Chapter IV ─ A Sigh of Relief

[ M I C H A E L   G R I F F I N ]

I wiped the sweat from my forehead as I sat on a bench in the locker room. What an exhausting, yet surprising practice this was.

I gotta hand it to my teammates, they held their ground and practice didn't turn into a massacre. They behaved like normal people, shocking both Noah and me. We had decided to play a match against the West, much like our last proper football game.

We ended up winning, naturally, I loved the look on Bryan's face when I beat him. I smiled to myself as I reminisced the short-lived moment of victory, his features were tense, his expression angry, yet emotionless, glaring daggers my way.

I meant it when I said I wasn't going down without a fight when it came to him. If he wanted to act like an angry piece of shit at every waking moment of his life then so be it. If Bryan wanted to play rough, I'd do the same.

"Hey, Michael!" A voice hollered through the locker room and I focused my gaze on the direction that it was coming from. I quickly recognised that the voice belonged to none other Jordan Might, my trusty linebacker. Behind him stood a couple of our teammates and surprisingly the halfback from West. "We're going out for food, you wanna join us?"

Just what were my teammates planning? They stayed civil throughout the practice, but now they were inviting their enemies for lunch? I raised my brow in curiosity and crafted my response. "Nah, you guys go ahead, think I'm gonna meet up with Ash."

My response earned me a smirk from Jordan and I immediately rolled my eyes, he needed to get his mind out of the gutter. "Gonna hit it, huh? Forgot about bros before hoes?"

"Jordan, it's not like that, I promised her I'd see her after practice today, get your mind out of the gutter, you know I'm not one to break promises." I lied, truthfully, I didn't have any plans of going out with Ash today, but I didn't want to hang around the guys today either. I had enough headaches in one day.

"Aight, aight, we're goin', see you tomorrow." Jordan patted my shoulder and the group made their way out the locker room.

I let out a brief sigh and took out my phone my locker. I unlocked it and immediately went to my messaging app, swiftly finding my girlfriend's number.

Are you free? Sent, 4:32 PM.

I waited for a few moments before feeling my phone buzz.

Yeah, 'sup? Received, 4:33 PM.

Practice is over, wanna get some food? Sent, 4:33 PM.

I decided to keep my texts short, I figured I'd tell her more when we met up. Ash loved hearing about all the drama, but never wanted to get involved in it herself, guess that's why we stuck together. No drama - no worries.

Ash had been around for the majority of my high school career, at first, she was just a close friend but eventually, feelings blossomed. One thing leads to another and soon we found ourselves in a relationship. The ginger beauty was the number one person, aside from my mother, to run to after Bryan wrecked my emotions, it was only a matter of time before things got more intimate.

Ya, sure. Was just at Jill's, where do you wanna eat? Bob's sound ok? Received, 4:34 PM.

I'll see you at Bob's in thirty, gotta shower, I stink. Sent, 4:34 PM.

And just like that, ladies and gentlemen, we had plans.

I decided to pick up my pace, so I grabbed a towel from my locker and headed towards the showers. I was usually the last one to shower and the last one out of the locker rooms after practice. I didn't know whether it was my social anxiety acting up or just me being sluggish, but something felt off.

The atmosphere was strained with lingering tension, it felt almost suffocating. Soon, I saw the reason behind it.

Bryan Clay was just exiting out of the showers with a towel around his waist, it was unlike me to pay too much attention to other people. But I couldn't help but admire just how much Bryan had grown. A few years back, before we split, he was this lanky kid, barely any muscles on his body, now, he looked just like an underwear model.

I cursed under my breath and tried to keep my cool. His presence bothered me way more than it should've. The man was just showering, what's your deal, Michael? My conscience assaulted me.

Bryan wasn't any better than me, I could see how tense he was around me, his face was emotionless yet again. Was it all he knew nowadays? Either anger or absolutely nothing?

I decided to stop wasting the little time that I had and sprung back into motion, not even realizing I had stopped dead in my tracks when I was made aware of his presence. He did the same, not a single word muttered to each other, over this entire afternoon.

It was heartbreaking to see remnants of my old friend so torn.

I don't know where my confidence came from but I stopped for a moment and spoke up, I couldn't handle the tense silence. "You okay?" My tone cautious, not wanting to intrude.

All I got in response was a huff.

I guess we still had time to make amends, it was foolish of me to expect for us to be back to the way were before. We already made progress though, neither of us had black eyes.

I hurried into the showers and before I knew it, I was sitting in Bob's Steakhouse, staring at my girlfriend. She was cautiously looking through the menu, lost in thought, completely oblivious to my studying gaze.

Suddenly, she looked up and met my eyes. "You okay? You seem tense today, everything okay in practice?" Her tone sincere, a caring smile playing on her face.

"Yeah, practice went surprisingly fine, nobody pulled anything funny, it was just like a regular game. I can't help but think my teammates are up to something though, you know Jordan? Yeah, he and a few other guys took a player from the West with them to lunch. Think he's dead yet?" I half-joked, my teammates were unpredictable.

Ash hummed. "I think you're overthinking it, maybe your teammates just want to play sooner so they're trying their best to be nice. Just see how things play out, there's no need to worry just yet, it was just the first day." She smiled and I guess she made a fair point.

I sighed in defeat, nodding. "How was your day?"

"It was meh, algebra sucked, went straight to Jill's after school, smoked a joint, same old, 'ya know?" Ash shot me a grin.

Our comfortable conversation was soon halted by a waiter coming in to take our orders, we had ordered a couple of hearty meals, deciding to split the bill, I needed the protein after not having anything for breakfast and lunchtime.

"Oh yeah! How are things with he-who-shall-not-be-named?" Ash, the biggest nerd on the planet, asked cautiously. She was referring to a temperamental being named Bryan Clay.

I sighed. "There wasn't much progress, he's as cold as ice, I honestly don't know how I'm supposed to end up on good terms with him. All he ever does is either stare at me with dead eyes or with a scowl on his face. It's frustrating."

"Do you think he'll come around eventually?" She tilted her head, sipping on her drink through a metal straw.

"I don't think he has any choice but to try, he's way more stubborn than he used to be all those years ago. Actually, nothing about him is the same, when I look at him, it's like I look at an empty shell of someone who was once my world, that's it. I miss the old Bryan." I confessed, averting my gaze.

"Hey, it's going to be okay, I have faith that you guys are going to be fine. Try to take it slow, you have a few rough years between you two, you can't expect to fix everything within a few hours." Ash reassured me and I was thankful for her never-ending support, it was nice to have that one friend, let alone girlfriend, who stuck by your side.

Her green eyes soon shifted their attention to the other corner of the room. "Holy shit. Is that...?" She muttered under her breath, completely captivating my attention.

I followed her gaze out of curiosity, only to regret it in the end. My breath hitched. "Fucking hell. Why is she here?"

The person we saw sitting in a booth on the other side of the steakhouse was none other than Jen Clay - Bryan's elder sister, also known as my ex-girlfriend.