Hell Is A Teenage Girl.

•Thick Skins•

"What a thing we were, the girls were a little too vain and the boys smirked a little too dark. We were the mischievous, the wrathful, the invisible, the mistaken and the scared. We were the unforgiving, the bitter and the shallow. There were days when we didn't stand to look at each other, there were days when we didn't recognize each other, there were nights where we would lie awake until there was nothing left of us, there were nights where we would see our truth in each other's eyes, there were nights where the darkness didn't scare us anymore. We were dysfunctional and selfish and young. We thought the worlds starts and ends at our feet, we were so wrong but oh so right. We were the chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, we were the portrait hanging on the wall, we were the dust carried with the wind, we were the sun rising up. We were the footfalls of a morning jogger, the heartbeat of a dying man, the first drop of rain and the last note of music. We were nothing but everything. We were a team."

***

         The noises engulfed Tyler, completely capturing his brain.

         He heard everything, the rush of footfalls, infectious laughs, lockers slammed shut, water dripping, short breaths, and anxious sighs. His heartbeat echoed in his ears as time passed by, a grim reminder of his own demise. It beat so loudly that it seemed to want to escape his chest, to flee the oncoming reality. But there was to be no reprieve and the beats of his heart were numbered. They counted down as surely as a ticking bomb.

         When Coach blew the last whistle, everything stopped. Tyler couldn't hear coach's speech, he couldn't hear his teammates roaring and banging their fists against their chests, he didn't join the ritual. They all looked at him, waiting for some kind of motivation, waiting for him to raise his helmet and lead them to the field, but not a single word was uttered. The only thing he was able to feel was a cold sweat dripping down his face, as he saw the rest of the team heading to the field.

-"Tyler!" He turned around to look at Killian, eyes threatening to fall out, he was scared.

-"I can't" He managed to say. "I can't do this, I can't go out there, I feel sick, I-"

-"Hey, hey" Killian put his hand on Tyler's shoulder. "There's no going back now, we are so close. You brought us too close to victory, you can't quit now." The blond boy pointed at the boys heading out. "They're not quitting, I am not quitting; we learnt that from you, Tyler. You're not a quitter" He placed the helmet on his friend's head. "Once we walk out that tunnel, there will be a whole town roaring for you, you can either roar back and show these people why we're called savages, or you can sit here, and I assure you, I'll sit right next to you" Killian rested his head against Tyler's helmet "We run together or we don't run at all, got it?"

         The two boys followed their teammates through the tunnel to the field. The place was as crowded as it has always been every Friday night, the lights were focusing on the field, but they weren't greeted with the usual loud cheers coming from their supporters. The silence was deafening, and in a split second, Tyler thought they sensed his fear.

         He thought everyone's eyes were on him, and when his teammates turned to look at him, he realized it was real. His eyes scanned the crowd and landed on a sea of oxblood. Every single person on the bleachers, stood still, wearing oxblood shirts, the number "1" was written in white on every single one of them, and all eyes were on him. He looked down at his jersey.