Seth
Lunch had been exhausting.
After running into Claire, it seemed to drag. It didn’t even seem to matter that my burger was cold or my fries were soggy.
“So…I did something this afternoon.”
“What? You were at the game all afternoon.”
“I bought an apartment.”
“You what?” Mum squawked, causing everyone to turn around.
“Mum! Volume,” Bryce scolded.
“Seth. Speak. Explain.”
It took twenty minutes to convince them I hadn’t made a mistake. Eventually Mum came around, and after demanding I organise to show her tomorrow, she started planning how she could decorate.
Now I was sitting at the bar, staring at the lemon wedge in the bottom of my empty glass. I’d already downed glass after glass of water, trying to keep my hands busy, while I waited for Claire to reappear.
“You waited?” a timid voice asked from behind me.
Spinning around on the stool, I came face to face with the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen. Since she blew me off, I’d been angry and annoyed, but now, seeing her again I noticed how much she had changed. Her eyes weren’t as bright. Her skin was hidden beneath a thick layer of makeup, but they still didn’t hide the dark bags under her eyes.
“I was hoping you’d talk to me. But I could leave if you’d prefer.”
“Nah, it’s fine. It’s just I’m working at the moment…” she started, before being quickly cut off by someone passing by.
“Technically, you’re on your break, Claire. Take as long as you need,” she murmured, giving her a soft, supportive squeeze on the shoulder.
“Thanks, Isla.”
“Mind if I sit?” Claire asked nervously.
“Not at all. Please.”
We sat in silence for a minute, and I watched as Claire picked at her nails, or what was left of them. She looked nervous. Off-balance. Unlike her. Without even ordering, a drink appeared in front of her and she took a huge gulp.
“So, how was the game? The season started today, right? Did you win?”
Okay. So that’s how she wanted to play this. Deflection. I could go with that. For now. “Yeah. Season started today. We lost,” I grumbled miserably, rubbing the back of my neck.
“Oh. That sucks.”
You could say that again.
“How’d you play though? I know you were worried?”
Wow! I guess I really had fallen off her radar. It felt strange, wrong even. We didn’t know each other that well, we weren’t ‘together’ together, but I’d come to kinda rely on Claire to be the person who understood me. The one who got me and accepted me, warts and all. Finding out I didn’t even register stung worse than not being selected. Man, I had to toughen up.
“I didn’t play.”
“What?”
“I didn’t play,” repeating myself. It tasted just as bitter saying it the second time as it had when I’d first found out.
“Shit, Seth! What happened?”
