The Little Things [Book 1]

Chapter Forty-One: Goal Poacher

Mark: I won't be at school tomorrow. Hanging out with Ashton. But I'll be at your match.

Thomas's eyes stared at last night's text as if it was a declaration of war. He didn't know why it even pissed him off. Mark was skipping a day. Whatever. It was his senior year that he was missing. There weren't even two full months of school left, though. Couldn't he hang out with Ashton after he graduated?!

"Who do I have to punch?" Dean said, resting against the locker next to Thomas's. Thomas looked at him with a frown.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"Who do I have to punch?" he repeated, nodding at the phone in Thomas's hands. "Who is pissing you off?"

"It's nothing," Thomas dismissed. There was doubt in Dean's features and he smacked his lips.

"Fine, keep your secrets. Then, I won't tell you what Coach told me," Dean replied, looking away.

"What did Coach tell you?" Thomas immediately asked. Dean shrugged and started whistling, and Thomas couldn't help but groan. "Okay, I'll tell you, but after you tell me about the Coach thing".

"Uh-uh, Tommy boy, that's not how it works. You speak first".

"Mark's skipping today... with Ashton," Thomas replied, distaste dripping from his mouth. Dean's lips pulled back in a thin smile.

"Someone's jealous," he mused.

"I'm not. But I think it's stupid that he's losing school for him," Thomas replied.

"Yes, because Mark cares so much about school," Dean said mockingly.

"It's not about that! We're going to graduate soon and... he needs to finish helping with the yearbook... and he –"

"And he shouldn't be hanging out with his ex," Dean interrupted. "AKA: I'm jealous that my partner is spending time with other people". Thomas squinted at him.

"Shouldn't you be somewhere else making out with Julie?"

"We're going through a thing," Dean replied and sat up from the locker.

"A thing?" Thomas said again.

"She's angry at me for taking a gap year," Dean said with a shrug. "Said our relationship wouldn't stand her going to college and me staying behind".

"That's bullshit," Thomas muttered.

"Exactly. It's not like I'm asking her to not follow her thing. I just haven't found mine yet and a year without school would really help," Dean agreed with another shrug.

"Tell me the thing about Coach," Thomas said, going back to what Dean had mentioned earlier.

"Oh, he told me that you should know an agent will be there tonight. To check you out," Dean said, a smile creeping up his face.

"An agent? Checking me out?"

"Yep, so no slacking tonight. Bring your A-game," Dean replied.

"When do I ever slack?" Thomas replied smugly.

***

This year it hadn't even felt like a real season. To Thomas, it had flown by so quickly he was actually nostalgic about it. Soon the days where he would fool around with Dean during practice or go with his friends to the diner after practice would come to an end. He didn't want that. He wasn't ready for this chapter of his life to end. He didn't want to discover what would come next.