Lost Now, Found Later

Chapter 37 - Ethan

"Dude. Forget about her" I hear one of my teammate's words ring in my ear during practice. I jog up to the basket while skillfully dribbling the ball, making a lay up. I ignore his words, remaining indifferent. "There's so many girls out there. She's not the only one" he adds on, not noticing my demeanor. I loved her. It'd been 6 months since Rachel left. I had kept to myself for the first two months and over the summer, I buried myself with work in my internship but eventually the team found out thanks to Arjun and Mason. Fucking pain in the ass.

After that the guys left me to myself, not wanting to piss me off. I've had to sit out for a couple of games because I fouled out. But I was getting better. I was getting Rachel out of my mind. I had to. She probably doesn't worry about me I think scornfully. I was still bitter over her words. Good opportunity. Shaking off those negative thoughts, I resume practice as the team and I run through the plays. Practice went longer than usual and I was thankful for that for once. I had to keep myself distracted. Basketball and hours of boxing turned out to be pretty useful. Once Coach dismissed us, I was quick to hit the showers and head back to my dorm. On my way back, my phone starts buzzing from an incoming call.

"Hey Mom" I answer nonchalantly when I pick up. "Ethan" she states seriously, seeing right through my bluff. "Mommm. It's a waste of time. It's 3 hours away. And I'm pretty sure Jake's too busy to see me" I reply, half grumbling and whining. For the past week, my mom had been pestering me to visit my cousin, Jake, in Richmond. We were more like brothers but we knew we were both busy with our schedules. Especially him doing pre-med and now he was doing his residency in Richmond General Hospital. My mom tsks at my words. "Ethan Lin. Don't be rude. Your aunt's been worried about Jake. Apparently he hasn't been getting a lot of sleep. Poor boy" my mom replies, scolding my attitude. What did he expect? He signed up for it I scoff.

"Oh my god, fine. I'll go. But I'm staying for 5 minutes and I'll let you know. Okay?" I say, finally giving in, knowing that my mom won't let this go easily. Realizing that this was the best she's going to get, my mom agrees. Smirking at my small victory, I end the call and soon I get to my dorm and plop onto my bed straight away. It was Friday and so I could afford to sleep in. I groan when I think about having to take a fucking train to Richmond just to visit that cousin of mine. "I hate trains" I mutter under my breath before falling asleep soon after.

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The next morning, I wake up earlier than I had expected. 11am. Since I couldn't go back to sleep, I decide to hit the gym for an hour before leaving for Richmond. We moved into a new apartment for this year and so we were a bit further away from campus than last year. Not wanting to be late, I quickly get dressed. I stop by the kitchen to get water and I see Arjun and Mason up. "Dude why're you awake already?" I ask Mason, puzzled, knowing he always sleeps in. He casually shrugs and continues sipping on his coffee. "You good?" this time I address Arjun, who looked like his life was drained out of him. "Huh?" he snaps out of his daze at my words. "What'd you say?" he asks again. I sigh and approach him. "What's wrong?" I ask directly, knowing something was up. "Liz hasn't been answering my texts for the past week" he states gloomily. He figured out he liked her ever since Rachel left and has been with her more often. I was surprised they weren't dating already.

"Dude" Arjun lightly hits my arm to get my attention. I must've zoned out I think to myself. "Uh yeah. You could stop by her room" I suggest even though I knew he had already done that about a million times. He looks at me with a deadpan and I smile sheepishly. "I don't know man. You know her schedule right? Just find her after her class ends" I say. He nods reluctantly and I take that as my cue to leave. I spend the next 2 hours at the gym and training with the sandbag. Throwing my gloves down, plop myself next to my things as I take a swing from my water. I check my phone for the time and thankfully, I still had enough time to get to the hospital. Groaning at the soreness in my legs and arms, I return to my apartment and take a shower. I get changed into a sweatshirt and jeans with my coat on before taking the next train to Richmond.