FIFTEEN :

Background color
Font
Font size
Line height

โ  โ „โกโ  โ โ „โœฐโ˜ฝโกโ โ  โกโ „โ „

Red and I sat on the bench as the cracking of helmet hitting each other echoed around the stadium. I look up scanning the crowd. I wasn't trying to look for Scout and the girl but my curiosity got the best of me.

The eruption of cheering pulled me out of my daze along with Red's gentle tap. We shot out of our seats and began to cheer.

All the girls line up and we begin to do a couple of cheers finishing off with a high kick. I sit back down with my hands under my chin waiting for the game to be over. I look down at the watch strapped around my wrist to find out there were still twenty minutes left.

"Are you bored?" Red leans over so I could hear her clearly.

I straighten up to look over at her. "Yeah, a bit. A little anxious too." I admit releasing a small sigh. She stares at me in confusion waiting for my explanation.

"Finn told me that he heard Scout's bringing the girl he's been seeing to the game." My voice is a bit tense but my face remains blank.

Red shakes her head and places her hand on top of mine. I look down at her hand but she quickly pulls it away.

"I'm sorry, Lana. Boys suck." I nod my head with a smile. They really do suck.

The twenty minutes go by quickly. We do one last cheer before the coach lets us go to the bathroom or get a snack during half time.

Red and I walk to the snack shack but quickly turn around when we see Scout. He was alone though. I debated for a second whether I should get in line or not. I really wanted some wanted water so I turned back around and stood behind him in the line. It was time to swallow my pride I couldn't avoid him forever.

"What are you doing." Red whispers while trying to catch up to me.

"I'm thirsty." I shrug. He hears my voice and slowly turns around.

His cheeks flare up when I give him a smile and wave.

"H-hey." He stutters clearly uncomfortable.

I was nervous but I didn't want him to see it. Red stood beside me fidgeting with her skirt trying not to make eye contact.

"How have you been?" I ask with a chuckle. I was trying my absolute best to be friendly. We both handled everything poorly and the last thing I wanted was to toss around blame.

"I've been ok. You?" He scratches the back of his neck beginning to look around.

Before I could answer the girl from the diner skips over to him.

"Hello!" She greets me excitedly extending her hand out for me to shake.

I could feel my heart begin to race I was stunned. There was no denying she was beautiful and she seemed extremely sweet. A part of me was jealous but I wasn't going to take it out on her.

"Hey, I'm Lana. This is Red." I shake her hand with a warm smile introducing Red and me.

"Red." She repeats with a small smile. "I like that. I'm Elizabeth but you can call me Lizzy." Lizzy was a very bubbly person. I look up at Scout but he only looked away from me.

"You guys are doing a really good job out there. Your high kicks are crazy." She complements us.

"Thanks," I respond quietly trying to process everything. I feel Red wrap her arm around my waist and lightly tug.

"It was really nice meeting you Lizzy. But we've gotta go. I hope you enjoy the rest of the game." Red excuses us and pulls me away from them. We walk over to the field and take a seat on the bench.

It is silent as Red puts her arm over my shoulder bringing me closer. I wrap my arms around her burring my face in her neck. My eyes had begun to get watery.

Refusing to cry I slowly let go of Red and pinch the bridge of my nose.

"She so nice. They make sense together." I hum wiping my tears before that've fallen.

Red shakes her head and takes my hand, except this time she doesn't hesitate.

"Scout's head over heels for you. If he makes you happy you should fight for him. Yes, she's nice but she's not you." She gives me a weak smile before standing up.

"I'll go get us some water." She walks away leaving me to think.

I knew there was some truth in what she said but the thing I couldn't understand was if I was angry that he had moved on or if I was upset because I still had feelings for him.

Either way, I wasn't going to do anything about it today because that would be unfair to Lizzy, she was so sweet I couldn't do that.

I feel someone sit beside me. Thinking it was Red I look up with a runny nose. I see Carmen sitting beside me with a small smile.

"Hey." She speaks softly.

"Hey."

We sit awkwardly for a moment but she speaks up again, "Scout wants to talk. He said he'd pick you up after the game just wait for him by the front of the school."

I look down not knowing what to say.

"It's completely your decision but you guys should talk. You guys were really good together. I hope things work out." Carmen stands up in front of me.

I nod my head agreeing to talk to Scout.

Before Carmen walks off she looks back at me once again and says, "I'm sorry about everything Lana. I should've been there for you, I just didn't know what to do." She frowns looking guilty.

"Don't worry about it. I understand." I shrug it off with a smile trying to make her feel better.

The anxious feeling in my stomach begins to increase as the night went by. It was already 9:30 and the game was almost over. My eyes kept wandering from Red, Carmen, and Scout sitting up in the second row on the bleachers.

I watched as the football coach yelled out of frustration at his players. We were losing and it was quite evident that we were not going to be able to redeem ourselves.

With only 2 minutes left on the clock, we were instructed to stand up and start cheering for the boys.

Everyone on the left side of the field began to count down as the tension on the home side increased. We clearly weren't going to win. Once the time was up you could feel the disappointment of everyone sitting behind us.

"Hey, do you want me to wait up?" Red asks while packing her things up.

"No, it's fine. I'll just see you tomorrow." I look up at her with a nervous smile. A small part of me wanted to leave things as they were with Scout and just go home but I knew it wouldn't be right. Deep down I knew I didn't want to know the real reason he had decided to end things between us.

Looking up at Red I could see a faint smile on her face. Her hair glowed under the stadium lights. The sounds of screaming caught my attention. There were only a couple of people left but it still was pretty loud.

