Sam Knight

Nobody in this entire fucking school could keep Mason's name out of their filthy mouths. They were tickled with joy when the news broke and Mason and I, celebrating the fact that I had done one of the only things that would unsettle Nathan Maloney. He was always so focused and poised, the ultimate competitor. But this would bother him down to his core and everyone at my school was elated.

Who cared about the people that were hurt along the way? Who cared about what this had done to Mason Maloney?

No one. No one cared about who got hurt as long as the Knights were to have a competitive advantage in the game on Friday night.

It made me sick, but I had no one to blame but myself. All I had to do was tell everyone that my relationship with Mason was real, not meant as a ploy to mess with Nathan, but I couldn't do it. All I had to do the other night was explain to him when he gave me the chance, but a I just stared at him like an idiot.

Insecurities I didn't even know I had crept upon me, forcing me to stay quiet and complicit while people around me treated me like a God for something I was ashamed of. I was ashamed of myself for not coming clean and trying harder to fight for Mason, but for some reason, I couldn't do it.

I trudged my feet heavily down the hallway, ignoring everyone around me as they cleared a path for me to get through. I suppressed a scoff at their actions. People were actually parting to create a path for me as if I was some powerful creature. It was pathetic and I hated everything about it.

Eventually, I made my way into the locker room where most of my team had already been waiting. I was greeted with pats on the shoulder and overly satisfied grins that I didn't return. Ignoring everyone, I made it to my own locker and pulled the door open roughly. There was an ache in my shoulder, but I pushed the thought of it out of my mind. Jake stood beside me, not saying anything as I retrieved everything I needed for practice.

"Dude," Jake whispered, being sure no one around us could hear. "Could you at least act a little happy? Everyone's excited."

I scowled at him and answered at full volume. I didn't care if everyone heard what I had to say. Maybe they needed to hear it.

"That's your problem and everyone else's," I boomed, gesturing toward the rest of the team. "You're acting like we've already won and we haven't even played yet. With that kind of attitude, maybe we don't even deserve to win."

One thing I hated about this team was that far too many of them had egos the size of Canada. They were arrogant and didn't even try to hide it. That type of attitude would get you nowhere in life. If they thought they were already winners before stepping onto the playing field, we wouldn't stand a chance.

Of course, I wanted to win. I had spoken to a scout from UCF earlier in the day and he told me that he would be attending the game. I wanted to impress because I had something on the line. Most of the guys on the team weren't being scouted for D1 schools, so they had no idea what kind of pressure was on me for Friday night. If they weren't playing to their full potential, there was no way I would be able to play to mine.

"Everyone get out to the field," I demanded, harshly slamming my locker door shut. "We have a lot of work to do if you're all going to be acting like this."

This grabbed the attention of everyone in the locker room. They were giving me confused looks as if they couldn't believe I wasn't as excited as them.

"You think we're going to win just because Nathan Maloney might be a little bothered?" I yelled out with a scowl. "You all need a reality check if that's the case. We need to practice and you need to stop talking about Mason."

Nobody said anything as I glanced around the room with a look of anger. I took a deep breath before my next words left my mouth.

"Because I didn't do what I did with Mason to get to Nathan," I finally admitted, causing me to be met with shocked looks from my teammates. "I was with Mason because I love him."

And with that I stormed out of the locker room and onto the field, leaving my teammates stunned in my wake.

***

Our extended practice ran later than it should have because our offense was having trouble executing a certain play. Coach and I wouldn't let anyone leave until we got it done, so the result was staying even later.

No one mentioned what had happened in the locker room prior to the start of practice. It was almost like it was an unspoken rule that we wouldn't talk about it.

By the time I got home, I was exhausted. Jonah and Mae were sitting in the living room, watching TV which told me the kids were already in bed.

"There's some dinner in the fridge for you," Mae told me in a soft voice.

She had been walking on eggshells around me ever since the whole situation with Mason occurred. Jonah, not so much, but luckily I didn't have to see much of him due to the extended football practices. He was always trying to put his nose in my business and it only got worse the last few days.

