Mateo's POV
Football was my escape from home. From my snobby mother and distant sister.
My mother had never done anything to make me hate her, but she hadn't done anything to make me love her either. She was always closer to Faye than me. She wanted someone to fulfill her childhood dreams, and Faye fit right in.
She modeled, and if I wasn't her older brother, I would say she was tremendously beautiful and deserving of her career. She's only 16 and she's better than some of the most famous models in the industry.
She seemed happy, which made me happy. She had an amazing boyfriend who she loved to death, and she adored her job. She had friends everywhere. Basically, she's what anyone would say when people ask what they wanna be when they grow up.
We never had a real relationship. She was always just someone in my house. We never fought, never really spoke, we were just there, and we were both fine with that.
——————
I was in the changing room, getting ready after one of the hardest practices ever. Coach was really testing us lately.
When I was finished getting ready I walked over to Ethan, who was struggling to put on his shirt. Ethan was my neighbor and best friend since diapers.
"Hey dude," I said, sitting down on the bench next to him.
I dug through my bag and grabbed out the two protein bars I'd stashed in there this morning. I offered one to Ethan who happily accepted.
Once Ethan had shoved his belongings in his bag, we walked out to my car and jumped in.
"Where are we going today," he jokingly asked.
"The usual," I said, putting the car in drive and pulling out of the parking lot.
'The usual' was a small diner a couple of blocks from our houses. We had been going since we were kids and it has yet to fail us.
I pulled into the parking lot and got out of the car. We took our usual booth and the waiter looked at us and headed to the kitchen.
We'd never ordered anything different and we knew every staff member here, so by the time we got here, our order was already being prepared.
"Hi Margret," I said to the old lady walking by. She was one of our favorite waiters.
"Oh hello, boys! How are you guys," she asked, holding a plate full of drinks with one hand like it was nothing.
"We're great, thanks!" I answered. She smiled and walked three tables over, setting down the drinks.
About a minute later, Alex, another one of our favorite waiters, came by with our drinks. She was in our grade and I would consider her a good friend, although we don't talk outside of school and in the diner.
She set down a coke in front of Ethan and an iced tea in front of me. I happily took a sip and smiled at Alex.
"Hey A, what's up?" I smiled.
She put the tray on a nearby table and took a chair to sit beside us. She's done it before and by now, not even her boss minds.
"I'm alright. When's the next game?"
"Thursday," Ethan said, grabbing his coke.
We talked for a bit until Alex was called back to the counter. The diner was slow, as usual, so we usually didn't have to worry about her getting in trouble for talking to us.
Soon after, our food came. I dove into my burger as soon as Margret gave it to me. Ethan took a slower approach at him, but I was too hungry to care.
We both talked until we were full and about to hurl. I paid for the meal and ran out to the car with Ethan close behind me.
We talked as I drove back home. I pulled into the driveway and saw both my mother's and Faye's car.
"You staying?" I asked.
"Yeah sure," he said, before getting out of the car. I followed him into the house and unlocked the door.
"I'm home!" I yelled to anyone who would listen.
I walked over to the living room and jumped on the couch. I threw a controller over to Ethan and grabbed my own. He sat beside me and we began playing whatever games we could find.
After about 20 minutes, I heard creaks coming from the basement steps. The door opened revealing my mother and Faye. My mom looked completely cheery and bubbly, but Faye looked like she was about to die.
Her face was pale and she was sweating everywhere. She was panting and walking over to the couch.
"You good?" I asked as she sat beside me, out of breath. She barely nodded but did.
"Baby, do you want a smoothie or a salad?"
"Can I have both?" She asked, struggling to get up. I grabbed her shoulders and helped her up. She winced at my touch, scaring me.
"No," my mother said sternly. "Salad or smoothie."
"Salad."
"Good choice."
I was confused but didn't ask questions. I saw Faye sigh and sit on the barstool.
My mother began chopping up different vegetables and me and Ethan went back to out game.
After a couple of minutes, I got up to grab some water and saw my mom finishing the salad. There were barely a couple of pieces of lettuce and 3 cherry tomatoes. I don't know what she thinks a salad is, but it wasn't that.
I grabbed a bottle out of the fridge and saw Faye pushing the salad around the bowl. My mom wasn't in the room anymore and I eyed Faye weirdly.
"Why aren't you eating?" I asked.
"I'm not hungry."
"You need to eat something."
"I said I'm not hungry."
"Please eat Faye," I told her. She saw my sympathy and took the fork, shoving lettuce in her mouth.
I watched her as she finished her salad and smiled before walking back to Ethan.
"I'm gonna beat you this time," I laughed, kicking my feet up on the coffee table.
"I doubt that."
QOTD: What'd you think of the first chapter?
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Cover Girl
Teen Fiction"I had always fit into people's standards. Perfect. People don't tell you how much it sucks to be perfect. They expect happiness. They expect a put-together life, but my life was anything but happy and put-together. Some days were great, but mo...
