UNEDITED VERSION
To break free of the stereotypical box that high school placed her in, Charlie must team up with Liam, the new soccer player on the team her dad coaches.
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Girls fall at Liam's feet - except Charlie. She...
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Meraki (verb/adverb) {Greek}
- to do something with soul, creativity, or love; when you leave a piece of yourself in your work.
~*~
I ran a hand through my hair and sobbed, body wracking with the force of it. I stepped over to the door where the doctor had escaped through and sagged against the wall next to it. Another sob escaped me. I was panicking and didn't know how to stop.
My dad had a heart attack. He had a fucking heart attack. Luckily, the janitor found him in his office and called the ambulance instantly. I didn't want to even imagine what would've happened had nobody found him.
Christian nearly drove us into a tree in his scramble to the hospital. I couldn't comfort him when I saw a tear trail down his face. I couldn't calm down Caleb when he began to have a panic attack in the passenger seat. I couldn't even fret about Liam who sat in the backseat, frightened. I couldn't find it in me to support him as it'd been a long time since he drove in a car. I couldn't be proud of Liam for being willing to drive in a car for me. I couldn't do anything. My dad was hurting.
We were asked to remain outside the hospital room. That was two hours ago. When Caleb, Christian and I was permitted to glimpse inside, I felt my heart split right down the middle. Dad was so drained. His face looked gaunt and he was unmoving. The doctors reassured us that he was okay. I didn't listen to them as they described the circumstances to my brothers. I didn't want to discover how much my dad had suffered. The only words that I heard were: stressed, tired, overworking.
"He's awake," Caleb spoke with a sombre look as he glanced out of the hospital room, eying me with teary eyes. "You guys can come on in." His sentence was levelled towards half of the soccer team that were on the benches. The other half was at my house, ensuring that people were sent home and everything was tidied up. The cheer squad was helping too - except for Bella. She was out cold.
A tremulous voice queried, "Is he okay?" I looked up to see Nolan hunched against a wall, eyes red from sobbing. The sight of him made me whimper and I looked away. I lost count of how long I sat in Nolan's arms crying.
Caleb nodded, glimpsing one last time towards me before entering the hospital room, the boys trailing him. I cleaned my tears. Dad was in good hands. The doctors would take care of him. They had taken care of him. He was fine now - I kept reminding myself.
"Blondie." The voice was exhausted.
I glanced up with blotchy red eyes, stare matching the concerned coffee-brown eyes belonging to Liam. He was the only other person in the hallway, declining to go inside without me. "I can't go in there, Liam," I sniffled, wiping at my wet face. "I can't."