"Thanks," I mumbled briefly, heading toward the kitchen to heat up my dinner.

As I walked into the kitchen, I heard footsteps behind me and I could only assume they were Jonah's. I sighed, but didn't turn around to greet him. He would start talking whether I showed him I was listening or not.

"How was practice?" Jonah asked, leaning against the counter as I pulled my plate from the fridge and placed it in the microwave.

"Fine," I answered blandly, setting the timer on the microwave and starting it.

"Have you gotten a hold of Mason yet?" he questioned, not bothering to beat around the bush.

I sighed. "I tried calling him, he won't answer." I didn't want Jonah knowing I had gotten in another fight with Mason over the phone. He wouldn't be too pleased with me.

"Maybe you should try harder," Jonah suggested, though it sounded more like he was demanding me.

"I can't force him to answer the phone, Jonah," I spat, taking my food out of the microwave. My hand burned from the hot glass plate, but I didn't let my pain show to Jonah.

"No, but you need to do something, Samuel," Jonah replied sternly, crossing his arms over his chest. "You devastated the poor kid, you need to make things right."

"Why do you even care?" I yelled, throwing my hands in the air after setting my plate down on the counter. "It's not like you even like Mason."

"I do like him," Jonah countered. "He makes you happy."

He did make me happy and that was why I was so unhappy at that moment. Not having Mason was killing me, and I wanted to make things right with him, but that couldn't be my number one focus until after the championship game. I had to be prepared to play in front of a scout, I couldn't be letting my feelings get in the way of my shot at a D1 starting position. It was something I worked my whole life for and Friday was either going to make me or break me.

"You need to fight for him, Sam," Jonah urged me, stepping closer. "You need to show him that you love him, not just tell him in a voicemail."

With that, Jonah walked away and left me alone with only my dinner for company.

Showing Mason how much I loved him would have to wait. Just a few more days and I would show him and show him and keep showing him until he got the message.

***

The last thing I expected to happen when I was taking a walk later that night to clear my head was running into Nathan Maloney. Literally running into him.

"Sorry–" he started before he glanced up at me. His expression immediately turned to one of disgust and pure hatred. His eyes were black with rage as if he was ready to tear me limb from limb.

Before I could say anything to convince him to walk away, I was on the ground with the wind knocked out of me, Nathan having tackled me.

"Nathan, stop." I commanded as I looked up at his red face. "I don't want to fight with you right now."

He let out an angry laugh that felt as though it could've stabbed me with its force.

"You messed with my brother, you don't get
to decide when we fight," he spat, shoving me back down as I tried to get up.

His anger soon rubbed off on me, although I knew I deserved for him to be angry at me.

I quickly got up to my feet before Nathan could push me down again. I grabbed Nathan's shoulders and shoved him up against a nearby tree.

"You told him about Cindy," I seethed, feeling the heat of my anger rise to my cheeks.

"Of course, I did," he replied, roughly shoving me away from him.

I hated the stupid look on his face. It was enough for me to want to punch him. Before I could think any further, Nathan's fist landed on my face with force.

I stumbled backward, my hand clutching my cheek. I sent him an evil scowl before I ran toward him, sending him flying toward the ground. My hands grabbed onto Nathan's wrists to keep him from hitting me again.

"Nathan, stop!" I shouted as he tried to wiggle out of my grasp. "Do you really want to beat the shit out of me?"

"Yes!" Nathan exclaimed.

"No, you don't," I told him. "Because if you do, neither of us will be able to play. You'll be suspended."

That was enough to calm him down, but his face didn't soften one bit.

"I don't care," he said.

"Yes, you do," I responded.

Although Nathan and I hated each other, there was no one I'd rather play against for the state championship. When I played against him, I played my best.

Nathan just stared up at me for a few moments, not saying anything. He forcefully brought his knee up to my stomach, knocking the wind out of me again and causing me to roll off of him.

Nathan stood up and looked down at me on the ground as I clutched my stomach.

