Remind Me To Forget (L.S.) ✔️

Chapter 51

"Alright kids, before we start..." coach Hamilton slapped his hands together, staring at each of them for a second. "Take a minute and appreciate our returned footballers. Bailey, Davies, you did well in Liverpool, props to you."

Everyone was clapping for them, but their faces turned so much bitter when the master continued his speech.

"However, one of our boys took it on another level and got into the trial team of Liverpool FC, which I think, deserves some cheering on its own. Congratulations Tomlinson! Well done."

Unamused faces encircled Louis, making it clear that their clapping was far from genuine happiness. Except for a few people, they seemed either jealous or mad while Jackson masked a highly offensive swear word as a cough.
Hamilton didn't even notice, but fortunately Zayn wasn't about to start restraining himself.

"You have something to say?" the black haired boy turned to the jerk, speaking loud and clear for everyone to hear.

"Yeah, actually" he straightened himself. "It's fucking unfair that most of you play dumb to cover that he's a freak who shouldn't be in the place where he is. If the trial team knew he's a fag-"

"Bennett! Shut it right now!" Hamilton yelled at Jackson, cutting his disgusting speech in half. His voice surprised everyone; usually he stayed out of drama, because as he said, learning to deal with the arguments just made them tough which was essential if they wanted to make it in the world of sports.
Louis seemed the most shocked out of everyone - he was too tired of reacting to such slurs, and hearing his coach stand out for him was something he would of never expected.

"But Coach, it's-"

"I said SHUT IT!" the man's ice cold voice cut through the air like a knife. "You're supposed to be a freaking team, experiencing ups and downs together! If some of you succeed at something, you will stand by their side and cheer for them," he pointed at Louis. "I didn't raise some greedy ass jealous prima donnas. If you fuck this chance up for him on purpose, I can assure you the closest you'll ever get to a football match will be watching it from the bleachers."

Jackson clenched his teeth and crossed his arms. "Awesome. We should just keep his little secret, so he won't get kicked out of the team."

"You're on very thin ice, Bennett" the coach glanced at Louis, before setting the record straight. "I don't wanna hear a word about his sexuality, I care about how he plays football. And guess what Bennett, he's talented, apparently way better than you are, so I'd shut my mouth if I was you. Think about that while running five rounds around the pitch. Everyone else, start warming up!"

The footballers did as they've been told; only Louis didn't move for a couple of seconds. He took a deep breath, then walked over to the coach. He remembered that one time months ago when he called him in to ask about the gay rumours flying around and he had to deny all of them... now the lost boy had no idea what made him be so neutral on the topic, when not so long ago he clearly didn't want any lgbtq person in his team.

"Coach, thank you for what you said," he spoke quite nervous. "And about this shit what Jackson said..."

"Big mouth, small brain. I stopped paying attention to him awhile ago," the other snorted. "And what you've done in Liverpool just polished the university's good reputation and brought a lot of attention to it. The least we can do is respect your private life. It's none of our business who you're celebrating with."

Louis began staring at the ground, as if that could make it easier to say it out loud. The peace ring on his middle finger was almost burning his skin, along with the scars under the tattoos on his forearm. It was time to risk the question - the question that could determine his career and the rest of his life at the university.