Owen

Teammates

"What're you doing here?" I asked as my dad dropped his laptop bag on the dining room table. "Where's Jase?"

"He got stuck at work. Where's Nan?" He took his suit jacket off, draping it over the back of the chair as he rolled up the sleeves to his dress shirt.

I shrugged. "Somewhere in the house."

He looked over at me and for a second I thought he was going to say something back. Instead he just let out a sigh, his hand running through his dark hair.

"You're ready to go then?" I nodded. "Alright give me a minute."

"We have to leave like now." I called to him but he disappeared into the house anyway.

I wouldn't say that I was necessarily excited for therapy but Mina was typically there when I had a late session which was more often than not now that I was back in school. I also wouldn't say that I was excited to see her but she did make therapy a little more intriguing. And after my spat with Jaelyn and the tension between us that had only intensified through the course of the day I could use a little a distraction.

I grabbed my phone from my hoodie pocket, navigating to Jaelyn's thread. One of us had to apologize and I knew better than to think it would be her.

Me: I'm sorry

I stuffed my phone back in my pocket, it'd take her a minute to get back to me, even if she read it instantly. Like I'd said before, girls like Jae were hard. They had these little games they had to play.

"Ready to go?" My dad asked, blowing back into the kitchen.

He had changed into jeans and a sweatshirt, grabbing his keys and his bag.

"Yeah." I mumbled as I hustled after him.

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"I heard that you got yourself into a pickle." Sarah said with a massive smile spread across her face.

"What?" A pickle?

"You tried to transfer by yourself." She clarified.

My eyes darted to Mina, narrowing them. Was she sitting there repeating everything I said to her to Sarah? I mean I hadn't gave her details but she also figured it out on her own.

"Wasn't me." She raised her hands, expression flat and disinterested.

Sarah glanced over, eyebrow raised toward Mina. Mina shrugged, dismissing the silent question. I smirked a little knowing Sarah wouldn't let her off that easy.

"For the record it was your grandma. But it should have been you." She scolded, her smile never leaving her face. "I keep telling you, we're a team."

She'd been saying that since my first day. We're a team, together we could reach my goals. Not that I had given her any. I also didn't get how she could yell at me and smile. It was quite the feat if you think about it. She could be serious and you knew she was serious but she still looked fucking happy.

"So guess what we are going to work on today?" She clapped her hands together excitedly.

I rolled my eyes, not amused. "Transfers."

"Exactly! But even better you're going to start in your chair, go to the floor and then up onto those mats." She pointed at our destination. "I thought you were ready but now I know you are."

"What?!" My eyes bulged, not hiding the fact that I had no faith in myself. "I can't do that."

"First off, you're not allowed to say that word anymore. You use too much. Secondly you haven't even tried."

I looked at Mina. I'm not really sure why. She wasn't going to come to my rescue.

"So lets go!" Sarah announced way too loud.

She stood there, a big toothy grin on her face, arm outstretched in the direction I was supposed to go.

There was no way this was going to go well. I could already feel that my right arm was tired. I was still getting used to all the wheeling around school I had to do. And besides that, I had a lot of useless body I had to drag around. It was awkward and heavy and I already felt defeated.

Sarah raised her eyebrows at me, still fucking smiling. I wondered if her face was stuck like that. Maybe it was a genetic thing. I let out a groan, tipping my head up to the ceiling before rolling myself to my inevitable doom.

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I was sitting in the car, waiting for my dad. He swore he forgot his phone in the waiting room at therapy but I wasn't sure I believed him. He always had his damn phone. It was like an extension of his hand. That and his laptop.

I tipped my head back against the head rest, sleep threatening to over take me. Sarah had kicked my ass. And as much as I hated admitting it, I guess she was right. I struggled like crazy and she had to help me a little. But I had managed to climb my way up off the floor and onto the mat. But now every bit of me was exhausted.

The door clicked open, slamming shut after my dad climbed in.

"Find it?" I asked, not opening my eyes.

"Find what?"

I rolled my head to the side, forcing my eyes open. "Your phone.."

"Oh yeah, right where I was sitting." He said.

Fucking liar.

"That girl Mina seems nice." My dad commented as he pulled onto the road.

Mina was not nice. She wasn't even that polite. Which you'd think she had to be considering her job. At least she wasn't to me. I'd seen her greet a couple other patients with a smile and a wave rather than the scowl and eye roll I always received. I had decided at some point I must have done something to her at school to make her hate me and I just couldn't remember what.

"Yeah." I agreed anyway.

"Pretty too."

I opened my eyes again, staring at my dad as he drove. Where was this conversation going?

"I guess."

"I thought she was your mom for a minute."

His voice was distracted, like he wasn't really talking to me anymore. Just lost in his thoughts, reminiscing maybe about the life he had. I hadn't seen the resemblance but than again I barely remembered my mom, all I had to go off of were some pictures and fading memories.

I didn't know what to say and he didn't say anymore. We just drove the rest of the way home in silence with me drifting in and out of consciousness.

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It happened guys. I turned 30! 😫😭 But surprisingly everyone was right, it didn't hurt! And the hubs (because he's the most amazing man ever) told me what we were doing today! And I'm so excited! Get this! He got an Air BnB in Royal Oak (for those who don't know I'm in Michigan) and he invited all my friends! Which is only 4 😂 because I'm socially awkward so that's actually a lot of friends for me haha. But we're going to go out and hang out and it's gonna be amazing because we haven't all been together since my wedding! It's about to get crazy. I'll probably, definitely, be hungover tomorrow. Haha. Which me luck.

And thanks for the birthday wishes. You're awesome!