"Fine, I'll beat you in the championship and then I'll beat the shit out of you," he hissed, sending me one last nasty glare before walking away.

After the pain subsided in my stomach, I let out a sigh and stared up at the stars and couldn't stop myself from thinking Nathan was going to give me what I deserved.

***

Mason Maloney

"You two obviously have some things to talk through, so we're going out," Mom announced Thursday evening.

Nathan had just gotten out of practice and was sitting downstairs, watching TV with Dad while I had the day off from work and used it to sulk in my room. Soon after Nathan got home, my mother forced me out of my room and sat me down on the couch.

"If you're not going to tell us whatever is going on with you two, then you're going to at least sit here and talk through it together," Dad said, getting up from the couch to stand beside Mom.

"You two are not to leave this room," Mom told us sternly, pointing a finger at us. "We will find out if you've talked it out. The tension between you guys is too obvious to ignore."

"We'll be back later," Dad stated, pulling his coat on. "You two better talk or next thing we'll do is lock you in a room until you make up."

With that, our parents left us. Nathan didn't say anything until our parents had pulled out of the driveway, leaving us truly alone.

"I have nothing to say," was all he said, staring straight ahead at the TV.

I scoffed, "Of course, you don't."

My stomach was still sore from the beating it had gotten the other day, so I tried not to move too much. I shifted my position to get some pressure off of my stomach and hissed in pain at the action. Nathan gave me a brief worried look before turning his expression blank again.

"Did you ever put ice on that?" he asked me, turning the volume down on the TV.

I shook my head. "I forgot."

"Idiot," Nathan muttered.

"Listen, Nate," I started, turning toward him and ignoring the pain I felt. "You know I didn't get with Sam to mess with you, right? You know, on my end at least, it had nothing to do with you?"

I needed him to know that. Part of me felt as thought Nathan had this irrational anger at me because he thought that I had done this to hurt him.

Nathan sighed and shut the TV off, turning his body to face me.

"Yeah, I know," he said sullenly.

"Then why can't you forgive me?" I questioned, putting some force behind my words.

Nathan didn't say anything. He stared blankly at me as if he was gathering his thoughts. He no longer looked angry, but he wasn't pleased either.

"It's not that I don't forgive you," Nathan stared, clearing his throat, "It's more frustration that you didn't listen to me. You never do."

"I didn't listen to you because you're usually not right," I answered back rudely. I hated that he thought he could dictate my decisions.

Nathan rolled his eyes at me. "But I was right about this, wasn't I?"

I didn't answer because he was right, and I didn't want to admit that. Nathan took my silence as confirmation and gave me a smug look in return.

"That's what I thought," he said boastfully. "I warned you and you still went ahead and trusted him anyway. You got yourself hurt even after I warned you."

He was right and I hated it. I wanted nothing more than to be able to tell him he was wrong, that what Sam and I had was real, but I couldn't because Nathan was right. The thought of Sam and what happened caused a rush of emotions to come back to me. My throat closed up and there was nothing I could do to stop the tears from coming.

"Hey," Nathan said, sliding over on the couch to be next to me. "Stop it. Don't cry."

His words did nothing to soothe me and the waterworks continued. I thought I had cried out all of my tears earlier in the week, but I was wrong. I was wrong about a lot apparently.

"I loved him," I sobbed, putting my face in my hands. I felt Nathan's arms wrap around me, pulling me closer to him. He used his hand to place my head in his chest as he held me while I cried.

Nathan soothingly rubbed my back as I sobbed into his chest. I wanted to be done crying about this, but it still hurt so bad. The bent and awkward position I was in did my injured stomach no favors. I groaned out in pain and Nathan moved us so that I was sitting up without pulling away from me.

"I'm so stupid," I wailed pathetically.

"You're not stupid," Nathan murmured, continuing to rub circles on my back.

I picked my head up to look at him through swollen eyes.

"I am," I told him, "You even said it."

"I guess love just makes people do stupid things, not that I would know," Nathan replied softly. "But you're not stupid. I only said that because I was mad at you."

