Damaged Goods

17

ASHER

The weeks since Halloween passed by in a blur. Between practice, class and seeing the boys and Aurora, the time had gone by quickly.

It became a bit of a ritual to meet Aurora each day before the class we shared together. And in that I got to know her two friends some more.

The blonde, Cassidy was a nice girl. Supportive and bubbly, she was a walking ray of sunshine. And the eyes she made at Tyler didn't unnoticed.

Sophia was the firey one. Protective of Aurora to the bone, her threat of throwing me on my ass harder than any linebacker would certainly be staying fresh in mind.

And that left Aurora. Slowly but surely I felt myself chipping away at those walls. It had been nearly three months but I've watched her open up a part of herself to me. She laughs more. Smiles more. She can be sarcastic and make jokes without fear. Although she hasn't given me her whole self, it feels pretty good to even see a sliver of the real her. She would open up eventually, and I would happily wait for that day. But I knew they day that it would come, they day she told me everything she had gone through, I had to be strong too.

She had been coming to all my games lately without fail. The confusion on her face when I talked details about each game afterward was amusing, but nonetheless she stood at the gate everytime to congratulate me with a big bright smile. It felt good to lift her into my arms as she always whispered a congratulations in my ear gently, with a kiss always planted on her cheek afterwards as she sent a blinding smile my way. It felt good to feel this infectious happiness.

However, my change in attitude per say, had not gone unnoticed. I'd always tried to be respectful towards women. Always making it clear that I wasn't looking for anything serious. But I know I broke some hearts along the way, and at the time I couldn't have cared less. My heart was only in football and my team mates, and indulged in too many parties to name. I got drunk and laughed and had fun. But it wasn't happiness I felt. As the years went on I saw that. I felt an emptiness inside that not even football could fill. It was a strange type of loneliness that came with having people chant and scream my name. Having women through themselves at me. Having my team mates cheer and look up to me. And still, I could've been surrounded by a stadium full of people and still felt alone. And I realised that maybe I was missing something real in my life. That maybe the parties and drinking weren't quite doing it for me anymore, and that maybe I never had been truly happy all along.

But still, I put on a good face and went and gave people the Asher Monroe they wanted to see.

Moments like that help you distinguish the rarity of women like Aurora. She was an enigma without even trying. I wasn't usually an affectionate guy, or maybe simply I didn't want to be, but you couldn't help but be that way around Aurora. In the beginning, she was the frightened doe who doubted my intentions. But now things were different. We were different. I felt as though I could be truly myself around Aurora, as I had never heard her judge anyone negatively. Depsite everything she had been through, kindness almost radiated off of her. She was gentle, and pure, and so damn beautiful. She caught me staring sometimes but I really didn't care. As sappy as it was, I meant it when I said she was the most beautiful girl I had seen. She was like some sort of angel and sometimes it was hard to look away.