The Last Chance (Book 2 of the Cheer Series)

Four:

"Miss Alderman, do you think you could help me with this?" I ask, knocking on my old art teacher's door. The class was empty, but that was expected. It's after school.

"Sure. Come in Melissa." She says.

"Can I sit? I think we might be a while." I say, and take out my iPad.

"Come." She says, and pulls a chair close to her behind her desk.

"I need help analysing this picture." I say, and hope that she doesn't ask too much into it.

"Thinking of taking art again Melissa?" She laughs.

"No! I can't draw to save my life!" I tease.

"I'm glad you know it." She says, and nudges me softly. I show her the picture on my iPad.

"I don't know what it means and I need to be able to understand." I plead.

"Let me see it closer." She zooms I'm on the background first.

"Notice the cheerleaders? They are the same girl. She seems like she wants to hurt this boy in the skull see it?" I nod slowly.

"It's almost like they are taunting him?" I state, and she nods.

"Yes. Now we look more inward." She studies the skull drawing. "He's a football player. It's number 8 Steven's number?" She asks, eyeing the number on the football jersey. I nod. "This is Steven's drawing isn't it?"

I stay quiet, but she already knows the answer. "This makes it easier then." She studies it further, zooming into places I overlooked.

"He feels trapped." She starts, and zooms in on the football jersey. "You see here how the football jersey has scratch marks on it? How he seems to be trying to pull it off? He feels that football has captured him, taken him prisoner and he can't break free from it."

She zooms in on the cheerleaders. "They are making matters worse, they are almost like the prison guards, they are keeping him in his prison and as long as they are there, he can't outrun the prison." She explains. I study them. They become more and more evil as I look closer.

"So the prison, his prison in this context is football?" I ask, and Miss Alderman, nods softly. "I don't understand." I whisper. "I thought he loved football. It was his dream to be in the NFL."

"He did." She states, "I know he did. He would never have been so happy, so eager to play out in the field, and become captain no less. I knew your parents. They never forced in to continue to stay. It was his dream Melissa, but now it's your job to find out why he doesn't love it anymore." Miss Alderman smiles sadly at me, and turns back towards her desk.

"I appreciate that a lot. Thank you ma'am." I give her a smile, and turn to walk out the door.

"Anytime. If you need anyone, or any help, my door is always open." She says, and I nod.

I walk out the school and jump into my car. I open my iPad again to find his drawing staring back at me. I sigh softly. "Why don't you love football anymore? What's happened to you Steven?" I whisper softly and start the car.

~~~~~~~~
Steven's pov

The moon was high in the sky, three am, when I climbed up through the window to get into my room. I stumbled over to my bed and collapsed from exhaustion. My body was aching all over, but I could feel nothing else.

I could no longer feel the guilt running though my veins, I could no longer see the look of despair on Melissa's face as she saw me with the cigarette between my fingers, and I could no longer feel the pull to feel the familiar feeling of the football in my hands, the shoulder pads weighing down on my shoulders, and the helmet on my head. It worked. I feel nothing.

I urge my body to rest, but as usual, sleep doesn't come. I crawl out of bed, and walk through the passage when I pass Melissa's room. It's 3am and I can hear soft snoring coming from within her bedroom. I peek into her room. I open the door slightly and walk inside. I'm quiet, and she's asleep. The room is almost completely dark, save for small slits of street light coming though her curtains. I can make out a figure in the bed, and as my eyes adjust to the darkness, I can see her desk. Her things are scattered, and her cupboard is lying open.

I peek into it. I can see the outline of a box, but otherwise, I can't see a thing. I pull out the box quietly and carry it into my room. I feel like I've somehow violated her privacy, but she is my sister after all.

I switch on my lamp, and open the box. Memories come flooding back as I look into the box. My football things. Every last one of them she collected and put into a box. A box which she hid in her cupboard. I close the box quickly again. Things become blurred and I want to forget about it again. My body is screaming at me to stop, to somehow find sleep. I push all the clatter off my bed and I sink into the sheets. It all feels so wrong, so foreign to me. I don't deserve to sleep in this room. This house, not after I've treated my family so terribly, but I numb the feeling of guilt with other thoughts. I leave my old self behind once more, and I close my eyes and allow sleep to overtake my desperate body.

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I am so terrible with updating this book and I am truly sorry. I'm so hectic it's not even funny.

I hope that you liked Steven's pov. It's something different. Anyhoo, tell me what you think! I'm desperate to know. Vote (Because I need a little encouragement right now) lol.