"I hope everything works out." Red picks up her bag before walking off. I watch as she walks not turning to look back at me.

It had never truly hit me how different Red and I were since we met. The difference only a couple of months can make. It made me nostalgic thinking about the long summer nights when it was just her, Finn, and I hanging out.

I begin to walk to the front of the school and took a seat on a cement bench waiting for Scout. My palms began to sweat even though I was shivering from the blasts of cold air hitting my exposed legs and cheek.

After a couple of minutes I see Scout's car drive up. His headlights blind me making me place my right hand over my eyes to shield them.

He gets out of his car as I begin to walk towards it. Opening the door for me I take a seat on the warm leather. A frown grew on my face knowing she had been sitting in the exact spot I was in only a few minutes ago.

Scout takes a seat behind the wheel. It is silent while he drives me home. We both wait for each other to talk.

He parks his car in front of my house and turns the car off.

"I'm sorry Lana." He releases a sigh not even looking me in the eye.

I can't explain why this made me angry but it did. I felt my chest tighten as I stared at him in disbelief.

"You shutย  me out." I take a deep breath calming myself down.

Scout nods his head looking down at his lap.ย 

After waiting for a response that was obviously not coming I spoke again, "Look, I'm really sorry I ditched you that night and I won't make up any excuses but is that really the reason you're so angry with me?" I question desperately wanting to shout at him to look at me. But I knew that would be quite excessive.ย 

Scout remained silent not taking his eyes off his fidgeting hands.

"I'm not angry. I'm hurt." He finally mumbles. Guilt takes over seeing him so sad. In attempt to comfort him i place my hand over his.

Scout gently frees his hand from mine bringing it up to his lips. Letting the small rejection sink in I remain silent.ย 

"Do you even remember that night?" He looks up at me for a split second. His voice was shaky.

I shake my head in response. I honestly didn't remember much of that night. My thoughts began to run wild trying to think up different scenarios in which I could have hurt him this badly.

"I thought that we had never made our relationship official because you weren't ready, and I respected that. But I never imagined that it was because you had feelings for someone else. You led me on for months. How could you do that?" Confusion took over as i tried to understand what he was talking about.ย 

"What are you talking about?" I question him anxiously clutching my fists.

"You and Sadie. I saw what happened. You almost kissed. At firs-," I cut Scout off in disbelief.

I wanted more than anything to tell him that, that wasn't true but I couldn't remember if it was true or not.

"I was drunk Scout." I blurt in an attempt to justify my actions. It really wasn't a good excuse but it was all I had.

Scout shook his head while squeezing his eyes shut.

"I wish I could believe that's the only reason it almost happened. But I'd only be lying to myself. I saw what happened after the party, she kissed you and you kissed her back. I tried to overlook it but the way your eyes light up when you see her is humiliating. The only reason you wanted me around was to suppress your feelings for her." A mixture of anger and frustration was clear in his voice.

I shut my eyes trying to process what he was telling me. My heart sunk listening to his voice cracking. It was evident that he was on the verge of tears. My breathing began to grow rigid as tears welled up in my eyes.

Shaking my head in denial I wrapped my hands around myself.

"That's not true," I mumbled softly ignoring the pain in my throat when I spoke.

"Please Lana be honest. I need you to just ...be honest. " Scout finally turned to look at me.

I placed my hands in front of my face keeping him from seeing my tears. Deep down I knew what he was saying had some truth to it, but it only confused me even more. This couldn't possibly be true. But if it was i knew it had hurt him deeply.

My heart broke at the sight of his watery eyes. I had never seen him sad much less on the verge of tears. What could I say?

"I'm so sorry Scout. I wish I could tell you what you want to hear but I don't know what to say." My eyes shut as I speak. The tears began to stream down my face at a rapid pace.

"Did you ever have a feeling for me?" Scout gently pulled my hands away from my face. I could feel physical pain as I stared into his soft, brown eyes. I knew that I had to be honest, I wanted more than anything to love him in a way much more intimate than in the way I really did.

"I tried, I really did try. I have so much love for you Scout. You're so kind and caring I knew I would never find anyone like you. It's selfish I know but you made me feel so loved I didn't want to let you go. And I knew if I was honest it would ruin everything." He shut his eyes covering his mouth.

I really messed things up with Scout. I understood that I couldn't blame anyone else but myself because it truly was my fault.

Reaching my hand out slowly I laid it on Scout's shoulder. His shoulders began to shake as he released a weep. Without hesitation, I pull him in. He wrapped his arms around me burying his face in the crook of my neck. Sobs escaped his lips and his body trembled.ย 

It was heartbreaking feeling his tears soak my uniform. My hand stroked his back as I struggled to hold back my own tears. The thought that I was the reason he was so hurt made me feelย  guilt and ashamed.

"I'm sorry .I'm sorry I did this to you." My other hand found its way into this curly brown hair. I felt like a piece of shit comforting him knowing I was the reason he was crying.

I had never realized the impact I had on others. Until I felt Scout's grip around me tighten.ย 

"I feel pathetic." Scout mumbles through heavy breathing. I push his head up so he could look at me. Wiping the tears from his face I shake my head.

I continue to wipe his tears away after he sits up. I wanted nothing more but to tell him that I truly did love him, but I knew that would only make things harder.

"I should go," I mumble while gathering my things. Scout nods his head. He scrunches his eyebrows while looking down.

"I'm so sorry Scout." I apologize once again as I stand outside of his car.

His only response is another nod. I shut his door slowly and watch him drive off. My heart sank knowing that things were only going to get more complicated from here.

You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net