Books, Boys, and Basketball: Senior Year

LOVE SUCKS

HERE IS THE THIRD INSTALLMENT TO THE BOOKS, BOYS, AND BASKETBALL - HIGH SCHOOL SERIES! SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG BUT THESE BOOKS ARE IN THE PROCESS OF BEING PUBLISHED :) I WANTED TO GIVE MY WATTPAD FANS A CHANCE TO READ IT FIRST SINCE YOU'VE ALL BEEN SO PATIENT AND SUPPORTIVE. FOR THAT, I CAN'T THANK YOU ENOUGH. A COLLEGE SERIES WILL FOLLOW, SO I WILL POST A LINK TO WHERE YOU CAN GET THAT SERIES AS WELL! LOVE YOU ALL!! ENJOY THE RIDE!!

He's not dead.

Those are the words I've been waiting to hear for three whole weeks. Damn Drew's parents for keeping that from me for that long. I suffered through all kinds of emotions like guilt, sadness, and depression thinking I'd gotten Drew killed. I barely ate or left my room during those three weeks.

Drew was shot in the back four times. One bullet grazed the top of his right shoulder, one barely nicked his spine, and two others went through his right shoulder. He lost a lot of blood in a short period of time and the sudden loss of so much blood shocked his system, rendering him unconscious. Or at least that was his diagnosis according to Patrice. She heard it from Drew's mom when she was over at the house visiting Scott.

Drew had to have surgery to remove the bullet that almost nicked his spine, and to repair the damage caused by the other bullets. He spent New Year's, our birthdays, the rest of the school year, and all of summer recovering from his injuries. The bullet that nicked his spine caused the tissue around it to swell, pinching the spinal disks in his back, which temporarily paralyzed him. He had to learn how to walk again once the swelling went down, and use his muscles again.

Afraid for his life, Drew's parents wouldn't let me see or speak to him. As far as they're concerned, I'm a walking, breathing, trouble-magnet and they don't want Drew anywhere near me.

His value as a player took a nosedive once reports that his shoulder and spine were injured, and that he had to have surgery surfaced. His parents and his father's former sports agent did everything they could to do damage control on Drew as a brand. They downplayed his injuries, had him post staged photos to social media, and posted a clip of Drew running the moment he could.

While Drew was getting better at home, I was getting the cold shoulder from his friends at school. His father turned his coach against me, who then turned his teammates against me, blaming me for why Drew had been taken out of the game. Coach Penman used me as a cautionary tale to teach of his players about how the game should come before girlfriends.The game before girls, I believe he put it.

Everyone but Quincy, Chloe, and Patrice excluded me from the circle I'd become accustomed to. But Patrice did keep her contact with me to a minimum at school. She didn't want to cause any problems between her and Scott. Outside of school though, she would come by to update me on Drew's recovery almost every day.

I tried calling and texting Drew, but my texts went unanswered, even though I could tell he read them, and my calls went straight to voicemail. I'm not sure how much of that is him avoiding me or his parents running interference. Well... not until he snuck and called me from Patrice's phone when she came by one day.

Apparently, his dad has been keeping him away from me while shoving Kim down his throat at the same time. Kim has been at his house every day with his dad's blessing, helping him through his recovery.

That's my job... I should be the one helping him through his recovery...

With his dad blocking me at every turn, being there for Drew has been impossible though. I'm not even sure if we're still engaged and I've been too afraid to ask, but luckily for me, tomorrow I'll finally get a chance to do just that.