Love Is Easy

Chapter 1

Chapter 1 - A/N (Author note)

Hey guys! I've been working on this story for 10 months and I have been dying to share it to everyone. I am so so happy that I'm finally publishing it today! I am no professional writer nor do I think this story will be perfect, because I know it is not, I just hope you enjoy it and you connect with the story and characters as much as I did when writing it. Enjoy guys xx

— MITCH —

"Run faster, Mitch! Run faster!" I looked over to see my coach yelling at me. I ran hard, pushing myself to my limits, but the further I ran and the harder I tried, the worse it got. Daniel Higgins from the Adelaide 36 was in front of me with the ball. "Mitch! What are you doing!?" I'm trying. I thought. I really am trying. 

I couldn't bring myself to look at the disappointment on my coaches face so I just kept on running. As if he was the only voice in the whole stadium I heard Adam yell to our coach, "Get him off the court! He's not good enough." With those words, I stopped. I looked around at the crowd and not one, not two, but every single person in the stadium was yelling out in unison - "Booooo!" My legs went weak and I fell to the ground. I tried to get up, struggling, panting like a dog after a long walk. The crowds "booo!" turned into laughter and at that point, I wasn't sure which was worse. To my right, I saw James, my best mate for years, standing next to me. He knelt down and as if it was a secret he whispered, "You're just not good enough. You never will be."

I shot up in bed, short of breath and with sweat dripping from my forehead. Stupid dreams, always recurring, so much so that I think it might actually happen when I get out onto the court. I have always been like this, afraid to disappoint, afraid of failing and afraid of simply not being good enough. I could be named the best basketball player to ever walk this earth and I would still wake up every day wondering why I'm not good enough and why I can't be better. It's a gift and a curse. It's a gift that I strive to be the best version of 'me' that I can be. It's a curse because I will never be the 'me' that I want to be. These thoughts and nightmares of failure never stop, not even when I'm meant to be on holidays.

I leant over to my bedside table to reach for my phone. 6:07am / Thursday 10th December, it read. It was too early for my mates to be up but it was perfect timing to witness the sunset. I rolled out of bed and slipped on my usual running clothes and headed for the door to start another day in a place I call paradise.

I closed the door behind me and walked my way down to the soft sand. I grabbed my phone and open my app which records everything health and fitness related and I pressed start. I ran and ran until I felt my legs begin to go numb and the lactic acid (that stuff behind your leg which makes it feel real weird when you're completely and utterly exhausted) start to kick in. I slowed down to a walk and took in my surroundings. Sometimes I forget to just stop and look. I looked to my left at all the shacks. Most are silent and still as people continue their sleep, with the exception of a few which are already bouncing with young kids who haven't yet learnt the importance of sleep. I began to run again, faster and faster.

Moments after I started to run again I noticed someone else running near me but I kept my eyes fixed in front of me as fewer distractions the better. After at least 300 metres, a pretty solid effort of resisting temptation if you ask me, I gave in and looked to see who it was, to see if it was someone I knew. I have been coming here every summer now since I was 5 years old, most people around here I'm friends with or at least have had a conversation with once or twice. 

I looked up near the shacks and saw a girl with platinum blonde hair and a very small frame. She was running and I could tell that she was in a world of her own and wasn't worried about anyone else, unlike me. I stopped looking at her to see her and started using her to push me harder. Her pace wasn't as fast as mine but it was steady, really steady.