Falling for the Goalie and Other Dangerous Sports

Chapter 43 - Derek

I snatched my hoodie and ran towards the door, flinging it open as I heard Dad call out a "Wait!" Not wasting a second, I sprinted down to Maddy's room and knocked ferociously.

"Maddy! Maddy, it's Derek. Open up." I continuously glanced down the hall, making sure the door wasn't opening from my room. A click made me jump, finding it was just the door in front of me.

Maddy looked dazed and tired. "What's going on?" I pushed my way in, throwing my hoodie on the recliner and collapsing on the couch, staring at the ceiling. Maddy seemed to wake up a bit, noticing my frenzied demeanor. She closed the door and walked over to sit on the edge of the couch. Again, she asked, "What's going on?"

"I got in a fight."

Her eyes widened. "Not with that Wellington player? Not with any player?"

"No, no, with Dad." I covered my face with my hands. "I got in a fight with Dad."

Maddy stayed quiet, tracing the pattern of the couch. "You didn't, didn't punch or anything, right?"

"No, no, just..." I drifted off unsure, of where to go.

She leaned in comfortably closer, bringing the vanilla scent with her. "What?"

I took my hands off my face. "In short, they want me to take the offer from Mansfield. I mean, only an idiot would reject a full ride from there."

"Mansfield is..."

"A boarding school more than three hours away, I know."

She paused for a second. "Full ride? You were offered a full ride?"

"Yes. And the semester starts in three weeks. I need forms in by next Friday if I'm enrolling."

She paused. "That's incredible."

"I know, I know." I closed my eyes for a second. "I just don't want to go. I don't want to leave you or Wyatt or Kendall or Sam or Dakota and Heather and Aimee and Carter and Oliver."

"You know, we'll live on. Just with Nate as goalie."

I laughed lightly. "I don't want to leave you, mostly."

She started to fix a few flyaway hairs of mine, putting them where they'd stay for maybe a minute until they were magically sticking out every which way again. "I don't want you to leave either. But it's an amazing opportunity I'd want you to take. I want you to take it, there's breaks and video chat and cell phones. If I got a full ride somewhere, what would you tell me?"

I already knew the answer. "I'd tell you to take it, it'd be foolish not to."

"Exactly. And if things don't work out between us with -"

I plugged my ears. "Stop." The very thought of breaking up with Maddy devastated me.

Gently she pulled my hands down. "It's okay. I think you should go, though. If you can't tolerate it, I'm certain your parents would let you move back."

"You want me to go?"

Her expression was conflicted. "Yes and no. I don't want to be selfish by telling you to stay, but Mansfield is the better choice. You know it as well as I do."

"I know."

She fell silent again. I would leave her, I will leave her, I am leaving her. I'm leaving her and anything else from Ashcrest behind, especially after that entire fiasco. Oh, I knew I was getting the toothbrush and a dirty bathroom once we got home, and they're going to throw boarding school into my punishment as a little bonus. My life had abruptly turned into a bad sitcom. The actor didn't want to sign up for another season, so they're shipping him off to a boarding school as a cheap, overdone, dramatic season finale. The end is inevitable. I would be attending Mansfield High School in three weeks, and what scared me the most is that I was starting to accept the melancholy thought.