—
Forest Brooks
—
"Whatever you're thinking about, stop it. Okay?" my coach reprimands. "You're making irrational decisions, signaling dumb plays. You're going to get hurt."
I press the back of my glove covered hands to my face, groaning, then I rest them on my hips, hunching over slightly. "I know, I'm sorry." I curse at myself under my breath, just as frustrated as he is.
"Step up and be the leader I asked you to be from day one. Got it?"
"Yeah. I will be. Sorry."
He shakes his head. "Don't be sorry, just get it done, kid. Be smart." Coach B sticks his fist out to me, and I return the gesture, pushing my fist against his. "Get out there and play smart. All of you. Let's get it done."
One of the guys calls our team name and we push our sticks together in the middle.
Skating back out onto the court, Mackai shoves the back of my head and Sebastian slaps my back.
Despite them not saying anything, that's their way of telling me I got this. I let out a heavy exhale, trying my damndest to recollect myself. My eyes flash from the referee, to the other team, to the goal.
One point and we take the lead. Don't fuck it up.
—
Maylee Lych
—
I stand relatively close with Mac and Cameron outside the building with the hockey court, my hands stuffed in my pockets and eyes on the clouds.
"Maylee."
My eyes drift to the source of the voice. To my right is an old friend, Sebastian. It's been a while since I've seen him. I don't come to the games often. I hate sitting and watching.
"Hey," I breathe. "Good job out there." A smile covers my lips.
He flashes a grin at me before rocking back and forth from his heels to his toes. "Thanks." He sighs. "I heard you were causing trouble, May. What's goin' on?"
I furrow my brows and tilt my head back to look at him. "What do you mean?" I ask.
"You're the reason Brooks is in his head, yeah?" Seb chuckles, shoving his hands in his sweatpant's pockets.
"How do you know that? He told you?"
His foot kicks out to knock a rock away from him. "No," he says, words coming out harsh as if I was supposed to know that. "Word travels fast. Weird exes who don't think you deserve him, mainly. The girls who are in love with him and hate you because he's not into them, too. But he's gotta' be into you. This is the longest anything has been on his mind. And I mean anything."
I scoff. "I'm not into him. I do stupid stuff that is confusing us. It was dumb. It's not — we're not anything. Just a tutor and her tutee."
Sebastian laughs. "Yeah, okay."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing."
I shove his chest playfully and laugh. "That's mean. Brooks doesn't think about me, you weirdo."
He chuckles. "Does that mean you're still single?"
"Seb... You know it was just a one time thing, right? Plus it was a year ago."
After I was dragged out to a party last year, despite my complaints, I got a little too drunk. That resulted in me having the brilliant idea of getting stoned too. When I say I'd never gotten high before that, I mean it. So that night resulted in too many disasters and casualties.
I got tied up with Sebastian during some ungodly hour of the night and we had very drunk, very unprotected sex. Fortunately, I never fail to take my birth control.
And that night ended with vomit, Advil, and waking up together very awkwardly the next morning.
I don't think he means to mention it, but it comes up every now and again.
"I wasn't saying it was for me," he retorts, raising his hands. "Just a question."
"Oh." I get embarrassed at my assumption.
"Yeah, Maylee, don't be so self centered," he teases.
I roll my eyes. "Okay, dude," I chuckle.
—
8:38 p.m.
—
I sip on my lemonade while I listen to the girls talk about either their sex life or nonexistent sex life. Milo talks about the guy she has a strict "only sex" policy with. Jayde doesn't really talk about it, but we all know she's getting laid. By who? We don't know. Nyah has a boyfriend, and it's no secret that they do it as often as they can. And Cameron doesn't brag about it, but it's very obvious that Mackai satisfies her. She's happier when she's routinely getting laid.
There's nothing I can say, and even if I could, I wouldn't speak up. The only thing that's running through my head is sleeping. That would be fun. And with my leaning against Cameron's shoulder, I could easily fall asleep.
That was until I saw Forest walk through the door. He was accompanied by Mac, so I assumed it was Mackai's idea — but that doesn't alter the fact that he was here.
I groan and draw my knees up to my chest. "We've been here long enough, yeah?" I can't really just up and leave because I rode with Cameron, but I'd also rather not make a scene and make everyone leave. That's why I mumbled the sentence to Cameron.
Her head turns down to me. "What's the matter?" she asks.
My head drops back against the wood behind me, and I gesture gently in Brook's direction. "I just wanna' get outta' here. I'm tired, too." It clicks in my head a second later how selfish I'm being. "But your boyfriend just got here. Actually, just forget it."
I haven't told her about our kiss, or multiple kisses, and I certainly haven't told her about our squabble. What would I say? "Oh, hey, Brooks told me about his ex who he was in love with, and I got upset with him. Also, we were in a petty little relationship, too. Sorry I didn't tell you."
Yeah, absolutely not.
Cameron kisses my head and slides out the booth. "We can go," she says.
"What? No. No, I shouldn't have said anything. It's fine. I don't care. Sit back down."
