Getting Wilder ✔️

issue twenty-fourth: *facepalm with a chair*

This is a glimpse of the new additions I have done, namely Nico's sketches and doodles XD They suck :") These are sketches he digitally uploads to his journal, although it is mostly redundant now. I've added this little detail in the A/N and added several more sketches throughout the story XD

I was nervous. The entire day and the one after that was spent enduring whispers and laughs and even more stress. It wasn't something that I wasn't used to. The absence of Wilder, however, was making my heart ache with tangible agony. He seemed to be skipping school altogether. I tried texting him but had stopped expecting him to reply. I kept checking my phone out of habit, my heart breaking a little each day at his silence. 

Two days later, we sat in the stadium of our city at the inter-school football championship. I hadn't realized how much of a big deal it was until we stepped into the stadium. Northwood had qualified for the top few schools of the state and if we won here, we could go national which was basically how many of the bigger stars started their career.

I didn't even know if Wilder had gone to his practice either. Any time that I had to tried to find out, I hadn't seen him at the grounds and the stares of his team mates were unbearable to me.

The deafening cheering in the bustling stadium was heightening my nervousness even more. Cam stood beside me, munching pensively on popcorn with Ray sitting beside him, sipping on some orange juice. Without pulp, like an uncultured swine.

I sighed, jiggling my leg nervously as I gazed at the grounds. I could hear blaring music playing somewhere, barely audible over the massive din from our own school's cheering. I gazed at the clear skies, the sun shining brightly as if it didn't care that my heart was frozen in ice.

I was still avoiding my dad, unable to decide which way to go. I knew delaying the truth wasn't going to make it any better, but the more I thought about it the more nauseous I felt. I was afraid confronting him would be an even more mess than I expected. Literally. Since I assumed my nausea would finally reach its peak and there would be an immemorable projectile vomiting incident which I wasn't too keen for. 

I gazed up at the jumbotron where the names of the schools were being displayed. Other images flickered in bright letters that appeared a little faded under the bright sun.

Northwood High 0 0 Westcoast High

I sighed. I didn't know much about the opponent team, but considering that they had advanced so far would mean they had to be good. 

Cam brandished the bucket of popcorn in front of my face, but even my favourite snack couldn't get me to feel any better. The crowd sang in a roaring chorus that thundered through the arena. Parents, students, teachers with their entire families- the whole stadium was a sea of people.

And yet, I felt alone.

A block of ice seemed to slip down my throat when I saw the players emerging from the stadium's tunnels that led to the greenrooms. I watched the two lines of players jogging towards the centre of the field and taking their positions around the central circle. Our side of the stadium rose in thunderous applause that seemed to make the very sky reverberate. The air was infectious, and yet I remained untouched by the excited euphoria. I didn't have to strain to find Wilder among the group of people clad in pure black with sky blue stripes along the shoulder and sides. The official colours of Northwood. The opponent's team wore red and white.

My gaze landed on Wilder. His jaw was clenched, his form somehow stiff. He jogged on the spot, his gaze fixed in front of him. Overwhelming nausea overtook me. I had no way of knowing how he was taking the hate, and he had shut me out. Maybe he was mad at me. For once, I could see why. I wanted to be with him when he needed me, and he wasn't allowing me to and it felt like a damning punishment.