked around the straps of my backpack. "Not since last week," he shares, chewing the inside of my cheek. "Something tells me my father flushed her phone down the toilet after finding our text conversations."