The Guy Who Gave Up His Jersey (New Version)

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"Are you sure? I can tell something is wrong." I stared into his eyes, waiting for him to respond. He placed his hands on the sides of my arm.

"Jules, everything is okay." He reassured me with a small smile.

I opened my mouth getting ready to speak when the bells to the front door chimmed and his parents walked in. Alejandro turned his gaze towards them before going completely blank. His grip on my arms relaxed and his arms fell to his side. He looked like he had seen a ghost with how pale he got. Without a word he went straight to the kitchen, leaving me alone wondering what was going on.

I turned my body to face Mindy who was staring at her parents as they greeted everyone. Greg had his arm wrapped around her waist and it seemed as if he was trying to hold back from going to her parents. What is going on? Mr. And Mrs. Rodriquez walked over to Mindy and Greg and few words were exchanged before Mindy forcefully gave them a hug.

I turned around and made my way to the kitchen, Alejandro was seating on top of the counter blanked out.

"Do you want to let me know what's going on?" I spoke up, snapping him out of his thoughts.

He didn't look at me his eyes remained on the floor. "My parents-"

"Hey, mom and dad are here. They want to speak to you." Mindy said, entering the kitchen. Alejandro looked up to meet her gaze and he didn't look happy about what she had said.

She hesitated to speak with me being around and I took that as my cue to excuse myself. I understand there are situation which are hard to talk about with others. Whatever was going on with Alejandro and his parents he would let me know eventually. I went to greet Alejandro's parents before going over to Xavier and Linda who were helping my mom get the plates ready.

"Is it me or did the room get tense when Alejandro's parents showed up?" Xavier muttered as we placed the plates on the table.

"I think something is happening, Alejandro wasn't happy when they showed up." I responded.

Linda hushed us. "It's Thanksgiving and it's the day of being grateful for who is around you."

Well it seemed like The Rodriquez family wasn't grateful being around each other.

I tried brushing off the tension in the room yet there wasn't escaping the awkward signals coming from Alejandro and his family. Alejandro went to talk to his parents and they weren't pleased to see each other. They all had a small frown on their faces until Mrs. Rodriquez muttered something to them, which they all lighten up their expressions. His father remained with a small frown and every time his eyes would land on Ale, his eyes beamed with pure hate.

I must've been hallucinating though, Alejandro's dad couldn't possibly hate him. It's his own son and as mad as a parent might be with their kid, they'll never hate them. Whatever Alejandro did, it had his parents extremely upset with him.

During dinner the adults sat at the far end of the table while the teenagers sat at the other end. Everyone was talking amongst each other while we enjoyed the food. Grandpa made a comment about my potato salad and how good it was, while Alejandro's mom, applauded my mom for her famous turkey sauce. It nearly seemed as if things were easing up, Alejandro was even chuckling now. I kept looking towards the end of the table trying to see if Alejandro's dad was in a better mood and he was. He was chatting with my dad and every now and then, a laugh would erupt from their side.

I relaxed a bit knowing everyone was going to act civil, not that I was expecting for a fight to break out. Alejandro's parents aren't the type of people to put a show for others, especially in front of our family. If it wasn't for Alejandro confessing about how he is raising himself due to his parents being away all the time, I'd still be thinking they were the perfect family.

I guess my mom is right you don't know what happens behind close doors.

At some point during dessert Uncle Simon brought up the topic about college and where the boys were planning on applying to. Xavier hadn't decided whether he wanted to stay in town or go somewhere out of state. He wants to peruse a engineering degree and is keeping his eye out for University Of Houston in Texas. Knowing him though, he's probably waiting to see if he gets a baseball scholarship, it's been his dream to play in the big league.

Alejandro was a different topic, personally, I never asked him what he planned on studying. I figured it was going to do something with business since his dad is a CEO for the company he works for. When Uncle Simon asked Alejandro where he was planning on going, his father answered for him.

"He shouldn't be going anywhere else than community college since he blew his opportunity to get scouted for a baseball scholarship."

The air tensed up rather quickly, everyone remained quiet. Alejandro took a slice of his pie and ate it, before looking up to meet his fathers eyes.

"Genetics, I want to go into the medical field." He ignored his dad's comment.

Uncle Simon nodded. "I can see you as a doctor." He grinned.

"You'll probably have all the nurses swaying at your feet." Aunt Cass added.

"He should be careful it's what's got him into the circumstances he is in. Girls swaying around him has made him lose his focus on baseball." His dad responded.

This time Alejandro dropped his fork on his plate. "You know what I don't understand? How you can sit here and judge me?"

"Alejandro." Mindy spoke out.

I had my eyes glued on Alejandro while he glared angrily at his father. I lowered my hand underneath the table and placed my hand on his thigh, snapping him out of the trace he was in. His shoulders relaxed and he stood up from the table.

Alejandro's father leaned back and stared at him. "What don't you understand?" He mocked Alejandro, trying his best to hide his smirk.

"Don't try to live your dreams off of me. I love baseball but not enough to make it into a growing passion."

"You're pathetic." His father shot back.

Xavier stood up from his chair and tried pulling Alejandro towards the kitchen. We didn't need a fight to happen and by the look in Ale's eyes, he was ready to fight. This time I got up from my chair and I tried touching Alejandro's arm but he stepped back.

"You're calling me pathetic but you're a coward." Alejandro voice boomed. "Who leaves their-" He stopped himself when he noticed the outburst he was causing. In that moment, I saw it, the glossiness of his eyes—the need to cry. One last time I tried touching him but he stormed out of the cafe, before he continued to embarrass himself even more.

"Alejandro, wait!" I found myself running after him. I wanted to stop him but he managed to get into his truck and drive off before I got a chance to catch up to him.

Greg stepped out of the cafe and sighed heavily. "He needs to cool off."

"What's going on? Why is his dad talking to him like that?" I asked angrily. "He didn't need to speak to him like that."

"Well, that man has always been smooth with his words." He muttered sarcastically. "Somethings Juliana need to come from the person who's hurting."

"He doesn't want to  tell me..." I confessed.

"He isn't ready then, when he is, I'm positive he will come to tell you. For now, be as supportive as you can."

All I can do is be supportive, unlike Alejandro, I'm not good fixing people. I always tend to do more damage than good. I want to make him feel better, sadly I don't know even know where to start.

**

I keep getting messages asking how many more chapters of the book is remaining and I am aiming for 100 chapters, which we are barely half way.

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