Cruel Me

Chapter 38: Reset

We were losing.

I glanced at the scoreboard, sighing and shaking my head in defeat. My eyes wandered to the bleachers and scanned the rows.

Still no sign of Halo.

I lowered my head and stared on the grass.

She didn't show up. Did she really mean what she said yesterday? I couldn't stand the thought of us breaking up. Man, I fucked up so bad this time.

How the fuck do I fix this?

"Dude," called Alfie, nudging me. "It's almost halftime."

I looked at him and nodded.

"Priorities," he reminded me.

Frowning, I nodded again.

Sometimes, it sucked having a best friend who was so damn good at reading me. I didn't even tell him what happened but he seemed to get it. He wasn't stupid. I was pretty sure he noticed that I kept looking at the bleachers and Halo wasn't there.

"Ach," grunted Alfie, waving off Coach's suggestion. "Me no likey."

Coach Watkins flung his arms in frustration from the bench.

"What about a Hail Mary?" offered Parker.

Kurt sighed heavily.

Alfie cocked his head. "Do you see Frisco anywhere, you fucktard?"

Because of the accident, Frisco wouldn't be able to play for the rest of the season. It sucked. But at least, he still had another shot next year. Too bad the rest of us would be in different colleges by then.

My eyes scanned the field briefly, before shaking my head.

"It's too early to do any big plays," I told them. "Let's stick to the basics."

They looked at me and waited.

"All ears, baby," said my best friend.

"Give me the ball," I ordered. "And make sure they all see when you do, then you make a run for it while I stall their asses."

Alfie grinned. "Gotcha." He eyed at the rest of the group. "Ready?"

"Break!"

We disbanded and took our positions. My eyes met Alfie's. We exchanged nods before facing our fronts. I crouched down and braced myself.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, drowning out the noise from the bleachers and focusing on the smell of the grass. I tried to rid my thoughts of a purple-eyed dork and focused on the task at hand.

Win this game first, then go find Halo.

"Hut!"

My eyes opened. And all I could see was the game in front of me.

The moment Alfie got the ball, he whirled around and hurried to me for a hand off. I took a couple of steps back, all my senses alert.

I had nothing to worry, though. The linebackers did a pretty fucking good job blocking those who attempted to shoot the gap while I watched our quarterback make a run for it.

Just a little further, man.

When I thought he was far enough, I made a long pass to Alfie. He raised his arms and reached up, catching the ball easily and running until he scored a touchdown.

I raised my fist in triumph, as the crowd roared in cheers. My eyes went to the clock. Less than five seconds left before halftime. No point in scrimmaging. When it counted down to zero, the buzzer went off.