The Fear of Falling

Four

The memories from yesterday floated in and out of my conscious the next day at school. English was my first class and I couldn't focus on Mrs. Lee's mind numbing lecture on one of Shakespeare's most famous plays. No matter where you are in the world, you'll hear the words "Romeo and Juliet" and you will internally groan. This play has been done way too many times, there is literally no point to it anymore.

Somewhere between listening to the lecture and doodling on my notebook, my phone buzzed in my school bag. I fought the urge to ignore the message, I really did, but I grew interested and curiosity got the better of me.

i miss yesterday :(( - from hayley poop titties. I smiled at her text knowing that we both had the same mutual feeling, my reply was instant.

i wish i was an adult /: school sucks!! - from myself.

I put my phone away in fear that Mrs. Lee would take it from me. The hour long classes were better than last year's two hour classes. Boring classes like these were changed for the better and I was thankful. Although, I sometimes found myself oddly missing those longer classes. For example, Chemistry involved a lot of labs and observations and we rarely have time to finish tests. My phone buzzed again.

when is D's game? i want to look cute when we go - hayley poop titties.

My heart caught in my throat at the reminder that his game was on Friday. Dylan has been obsessed with winning recently. He's never really had a problem losing until his senior year rolled along.

Him and I began dating on my sophomore year, when he was a junior. I was always excited to see him play but the difference was that back then, he was happy with winning or losing, just as long as he played the game. I put my phone away just in time for the bell to ring. I gathered my things and willed the butterflies in my stomach to disappear.

I had a quick run in with Hayley at our shared locker. She was picking at the lock, trying to open it. I smiled at her attempts, she was clueless.

"How many times am I going to have to teach you how to open the damn locker?" I spoke loudly behind her. She turned around and pursed her lips.

"And how many times am I going to tell you that queens don't need to learn when there is a peasant near them that is more than willing to do it for her?" She said just as loudly. I shook my head and opened it for her. I stepped out of the way and looked at her feeling victorious because my talent of opening lockers was the only thing I did better than Hayley.

"Well," she said as she reached in for her history book. "What do you want? A sticker? A cookie? Get to class," she ordered. I coughed as I choked on my own spit. She left me with my mouth hanging open in the middle of the hallway.

When I got to art, I was relieved to know that my teacher was absent. The substitute was alerted on such short notice that they didn't get the chance to create a class schedule so we were given the hour to catch up on homework or any missing art projects. I chose to sleep.

When lunch rolled around, I was dreading my time with Dylan. I waited for Hayley at the locker, still confused by her sassy remark earlier. I pulled my lunch out of my metal compartment, checking my phone for messages when a pair of arms wrapped around me. I squeaked softly when someone blew air into my ear, followed by boyish laughter.

Dylan.

I turned around as best as I could trying to not break our close contact. My heart turned to mush when I noticed the dark bags under his piercing green eyes and his chapped lips. A sign that he hadn't slept very well. His grip on my waist tightened as he held me closer to him, my bottom rib started to ache in the slightest way.

"Hey beautiful," his voice sounded small, like a lost boy looking for his mom. I tried my best to not let the hurt breach my voice.

"Hey yourself," I poked my tongue out and flicked it against his nose in attempt to make him smile. Instead, I was met with a blank stare. His hand was rose quickly and I flinched. He furrowed his eyebrows wiping his nose. He dropped both hands and clutched my hand, and began walking. I followed a step behind.

I spotted Jackson in the group of boys that Dylan hung out along with a few others I recognized. Jackson was wearing a tight shirt that complemented his broad shoulders and toned arms. To my surprise, Hayley was among the group of boys sitting in the middle of their table, animatedly talking while they ogled her from head to toe.

"When I was close enough to their bedroom, I could hear my mom moaning!" If I didn't know Hayley better, I would think she was drunk. Everyone around her laughed as loud as a pack of hyenas.

"No way, that's priceless!" One of them said.

"No, it's just gross!" I got lost in the comments being made.

Dylan sat down on an open spot and patted his lap. I looked at his thigh and then his face, What are you waiting for? was what his appearance emerged. I slowly looked around, but did what he asked. His hands attached themselves to my hips and he rubbed small circles in the small pudge on my stomach. It was his way of soothing me, but today was especially hard.

When Friday came, Dylan spoke less and less by the hour. He was impatient and it rubbed off on everyone around him, Hayley and I included.

It was the night of the game and most people came to watch. My best friend and I walked along the bleachers getting past a crowd of rallying fans. This game was a big deal with our team going against our rival school.

"What's wrong with Dylan?" Hayley whispered to me as we took our seat. We were watching our football team warm up. She had noticed his cranky mood for the past week but brushed it off until this moment.

"He's probably just nervous," I answered. She nodded her head understandingly. I stared at my boyfriend as he ran across the field catching the football that was thrown to him. He caught it and threw the ball back to one of his teammates. They continued to do that until a whistle was blown and the players ran to their coaches as the game was about to start.

It was fourth quarter with only seconds left on the clock. The score was tied and the adrenaline in the arena was so contagious that I felt like I was the one playing the game.

Jackson had the ball as he looked for an opening to pass it to one of his teammates. He spotted Dylan and threw him a perfect spiral from the 40 yard line. Dylan caught it and ran as fast as lightning, darting any other players from the opposing team. We watched anxiously as he made a touchdown and the crowd went wild.

People got up from the stands cheering and applauding. I couldn't contain the happiness and excitement in my face as I turned to look at Hayley and gave her a hug, both of us jumping and squealing in the process.

I watched as Dylan yelled out triumphantly with his team. Hayley and I walked down from the bleachers making our way towards them. I spotted my handsome boyfriend and he looked at me taking out his helmet. He smiled in awe and happiness as we slowly tromped towards each other. The look of anxiousness that he had on his beautiful face for the week had vanished. Instead, he had a look of relief and joy.

"You were great," my smile had widened once we were face to face. I could smell his sweat and wiggled my nose at him. "But you stink," I added. He rolled his eyes at me and lunged for a hug but I backed away. "You're not touching me with sweat and gunk covering your body."

He smirked playfully and ran to me embracing me into a tight hug. We pulled apart from each other as his forehead rested against mine. "I'm glad you came," he said softly.

"I wouldn't miss it for anything," I replied. "But seriously babe, you should take a shower."

a/n

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a&d