A Life in High School, Ch. 2
#3 of A Life in High School
The second chappy of A Life in High School
So hey guys! This is Ch. 2, as you know, of A Life in High School, and, surprise! Four weeks have passed since the last chappy. I hope you guys don't mind, but
SPOILER ALERT! If you don't want to know what happens, skip to the beginning of the chappy!
Red actually has broken up with Rend at this point! So some sadness, but he may get together with someone else! Who knows? This story will go through college, so he may not get hung up with anyone for the next five years! Stay tuned!
No, you did not miss a chappy, this was intentional on my part.
Roll the film!
I gasped and tears streamed from my eyes as I ran to my motorbike. What was I running from?
My fate.
You heard me right. My fate. I was running from what would have been whether or not I wanted it. I can try to deny it, I can run from it, I can even fight it--but it always takes me, it always takes you, to the darkest places, and for the longest time, it feels you will never come out.
But then something always appears to guide you out of that blackness. Maybe it's a friend, or a complete stranger. Possibly the god of your religion. Sometimes it happens fast, sometimes slow. Mine happened fast; in fact, as soon as I started the engine on my motorbike, the grief started fading. As I rode it down the highway, it became nothing, a bunch of dried leaves in the deepest, most obscure regions of my consciousness. I smiled at the night sky.
The reason for my grief was that--not five minutes ago--Red said that we couldn't go on. We weren't right for each other.
His exact words went something like, "Rend, I have something to say."
Already, I had been dreading what he was going to say. "What?"
He tried to smile, but it came out as a grimace. "Rend...we can't go on together."
My jaw had dropped open. "But...but why?"
"We just aren't right for each other." He shook his head as I tried to protest. "Please don't. You'll just make this harder than it already is. The fact is...we just don't merge. Our personalities just don't fit. Neither do our schedules. Perhaps in a few years, but right now...just isn't the right time. Goodbye, Rend...forever."
His last words once again echoed in my head. "Goodbye, Rend...forever." Despite how bad it sounds, I know that God has a plan for my life, and that this was one little piece in the big scheme of things. No one can take my God away from me, nor can they resist the pull of his influence.
I smiled to the sky again. I had a Varsity football game tomorrow, and I had to prepare myself, mentally as well as physically. The Xavier scout was going to be there, and that scared me out of my fur. The problem was I have a hard time playing in a game with a scout watching, which is probably why I haven't gotten a scholarship yet. I need to learn to ignore them.
However, I felt confident for tomorrow, partially because it was the last game of the season, and no matter if we won or lost, we still had a free pass, basically, to the playoffs. That gave us a deep-seated confidence, but we still wanted to win.
I fell into bed with my head filled with those thoughts and fell asleep.
At four o'clock the next afternoon, I climbed into the team bus and took a seat next to Zach. He smiled at me. "How are you?"
"As good as can be expected at this time of day," I replied.
"How's Red?" he asked.
"Don't ask," I said immediately. "Just...don't."
"What--?"
I shook my head, cutting him off, and put my headphones on, refusing to talk for the rest of the trip. Zach quickly figured out that I didn't want to talk and turned to look out the window, listening to his own music.
The bus screeched to a halt outside of Pomona High School, one of Valor's biggest rivals. We silently filed off and immediately into the locker room. It used to be they had no stadium, just a field and some rickety stands. Now they have a full stadium like Valor's, which is pretty sick if you've ever been to Valor.
Coach gave us a yelling-filled pep talk, then shooed us off onto the field to warm up. Nothing really to say about that, except the other team arrived just then. After stretching, we jogged back into the locker room, where we hung out for a while. Coach Nu gave us a pep talk then, a very short one, and then we gathered in front of the doors out of the locker room. Luke got us hyped and we started jumping up and down, and then he turned and sprinted out of the doors, with the rest of the team following. I was somewhere near the front of the group, but it was hard to tell, because everyone was constantly switching positions.
The fans in the stands (Hey, I just rhymed!) screamed and clapped as we came into view. As I glanced among them, I spotted my parents and sister, but not Red. And I was glad. I'd probably have more time to look for him later, during the offensive drives, but for now, I was happy to be paying attention to the coin toss. Pomona won; they chose to receive. Our kick team--including Tyler, who at the freshman level, could kick the ball to the five yard line--jogged out onto the field and got set up. That's pretty incredible.
Anyways, we received the kick, and made it back to the twenty. As our offense jogged out onto the field, I turned and looked at the stands, searching for a familiar face.
It took a few antagonizing seconds, but I finally spotted him. I waved to get his attention, and when he was looking at me, I touched four fingers to my chest, directly over my heart. Then I pushed my hand out toward him, turning my hand so my palm faced out. Still four fingers remained up.
Even from where he sat, I could see the tears gather in his eyes. He shook his head, indicating that he didn't want to hurt me, that we weren't right for each other. I shook my head back, saying that whatever he'd planned, whether or not he meant to hurt me, was hurting. The tears spilled over onto his cheeks, and he stood there crying--and I almost felt pity. But he killed me inside, and he would have to learn that actions had consequences.
I turned my attention back to the game as the defense jogged out onto the field, I among them for the first time. I knew Red would be watching, but that isn't what motivated me to be better. I wanted to show him that he couldn't--no matter how hard he tried--break me.
Lining up just off of the LoS, I planted my feet, set my hand, and stilled. Everything, in that moment, seemed to slow, the world's natural time flow just...stopped. Everything became vibrant and alive. Even the most inanimate objects seemed to move.
Everything seemed to obtain this affect at the beginning of every game, and as soon as the ball was snapped, the world would return to speed. "Go!"
The ball moved, and everyone jumped into motion. I launched my hands into the chest of the lineman in front of me, and he seemed to weigh nothing as I bowled him over and spun my way into the pocket. Their quarterback, #10, tried to scramble, but I was moving too fast and clamped him up before he could go much farther than five or six yards. If anything, my sadness fueled my anger, and my anger, my effort.
The game went on in a similar manner, our defensive line either sacking the quarterback or getting a knockdown. Occasionally, a pass was completed, but more often than not, it was short and fast, like a screen.
After the game and I was coming out of the locker room, Red tried to intercept me. I increased my pace until I was almost running until I got to my bike, and I revved the engine and sped off, leaving him crying once again in the dust.
I fell into bed, exhausted. Football takes a lot out of you. I glanced over to my bookshelf, where a picture of Red and I, grinning like fools, rested. Across the top, I had taped a piece of paper that read, R.I.P. Shoving my head back into the pillow, I struggled not to cry.
I soon grew restless and took out my phone, checking my email. There was one from the school board.
Dear students,
_ _
We would like to invite you to our annual Fall Festival! There will be food, music, and fun! What's more, we will have a talent show where everyone can get up on stage and preform! It's going to be a night filled with fun!
_ _
Sincerely,
The Valor School Board
I smiled grimly as a plan formulated in my head to give Red a taste of what I felt. Punching a number into my dial pad, I called an old friend. After a few seconds, someone answered. "Yes, Rend?"
"Yeah," I said. "I would like to ask you a question?"
Suspense!
I hope you guys enjoyed this chappy, and if you did, feel free to leave a like and a comment! And if you didn't, I would like to know what you didn't like about it so I can FIX IT! If you don't tell me what I can fix, I can't FIX IT (FELIX)!
Anyways, I'll see you guys next time!
See ya!