Married At 19

Chapter 3

《Nathan Harrison》

My teammates and I were practicing for this upcoming tournament at the court as usual and thanks for the tips from Bella, my foot got better, it was still hurt but I still can play but not too hard.

"Yo Nathan!" Henry who was gasping for air called for me.

"What's up dude?" I replied to him why giving him a fist bump.

"I just want to remind you that the tournament will be in this weekend. So you need to be prepare."

I knit one of my eyebrow. "But I thought that it will be held next week."

"Oh...that's weird. But just now Mr Goodman said that the tournament will be on this weekend." He insisted.

"For real?"

He nodded for several times. "Yeah."

"But my foot still not fully recovery yet. How am I supposed to play?" I pointed to my foot that was properly bandage by my friend, Bella.

He smiled along with a thumb up, "Don't worry Nathan. I'll cover for you!"

I scoffs, "No dude...You're a bad...I mean you're too expert, Henry...so Mr Goodman might not let you play so hard in the game." I just made it up. The truth is...Henry is a very terrible player. But Mr Goodman likes him so much, so he wouldn't kick him out of the team.

"Oh...that's right. So what should we do?"

"I can play...but not too hard. Or my foot will swollen again."

He patted on my shoulder, "Don't worry, Nathan. You have the teammates that can help you in the game."

For the first time, I agreed what he has said to me. He's right...my teammates will cover it for me, and I'll just wait for them to pass me the ball and shoot for the 3 pointers whenever I have chances. That's my speciality.

It was 11.00 pm and I wasn’t sleepy yet. I just really missed my parents and I hope they will be fine with their trip to New York. I grabbed my phone from my bed and called my mom but it went straight to her voice mail.

"Hey mom...if you ever receive this voicemail, I just want to tell you that I have a tournament this weekend. I think I can't meet you both at the airport. Sorry for that...love you both so much." I jump onto my bed after I hung the call.

Damn, why I feel so uneasy lately? Did something bad might happen to my parents?

"Hey dope!" Seth who was on his bed opposite of mine called for me.

"Yeah...what's up hedgehog?" I answered him without looking what he is being doing at his bed.

"Are you okay, dope?" His voice suddenly turned to be so soft from usual. "You look so mess up these days. Is there anything happen?"

Why is he suddenly concerned about me?

I sat straight on my bed and turn to face him who was looking at me with his black pearl eyes.

"Nothing...I'm fine actually." Woah...he looks so weird today. Did he accidentally eat the expired food?

"Why are you looking at me like that?" He asked me, maybe noticed that I was staring at him.

"You acted so...weird now, hedgehog." Seriously, he's getting me a goose bump.

"Geez...I just only concerned about you because Sasha told me to. Not because I like you or something!" He threw me his pillow towards me.

Nice catch!

I managed to catch the pillow by the way. "Whoa...whoa...you said Sasha is concerned about me." I feel a sudden joy when he mentioned Sasha's name.

"Oh please...." He groaned. "She's just concerned about you, not like or even love you, dope. She's still my girlfriend!"

I threw back the pillow back to him. "Fine...I'm sorry. Just tell her I feel so grateful of her."

He caught the pillow with one hand, in a very cool way. "Just sleep already. It's getting late now!"

"Whatever hedgehog!" I stick out my tongue to him but he just shook his head as a reply.

*

My parents didn’t return my calls so I assumed they must be really busy with their meeting and conference. The tournament will start in a few more minutes and the court was full with cheers from my campus and the other university cheerleaders’ team.

"Okay come on my youth students!" Mr Goodman clapped his hand while making us to gather around like in a circle before gave us some tactical to won the game. "Alright do your best guys. Good luck!"

The game started for about 15 minutes and the score of the opponent team is 2 pointers more than us. I tried my hardest to endure the pain on my foot, so our team could win the game by scoring the last 3 pointers to defeat the opponent team. "Nathan!" Seth called my name while signalling me to get ready. "Shoot now!" Then he threw me the ball where I was not guard by the opponent team members.

This is my chance...to score 3 pointers so our team could win the game. So I took my step and aimed the ball and shot it straight towards the hoop which I wasn’t sure if I score it or not. It is because someone just pushed me so hard as I jumped so high to shoot the ball.

