For The Love Of The Game

Prologue

*3 Years ago*

California schools are beautiful with lush green areas and outside hallways, beautiful,yes, good for warmth and shade, no. These schools were built too beautiful for the people who go here who have egos like balloons, and I hope one day I'd have the strength to grab a needle and pop them. Girls and boys walk through the halls, too stuck in their ideas of parties and their own problems. When they're only 14, they would walk down the hallways of the school like it a movie based on their life and of course back then their were the social groups: the preps, jocks, weirdos, choir girls, the guys who thought they could win a girl with a skateboard, and the ones who weren't any of that. We were on the side away from the name game, nobody asked who we were and we liked it that way. Autumn air clouds blew through the air and I knew girls would begin to wear sweaters and leggings, I didn't care about what I wore, as long as people didn't look at me oddly for wearing it. My best friend Lainey had been adopted into our family after her family died in a horrible car accident about three years ago. She was like a sister to me although We acted like totally different people, Lainey was upbeat about everything she saw from the glass half full perspective, found a good trait about everybody and people loved her for it. She was the closest to popular we had in our group of friends, but being a "Ray of sunshine" made her too happy to be in a group of snobs.

"Hey Chanel, Want to possibly give me that orange, I'm starving" with out hesitation I tossed the circular orange fruit to my oldest friend Colton who sat on one of the steps of the stairs. He combed his hair with his hands and caught it without even looking at me, like knowing each other for so long had made a bond to knowing what each other was doing. He desperately tried to repair the hair that was already fine "just eat the Orange and stop trying to fix a problem that's not there" Lainey dropped next to me with a slight smile but mostly a straight face which she never had. "Uh something wrong Breezy" I quoted her last name as I picked a cherry tomato from the salad I was eating for lunch.

"Yepppp totally, you know, peachy!" The small Lainey I knew punched my arm which she never did.
Kyle sat with Colton and they both sat mesmerized at Mckenzie Walters, the main girl of the small school I was in, she fluffed her blonde curls and with each curl bouncing I grew angrier. "Don't worry about them Chanel, she's nothing"Lainey said as if she knew I had nothing to worry about. As school ended I saw Lainey whisper something to Colton as we all walked to my moms Ford Flex, I hopped In the front and the ride was dead silent as I looked out through the window watching the city we lived in disappear into tan houses. Through the rear view mirrors I saw Colton looking through the window and knew something was wrong that I didn't know about. As we got out of the car I decided to talk to Colton about it but that was an option that was washed away as he walked across the street and shut the door of his light blue house. My mom and Lainey rushed into the house with me angrily following them, "Does anyone want to tell me what's going on?" I raised my arms up as I walked to the kitchen and noticed half of the house filled with brown boxes. "Please tell me you're joking" I swallowed hard "we knew you would be like this and refuse so Lainey and I have been packing your stuff, the movers will me here tomorro-" "wait, tomorrow!? I got less than a day in advance?" I stormed up the stairs and locked myself in my room. The room was a light Aqua and that was the only thing now that made my room look still the same, I crawled out the long rectangular window and climbed my way onto the perfect tile spot I had on the roof.

This is where I went to be alone, especially after my father died of Lung cancer when I was 9. I pulled out the tiny flip phone I had and texted My neighbor from down the street, Colton. His room was straight facing toward the street and his bedroom light lit the road up, along with his music that I could hear from my rooftop . 'I'm moving tomorrow, can we talk before I leave' I sent the sad text that sunk my body from sitting to laying my back on the tile. The phone responds as a Unreplied 'read' message.