Playmaker

7

Nadine looked at everyone stare at her like they'd just seen a ghost. They stood there waiting for her to say something, but she was expecting Bret to answer her question first. She cleared her throat and straightened her stance when the room was silent for too long.

"Well?" her tone as cold as ice.

"Nadine..." Bret said, walking towards her.

She stepped in the opposite direction, making him stop in his tracks at her reaction. She clenched her fists, knowing that if he got any closer, she'd slap him.

She turned her head to look at James, "Well?"

"Naddie...." he breathed out, his heart heavy looking at her face with a bruise near her eye.

She chuckled, tears rolling down her face.

"Is that all you two can say? My name? After everything that just happened?! Tangina," she laughed out part of her frustrations, causing everyone to worry more.

Yassi walked toward her, "Bes, sabi ni doc bawal ka ma-stress."

"'Anong hindi pwede? Paanong hindi?!" her voice getting louder. "Hindi ako stressed. Galit ako. Galit na galit!"

Nadine pinched the bridge of her nose, shaking while taking deep breaths. Yassi tried rubbing her back in hopes that it would help her calm down.

"Look at all of you dressed for a wedding. What wedding?!" throwing her arms in the air and screaming, scaring Yassi enough that she stepped back. "Everyone's out there is dressed for a wedding too, but the only difference is that they look at me with so much pity because neither of you had the audacity to be decent human beings!"

"Bes..." Yassi pleaded.

Both Bret and James walked towards them, but Yassi glared at them to stop. Nadine looked down and saw their shoes, feeling herself get angrier with each minute of silence. Their problem was that they didn't know what to say to her.

Nadine's blood was boiling and she felt it all rushing to her head, so she held on to Yassi for support before speaking again.

"Wala kayong respeto sakin... Ano ba ako dito?"

The boys stood there with their heads hanging, looking like little kids being scolded. Nadine scoffed just looking at them.

"Kayong dalawa. Putangina nyo! Magsama kayong dalawa sa impyerno!" she spit out at them before rushing out of the room.

Yassi followed her only looking back to tell Henz to handle the guys. James started to run after her, but Bret stopped him.

"Let her go."

Nadine ran and ran until she was out of the hospital, crouching down to catch her breath. When she saw her parents' car, she ran into the back seat, only to hate Yassi's athletic ability to run fast enough to catch up to her.

When they got to her parents' house, she went straight to her old room without saying anything to anyone of the three. Her parents looked at Yassi, who stayed outside with them to explain what happened. After catching them up, they decided that Nadine should be watched and she would decide the rest.

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The first week after the incident was spent in her parents' house. It was also the hardest because she could sense everyone creeping around her trying to hide that Bret and James were taking turns coming over to try and talk to her. Her sister would leave a tray of food on her desk and Nadine would come out in the middle of the night to wash them. She would spend all her time in her room, only leaving to use the restroom.