Bereaved || COMPLETED SHORT STORY

Chapter 2

                                   NOW

My parents had been treating me like an egg, and I was sick of it. They threaded cautiously around me as if I might snap any second and it puzzled me. Every five minutes my mother would come upstairs and ask me if I needed anything, like the period between her descending the stairs, sitting down uncomfortably and then getting back up to climb the stairs and knock on my door to ask again would mysteriously make me change my mind.

"Honey, are you sure-"

"I'm fine, I'm fine. I was fine five minutes ago, I'm fine now. Why would there be something wrong? I left the hospital a week ago, the doctor gave me the clear, he thinks I'm fine, I think I'm fine, why don't you-"

"Honey, you've experienced a big-" her voice was soft, she was trying to calm both me and herself.

"Accident, yeah, I get it. But I'm not damaged in the brain, goodness sake." I stood up from my bed and threw on a sweatshirt getting annoyed by the second, "Jade, all I'm saying is that if you ever need to talk about what happened, your father and I are here, and I'm not talking about just the accident."

I narrowed my eyes at my mother, trying to decipher what the heck she meant before deciding I was over it and putting on some running shoes. "I'm going for a run."

I was halfway out the door when she held me back and put a pamphlet in my hand.

"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it to us, but the doctors think it would be a great idea if you gave this a chance."

I looked down at the pamphlet, anger boiling through me in seconds.

"I'm not mentally damaged, Mom! I don't have problems I need to talk to a therapist about. I'm fine!"

                                  -

"You yelled at your mom,"

"Yup,"

"You've never yelled at her before." I snorted and stretched on the uncomfortable bench.

"She thinks I'm crazy,"

"She doesn't think you're crazy, Jade." Ben cautioned. I rolled my eyes, he always sided with my parents, he was a loser like that.

"Why would she want me to see a therapist then?" I spat back.

"Because you've gone through a lot, she just wants to help."

"Sure," I rolled to the side to avoid his eyes.

"You think I'm crazy too,"

"I can never think that, that accident was a lot." He sat down on the cool grass, his back leaning on the bench I laid stretched out on.

"I know, I just wished they'll forget about it already."

"Yeah," he picked at the grass absentmindedly. "What did the doctors say about your leg?"

"That I'll not be able to play this season. They don't know about next, and they are not sure of a professional soccer career." He didn't look up at me but I knew how he probably looked, his eyes would be half closed as he fought back tears. He most likely just lost the one thing keeping him together, and I couldn't give him a comforting hug because he would take it as pity, and he hated pity.

"Hey, you're one of the greatest soccer players I know. If anybody has a chance to beat the odds, it's you."

He lightly squeezed my hand. "Thanks, Jade. But I think I'm going to retire that dream. Maybe I could push up my grades a bit and get into a decent college, maybe study business and take over from my dad."

"But you hate the idea of a 9 to 5,"

"Maybe, but maybe it's for the best now."

I opened my mouth to speak but he cut me off, "I've already made up my mind. You can't change it now, soccer isn't in the cards for me anymore."

"I know Ben, I know."

                               THEN

                              MONDAY

"And then Carter punched him in the face. I can't wait to see McGowan play with a black eye, I mean sure Carter is benched until further notice but it will be worth it." Ben always got super pumped up during game week and he was always excited talking trash about other players so you can already guess how the car ride to school had been.

"You're excited for the game, huh?" I studied his features as his lips were pursed and broke into a huge smile, his golden brown hair ruffled with the wind, and his brown eyes that he claimed were too normal for his liking sparkled, he was happy. Very happy.

"You bet. There's just this adrenaline, you know?"

"No, I don't." He chuckled before pulling into his usual parking spot. "Well, you will understand when I kick North Hill's butt this Friday."

"Always so modest." I snorted but he laughed.

"You know I'm only this ruthless when it comes to soccer,"

"Yeah, anything else and you're a puppy that has been abandoned in the rain. I swear that's your spirit animal." He gaped at me probably thinking of a comeback as I jumped out of his beat-up truck.

"You're the only person I know that doesn't feed my ego," Ben said thoughtfully.

"That's why you need me around more, the Ben Kellen fan club isn't doing your big head any good."

"I believe that would be us swelling up his big head," Charlie Trucker said, appearing out of nowhere. Charlie was the only person in Ben's circle that I happened to get along with, at least most of the time. He was a funny and interesting guy, and he was really smart, we had been paired to do assignments or group projects a lot for me to know that. "Hey Charlie,"

Ben and Charlie did this overrated bro handshake before they turned to me, "Hey Jade. I didn't see you on Saturday,"

"Yeah, I uh, didn't feel like it."

"Okay, well you missed a great night, I'm sure Benny over here has given you the rundown. Will you be at the stands this Friday?"

"If I'm feeling up to it," Ben snorted and pulled me into his side, "She will be there, cheering me on of course."

"Seriously, you need to take a break from your fan club, how else would your neck be able to hold that inflated thing up?" Charlie burst out laughing while Ben frowned. "Good one, Jade." Charlie raised his hand for a high five and I gracefully accepted it, a grin on my face that won't be wiped off anytime soon.

"Okay, I'm not a fan of this. Jade is my best friend, even if she is acting like a jerk right now." Ben said scowling at the two of us.

"Relax Benny, I'm not stealing her from you, well not yet." Charlie winked at me, and I believe I turned red.

"Ew, gross. No."

"I have a class to get to ladies, see you guys later," I said waving at the two of them and walking off.

That was weird.