The boy who saved the light

Chapter 8

Wilbur and I were starting to hang out more as time went on. We would be meeting up in the woods whenever we could and I was starting to feel different about him. At first, I thought he was an annoying kid who might brag to you about having good grades. But he’s been helping me, and I’ve been helping him. I’ve found out that he’s actually pretty nice once you get to know him.
When we didn’t have anything to work on, we would just sit and talk to each other. I was fine with that. It was nice to finally have someone to talk to after not really having any friends for so long.
Also, by some miracle, I was able to get on the basketball team! My grades had gone up a significant amount, and all of my teachers were kind of impressed. I told Wilbur, and he was very happy with the news.
“That’s awesome! I’m so happy for you!” He said, smiling. I could tell it was genuine. “Um, thanks.”
We left it at that. I was still in a bit of a daze, and didn’t really think it was a big deal, but he seemed so genuinely happy for me. I couldn’t help but be happy too.
After we finished our work for the day, we both headed home. The sun was setting and I didn’t want to be late for curfew. My Aunt would probably be mad at me.
“See you later!”
“You too!”
It was starting to get a little bit colder outside, but Wilbur’s magic was able to keep me warm. There was something else too, but I didn’t know what that was.
I sat down for dinner once I got home. I forced myself to eat most of it even though I wasn’t really that hungry. Somehow I didn’t really have an appetite. After I was done I went upstairs to relax in my room.
I immediately flopped onto my bed. I was very tired but I knew I actually needed to get ready for bed before I went to sleep.
I took a shower, brushed my teeth and put on my pajamas before I flopped on my bed again and immediately fell asleep.
***
I woke up the next morning ready for school. After school, I had my first ever basketball practice, and I was a little nervous. I’ve never actually played basketball before, because at the last school I went to, I wasn’t sure if people were going to talk about me there too. I hated people talking about me like I’m not right in front of them. So even though I wanted to, I never did.
This year, since I’ve moved to a new school, I decided I was going to try it, since there was nobody there that really could bully me, because they don’t really know me all too well. But even still, I was nervous.
After the school day ended, I made my way over to the locker room. I was kind of starting to regret my decision when my phone buzzed. It was a text from Wilbur.
“Good luck at practice today! :)”
“Thanks. I will.” I responded. I could feel my anxiety slowly disappearing.
I put my phone back in my pocket, having just a little more confidence than I did before. I walked into the locker room and headed over to the locker where my stuff was kept. I pulled out the bag that had been sitting in there since this morning and put on my gym outfit since we wouldn’t be getting real uniforms until about a week before our actual games were supposed to start.
I walked into the gym to see the coach was waiting in there with a few other kids who had gotten there earlier than I did. As other people came in, the coach started talking about how we were going to be starting off with a warm-up, then talking about what we were going to be focusing on and finally doing some quick practice.
“Alright, let’s get started everyone!”
***
After practice, I was kind of tired. I wasn’t exactly used to this kind of stuff, and it felt so strange that I was finally on a team. I changed out of my gym outfit and put on my regular clothes.
I grabbed my phone from my gym bag. We weren’t allowed to have them on us during practice because we could get distracted and they might fall out of our pockets and get damaged. I immediately messaged Wilbur as I headed out of the locker room.
“Hey! Practice is finally over. Can’t wait to just immediately fall asleep when I get home.”
I began making my way towards the entrance of the building so I could head over to my car and drive home when I got a response from Wilbur.
“How was it?”
“It was fine. We didn’t do much though, since it was only the first practice.”
“Well, I hope you’re having fun with this cause I don’t want to be helping you for nothing.”
“I am, don’t worry.” That favor was definitely put to good use for sure.
I put my phone back in my pocket and made my way over to my car. I threw my gym bag into the backseat. I drove home, leaving the radio on silent.
When I got home, I knew that Victoria was already asleep. So I put everything in my room and went into the bathroom to take a shower.
As I got into the shower, the warm water washed all of my gross sweat away. This was definitely what I needed after that.
My mind began to wander, and I ended up thinking about Wilbur. We were starting to become really good friends. But one thought made its way into my head. What if Wilbur didn’t need my help? Would he still want to be friends with me?
We had talked in class before he came to me asking for help. We had even exchanged numbers before then so that we could talk. I think he kind of just wanted someone to talk to. So why wouldn’t we become friends?
I knew he would be friends with me. But would I be friends with him?
A weird feeling settled into my stomach. Was being friends with him a good thing? Something told me bad things would happen, but I tried to dismiss it. Well, I tried, but I had a feeling it wasn’t going to go away any time soon. I got out and went to bed, trying to sleep with everything swirling in my brain.