From The Other Side

6. realize

SIX
realize

Wednesday, February 24th

Practice was over, and for once, Isaiah was grateful.

                Usually he'd want it to last forever, but  today was Ashton's birthday, and he wanted his best motherfucking friends (as he put it) to go out and eat with him at this retro diner called Marnie's. It reminded Isaiah of Stardew Valley, but he decided to keep that to himself. No need for his friends to know he played a farming simulator on his sister's laptop from time to time.

                   Then again, Isaiah wouldn't be surprised if Ashton played it himself. He enjoyed shit like that.

                    "Isaiah," Ashton said, giving the boy a narrow-eyed look. "You're going. No excuses."

                     Isaiah frowned. "Why would I bail on you on your birthday?"

                     Ashton shrugged. "I don't know. I'm just saying."

"I mean, you do bail on us a lot," Marcus pointed out honestly. Isaiah's frown deepened. Do I really bail that much? "We barely ever see you outside of school and baseball shit."

Isaiah bit at his bottom lip and sighed. "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Steve stated, squeezing his shoulder. "Just learn to have fun for once. Baseball does not count."

Marcus and Ashton snickered at Steve's comment, and the three made their way to the locker rooms. Isaiah lagged behind, calves sore from running extra laps due to some of the players acting like neanderthals. Isaiah just wanted to lay down and not get up for a few days. Maybe soak in a hot bath. Like, blistering hot.

He plopped down on the stairs to the bleachers and sighed, flexing his toes in the confines of his cleats. Upon doing so, he heard footsteps echoing against the metal flooring, and he looked back to see a familiar blond limping his way over.

Isaiah swallowed, averting his gaze and preparing himself for some type of insult. "You look like shit."

Isaiah blinked. "What?"

August sighed and carefully stepped down to where Isaiah was, nudging his good-ish foot against Isaiah's thigh. "I said, you look like shit. Nice to know you're actually a human being."

"What else would I be?" Isaiah grumbled. "An alien?"

"Yeah."

Isaiah snorted and shook his head, amused. "Alright."

August was quiet for a moment, standing still until he slowly lowered himself onto the step above Isaiah. He brushed his fingers against the metal railing, a quiet ting sound emitting from between his fingertips and the bars with each swipe. "Morgan told me you were sorry," he stated.

Isaiah glanced over at August's feet, then back at the ground in front of him. "I am. What I said... I shouldn't have. If I could take it back, I would."

                         "Okay," August said. "You can. Go ahead."

                          He furrowed his brows in confusion. "What?"