Noticed

Thirty Five

Brendon Parker

I was not happy that Brad was back on the team. I never liked him in the first place and then all of this shit with Becky only made me dislike him even more.

After our little 'confrontation', I stormed off to the locker room before things could get worse. It would've been my pleasure to school him and show him a thing or two, but if I hit him, I would be suspended from soccer for the rest of the season. A little squabble was definitely not worth it.

I opened my locker to put my soccer stuff away and grab my towel and shower stuff to wash off. A few minutes later, I was in the showers, the hot water beating down on my skin drop after drop. It felt good to just stand there in the heat after a grueling practice and just a long day in general. Between soccer, studying for finals, and everything going on with Becky, I had been stressed out a lot more than usual.

Stepping out of the shower after what felt like hours, I checked my phone to see if Becky had called or messaged. Nothing. And only 15 minutes had gone by. I quickly changed into some comfy clothes -- my adidas soccer pants and a white v-neck t-shirt -- before picking up my phone to give Becky a call.

Ring after ring after ring. And then voicemail. I wasn't too surprised. I had a feeling she wouldn't answer my calls right now. Or maybe she was actually busy. Either way, things still weren't looking good. I needed to fix things fast.

"H-Hey Becky, it's me Brendon. I was just calling to see how you're doing and...look. Can you call me back so we can talk. I'm really sorry about what happened on the field and I really do wanna make things better. Just give me a call back when you can. I love you." I said, before hanging up the phone. Now all I could do was wait and hope she called me back.

"Trouble in paradise?" I heard Brad say from behind me.

"Not now Brad." I said, still facing my locker. I quickly grabbed my stuff, shut my locker door, and made my way out of the change room swiftly, not giving Brad any satisfaction.

"Wait, where are you going?" Brad asked. I stopped in my tracks for just a second.

I slowly turned around to face Brad.

"Don't start with me Smith..." I said, almost mumbling. 

"I'll start all I want Parker." he said, slowly walking towards me.

"Look. I've had a long day. I just wanna go home and relax." I said, starting to turn around. Brad stopped me as he suddenly grabbed my shoulder and turned me around.

"Let go." I let out as I clenched my teeth. 

"Make me." he said, inches away from me at this point. When he spoke, I could feel his heavy breathing hit my face. I so badly wanted to hit him, put him in his place. But what would coach think of me? What would Becky think of me? Picking a fight with the guy who brought all the drama? He just wasn't worth it. 

I could feel his grip on me loosening just slightly as we stood inches away from each other. I quickly twisted my torso, releasing his grip from me. I started taking a few steps back.

"I meant it when I said stay away from me Smith." I said before leaving the change room for good this time.

"Oh yeah? Well it'll be kinda hard considering we play on the same soccer team!" I heard him shouting from the change room behind me now.

I made my way to the parking lot, ready to drop all my stuff and just drive home. I needed to relieve this stress and tension.

As I got closer to my car, I noticed someone leaning against it. I was not in the mood for any more interruptions in my day. This was the last straw. 

"Hey asshole! Why don't you get your filthy ass off of my fucking car!" I shouted from a short distance away. Just as the person turned around revealing their face, I immediately regretted saying what I did. 

God, I probably just made things worse... I thought to myself.

"Becky." was all I managed to say once I had gotten to my car.

"Got your voicemail." she said. God I missed hearing her talk, even though it had only been a few hours since we fought. I was surprised she was still at school. Thought she would've gone home right away.

"Becky, I'm so sorry. I don't know what I was thinking. I shouldn't have said what I said. I was a jerk, and an asshole, and I wasn't thinking with head and --" I rambled before she cut me off by pressing her lips to mine. I immediately dropped my stuff in that moment, plopping everything on the cement ground as my hands came around to hold her face. 

I pushed her against the hood of my car, my hands slowly moving lower and lower on her body. In this moment, I didn't care about anything except Becky. Our fight had shown me just how important she was in my life and how lucky I was to have her in my life at all.

I stopped for a moment, not wanting to take things too far. I wanted to make sure the relationship itself was in a good place. We stood there, face to face, breathing heavily from the slow yet passionate kiss we shared.

"I'm sorry too." she barely whispered, our eyes not leaving the gaze of the other.

I pulled her in for a warm embrace and just stood there with her in that moment. Her head rested against my chest now as I caressed her body. I rested my head on top of hers and couldn't help but take in the lilac-like smell that rose from her hair. She smelled so good. I closed my eyes for just a second to take in the smell. Then stopped before things got weird.

"Do you need a ride home?" I asked her once we pulled away from the embrace. She didn't say anything, she just nodded her head, smiled, and gave me one last hug before going around to the passenger side of the car, taking a seat. I quickly dumped my stuff in the backseat before hopping in the driver's seat  to take off from this hellhole. 

Minutes later, I pulled over to the side of her house and we both just sat there in silence for a bit. I wanted to say something but I had no idea what to say. We still hadn't exactly patched things up, but we were moving in a good direction and I didn't want to ruin that.

"Can I stay at your place." she said, turning her face towards me. She didn't look happy anymore; she actually looked sad, almost fearful.

"Yeah, is everything okay? You know you can tell me if something's going on." I told her, bringing my hand on top of hers as they both rested near the gear shift.

"Yeah, I just...need to get away from some stuff right now." she said, whispering.

I didn't push any further. Whatever was going on in her life, she'd be ready to come to me when she was ready. If she didn't want to tell me now, she wasn't ready to come to terms with it. I just put the car into drive, driving away from her house and towards mine.