Cyrus Goodman and TJ Kippen didn't realize how important they were to each other until they first interacted in Jefferson Middle School's cafeteria, when Buffy told TJ these words: "You have to get my friend Cyrus here, a chocolate chocolate chip mu...
ANNOUNCEMENT: Where It All Began will come out twice a week now, Mondays and Fridays.
I'm also in the process of posting this story on Tumblr and AO3 (once I'm able to get an account), to expand.
TJ'S POV
The past few days have been the best. We've gone undefeated in basketball so far, making us one of the best teams not only in Shadyside, but possibly in the whole state. Today was the last game of the season. The buzzer was slowly counting down to zero, with me dribbling the ball. I was only at the half court line, and it was risky to shoot the ball. After I see the buzzer get closer and closer, I threw the ball as hard as I could towards the basket. It hit the backboard as the buzzer went off. The ball fell straight into the basket, with a whoosh sound. We won. 33-30. We've gone undefeated the entire season. The crowd roared with excitement as the team crowded me and lifted me up.
"TJ, TJ, TJ!" Everyone in the gym roared from the seats. I've never felt so accomplished, ever since that C on the math test. Everything was worth it.
I saw Cyrus in the distance. Once the team put me down, I ran straight to my boyfriend. My #1 fan ever since we were dating. I gave him a passionate kiss on the lips, while hugging him as tight as I possibly could. He didn't expect that. As I let go, he started coughing intensely.
"Oops, sorry Underdog!" I said, while patting his back. "I didn't mean to hug you so tightly!"
"No, no, no, it's fine, it's fine," he replied between breaths. "I love you, congrats!"
"I don't mean to interrupt you and your boyfriend TJ, but let's celebrate, come on!" Coach Nick yelled.
Later, we all celebrated at The Spoon, one of my favorite places. The team unanimously voted to celebrate there, out of all places.
Ronald held his vanilla milkshake up. "Let's have a toast to TJ, the best captain of the basketball team!"
"To TJ!" Everyone yelled, before cheering. I turned red in embarrassment, even if it did feel good.
After the celebration, (which did involve a lot of food), we all started to leave. I saw Cyrus by the door, and I was very excited to see him. When I got out of my booth, a girl stopped me while I was trying to walk out. Let me tell you, she was ugly.
"Hey cutie, stay a bit more longer?" She flirted. I was not interested at all.
"Can you move? I'm trying to leave." I replied with a bit of anger.
"Not if you kiss me first." She said, winking as she was getting closer.
"I have a-" I tried to say before she grabbed my shirt and pulled me close to her until our lips met. That was the most disgusting kiss I've ever had. After I immediately pulled away, I gagged.
"C'ya," She winked as she walked out.
I saw Cyrus at the window as he saw everything. His eyes were red, with sadness on his face. Shit. He saw me, I didn't want that to happen. I ran out the door but he started to bolt.
"Cyrus, wait!" I yelled as he tried to run. He wasn't athetic, so his running was just as fast as my walking. He turned around and started walking towards me.
"Explain what just happened." Cyrus muttered, with a broken voice.
"It was nothing, trust me." I managed to reply.
"NOTHING? A GIRL KISSING YOU IS NOTHING?" Cyrus yelled, "I SUPPORTED YOU. I LOVED YOU. I DID ALMOST EVERYTHING FOR YOU, AND YOU REPAY ME WITH THAT? HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO TRUST YOU?" He retorted, his voice breaking in the process.
"Cyrus..." I whispered, as he started sobbing. He stomped away.
He turned around.
"Face it Kippen, we're done." Cyrus yelled, before turning around and walking. He slipped on ice, but kept walking.
"I lost him," I thought to myself, "You're such a dumbass, how could that even happen to you?"
CYRUS' POV
As I walked away from The Spoon, all I could think about was what just happened to me. Earlier I was eagerly waiting for TJ to come out of The Spoon. I didn't expect him to ever kiss a girl.
I opened the door to my house, and ran upstairs to my room. My mom knocked on the door.
"Cyrus, honey, are you okay in there?" She asked.
I managed to clear my throat and try to sound as okay as possible. "Yeah mom, I'm fine!" I yelled back.
"Tell me if you need anything, alright? I love you, goodnight!" Mom yelled through the door again.
All I could think about that night was what TJ did to me. What he did to us. He was so important to me. I needed to talk to someone. I couldn't keep this bottled in.
I called Buffy, and told her everything.
"What should I do now?" I asked her, while starting to sob again. "Everything's such a blur now, I don't know what to do anymore..."
"If you loved him, you could've gave him another chance. For all you know, this could be a misunderstanding." Buffy replied.
"So you're saying I should give Kippen another chance? For what he's done to me?" I snapped.
"Cyrus, just calm down. Good night." Buffy hung up.
I laid back in my bed, wondering what I should do. I thought about everything that TJ and I did together, and we were perfect together. I feel like I made a mistake. I was close to falling asleep when I heard a beep from my phone.
It was from TJ. What did he want? I took my phone off my nightstand, and opened it up despite it blinding me, since it was dark in my room.
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At this point, I didn't know what to say.
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I put my phone down on my nightstand again as I turned it off. I didn't know what to expect for tomorrow, since I was still upset and moody. He never apologized, either.
I did feel a bit better. I still loved him, but I was broken. Hopefully our meeting will make things better.
