SEVENTEEN years to Live

25 ●○► THE ATHLETIC SIDE OF SEPHRED

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

●○► THE ATHLETIC SIDE OF SEPHRED

The house is empty when we get there. Where are they? I think, wondering where they have gone.

“Maybe they’re at the lake,” Bryan guesses. He’s leaning his body on the doorframe, his arms folded against his chest, his lips formed into a thin line.

“Good idea,” I say, and my eyes suddenly widen.

My feet scramble past Bryan and I start jogging toward lake. Bryan follows me a few seconds later and catches up with me quickly.

“Why do you run so fast?” I ask.

“Why do you run so slow?” he asks back in his teasing voice.

“Whatever,” I say. “I hope they’re there.”

As the lake comes into view I see the boys playing soccer and the girls cheering a few meters away from the field. We’re still a hundred yards away. I want to get there now so I push my legs faster, leaving Bryan in my wake.

But he is faster than me; he catches up with me in just a few seconds. I’m running now, but he’s still jogging. Gosh, he’s really fast. I bet his legs can extend longer than that.

“You’re not excited to play soccer, are you?” I tell him.

“Nope,” he replies, shaking his head.

“Then why do you run so fast? Are you planning to leave me here alone?”

A low chuckle produces in the back his throat. “I run fast because I am a soccer player. And I’m not planning to leave you here alone.”

I sigh at his answer. “Then slow down a little bit,” I order.

Immediately he obeys me, and together we jog toward lake at a normal speed.

The girls have finally seen us when we’re almost there. The boys call a time out as we arrive.

“Hey, Bryan!” someone calls out from the field. It was Marvy. “Wanna join us?” he asks, holding the ball in his hand.

“Sure,” Bryan replies. “But maybe later, okay?”

He glances at me for a second, giving me a quick smile and a wink. Then he returns his glance to Marvy, who says, “Okay,” and is nodding at him.

I grin when I see the boys gathering in one place. They must have missed me, I think. I smile at them and wave. Before I return my eyes to my friends, I see Emil, Patrick, Jed and Michael wave back at me. This makes my grin wider.

“I’m so glad you came,” Kate whispers in my ear as she pulls me into a tight hug. When I draw back, I find her eyes staring into mine. “I thought you would never come.”

“Well, I did,” I tell her. “I came.”

The others also embrace me, telling me how glad they are that I come to visit them. Sephred is the last person I hug. I wonder why he’s not in the field to play with the boys. Doesn’t he know how to play? Do he and his brother play this game when they were little? I sigh heavily and ask him the questions in my mind.

He shrugs, pursing his lips to the side. “I don’t know how to play. And I did not play this game with Glenn when we were kids.”

I nod in reply. “Okay,” I mutter. “I shall call them then so they could teach you.”

“What? No,” he tells me.

But I have already turned to call Bryan who’s now going into the field. “Bryan!”