Enhance

Chapter 7 - Summers

Chapter 7 - Summers

It was a nice weekend and during those days my mind constantly went back to Louis. I know we mostly talked about football but I don’t know, he seems different. Not once he tried to hit on me, like others players would do. He listened to me like all I had to say was important and not even those guys who were really good actors could pretend like he did. There’s something different about him, an honesty in his eyes that I haven’t seen in any other guy. And I work with athletes, the majority are men.

Still… I don’t want the same thing to happen again. I get mesmerised for a guy who seems great and is all nice, but after a while I discover they are all the same and they never thought of me seriously. I don't want to make the same mistake, so I have to be careful this time. I know he seems more different than any other, but the others also seemed different at the moment.

Nevertheless, I’m quite excited to see him today at the practice. I never noticed him before and I want to see what kind of player he is. First I’m surprised that I don’t see Connor on the field and Louis isn’t there either, so I get worried considering what happened on Friday, but later Louis joins the rest of the team and the practice. He’s not the fastest but he tries, he really tries and gives his best during the training. I notice the coach watches him a lot. At some point Louis looks at the bleachers and I wave at him before their coach yells at them to keep practicing.

At the end of the practice, the coach calls Louis so he stays behind whilst all his teammates leave to the lockers to get a shower, I hope. I know they stink, I’m close enough now that I left the bleachers. I don’t know if I should do this, but I want to, so I wait for Louis and when he approaches me I notice something I didn’t notice before. He’s hurt. He has bruises and cuts on his face and I can see he’s in pain by the way he walks.

Saying I freak out is an understatement. And it gets worse when I find out it was Connor who did that to him. That little piece of shit. I hate him more with every day that goes by and I regret so much ever being with him. I don’t understand how I ever saw something good in him, he’s always been a complete douchebag. I swear I want to kill him, but if I go and yell at him I think it would only play against Louis. I know Connor’s type already, a chauvinistic, brainless bloke who will use whatever I do against Louis. So instead of going after that idiot of my ex, I focus on Louis.

One of the things my mum taught me was first aid, so I know more or less what I can do as I lead him to the little infirmary next the lockers where the players go when they get injured during a game. I know I’ll find everything I need in here. Louis follows me in silence and sometimes I have to look back just to make sure he’s still following me, and every time I smile at him. I can’t help feeling like this is partly my fault, because if he hadn’t defended me on Friday, I’m sure Connor wouldn’t have hit him like this. I just hope Louis’ injuries are not that bad.

When we get to the infirmary I point at the stretcher as I go to the cabinet where they should have all the implements to clean his cuts. “Take off your shirt,” I ask still giving my back on him, collecting all I need.

“Uh, I don't know if that’s—”

“I need to check your ribs. You walk funny so I assume he hit you there, too,” I cut him off and I hear him sigh.

As I turn around to face him, I see him struggling to take off his shirt, clearly in pain. How did he play the whole time like this? Now I get why the coach was watching him during the practice. It’s amazing that he did so well when he was injured like this. And the practice probably made it all worse and he’s in even more pain now. I don’t know if what he did is brave or plain stupid.