Veiled Echoes

C H A P T E R 2

AIDEN

"It's crazy how women think," Caleb, our libero, said beside me as we shifted ahead in the line as my other teammate finished the cone drill.

I huffed a laugh, taking off my bandana that was becoming a nuisance rather than a means to push my hair back.

"What's your woman thinking?" I asked before glancing up at the timer.

When it started, I moved swiftly and precisely, manoeuvring through the different cones in a pattern. My eyes scanned the court, watching the other players around me while I focused on the activity at hand. By the time I was in the middle of the gym, I manoeuvred through the last cone and bent over to rest my hand on my knees before glancing at the stopwatch.

8 seconds.

Feeling sweat drip down my forehead, I shook my head disappointingly. It had been almost two weeks since I had tried to improve my agility during our training, so it could help me play more efficiently than I had been for the past couple of weeks. It was typical for a well-trained athlete to be able to complete a basic cone drill in around 4-6 seconds, yet I could not get under the time range.

"Still can't beat me, can you?" Caleb patted me on the back and motioned towards the stopwatch, which showed five seconds.

As the libero, Caleb's agility was unmatched; he could teleport all around the court in a matter of seconds before any of us could even blink. Countless highlights showcased his impressive talent for saving seemingly lost balls.

Last season during the finals, he had fearlessly jumped over the chairs to rescue a ball, putting his safety at risk in his determination to aid the team. It was something I always admired, despite the risks that came with it.

"But she asked me if I would choose her in a room filled with women." His eyes were filled with confusion and I chuckled. "When I said yes, she got annoyed and asked why I would even be in a room filled with women."

We both walked towards the bench where our bag was located and sat down. "She does have a point. As a loyal man, you should not surround yourself with girls."

Caleb glanced at the bottle I pulled out of my bag and shook his head in disappointment. "I forget not every man's loyal like you."

I peered at the bottle and bit my lip to stop myself from grinning as I reminisced about my initial encounter with Hana. Her presence had effortlessly eclipsed any negative events that had occurred earlier in the day, leaving an indelible imprint on my memory. The thought of her brought a touch of warmth to my heart.

The bottle I was holding was the exact one she had drunk from that day, which explains Caleb's expression falling at the sight of it. "It's been three years, Aiden, and she has not looked at you once."

"That's not true. She has looked—"

"Like she wants to choke you alive," he finished my sentence. Caleb looked at me with a deadpan expression, his eyes narrowing slightly as he ran his hand through his blond hair. "You have reserved yourself just for her for years now, Aiden. You're going to be a twenty four year old man with a teenage crush on a girl you coincidentally met that fateful day."

I chuckled at his words, knowing not to let them bother me. Almost everyone I cared about was aware of my strange 'crush' on Hana, and they all said something similar to what Caleb said to me. She was the girl who had piqued my interest, and knowing that Jerk Justin was not in the picture, trying to build connections with anyone else seemed pointless.

At the end of the day, there was only one girl I would possibly give my all to.

"It hasn't been years," I argue, looking around at the gym to find my coach writing something on his clipboard. "She's been single for almost a year, so, if we look at it, it has only been a year since I reserved myself."