On the Sidelines

Chapter 9 Tanner

Evelyn is ignoring me. I don't know why but I'm worried it has to do with Brianna's words last week. What she said was completely uncalled for and not true.

She was quiet for the rest of the meal, hardly taking, not making eye contact. It hurt to see. She's such a happy person and to see her lose the sparkle in her eyes because some bitch can't keep her mouth shut.

I tried to invite her for coffee yesterday morning before I had to board the bus for an away game but I never got a response. All of my other texts go unanswered as well as the one I sent with James' phone.

I know I shouldn't have but I was terrified she blocked me. Turns out she didn't, which makes her avoidance of me hurt that much more.

My bed creaks under my weight as I shift, trying to find a comfortable position. I was able to get my assignment for Creative writing this morning when I got back and now I'm struggling to think of a 'lesson' this young girl could learn.

"Yo, we're ordering pizza for dinner. What do you want?" Collins' voice echoes through the small house. The fucker could have come upstairs to ask instead of yelling but that would be to much work for him.

I'm meandering downstairs a few minutes later because unlike him, I don't like yelling across the house. "What are you guys thinking?" They're gathered around the small island in the kitchen when I enter.

We have a small house, but I like to think of it as modest. It's a three bedroom with a den. A decent sized kitchen that feels far too small with all of us in here. I'm standing at the island staring toward the main kitchen. To my right is a small hallway that leads to the front door and closet. Directly behind me is a small half bath for guests. To my left is the spacious living slash dining room but the latter has merged into the former.

A sliding glass door leads to a small-ish backyard. There's a tree and some grass but that's all. We don't tend to spend a lot of time out there. Along the wall behind me is another hall that leads to the garage and laundry room or mudroom, whatever you call it. Maybe both.

On the wall I'm staring at is the main kitchen with a wall of cabinetry and the fridge. The sink is to my right under a window. Next to the fridge is the pantry and next to that is the stairs leading upstairs.

There's a short hall that's next to the stairs that leads to the den. When you go up the stairs, you're met with a loft that serves as a divider for the rooms. My room is the master bedroom. The others put up a fight about it until I very kindly pointed out that we wouldn't have this house if it weren't for me. I'm the one who found it and poached the idea with them.

Well, anyway. The master bedroom is in front of the stairs while the other two you have to walk through the loft to get to their rooms. The doors are in a hall facing each other with a bathroom at the end.

Like I said, it's a modest house for college students.

"As much meat as we can put on." Sean's scrolling on his phone, presumably on the pizza places website.

"Nah, pepperoni, sausage, and bacon." Collins is leaning against the island next to me, putting all of his upper body weight onto his arms.

"Why not both? We'll eat it all tonight and you both know it." They both just shrug and that's that. We wait in silence for the pizza to arrive, them doing whatever while I continue to struggle to find a lesson a fictional child needs to learn. I'm not finding anything worthwhile online so I make the stupid mistake of turning to my friends. "I need to write a short story about a girl who learns a valuable lesson. Any ideas as to what that lesson could be?"

"What about the importance of kindness?"

"Ooh, sharing is caring."

"Nah, that's too generic. Maybe be grateful for what you have."