𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐌𝐄 ( 𝐂𝐇𝐑𝐈𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐎𝐋𝐎 )

𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑

- BRIELLE

"i can't believe high school is almost over. like we have this last week in april, may, we graduate in june, and end it off with prom. just like that it's over," nick said as he took a sip of his bang. we were eating lunch in the courtyard because we had an assembly about graduation earlier.

"i didn't believe anyone when they said time flies but it really does," delilah replied as she took a gummy bear from the bag she and matt were sharing. matt looked over at her and gave a quick "i agree".

"we have brielle's birthday too. isn't it may 7th?" matt asked me as i pointed a finger. i nodded and i could feel a gaze coming from chris' direction.

"yup. i'm almost an adult," i answered with a small smile on my face. i'm usually not excited for birthdays, but i was just a little excited for this one.

"what do you want to do? we are definitely making your birthday an important day. we have to make the most of the rest of school and then summer. i'm not letting you say some corny shit like "i don't want to celebrate my birthday". bitch it's your 18th," nick told me as he crushed his bang can. everyone hummed in agreement.

"even if you don't want a party, we still have to make you do something fun," delilah added as he ate another gummy bear.

i shrugged. "maybe we can all go to boston for the night? grab dinner?"

nick and delilah shared a look before nodding. "us plus alahna and madi? makai has a basketball thing that weekend," nick told me. i nodded. that was a great group. everyone was so fun.

"then it's settled! day in the city for brielle's birthday! everyone needs to live it up because we're not all gonna be together next year. most of us are gonna be near LA but alex is an ivy girl. going to UPenn," matt said as he looked over at alex. she had her back turned while she was siting in between chris' legs. they were obviously talking about something because their eyes were glued to one another. 

alex finally turned around to look at the rest of us and frowned. "you know i'm an east coast girl for life! i'll definitely be visiting you guys though."

"enough with the sappy stuff. we can cross that bridge when we get there. let's do something fun after school," chris suddenly said. we made eye contact and it lingered for a few moments. it was hard to sit in front of them like i didn't have a dream about chris last night. i don't know what was going on with me.

i love alex and chris together. i literally set them up. just chris would run through my mind from time to time.

★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★

all i could see was darkness. i thought i was having a nightmare. the darkness made my skin crawl, my heart race, and my breaths come in short, worried pants.

suddenly, the uneasy silence around me was broken up by a hiss of electricity. i looked up and saw tall stadium lights turn on, illuminating my surroundings. i looked around and saw the football lines with a goal on each end. a relieved sigh left my lips as i realized where i was -- reavis field. but i wasn't alone.

my brow knitted in confusion as i saw chris jog onto the field, coming to a stop a few feet away from me. he had a small smirk on his face and he just stood there looking at me. 

"what are you doing here? does alex know?" i asked, unable to keep the confusion out of my voice.

chris shrugged and pointed toward my feet. i looked down and realized i now had my cleats on and a ball in front of my left foot. chris raised his brows in a challenge and motioned for me to dribble at him.

who was i to deny him? i danced circles around the boy, the soccer ball all but glued to my feet. chris seemed content to play defense, keeping me on my toes with a lunge or an attempted tackle, but never actually stealing the ball.

i don't know how long we played for. the sky overhead remained as dark as ever, with no stars freckling it or hints of the rising sun. we must have been at it for hours because my throat felt raw and i found myself gulping down air, wishing for a glass of water or a gatorade to chug. my hair was damp against my forehead, and my jersey stuck to my stomach. i was starting to tire, my muscles twinging and twitching with every step over or rainbow i attempted in an effort to get past him and get a shot on goal.

when my foot slipped over the soccer ball and i sent it further to the right than i'd anticipated, chris pounced. he pulled the ball away from my feet. his eyes glowed under the stadium lights, full of playful mirth as he took off towards the opposite goal. i sprinted after him, completely in awe of his brown hair that bounced as he ran across the field.

i couldn't even get close enough to reach out for the edge of his shirt before he was flicking the ball into the back of the net and spinning around, his hands held up to the sky in celebration. the celebration should have annoyed me. it should have made me burn with agitation, but instead, i found myself smiling at the outstretched arms and huge grin on chris' face. i missed that smile when it was only for me. chris' eyes focused on me once more, his competitive smirk replaced with a soft smile. both of us were breathing heavily, our breath collecting between us in soft huffs.

"nice shot," i whispered, wishing that i could reach out and fix chris' hair that was now covering his eyes.

chris just stayed quiet, his eyes moving across my face, from my eyes to my lips and along my jaw. his hand reached out, and for a moment, i wondered if he was going to touch me, but instead, he pulled his hand back and ran his fingers through his own hair.

"what do you want?" i choked out, desperate for an answer. 

chris' eyes brightened and a larger smile broke out across his face. he opened his mouth, presumably to respond--

★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★・・・・・・★

then, i woke up. declan made a loud noise in the hallway because he slipped going up the stairs two at a time. the rest of the night i couldn't go back to bed. i shouldn't be having dreams like that. not just because he's with one of my best friends, but because i don't like him like that. reece really messed with my head.

maybe it wasn't declan that woke me up. maybe my brain couldn't take the immense levels of deja vu i was feeling. the last time we played soccer like that, all was right in the world. i was with reece and chris did more than just look at me and pretend nothing happened.

VAL SPEAKS

so who is gonna tell brielle you don't have dreams like that about someone you don't like?????

also, the dream thing is from an old idea that i scrapped like two years ago...........