INTO YOU
prologue
— reese's pov 🌀
✩₊˚.⋆ 🌌 ⋆⁺₊✧
SPRING 2023.
"REESE, YOU cannot seriously be skipping soccer tryouts this year! You're our best player!" Eliana groans. "You brought us to state last year!"
"Oh, cmon. It was not just me, we're a— were a team. You don't need me to do that."
I reason, "plus, I fell out of love with the sport. That's not my fault. I'm sorry, but it's just not my thing anymore."
"But your dad coaches the boys varsity team!" She reasons, and I nod.
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I have to play. Your dad coaches golf at the rival school, that doesn't mean you have to play golf." I deadpan, and she sighs as she takes out her phone.
"I'm just saying you always were amazing, I'm not sure why'd you'd stop playing in your junior year." Eliana mumbles, and Jasmine pats my shoulder.
"It'll be a tough loss losing our best striker, but I think we'll work around it." Jasmine comforts Ellie's worries. "Plus, she'll still go to the games and stuff, her dad will probably make her."
I scoff. "Yeah, he will. Especially since my sister's a freshman now, she's gonna try out, and I'm sure that she'll make at least JV. My entire family has soccer running through our veins."
"Exactly! You should try out, you'll get to play with your little sister!" Ellie tries to convince me, but I shake my head.
"I'm sorry Ellie, but I'm done with soccer. You guys will be just fine without me, right, Jas?" I turn to my other best friend, and she shrugs.
"Not sure. I've never had to play without you on my team." Jas answers, and I give her a look.
"Not helping my case." I mutter, and she presses her lips into a fine line.
"Yeah, I tried, I just really don't care." Jasmine says dryly, and she walks ahead of us into the gas station we were walking to.
When we get inside, I head to the sweets and grab a pack of mini powdered donuts, as I always do, and then I grab a bag of chips and a random Mountain Dew flavor. I like all of them, so I don't really care which one I get. I end up with a Baja Blast this time.
"You guys ready?" I ask my two best friends, and they nod.
Jas got chips and a Coca Cola, and Ellie got a Dr Pepper and some skittles.
We head back outside after paying for our stuff, and we begin to walk towards Jasmine's house. We hang out at her house every Thursday because we were all free, and on other days we all have stuff to do, Ellie's in student council, I have to take my sister to her club soccer practices, and Jasmine has a variety of clubs... drama club, gardening club, diversity club, the list goes on.
On top of all her extracurriculars, she does soccer and has a job as a soccer referee down the street from her house. I'm surprised she even has her Thursdays open.
Now usually we hang out for a while, but Ellie has to leave at 4:30 today since her older brother is graduating college and her family has to leave tonight to get there on time... or something.
"How's things going with that boy you're talking to?" I ask Ellie, and she raises an eyebrow.
"Jackson? Things are fine, other than the fact we aren't talking." She says mildly. "Turns out he had a girlfriend he refused to tell me about. Safe to say I cut him off as fast as I could. I tried to tell the girlfriend about him, but she decided I wasn't trustworthy and cussed me out for trying to break her and her precious boyfriend up."
Jas rolls her eyes. "That girl is delusional anyways. She was on my cheer team last year; and when I tell you she acted like I wanted her man 24/7... like girl, he's 5'7 and he's a benchwarmer... I promise I do not want him, you can have him."
I snort in laughter as we make our way to Jasmine's front door, but my phone starts to ring. I pause, picking up the call from my father.
"Dad? What's up?" I ask, and his breath is shaky on the other side.
"I'm so sorry, Reese, your mom... she's—" he swallows. "She's gone. She passed from an accident today at work..."
That's the day everything changed for me. I never viewed anyone in construction the same.
✩₊˚.⋆ 🌌 ⋆⁺₊✧
JENNA YAPS!
small lil prologue about her moms death!! the next chapter will be present day. well... more present. (fall 2023) and it'll start up from there!
She doesn't speak about her mother's death very much, so it's not a prominent story detail, but she does get upset over it when it's brought up because her and her mother were extremely close, so that's why it's here!!
thank you so so much for reading, and I hope to have the first chapter out tomorrow!!