"I hate this," I cried, "I just want to go back to before I even met him. God, I'm so stupid."

Nathan quickly shook his head. "He's the stupid one for doing this to you. You deserve someone great, and he's not it."

But I wanted him to be it. I wanted Sam to be the one I spent forever with. I was in love with him, and that wasn't going to just go away.

Before either of us could say anything else, there was a knock on the front door. Nathan and I shared matching looks of confusion before another knock sounded. Nathan unwrapped his arms from around me and got up from the couch to get the door.

"Get out of here," I heard him say angrily.

My heart stopped in my chest. What if it was Sam? Before I could stop myself, I bolted toward the door. In inexplicable feeling of disappointment pooled in my chest when I got to the door and came face to face with Christo and Jake.

"There he is, let us talk to him," Jake commanded, not too kindly.

Nathan didn't even turn to face me. "Not happening."

My brother grabbed Jake by the shirt and started shoving him outside. The look on Jake's face was filled with hatred. Before Jake started retaliating, I spoke up.

"Nate, wait," I said, causing my brother to turn to me with a disapproving look. "Let them in."

I didn't know why, but I wanted to hear what they had to say. Christo and Jake wouldn't just come here for no reason and I doubted they would even some here just to mess with me.

Although Nathan very obviously disapproved, he let go of Jake then stepped aside and let the two Knights into our home. I led the three of them back into the living room and sat down on the couch. Nathan sat beside me while Christo and Jake took a seat on the two-seater couch beside us.

"What do you have to say?" I asked timidly, wiping my face to rid myself of any remaining tears. Christo was the first to speak up.

"Sam's a mess," he said, eliciting a scoff from Nathan. I smacked his shoulder in a warning for him to stop. "He's angry at everyone, he won't talk to us."

"What does this have to do with me?" I questioned the boys, causing Jake to dramatically roll his eyes at me.

"It has everything to do with you, dipshit," Jake answered rudely. Nathan leaned forward toward Jake with a glare masking his face.

"What went down the other day," Christo continued, "was a complete misunderstanding."

I stayed silent, waiting for one of them to continue.

"I'm just going to come out and say it," Jake started, "I was the one that put the pictures online."

I scoffed, crossed my arms over my chest. "There's a shock," I said, sarcasm dripping from my tone.

Jake ignored my comment and continued, "I found the pictures on his phone and just assumed he was going to use them to get to Nathan before the game. He didn't know I posted them until after they were up."

I stayed silent, urging him to go on.

"When he first met you, I suggested doing that, but he was against it," Jake explained further, "So when I saw the pictures I thought there was a chance he wouldn't go through with it, so I sent them out without him knowing."

What he was saying wasn't doing anything to make me feel any better, but still, I wanted him to finish explaining.

Christo took over, "When he found out that the pictures were out, he was kinda shocked and didn't say much, and I was confused because I thought your relationship was real so I was mad that he lied."

"But he didn't lie to you, Mason," Jake finished for Christo. "Owen and I were making fun of you when we were talking about the pictures and Sam said it made him feel like he couldn't come out to us, so he just let us think what we wanted to."

I was confused beyond belief. That sounded out of character for Sam. He was always so self-assured and confident. Not to mention, he was willing to come out to be with me after the football season was over.

"Then he got pissed at everyone after you left the other night and came clean about it. He even came out to the rest of the team today," Christo told me.

Still, I said nothing, trying to process the information that was just shared with me.

"What about the girls he used to get to Nathan before?" I finally spoke up. "How am I any different than them?"

Jake glared at my brother as if he was angry at him for telling me about Sam's past.

"That was two years ago," Christo reasoned. "He's changed since then and he feels bad about what went down with Cindy."

Nathan scoffed. "That's bullshit. He was still sleeping with our cheerleaders at the beginning of this year."

"You only found out about that because of me. I sent you those messages," Jake admitted with a hard stare. "It was only two girls and it wasn't to get to you."

Jake's admittance only confused me more.

"Then what the