KAI“Calm down… you're letting that prick mess with your head!” Kyle yelled at me. But I paid him no mind as I kept shooting, taking out all my hate and hurt on the ball and in my body as well. I had barely rested ever since I returned from school. It felt like there was just too much for me to lose ever since Aiden got back on the team. It suddenly felt like my spot on the team would soon be taken away from me. “You know you could be hurting yourself as well, Kai” Kyle kept on rebounding the balls for me, even though I was literally tearing myself apart right there. “Don't let him get to your head no matter what happens.” He had already gotten into my head, and I was resorting to anything that I could to get him out of there. But at the same time, I had thought I was trying to outwork him with what I was trying to do. “You're really—”“Just shut it, Kyle…” I let out angrily as I had grown tired of my younger brother trying to give me counselling which wasn't needed at that point
AIDEN“For the weekend…?” I was pretending not to act like I hadn't just received a text from an unknown number that happened to coincide with the news she was just breaking to me. “So soon? I thought you do arts on the weekends…”“Well, I'm just trying to do something else besides the paints and canvases. It could get boring sometimes if I continue the same way over time. I need a break Aiden…” she said with a sigh. “I'll just go somewhere with some friends and try to unwind a bit for the next couple of days, and I'll be back.”For some reason, I wasn't happy about the weekend which would give me time to be alone with Ellie. I found myself wondering if my mother was telling the truth about where she was off. It was all just lining up too perfectly for me to believe immediately.“And I won't be going with my car. But that's not a license for you to use it for whatever you want to use it for.” She said sternly with a straight face. “You're going to stay away from it as much as you can.
ELLIEI couldn't help but wonder why Aiden was acting all weird this morning. Why had he been so eager to see his mother entering that grey Honda? He had been standing for a couple of moments after she had left. For a couple of moments, he had looked as distraught as someone who had been abandoned by his lover. Good thing I wouldn't be home that Saturday so I wouldn't have to put up with him all day.I said nothing as he turned to return inside the house. He barely had his eyes in my direction, almost as though he was avoiding me completely. A part of me wanted him to look at me, so I could look away, but he didn't even look. He was acting like I was simply one of the furniture at the dining table. He headed right out of the living room, and made his way back to his room, ignoring his breakfast on the table and me as well. I fought the temptation of asking him what was wrong with him all that time I was seated at the table. He still owed me my bottles of vodka, and I hadn't forgott
AIDENI was in no mood for any of Ellie's antics. It had me feeling low with the way I was showing her subtle signs of jealousy towards her. That way I would be giving her all the power over my emotions.At that point, I wanted to get myself to be at the top of my game and nothing else. I had a pickup game to attend and I hadn't gotten any shots up. It made me feel a bit less confident in myself. Coupled with the fact that Kai would be there, I felt like I was in for a horrible weekend.Besides all of that, I had felt bad for having suspected my mother wrongly for having someone else. I had yet to delete those awkward texts from my phone. I felt bad for having thought that she could go lower than her standards. As I stepped out to make my way to the garage, I looked over at the house of my mother's neighborhood friend whom she had claimed to go on a weekend getaway with. That was added evidence to prove that I had been wrong.Mrs. Kirsten’s home was looking all empty and deserted. Sh
ELLIEThe ride in Aiden's car was quite an awkward experience. It was quite hard for me to understand why he hadn't refused my request which had sounded more like an order. Aiden pulled over, without saying a single word throughout the ride and was about to end it all without breathing a single syllable to me. There were just too many things going through my mind as I was about to make my way out of the car.I thought about thanking him for the ride, but then, I and my ego turned down the idea without thinking twice about it. At once, I was on my way to Jasmine's front porch where she and the others had been waiting for me.Just to be sure he wasn't staring, I turned to look at Aiden. For some reason, I believed he had taken his eyes off right at that moment when I turned to look at him. He seemed to have his eyes fixed on his phone.“Well… I couldn't care less…” I reminded myself as I was about to meet up with Jasmine and the rest. I felt bad for having kept them waiting for so long
AIDENIt was hard to get my mind off what had just happened with my mother as it had suddenly changed the flow of my entire day. I tried to tell myself it was all her personal life and I didn't have a right to say anything about it. But then, I was really scared in no small way as I realized just how weird things could get if she happened to have been cheating on Ellie's father with someone else. Worst of all, the marriage wouldn't follow through and I was going to lose contact with Ellie. I feared that more than anything, and it had me deep in my thoughts and trying to catch my breath in the sea of my worries.“Aiden!” I was almost fidgeting when I heard one of my teammates calling out to me. In the heat of my worries, I suddenly froze on the court and was completely motionless from it all. There were just a lot of things going wrong at the moment, as I was watching the opponents scoring us at will. “What the fuck’s going on?” They were livid that I wasn't bringing my A-game to
ELLIEI didn't get why she had to be making that call there at that moment. It felt like the sound of her voice had suddenly brought a cloud over the beautiful sunny Saturday.“You had the nerve to hang up on your mother the last time I called you…” she sounded deranged as she spoke hurriedly in a hushed tone that made her sound dangerous. “You just have five months and some days and I'll be back for you and your father…”The thoughts of my childhood and those dark times of being stuck all alone with her at home came playing back in my head in full color. She was simply everywhere in my head.“By the way, you have no idea just how much we would have to discuss when I'm finally out of here…” she said. “You just brace yourself for—” Just like I did the last time, I hung up on her without thinking twice about it. I couldn't afford to have a breakdown when everyone was gearing up to have fun. I would be killing the energy of the whole outing and I didn't want to be guilty of that.“You r
ELLIEMy heart was racing frantically as I was trying to navigate my way through the park. It was a bad time to get lost in Manhattan, and I was soon going through every tree, as I felt naughty for being so careless with my wanderings.I had left my phone back at the tree where our little picnic was happening, and that had me lost all alone on an island. It was hard getting myself to talk to strangers at that point, but then, being in a park so big was about to push me to the limits of my social boundaries.The challenge of who to ask around was the next I had to confront. It was quite hard to find a face that was the most approachable. My heart was racing frightfully with each passing moment, as I felt myself going farther and farther away from them with each passing moment. There was no way I could reach any of them, and that made my predicament all the more hopeless. In those few moments, I saw everyone having the time of their lives as they were all enjoying the beauty of the par