I'm Your Wreck

11- I'm Freaking Out

For the next couple of weeks, my footwork got better. I spent more time at the practice field, actually kicking the ball. Every time I dug my cleats into the grass, it felt more natural. More like how it used to.

The scrimmage game helped unblock whatever wall I had built up in my head, loosened all of that muscle memory from high school. I still wasn't anywhere near where I used to be, but I was getting better every time I hit the field.

I was still feeling uneasy about tryouts that were creeping up in the next couple of weeks, but I had to take the little wins where I could get them.

After getting home on a Thursday evening from the field, still sweaty and sore from my workout, I was yanked by my arm through a doorway on my way to shower.

Suddenly, I was standing in Kenji's room, on top of a pile of laundry by the door. He stood beside me with a wide look of panic on his face, only wearing a pair of sweat pants as he said, "You gotta help me, dude."

"What's going on?" I asked with a shock of alarm. Looking around his room, I didn't see any reason for sudden panic other than the shocking amount of moldy food wrappers on his nightstand.

"I need help," he explained through a heavy breath. "Going on a date."

"Oh?"

"I'm freaking out, man. Tory talked me into asking this girl out that I matched with on Tinder and now I'm supposed to meet her for tacos in half an hour." He was talking very fast, his eyes darting around the piles of clothes on his bed. "I don't even know what to wear."

"You want fashion advice from me?" I asked slowly, glancing down at my long shorts and t-shirt, still drenched in sweat from my earlier workout. "Maybe you should ask Banks?"

"I need your help on how to talk to her," he explained, and then glanced down at my outfit like I just did, as if realizing that I wasn't exactly the expert on how to dress for a date. Of course, I did attempt to dress up for my own dates, but I still wouldn't say I knew what I was doing in the style department. "But also, maybe I should get Banks too."

He fired off a text as I stepped further into his health hazard of a room. "I hope you plan on cleaning up before you bring her in here."

His brownish skin started going sort of pale when he looked back at me. "I wasn't even thinking about inviting her over."

"Okay, okay," I tried to soothe him before he could have a total break down. "I wasn't saying that you have to or that it's expected. Just that it would be the natural progression of things after a couple of dates, probably. But not if you don't want to."

"Oh, god," he groaned, sitting on the edge of his bed with his head falling into his hands.

"Hey, don't worry so much, okay? Everything is going to be fine. She said yes to the date because she already likes you, dude. You just have to be yourself and try to relax," I kept trying to pep talk him, but I wasn't sure if it was working. "You are a very funny guy, and you're creative and sensitive and- what's this girl's name?"

"Bridgette."

"And Bridgette is lucky to have a date with you," I concluded. "Go into it with your shoulders held high and you'll be alright."

"You two having a moment in here?" Banks interrupted from the open doorway with an amused smile.

"He's nervous about his date," I explained. "You know, Morgan and Tory are hanging out with Ollie downstairs, maybe they could have some words of wisdom from a girl's perspective?"

"No. Please, that's so humiliating," he groaned and then looked to Banks and said, "I need your help deciding what to wear."

His amusement grew as his eyes flicked to my workout outfit. "You don't trust Liam's artistic vision?"