The Lies We Tell

4 - "It's not my fault"

"That was a goddamn embarrassment." Coach leaned on the corner of his desk, massaging his eyes in absolute disappointment. His usual baseball cap was sitting lopsidedly on a pile of papers, the physical embodiment of how its owner felt.

Alex and Colby sat uncomfortably in the old chairs positioned directly across Coach's desk. The trophies that lined the shelves on the wall above Coaches chair mocked the two boys' situation and Alex looked down at the tiled floor.

He knew he was in the wrong. Of course he knew, but the gnawing pit in his stomach prevented his guilt from apologizing. Instead, his pride stood in the way.

Alex fiddled with a stray string on his sweat pants while Colby looked straight ahead.

This fucking sucks.

Colby just couldn't believe that the asshat next to him had really caused this much trouble. What was going through his head? Did he understand the amount of trouble that they were in? Coach was aware that losing was part of life but being embarrassed by two dickheads was number 1 on the list of things that made him angry.

The troublemakers were immediately ushered into Coach's office after the buses reached the university while the rest of the team had looked on in interest, wondering what kind of hell would be rained down on them. Even though Colby knew it wasn't his fault, it was still his job as team captain to be a leader for the rest of the team to look up to. He cursed Alex, but he also cursed himself for not catching the signs before hand.

Coach moved around his desk and eased himself into his worn leather chair.

"I don't understand how this happened. You're both bright, so you should know that you've put me in a very difficult position," he glanced at the clock on the opposite wall that read 11:13 PM, and sighed. "Right now I need to think about the punishment I'm going to give you two so for the time being, go home, get a shower, and be ready to get to the field an hour before the rest of the team tomorrow. And for god's sake, get your heads out of your asses."

Colby and Alex nodded silently and exited the room as quick as they could. The rest of the team had left and so it was only them walking through the empty halls of the rec center, Colby to his car and Alex to his dorm.

"Why'd you do it?" Colby spoke up, his voice echoing through the dark corridors.

Alex looked up with a scowl and didn't speak. He shoved his hands into his pockets and turned down a different hall.

Colby stopped and called out, "that's the wrong way."

Alex didn't care though. His mind was clouded with the game and he couldn't think clearly. He knew he wasn't going the right way but it was better to take a longer detour than having to walk with the self-righteous Team Captain.

Colby stared at Alex's back for a second longer and sighed. What was he to do? Alex was a good player, but he had a real shitty attitude.

The tired soccer player ambled out of the building and into the near empty parking lot. Street lights illuminated some of the darkness while the muggy air assaulted him. He paused before getting in his car and looked at the stars that dotted the sky. How am I going to fix this.

-

Colby opened the door to his apartment and was greeted with a cold faced Ian who was sitting in the dark like a dad catching his child coming home after curfew.

"Colby," he said calmly and gestured to the couch across from him, "have a seat."

He put his keys in a dish and threw his things on the floor before dropping his tired corpse on the couch.