Chasing Blue

The Incident.

s o m e t i m e — 3 years ago

Austin

"Pass the ball to Austin, come on," Liam yelled at Mason. 

The goalpost was just meters away from me and as soon as Mason kicked the ball to me, I hurled off two defense players and eyed for Cody. He was right there, I passed it to him, and all the players were drawn to him like a moth to a flame. 

"10 seconds!" Liam yelled. 

I glanced at Cody and the next second he passed the ball back to me. I kicked it to the goalpost, changing the direction of its roll. The goalkeeper jumped to the other side and the ball went straight into the post. 

I hear the whistle blow and suddenly Jason jumps onto me yelling at the peak of his voice. 

Practice matches are always so much fun. Especially when the tournament is in a week, the practice and the grinding workouts get intense. That's when my mind is really occupied with something, other than her. I sigh as I hurl my stuff from the locker and come out of the shower room. 

Being in love with my best friend's girlfriend isn't as easy as I hoped it to be. For starters, I see her every day, every minute, and everywhere. There is no escaping. The pretending gets hard and I do not want to get caught lying so I make sure they see me leaving home with a girl, but that's just only until I drop the girl safely back to her house and then whirl away to mine. 

I never imagined I'd do such stupid things just to make them think of me as a different person and not the love-sick romantic that I was. 

More than anything, I am really scared to let her go. Every morning I wake up and have this feeling that is just not settling. The way she's treated by him, the way they make up after fights for things they shouldn't. The way she forgives him again, and again and he goes around doing things that hurt her or make her worry about his loyalty. It just doesn't fit. Unknowingly, I'm looking out for her non-stop. Even without my consciousness sometimes. I just need to know she's okay, for me to stay calm. 

Forcing her to make up with him after every fight was the worst advice I could give her. I should've told her to leave him. Especially after the way he treated her that night at Serena Mitcher's party. 

She stole my heart again that night. The way she defended me in front of all those people directly on his face, no one has ever made me feel that special. But post that night, I also know I need to keep my distance from her. The more he spots me close to her, he doesn't take it out on me, he always takes it out on her. 

And I fucking hate that. The urge to plot a plan with Lee and frame him for something horrible so she'd leave him is so tempting, but then I remember he's my best friend. And no matter how detached I am from him, loyalty is such a bitch.  

"Hey, good game man," Lee joined me. He had his sipper in his hand and a towel around his neck.

"The last goal was sick," Jason gave me a fist bump, joining from the other side. 

"I know, the timing was really good, and Cody I liked your hurl," I punched his shoulders. 

"You noticed," he was proud of himself.

We were passing through the school gates. It was extremely cloudy today. I can feel drops of rain drizzle time and again. We thought we'd have to give up on our practice but thankfully, the rain seems to be delayed. But I know a storm is in cue. The grey clouds make 6 pm look like 8.

"Are you guys done with practice?" I heard May's voice behind me and we spun around. 

I glanced at my watch to reconfirm the time. It's almost 6, and school ended at 3. Something isn't right. I immediately begin to search for her. And when I don't see her around May, I get tensed.