MONEY TREES, gossip girl [DISCONTINUED]

25

tw! microaggression, mania,
violence, mentions of blood
please be mindful.

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CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
UNDERSTAND ME
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CRISTIAN used to love basketball. For a long time, he couldn't imagine life without it, as melodramatic as he knows that sounds.

He likes to think he was good at it, and even if he wasn't, he genuinely enjoyed it. When he was growing up, CJ would watch his dad play at the park with friends. And then when CJ got old enough, his father watched him play at his school games. It was another way for him to feel connected to Sergio.

Then Cristian started using, and that complicated every aspect of his life in ways he fears he'll never be able to simplify.

He didn't want to give up basketball or any other sports, initially. He intended to keep playing, but he didn't intend to need the drugs as badly as he had. When it came time for drug testing at school, athletes were the main targets. Cristian knew that he'd eventually get chosen, and he knew how that'd go, so he quit before it could come to that. He's never been sober long enough to regret that choice yet, not even now.

He can hear all the guys chattering about around him as they get changed. Cristian tries to tune them out, but it's not working. Every little sound, every big sound— they all seem to reverberate through his mind, rattling it enough for it to hurt every part of him. He's practically shaking with all the pent-up emotions bottled up inside. It doesn't help that he hardly slept through the night.

"What do you think, CJ?" Obie's voice carries to him, barely managing to pierce through all the chaos wrecks in his head.

Cristian huffs as he pulls his new shirt on, "What do I think of what?"

"Should I have told her?" Obie repeats, but it clears nothing up. CJ runs a hand over his face with a sigh.

"Fuck, dude," Cristian mutters as he closes his locker, turning around and leaning against it to face Obie, who's sitting on the bench before him, "I wasn't listening to a single thing you were saying."

Akeno can't contain the laugh that slips out, and Obie just purses his lips and nods, clearly trying not to laugh too. Cristian's face remains stoic, bored. He doesn't have the energy to find any of his funny.

"My mom is in the city and I didn't tell Zoya." Obie eventually reveals, once he and Akeno's little laughing fit ends.

CJ refrains from rolling his eyes, "Why didn't you tell her?"