Destined

Twenty Two

I woke up with a start. I had been sitting at his kitchen table, he'd handed me a cup of hot chocolate. He was sitting down next to me and talking about his book. Then suddenly, I morphed into Reese. And the real me was standing outside, looking through the window wishing to be let in. I hated it, feeling so broken, but I still refused to cry.

The day went by in a rush. After class, I went to help Talia and her team prepare the banquet hall for the following evening. I hadn't seen Vince all day and I was glad for it. Now that he was coaching the soccer team, I figured it was likely he'd spend more time around school and I wondered why. He was done with his book, so he'd said. Why was he sticking around? Was it because of Reese?

"Hey, pay attention," Talia yelled at me.
I shook my head, "Sorry, what?"
She frowned at me, "Krissy, are you okay?"

We were in the banquet hall that was coming together nicely. Talia had a talent. People were shuffling around, arranging chairs and tables, putting up lights, Maddie and Liz were setting up the podium with help from some other people.

"I'm fine, just tired, excited to go home," I answered.
She looked at me like she didn't quite believe me but accepted my answer, "I wish I was coming with,"
I shrugged, "It's fine, you need your time with Tyler. Your mum gets it,"
She laughed, "You think I told her why I was staying back?"
I laughed too, "I guess not,
"Seriously though, I'm here if you need to talk, you know that?"
I nodded, "I'm fine, I promise,"
She smiled then glanced over, "Speak of the devil,"

I looked back and in walked Tyler, Matthew, Jonah and Damien, as well as a few other soccer players I didn't know. They seemed to be coming in from practice.

"I swear the man has it out for me," Damien was saying.

Tyler separated from the group and came straight to us, Talia really, and hugged her, placing a kiss on her forehead and whispering something that sounded like 'I missed you' but I couldn't be too sure. She giggled, hugging him back.

"Hi Krissy," he greeted me and I responded in kind.
"I know Vince, he's not petty like that," Matt was saying and I looked back at them, a gluten for punishment, wanting to know what about Vince was circulating now.
Jonah looked at me and smiled, walking over to me and placing an arm around my shoulders, "let's ask Krissy," he said drawing me into their conversation.
"Leave her out of this," Damien said glaring at his friend.
Jonah laughed, "Relax Cap, I just wanna know what she thinks,"
Matthew rolled his eyes, "Vince wouldn't do that,"
"Wouldn't do what?" I asked unable to keep my curiosity at bay. What did Vince do?
"So our new coach had Damien here do extra laps in training today. And honestly he was just barking orders like a tyrant. Damien here thinks it's because Vince knows about you and him, and he's lashing out," Jonah explained.
"You know Vince, would he really do that?" Matt asked me and all three of them looked at me.
"What do you think, K-bear?" Jonah asked.

I laughed, "Vince has a girlfriend, he hardly cares who I'm with," I answered.
Jonah laughed, "If you say so," he said as Talia called for him.

He released me and went off to help her and Tyler as Matt went to join Maddie and Liz leaving me with Damien.

"I apologize for that, you know how Jonah can be," Damien said.
I nodded, "No worries, I'm used to being the talk of the school by now. I'm guessing Reese and Vince should be blowing up right about now,"
He shrugged, "I haven't heard anything. Are you sure he's with her? Because they aren't even seen together, at least not like you guys,"
It was my turn to shrug, "I don't really care,"

We seemed to move on from that line of conversation, though in my mind I wondered if Vince really gave Damien a hard time because he was jealous. But I dismissed the thought quickly because why would he be jealous? It was him who ended things. Him who said he wanted Reese. Not me. I had to accept that and move on.