One Big Sweet Mistake

Chapter 5

I hated sport, and today was Wednesday. My tight schedule said Wednesday was a sport day. Ugh. It was a pain in the ass. Not because I was not good at it, but I just thought using your brain was enough to drain the glucose and kick the fat out of your body. Have you ever heard that studying for an hour burns calories equal to the amount results from running ten times around the football field? No? Well I remembered reading about that somewhere. So why would I waste more of my energy? I did not like sweating as well, it made you stink. That was why the only sport I would be happy to do was swimming.

“Sir, I think I got sprained ankle. I can barely walk. May I just sit on the bench?” I asked, pretending to be limp and in pain. We were currently playing basketball and those selfish girls would not let me touch the ball, so instead of running back and forth for nothing, I would better sit down and watch. The coach stared at me for a second, then pointed at the edge of the field in dislike.

“Thank you, Sir.”

I walked slowly, still faking my agony. As he drew his attention back to the other students, I ran quickly and dropped myself on the hard wooden bench in relief. From afar, I saw Nicholas Weatherby giggling while looking at me. My face turned red as he gave me a friendly nod. Why was there a strange feeling in my guts every time I saw him? Was I...no, no, no. That could not happen and impossible.

It was an excruciatingly boring hour. I was just sitting in silence, watching them jumping, running, and laughing together. In such situation, I suddenly realized that sometimes a loner also needed a company. I tried several times to slip into some social groups, but no one fit me. The only club I ever joined was the celibacy club, but two days ago the chief expelled me via text message because of that damn rumor saying I was a lesbian. That was so unfair, yet I did not plead to them for keeping me in since I never came to the weekly meetings anyway.

I suddenly remembered that I had promised Gemma to call her today. Actually, we were not allowed to bring cell phone during the sport time, but who would obey such a nonsensical rule? I bet all of us had it stuffed in our shorts pocket at the moment. The coach was busy yelling at those bad kids who kept playing roughly in the field, thus he did not pay attention to me. I finally decided that I would accept Gemma’s offer. Starting from tomorrow, I would sleep in her house for a month. It was good because lately my brother Joey always brought a girl into our apartment almost every night. He was very ignorant and often held a party too. I could not even finish To Kill a Mocking Bird as my reading task which was due next week because they were too noisy.

Oh, I had not told you about my family. My parents were dead long ago in a plane crash, so since I was ten, my two brothers raised me. My eldest, Harold, was twenty nine year-old and he worked as a broker in Wall Street. He was currently the only source of our earnings since Joey who claimed himself as an artist was a total failure. Harold was married with no child, and as far as I knew, this was his fourth marriage. Even in such a young age, he had divorced for three times. We very seldom met each other, and the only sign that he was still alive was the increasing balance in my bank account. Joey was just his opposite. He was practically unemployed but the girls would not stop chasing him. He called himself as a Cassanova. Ew. My two brothers were not to be proud of, yet I liked Harold better. At least he did not waste money and was not always drunk like Joey. Unfortunately, I was stuck with Joey in our small apartment. So, when Gemma offered me an escape, why would I reject it?

Gemma, sorry I just tell you now. I agree to do the double job. I’ll stop by after school this afternoon. XO, Kelsey.

“Watch out!” someone shouted at me when I just pushed the ‘send’ button. It was too late. Before I could avoid it, a flying orange ball hit my face hard until I fell on the floor and passed out.

***  

I was awakened in the white walled room with a strong scent of drugs all around me. The clinic. My head was still spinning and my nose was numb. Through my blurry vision, I saw Nicholas standing in front of me, crossing his arms. He immediately moved towards me and supported my body as he saw me opened my eyes.

“What happened?” I asked him weakly.

“Um, Greg accidentally threw the ball and it hit your face,” he said, giving me a sympathetic look. I cringed when I heard his name. Greg? He must have done it in purpose!

“Oh, crap.”

I dropped my jaw when I looked at the mirror. Greg had ruined my nose.

“Are you okay? Do you need a ride or anything?” asked Nicholas sympathetically. I turned to him and there was a long pause between us. Actually I was thinking why he cared so much about me. I was a straightforward person, so I broke the silence and spoke,

“Nick, I’m wondering why you are so kind to me. Are you hitting on me or what? Listen, I...” I had not finished my sentence yet, but he cracked laughing and cut me.

“Ha ha ha. No, it’s not like that. I admit that I’m attracted to you, but not in that way,” he said. I frowned and asked what he meant. Nick stepped closer to me until our forehead almost touched. I hoped I did not flush again.

“You’re the only girl I feel comfortable to talk with.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re not into guys.” He shrugged. His last sentence was more painful than the previous ball incident.

“Let’s hang out sometimes.” He grinned and patted my shoulder, then disappeared behind the door. What the heck?