She shakes her head. "No, trust me, I hate him just as much as you do. Let's go."
"What's goin' on?" Nyah asks.
"Nothing," I quickly mutter. "It's not important. Cameron, sit down. Please." I gaze at her with demanding yet pleading eyes.
Mackai wanders over to us and stands next to Cameron. "Hey, baby." He kisses the side of her head. "You okay?" he asks, looking at her then over to me. "Are you okay?"
I rub my fingers through my hair. My eyes fall close, and I can feel the way my lungs aren't getting enough air.
God, I'm panicking. Why am I freaking out?
I just don't want to be in his presence. I think I'm hurt. Hurt because he was in love. Which is weird, because who am I to control his past life? I shouldn't even care — I mean, I don't care. I know my body, and my body says no to everything about him.
He makes me feel like I'm floating; but not in a good way. It's almost like I'm always on the verge of tears and a panic attack when I'm around him. I think it's because of my high school years. Oh, my God, the amount of panic attacks he gave me then. He traumatized me. And now I feel like the feeling is heightened, especially after the date and kiss.
Moving out of the booth, I swallow the lump in my throat. "I gotta' go to the bathroom," I whisper, walking around Cameron.
"Maylee," she breathes. "Hey..." I can hear her briskly walking behind me.
"Just needa' pee, Cameron. Give me a minute."
That seems to stop her because she isn't behind me anymore. I push into the family bathroom and shut then lock the door behind me. I sigh heavily and lean my head back against the hard, wooden door.
My hands ball into fists, then I crack my knuckles, listening to the rhythmic sounds to attempt to calm me down. Each one pops, and I make sure of it because I will go crazy if I don't hear all ten pops.
Then I press down on the top joints, trying to get all of those to pop, as well. But the one on my left hand ring-finger won't. It's probably because I broke it a long time ago, but it usually cracks.
It's a great day from my anxiety.
Absolutely. Fucking. Wonderful.
"Jesus Christ," I mutter. I blow out a breath and walk to the sink. My hand unconsciously continues to fidget with my finger to the point where it hurts. I groan and lean against the counter. "Okay. You're all right. Relax, Maylee."
I wish I hadn't waited so long to try to calm myself down because now my breathing is ragged and my mind is dazed. "God fucki—" I breathe out softly, keeping my words contained in my throat.
Relax. You are okay.
I hate this feeling. Instead of my tears coming out as actually tears, the feeling comes out as agitation. Everything sets me off. The muffled conversations of people in the fast-food restaurant. The distinct sound of water trickling somewhere — not from this bathroom — like a sink in the kitchen or other bathrooms.
I grip the counter and lean back, looking up at the ceiling. "Mmgh," I grumble. I gaze at myself in the mirror. "You look pathetic, right now." I rub my face with my hands. "Shut up, Maylee."
You're so fucking weird.
My fingers slide to my neck, rubbing my gold necklace that I almost never take off. But I feel like I'm suffocating; like I physically cannot suck in a proper breath. So I fumble for a few seconds to take it off. I ball it in my hands and take a much needed inhale. But I still feel constricted.
But when a soft knock hits the door, I turn.
I suck in a sharp breath. "I'm almost done. Give me another second, please," I say, running the water.
"Open the door, Peaches. Gotta' talk to you."
I shake my head. Forest would be the one to come over here first. "'Bout what?" I ask, turning the faucet off.
"You. Me. This, and whatever the fuck we are. Just open the door," he says.
"I need a minute. Can you give me that?"
He chuckles. "No, actually. Funnily enough, I'm worried about you." He pauses, giving me a moment to take in what he said. "Can you let me in?"
I swallow. "No."
"C'mon, Peaches. Wanna' give me five minutes?"
"No."
"Does it help if I say this is me asking really, really nicely?" He tries the handle, only to stop when it doesn't turn. "Trust me, you don't want to hear all the ways I'll get this door open."
I groan and make my way over to the door. "Are you alone?" I ask, voice soft, and I put my fingers on the lock.
"Wouldn't be if you let me in."
I twist the hatch and pull open the door. Brooks stares down at me, a tiny smirk playing on his lips. His hands are pushed deep into his pockets, and he looks at me from head to toe.
"Do you always shut everyone out when you're overwhelmed?" When I don't respond to the slightly offensive question, he sighs. "Are you okay, Peaches?"
I play with my necklace, looking at it in my hands. "Mhmm."
Forest waits a second before stepping closer. "Yeah?" I nod in silent response. He tilts his head down to get a little closer to me. "Wanna' look at me and tell me that with your words?"
My eyes raise to his chest before hesitating there. Eventually, I meet his careful gaze. His eyes bore into mine, but I'm not sure it's purposeful. "I'm okay. But, uh..." I wipe my nose with my sleeve and look away. "Um, can you take me home?"
He smiles gently before nodding. "Yeah."
I know the talk about him and I will come. Not now, but soon. And I'm dreading the moment, but it's inevitable.
Word Count: 2,054
I don't necessarily like the end of this chapter, but that's okay.