We only have one thing in common

4

Anna's POV
"Run it again Dawson!" I looked at Cassidy who was out of breath.

He's definitely working too hard. I realize she's been losing a lot of weight. I also realize she's been staying after practice.

I see her coach getting closer to her everyday and I don't mean like as a friend i mean I've seen him trying to look at her from behind. And occasionally I see him being touchy. I try warning Cassidy but she simply refused the warning walking passed me.

"YOU WANNA RUN MORE SUICIDES?!" He yelled as Cassidy flinched at his voice and ran another one.

After that he made her do a wall sit. Until her legs gave out on 5 minutes.

He made her do a couple more free shooting before letting her go. I could tell she was tired. When I walked in the locker room I could hear her throwing up in the trash again.

This time she already had her hair pulled back. She looked at me as I just stood there.

"Lemme guess... You're not leaving till I'm okay." She mumbled and I nodded.

"What's going on with you and between the coach?" I said and she scoffed.

"Nothing." She said getting up and wiping her mouth.

"He's working you way to hard." I said and she shook her head no.

"I'm fine." She said.

"You've also lost a lot of weight. That's not good for your health." I said and she scoffed.

She washed her face as she put some deodorant on. It was 5 and she was suppose to leave after 4:30 but Coach made her stay after practice.

"Do you have a ride home?" I asked her and she shook her head no.

"Do you want one?" I asked her.

"I don't need a ride." She muttered.

"Why? We're about to have a snow storm. You should really go home in a car." I said and she shook her head no.

All the suddenly she just stopped talking. She only communicated by her head which was nods and shaking heads.

She walked out but before I could see her go out the doors I watched as her coach cornered her.

"I want you to stay after the game tomorrow. We need to work you on your lay ups." He said getting closer.

I started to see him lift up her sweatshirt as I intervened.

"Cassidy. We're going into my car let's go." I said grabbing her hand.

She didn't bother to fight back but when we reached my car she jerked her hand out of my grip.

I saw her starting to walk away as I just sighed. She barely even talked to me. She barely talked to anyone.

She would always want to sit alone at lunch. I've also realized that the news last year when her captain outed her to the entire school.

I've seen Cassidy having trouble. She never gets up from her desk. She also never answers question when teachers ask her to answer the questions.

That's when it clicked... Social Anxiety. Cassidy has social anxiety oh my god how can I be so blind...

I started to drive towards my neighborhood when I saw Cassidy on the sidewalk.

I stopped by her has she looked at me. Rubbing her hands together for the warmth.

"Get in... please." I said and she started to walk to the side of the car.

She didn't say anything to me for the whole ride yet her leg was bouncing up and down. She kept scratching the back of her neck. And she also started to bite her fingernails.

"Calm down. It's just me." I said driving through the streets.

After she tapped on her window telling me to stop it was her house.

"Thank you..." she mumbled.

"No problem. If you ever need someone to drive you. Call me." I said.

I wrote my number on a piece of paper giving it to her. She looked at me and I smiled.

"Or you could call me anytime you need help." I said and she nodded.

She got out of my car closing the door. I didn't leave until she got in the house as she did she looked back and I started driving.

~~~~~~

"Coach." I said as my coach looked at me.

"Do you think we can go watch the home basketball game today?" I asked her and she raised an eyebrow.

"Why?" She asked me and I shrugged.

"It's probably because of that girl!" Emmy yelled making me push her.

"Please." I said and she sighed.

"I guess we can take our half time off. That means I'm gonna work you extra hard." She said and I smiled.

"Thanks." I said and she nodded.

After practice we went to the big gym and We saw that we were winning. But we also saw Cassidy who was running down the court.

Right then we saw her getting bashed with an arm who had ran into her trying to get the ball.

Cassidy was laying on the gym floor. She couldn't breathe before the captain ran to her grabbing her body. She pulled her up only to see Cassidy collapsing in her arms.

"STOP THE FUCKING GAME!!" The captain yelled.

The teammates helped her to the bench before the coach crouched down. He put up two fingers moving them around.

It was hard to watch but when he lifted her jersey up we could see a bruise forming even from the bleachers.

The coach couldn't go any farther than that since there was so many people watching.

Turns out they continued the game without Cassidy as she grabbed her stuff. I watched her sit up at the bleachers with a boy. A boy that was younger than her. They left the building as I watched the rest of the game knowing nothing of what was going besides we were starting to lose.