--Six time award winning novel by June D. Silver-
"Hidden truths are unspoken lies"
As a straight A student, Finnley never got himself into trouble. He goes to school, runs track, hangs out with his two best friends Cristian and Emma and studies; a...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
– 8 months before –
"Cris!" Jaimie grabs my elbow and swirls me around on my feet. "Did I understand correctly?"
"Did you understand what?" I pretend to not know what this is about. I'm not in the mood to bicker with him about my decision.
"You quit soccer?" His eyes are wide in disbelieve; as if he's pleading for me to tell him this is a joke.
"Yeah man..." I shrug my shoulders to pretend it's not that big of a deal. But it is a big deal for me to quit the one thing I loved ever since I was four years old. "I didn't enjoy myself anymore."
"But we need you! You can't just stop halfway through the season."
"I can, and I did," I deadpan, crossing my arms. "Why would I continue to play if I didn't enjoy it, at all? I mean, you guys are great, but I just don't feel like playing anymore."
Let me clarify my decision to quit even though I loved soccer. It's honestly the fact Finnley told me he hates it. Not that I started to hate it, I started noticing I only did it because I was good and it always had Finnley compliment me. Without him watching the games, or practice, I feel like I'm doing it for nothing. It's stupid, but it's the whole reason I started to dislike playing soccer. After that, I noticed I had to literally drag myself out on the field, in rain and cold weather, to kick a fucking ball around on a field. What's the fun in that if there's nobody complimenting you afterwards, nobody wearing your shirt to show that they're there for you? At least, not someone I care about. There's enough girls out on the bleacher showing they are there for me; it just doesn't cut it.
"Are you serious?" Jaimie sounds a little defeated. "Can't you at least wait two more weeks and help us against Alexandrian?"
They're our biggest competitors. Not that we're aiming to be champion. Hell, it's only been two years when we didn't end up last in the competition. For some reason two years ago it all clicked and we started winning. We came in third two years in a row and it's the best result my team ever had.
"No, I'm sorry. If I continue two more weeks, after that you'll beg me for two more weeks. I just can't do it anymore."
"Well, that sucks," he mutters, pulling his backpack back up on his shoulder. "I thought you enjoyed playing soccer."
"I did, but not anymore. I might go and find something else to keep myself trained."
"Well, if you miss us, don't hesitate to come back, okay?"
"I will," I tell him thankfully. "Thanks for understanding."
"Hey, that's why we're friends, right?"
"Yeah, I guess that's true." We share one of those brotherly hugs, before heading to our own classes.
The morning goes by uneventful; classes are boring, since it's a Monday people are overall quiet and tired, teachers are fresh and cheerful, handing out too much homework like they always do on Mondays. They always let us hand in our homework on Mondays or Tuesdays, preventing themselves from having to work during the weekends. All the more do we have to do during our free days.
