--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...
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- Thursday, May 26th, 2016 -
– 4 months after the disappearance –
For this time of year, the weather is extremely cold and fits better with fall than it fits with spring, but I'm kind of used to it and dressed warm; wearing one of Finnley's sweaters over my soccer jersey. It's too cold to be out in a jersey if I'm not playing in the game. It's windy and it seems like it could start raining every second now. I'm propped in between Julia and Stan in the back of the bleachers, watching the game with little to no excitement. The game is halfway through its second half and it's still a tie with 0-0. It's a pretty exciting game with both teams having chances to score a goal, but none succeeded so far.
Felix started at the bench, but he was brought in after 20 minutes in which our team didn't do a lot more than defending the goal. Ever since he got in, the game is fair and they started really showing what they're capable of. Jaimie, as a captain, should coach his teammates, but it's Felix whose voice is constantly shouting over the field to help his teammates stay awake and do what they're supposed to do.
Currently, he is running with the ball along the left side of the field, Jaimie and Tom both shouting for him to pass the ball since they're in the middle and both should have a better chance of scoring. But both of them have fucked up a couple of these attacks already, so I can't blame Felix for running ahead on his own. He managed to trick a defender with a simple diversion, giving him a free line towards the goal. There's two defenders in pursuit, not nearly quick enough to catch up.
My eyes follow Felix, hoping he will score so that I at least can be happy for them because it would be Felix who managed to put them in the lead. But my mind is occupied with other things, like the conversation with Finnley over two hours ago and the fact someone was asking to rent him. I shudder at the thought, again feeling like screaming in anger. I don't want anyone touching Finnley. He should be right here with me, living the teenage life. He should be right here with me, so I would be able to show him I really love him.
I lost focus on the game and it's the crowd jumping up, shouting and screaming in anger that woke me up from my thoughts. I jump up and look down to the field. Felix is on the ground, holding his leg, obviously in pain. Jaimie, Evan and Marcus are all shouting towards the opponent, Jaimie even pushing one of them backwards in anger.
Now, I don't know what happened because I got distracted by my thoughts about Finnley, so, all I know is Felix is in pain, it must have been a dirty tackle since Jaimie is on the verge of punching a guy, the ball is in the back of the goal and the referee isn't succeeding in calming the boys down.
It seems like they're going to fight, and more and more of them get involved in the argument, the coach, trainer and even some teachers run up to the fighting group, pulling them away from each other.
"What happened?" I watch towards Julia, who is biting a nail. "I wasn't paying attention."
"Felix scored a goal, but he also got tackled by their captain from behind." Julia keeps staring towards the field. Both teams have been separated and some people are around Felix, who's still on the ground.
