ON OUR WAY TO HEAVEN

6

Kelly

Two years later.....

"Kelly, you could lose your scholarship if you don't get your act right" My mom's voice came through the phone. I rolled my eyes, pinching my forehead with my thumb to suppress the headache that was threatening to split my skull.

"I've been hearing that for a couple weeks now mom and I'm tired of it" I said slumping into the study chair in my dorm room and switching on my laptop.

"Yes, you've been hearing it but obviously you are not taking it seriously" my mom said, her voice rising. "You've spent barely over a year at Stanford and everything about you has changed"

"Yes, everything has changed Mom!" I yelled into the phone, finally at my wits end.  "I have changed! You have changed too!! And it seems like the only thing you care about right now is my stupid scholarship and me playing a sport you never really cared about but guess what mom, I don't give a fuck what you or my goddamn coach says. This is my life! My rules!!. Now if you would excuse me, I have other things to waste my time on"

I was filled with so much fury I couldn't stop myself from screaming. Neither could I stop myself from smashing the phone on the Michael Jordan poster that decorated the wall on my side of the room. I placed my elbows on the desk, head in hand, trying to calm down. Beads of sweat ran down my face despite the air-conditioning in the room. I stayed in that position till I heard a ping from my laptop and I looked into the white screen. A notification popped up at the top of the screen; "One New Message From Ethan". I clicked on it and the chat screen opened.

Ethan: Whatsup player

Me: Nothing much

Ethan: Whatcha doing?

Me: preparing for a test I'm probably gonna flunk.

Ethan: I hate this depressing Kelly so much. Can I call you? The girls have been nagging for a zoom call. They said you haven't been responding to text.

Kelly: I just have a lot going on right now. Maybe next time.

Ethan: okay cool. Take it easy. Love ya.

Kelly: Bye.

I closed the chat page and went back to the position I had been earlier. I felt a lump form in my throat and my eyes began to water. A lot had changed in the space of a year. Dad's death had hit me so hard, I fell and forgot how to get up. I had just spent two months at Stanford when I got a call that he had had a heart attack and was rushed to the hospital. I didn't get to the hospital before he gave up and my zeal to do anything with myself died with him.

My father was one of those dads who were hundred percent interested in the affairs of their kids. He was my first tutor and coach, training me and teaching me everything I knew as a kid basketball player. He would take his time to explain every school work that I found difficult. He would always come to tuck me in every single night till I turned eighteen and he had to stop because I was an adult and it definitely would count as weird to still have my dad tuck me in every night. We were so close, when I found out I liked girls, I came out to him first and later told my mom several months later.

So yes, when he died, I was distraught. I lost the passion for basketball. I lost the passion for everything; training, eating, studying, everything. I was really at the verge of losing my scholarship and getting kicked out of the team. I withdrew from everyone including my very close friends. Ethan was schooling at Yale. Tif and Quin had moved to France to pursue a career in arts. Well, Quin was the artist. Tif was just being a supportive girlfriend. Joan, who had broken up with Ethan immediately after highschool but was still our friend (because Ethan said the breakup was mutual) was off on some great adventure which she fed the world through her thriving social media accounts. In a nutshell, she was an influencer. Those crazy kinds that went to all sorts of crazy place at the request of psychopathic fans. I still spoke to Ethan, not often, but I still did. I still spoke to the girls too but lesser times. Ethan seemed to be the only one who got me even though he was miles away.