The Misfortunes of Lolita

16 | when lolita fixed

THIS IS AN UNEDITED AND SIGNIFICANTLY DIFFERENT VERSION OF THE MISFORTUNES OF LOLITA. I AM PUBLISHING IT IN FALL 2021—PLEASE FOLLOW ME ON IG @/ls.akhter and GOODREADS (L AKHTER) TO STAY UPDATED. I am so excited to share TMoL with you again.

UPDATE: please correct me if i'm wrong about the football specifics and try to be nice about it! i'd appreciate anything constructive, thanks.

CHAPTER 16

"There comes a moment in our life where everything stops. Everything settles into place. And then that moment is taken away, sometimes by tornados and hurricanes and earthquakes. And sometimes by people." - Lolita's writing journal.

Frank jumped up and caught the ball in the midst of its downward trajectory, his breath leaving him in a whoosh as he landed back on the ground. He only took a moment to plant his feet on the ground before he ran, the ball tucked under his arm as his teammates surrounded him, looking for the opportunity to tackle.

He nodded towards Tariq in the distance, who readied himself to catch the ball on the other side of the players surrounding him. Tariq caught the signal and stood, ready to catch the ball, and Frank raised his arm, aiming for him, and then at the last second, throwing it back towards Liam, who caught it in his hands.

The players moved away from Frank and proceeded to run towards Liam, who seemed like a pretty easy target - but even Frank knew that he might just be the secret weapon of the team, with his speed.

Frank passed the tacklers and ran towards the ten yard line, and Liam dodged the tacklers, keeping his head down and then throwing the ball to Frank.

Almost. There.

Frank tucked the ball under his arm, keeping his head down and shoved Robin, running towards the end of the field.

Robin tackled Frank aggressively from the side, nearly throwing him to the left, away from the ten yard line. He almost fell over, but at the last second, steadied himself away from Robin, not wasting any time and running down the field to his destination.

Robin yelled, and so did Tariq, and Liam stopped dead in his tracks.

Frank ran towards past the ten yard line, and towards the opposite team's end zone, feeling the rush of adrenaline everywhere in his body - he couldn't even hear anything but his heartbeat, sweat trickling down the side of his helmet - and he threw the ball down on the field.

Touchdown.

Liam cheered, throwing his arms up, and the rest of Frank's team roared with joy as the ball hit the grass, just past the white line that signified the end zone.

Frank remembered exactly how good these moments used to feel - exactly how alive he'd felt every time the crowd cheered for him. He liked the rush of his heartbeat, he liked the way his arms felt sore and his legs felt as though they were about to give out - he liked being so on edge.

He didn't know when it had happened - or maybe he knew exactly - but this didn't excite him as much anymore. He no longer craved the adrenaline in his bloodstream. Instead, he craved the gentle touch of the only girl who ever made him feel as though his heart would stop.

Coach Tug blew his whistle, the harsh sound dragging Frank out of his reverie. "Novak wins this one!" he yelled.

Robin practically growled, taking his helmet off in one motion and shoving Frank.

Here we go again.

"What the fuck was that?" he said.

Frank took his helmet off, sweat dripping down his temple. "What do you mean?"