Love & Reason Keep Little Company (Freen x Becky)

Chapter 14

Becky sighed as she caught sight of Irin and Engfa out on the track field. It was the period before lunch and her friends had gym class, while Becky was stuck in the library.

She'd insisted to Yaya she was fit to take part because she didn't need her wrist to run, but the coach wouldn't hear of it. She'd excluded Becky from gym class until her cast came off.
At least it had been her left wrist and not her writing hand. She doodled in the margin of her notebook, ignoring the open History textbook sitting on the table in front of her.

History was her favourite subject, but she was struggling to focus on the assigned reading Yaya had given the class at the end of their last lesson. Her mind was on Freen, which wasn't unusual.

The other girl had seemed so off with her earlier. Things had been fine over the weekend. More than fine, in fact. Becky had been considering making her move, telling Freen how she really felt about her but then she'd shown up at her house that morning and acted weird, almost standoffish.

"Hey."

Becky looked up as a shadow fell over her. She found Seng standing sheepishly, wringing his hands together. Becky said nothing back to him. The the glare on her face should have been all the encouragement he needed to walk away. She'd spotted the senior at a table in the corner when she'd first walked into the library, and she'd pointedly ignored him.

"Uh, I wanted to say sorry... for what happened at the game." He rubbed at the back of his neck, his gaze fixed on the floor. "I should have made sure you were free before I passed to you. I didn't mean for you to get hurt. You need to believe me."

"No. I don't." Becky snapped, her tone dripping with content. "I don't need to believe a word you say, P'Seng. P'Fa was wide open. You could have passed to her."

"Kub. I panicked. It's no excuse, but I just wanted you to know how sorry I am. Losing you for the rest of the season is a real blow. That's not what I wanted." His apology seemed sincere and Becky found herself relenting, albeit somewhat bluntly.

"Fine. Apology accepted. Was there something else?" She asked as Seng lingered by her table.

"Kub. I'm sorry I was a dick to you when I found out about you and Freen. I was out of order. It's just... I thought we'd work it out... and then she showed up with someone from the team and... well, it hurt." Seng was twice her size and towered over a sitting Becky, but at that moment he seemed like a little boy.

Becky felt a pang of sympathy towards him. Losing someone as amazing as Freen couldn't have been easy, and losing her to a teammate had to be a double blow.

"I'm sorry too na." Said Becky. "I should have talked to you about it before I asked her out. For what it's worth, I liked her before you guys were ever a thing."

"I can't hold it against you. Freen's something else." He grinned at her like they were sharing a secret. A smile tugged at Becky's lips as she nodded in agreement.

"She really is."

Seng gave a nod of his own as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "Just do me a favour, Becky? Look after her. She's not as tough as she likes everyone to think. This time of year is hard on her. Her parents..." He trailed off.

There was no need to finish his sentence.
Becky felt a pang of guilt. She hadn't considered how the anniversary of Freen's parent's death would affect her. Sure, she'd been mindful of it over the weekend, but Becky hadn't stopped to think how Freen might feel when left alone with her thoughts.

Becky cursed herself under her breath. She should have reached out to Freen Sunday night to make sure she was really okay.

"I'll take care of her." She said to Seng just as the bell for the end of class sounded.