Short & Sweet | ✓

Football

"IT'S COMING HOME, IT'S COMING HOME, IT'S COMING, FOOTBALL'S COMING HOME!"

I sit next to Ben as he shouts the song at the top of his lungs. I swear this song has been stuck in my head for a solid week, and it doesn't help when your roommate's singing it 24/7.

I put my hand over his mouth but he continues to sing, the words muffled by my hand. "Please stop, I'm begging you."

He nods and I remove my hand.

"VINDALOO, VINDALOO, AND WE ALL LIKE VINDALOO."

"No! Ben, please!"

"WE'RE ENGLAND. WE'RE GONNA SCORE ONE MORE THAN YOU. ENGLAND!"

He continues to sing Vindaloo and I sit in silence with my arms folded across my chest.

We're about to watch England play in the semi-finals for the first time, in what? 28 years? Safe to say, Ben's a bit excited. Don't get me wrong, I love football, but Ben is actually doing my head in.

The game kicks off and he stops singing almost immediately. "Right, quiet now Gee, it's starting."

"I wasn't talking in the first place! It was you singing at the top of your-" He places a finger on my lips, eyes still glued to the TV.

I shove his hand away from me and stand up. "You're a dickhead when the football's on. Don't ever tell me to be quiet."

He sighs, "Come on Gee, lets not do this now."

"No. We will do this now. You're being rude, arrogant and-"

"What's up with you recently? You're being a bitch all the time."

"I just don't appreciate you constantly treating me like sh-"

"Gee, stop! I can't hear the TV."

"See if you can hear this, dickhead." I get up from the couch and walk out of our apartment, slamming the door behind me.

He won't come after me, I know that much; at least not while the football's on. I take the stairs two at a time, leaving the building and walking down the street, squinting in the sun.

The streets are empty, with everyone inside watching the football, and I wince as the heat hits me.

Ben and me have been having problems for ages, I think I've just been trying to convince myself we'll get through it, but lately he's just been so rude. It's always been complicated between us, there was the initial attraction of maybe we could be something more; and that was great for a while. Not so much anymore.

I cross the road in an attempt to find shade from the sun and open the door to a coffee shop, stepping inside. I've never been in it before and it's completely empty other than one boy slouched over the counter with an apron on.

He stands up straight when he hears the bell on the door, his light brown hair blowing as it catches the wind of a small fan rotating next to him.

I take a seat and close my eyes, thinking about my situation with Ben. I need to move out, but I can't afford a place on my own; maybe he's just going through a phase, he was fine when we first started living together. I don't understand what's changed. Was he always like this and I had just ignored it? Surely I wouldn't-"

"Um, hi, sorry. I was just wondering if I can get you anything?"

I open my eyes to see the boy from behind the counter stood awkwardly next to my table, one hand scratching the back of his neck. "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt anything, you obviously don't want anything, I'll come back later or you can just ask me when you're ready I don't mind, whatever's best for you."