Reality And Us

Chapter One

Somewhere in the crowded room, an uncountable mass of students around him, sat a lonely boy at a table, together with quite a few other people. But those other people didn't really matter, they were his aquaintances, either a part of his team or dating one of them. None of them sat there because they liked him, and he didn't sit there because he liked any of them, it was a simple formality, to make the coach happy.

The table he sat at was right next to a white wall, because all the walls of the cafeteria were painted white. It didn't feel homey - or maybe that was just because it was the school's cafeteria. The upside of the table was of the same white, its legs had this light brown the wood used for the table probably had as well. It looked like your ordinary school cafeteria, because it was.

So the boy our attention is on sat there, lonely in a room full of people, the irony, he thought to himself. Leaning against the wall, he closed his eyes for a split second. He didn't care to interact with any of his teammates, they were too loud and too noisey for his liking; he respected them as athletes, but as companions they were no good.

His throat felt dry and he took a sip from his bottle of water, the day had been tiring and now he had to wait until after training to finally go home, but until training started the break would have to pass. Out of boredom he focused slightly on the others, letting their brainless conversations filled with football, gossip, the next party and a hint of misogyny fill his mind.

A guy whose name, if he remembered correctly, was Myles, was right next to him, and quite busy telling an embarrassing story about one of the team members, not too keen on letting the loner have his space. Noticing the boy right next to him through almost hitting his nose with his hand, he was all too happy trying to bribe the goal keeper into joining the conversation.

"Nicklas, my friend, were you at the mall with us on saturday? You wouldn't have wanted to miss what Colten did!"

The silent boy hesitated for a moment, not entirely sure wether the other boy was serious about trying to talk to him, and if he was actually worth the effort of opening his mouth.

After a few seconds of silence he decided that making said effort was worth it, Myles was part of the team after all, and even if he was an idiot, they would end up playing together against a joined enemy.

"I doubt that I missed out on much, but please, fill me in, if it grants you a happiness I don't think I fully understand."

There was an awkward chuckle to be heard, some other people at the table caused this sound, and Nicklas was filled with slight uncomfort at hearing so. He didn't understand what they thought to be funny, nor did he understand why everyone's attention seemed to be on him, but they didn't understand his behavior and wording either, too weird and uncommon for them.

Myles on the other hand was a bit taken aback by Nick's reaction, but did that stop him from brabbling about whatever meaningless action Colten was found guilty of?

Nicklas leaned even more into the wall, desperately wishing anyone would save him from this nightmare of a lunch break. Why again had he forgotten his god damn phone? Where's Jamie when you need him?, he sighed to himself, but of course his best friend wasn't there, he wasn't into any of the school's activities and therefore at home, away from all these obtuse students with their asinine conversations.

Then, suddenly, he realized something.

Stella, Jamie's girlfriend of almost a year, was at the school, her being a member of the school's computer club. The two of them got along quite well, Nick not wanting to be a problem in his best friend's relationship he had made an effort to get to know her and to like her, and after almost a year of knowing her he'd definitly consider her his friend.

He looked around, carefully, she should be at some table with her friends. Maybe somewhere else?

Nick spotted her standing in a corner of the room, talking with someone on her phone. He almost let out a sound of relieve at having an opportunity to flee this imbecilic conversation, this imbecilic environment. He then stood up, ready to leave.

"Where ya going, bro? I'm still talking!"

He looked at his teammate, how can one person talk so much at once?, before informing Myles that he had to go and talk to Stella.

"Stella? What Stella? Is she hot?", Myles immediatly asked.

Nicklas didn't even bother to hide how scornful he was when he answered "Since her and Jamie are happily together, there is no reason for me provide you with such information. In addition to that, it isn't very respectful to have such a superficial thoght to be your imidiate reaction, but what else could be expexted from someone like you."

Whereas Myles' face was decorated by a frown after that, one of the other boys hesitatingly spoke up "You know, you can bring your friends over to sit with us if you want to. . . . None of us would mind."

Nick guessed that they wanted him to feel a bit more comfortable with the team, since he was quite important now, and nodded as a sign of appreciation. He could've smiled, but why should he? These halfwits weren't worth it.

He moved through the room, looking over the other students' heads straight to Stella. He'd often forget how tall he was, one of the tallest in the room, but what else would you expect from a goal keeper?

When he stood in front of his friend - the tip of her head lower then his shoulders - she looked up high, otherwise she would've stared at his chest.

"Call you back later, a friend of mine's here and he probably wants to talk. Bye!"

Nick raised his eyebrow, "Did I interrupt you?"

Stella shook her head, a wide smile plastering her face. She had her long hair in a messy bun, and so no blonde hair covered up her grin. "Shouldn't you be with all those jock friends of yours? Talking about football and alcohol and women?"

Nick snorted. "Yes, you know how much I love these conversations. I totally didn't flee from that very intelligent talk."

"That bad?" Stella asked, her face filled with pity, "I don't think I've ever met someone as socially reluctant as you."

"It's not that I am that socially reluctant! It's just that their as . . . inane as it gets!", Nick exclaimed, defending himself. Of course, he wasn't really that much into socializing, but with the right people. . .

Stella was quite amused at that, "Using big words now aren't we?"

"These idiots make me use words, I didn't even know that I know them."

"Well, anyways, I was wondering, do you go to the gym sometimes? Are there any good ones around? I was just wondering. . ."

Nick raised both of his eyebrows at that, again. "You want to work out now?", and after hearing Stella muttering a "What's that supposed to mean"  he continued to speak, "I usually go to the one near that cute little café, you know, the one near to my place."

"Woah, there's a gym nearby? I didn't know that!", Stella answered, "Do you go there often?"

Nick blinked at her, "It's literally on the other side of the street, and define often.", a moment of silence following that, a shrug, "I don't go there as often as I should, probably, I really like it there. Now that I think about it. . ."

"Well, then you should go there more often, if it's fun to you.", Stella smiled at him.

"I will go there at least once a week, if possible more, hopefully! I hope it might do some good to my football performance."

This time it was Stella's turn to raise her eyebrows. "What? A man can dream!" Nick exclaimed.

"A man", she repeated.

"Oh, fuck off. You know what, I'll go change now, while noone else does, yet."

Nick waved goodbye at Stella, she did, too, and then he went away, getting some extra time for training.