Divided

Chapter 8

***Chandler's POV*** 

So far, college had been going as I had expected it to based off my brother's descriptions.  The part I was most fearful of was approaching dreadfully by the hour, the classes.  Since I had grown up focused 100% on athletics, my grades weren't the best and school had always come second.  

During high school I was able to mess around and barely get by because I knew that field hockey or lacrosse would be the thing that would get me to the school of my dreams.  College grades would actually determine my future though...let's be honest field hockey wouldn't earn a living.  

My first three classes were the next day starting at nine in the morning, then the team had practice at five.  My coach made a point that due to classes practices would get shorter and we would have to cut down on conditioning time, so we had to run at least twenty miles a week on our own and only do agility runs at practice.  

I went to bed around ten and set my alarm clock for six; had to get up and run on my own.  

When the blaring alarm sounded and awoke me, I rubbed my eyes.  I pulled my way too long hair, that desperately needed a trim, into a high ponytail.  I put on a pair of black Nike running shorts and my worn out running shoes with a tight tank top on and a Lulu Lemon headband in place on my head to secure the look.

I filled my Nalgene water bottle in the hallway, put my phone in its arm band, set my playlist to shuffle, and took off down the street from the dorms. 

Long distance running had definitely never been a strong suit of mine, but I had plenty on my mind.  I was trying to run off my thoughts of Niall, and more particularly why he still hadn't tried to contact me ever since he told me he would take me on a date..He was the one who offered.

I knew that it had only been two days but the fact that he wouldn't hook up with me because he wanted to make me feel special and I was the one left feeling desperate made me feel like shit.  I continued running to my playlist titled "Bumpin."  A little ghetto for my taste but the fast tempo definitely kept me going.

I looked at my Nike app pulled up on my phone to see how far I had already ran, 2.3 miles.  It was going by quickly and my pace had improved dramatically since beginning of summer.  As I continued on my pace, I recognized the beat up black Jeep Cherokee from the down the street. 

The car pulled over onto the street, and the window rolled down to reveal familiar faces. 

"How's the run going Chy?"  My awful nickname given to me by my brothers since age three.

"Good, 3.7 miles to go.. Where are you guys off to?"  Nick and Dylan told me the location of their next classes.  We continued chatting until Nick tapped Dylan's shoulder and showed him a message he had just received on his iPhone. 

"Oh..next week already."  Nick nodded his head and their attitudes changed drastically, and I already knew what they were referring to. 

"What's next week?"  They paused, looked at eachother, and looked back at me.  They remained quiet until Dylan broke the silence.

"Next Wednesday is two years since Austin died."  My heart immediately ached at the name.  I shrugged my shoulders timidly.

"Oh ya I already knew that.  I actually can't stop thinking about it especially when I see the picture in the stadium."  They agreed.  Nick spoke to me again.

"Alright but speaking of this where were you two nights ago? After the bonfire?"  I felt the lump in my throat grow as our conversation took another turn.

"Wait why did you say 'Speaking of this?' what did Friday have to do with Austin."  They exchanged quick glaces.

"Nothing but you didn't answer my question."

"And you didn't answer mine.

"Alright, it was nice seeing you but we can't hold up traffic any longer."  I looked down the empty street and gave Dylan a skeptical glance.

"Can you guys just tell me what's going on! What happened?  Why can't I hang out with Niall or Harry, and I'm not saying that I want to, but why can't I?"  My voice had a strong edge.

"I promise that I will tell you everything soon, and it will make you never even want to look at those douches again.  In the meantime, just stay away."  I rolled my eyes and sighed.

"Fine, whatever.  I'm not in high school anymore so feel free to treat me as an equal whenever."  They rolled up the window and drove away as I continued my run down the street. 

My thoughts wandered to Austin...the thoughts escaped my mind all summer, but as soon as I arrived on campus I couldn't help but feel weird that he wasn't here with me and my siblings.  Austin roomed with Nick their freshman year and spent that summer living with us.  I ended up losing my virginity to him that summer, and we had a whole secret romance type thing...it was actually thrilling.  He was what I considered my first love and I would never forget about him.

I continued to see Austin's lacrosse picture in the locker room and stadium hall as a respect and remembrance since his death at the beginning of the previous school year.. it was clear he would be missed all throughout campus, and especially in athletics.  What did Niall and Harry even have to do with Austin.. what was happening?