My sprained foot felt so much pain as I landed on it hard. The referee then blew the whistle right away to end the game while my other teammates came closer to me to check me out.

The injury is so painful, but my heart beating so fast, and I feel really more uneasy than before as my parents faces suddenly flash in my mind. The dream from that night kept haunted me over and over.

There must be something bad happen to mom and dad.

"Hey Nathan," Henry was crouching to check on my condition. "Are you okay dude?"

I winced in pain. "Not okay dude...my foot is so painful, and I think something just happen to my family." I wasn’t sure about it but I could feel it on my bones.

"What?" Seth knitted his eyebrows while looking at me. "What do you mean?" He looked awfully confused with me

"I don't know...yet...but I really feel so uneasy right now."

"Nathan!" I heard an angelic voice calling my name. The special voice that only one person has it and guess what...the owner is Isabella Dawson. She looks so worried about me as I saw her running towards my direction with Sasha and Cecilia following her from behind.

"Are you okay?" She asked me while examined my right foot. "Can you move it?" Bella looked so worried, an expression which I never see it before.

Why on earth she cares about me? I never treat her well before, I mean, I rarely talk to her not act like a jerk in front of her or something.

I was indeed surprised with her action, especially the way she examined my foot right away as soon as she arrived to check on me. It was like I was badly injured or something like that. She's totally different than Sasha and Cecilia, she's more gentle and kind-heart person.

I think she might become a very good doctor and also a good wife to her future husband who is very lucky to have her.

"Ouch..." I winced in pain.

"I think you sprained your foot again, Nathan. But it is worse than before." She said to me as she moved my foot a bit to examine it.

Our eyes met for several milliseconds, a pair of beautiful grey eyes met with my ocean blue eyes.

I'm now noticed that she's actually more beautiful than Sasha or Cecilia. Her creamy skin is so pretty, her bronze hair which is changed to wavy silky hair that is really match with her gorgeous face.

Eh...what I'm thinking? That’s so weird. What about Sasha? She is my crush but Bella…

I tried to move but my foot is so painful that made me winced in pain again.

"My family...I need to see them." I said when my mom and dad faces flashed again in my mind. "Please take me to them now!"

"Hey calm down, boy. They'll be alright." Mr Goodman tried to calm me down. "It's you who need an attention now. Girls, take Nathan to the infirmary, now! Do anything that you need to do."

My coach looks at me then back to my teammates. "My youth students, all of you must continue your game without Nathan. Our best player got injured and it wasn’t mean that we lose. Let’s do our best, okay?"

My teammates gave each other’s look. "Alright sir!"

"Sorry for disappointing you guys." I said to them. "Good luck...do your best without me."

My teammates gave me thumbs up before went back to the court to continue the match while Bella took me to the infirmary to get my foot treat again.

*

We won the match this evening, it's all thanks to Henry with his quick movement to block the opponent to shoot the score. Seth, my best friend then stole the ball from them and shoot a 3 pointers into the dunk.

It was a luck by the way. If I didn't get injured, maybe I will be the one who shoot the winning score. Thanks for that jerk who pushed me earlier that made me missed my shot.

But anyway, I can now move a little with Bella's expertise to treat my injury when the nurse wasn’t there at the infirmary. She's so good though. I'm so lucky to have a friend like her. Man, I felt so guilty all of sudden for not noticing her so soon. Poor her for being me as a friend. I’m truly a bad person.

I was resting on my bed in my dorm when, my closest lecturer entered my room followed by two police officers behind him. Their uniform scared the hell out of several male students. I totally recognized that sounded, where they were trying hard to hide all of their p**n magazines, dvds, strapons or whatsoever they have. I don’t know because I never had such a thing, believe me.

But the thing that worried me was my parents weren’t return my call until then. And now, tow police officers came to my room.

What is actually happen?

Did I do something wrong against the law?

I wobbled a bit when I tried to stand up from my bed. Mr Stewart slowly approached me, with his sad face.

"Nathan..." his voice cracked. "It's about you parents..."

I was shocked when he mentioned my parents.

My parents can't be...

They promised me!

“I’m sorry Mr Harrison, I’m afraid that both of your parents died in plane crash,” one of the police officers told me.

“No….no….they promised me, no sir, noo!!!” I can’t accept that news. My parents can’t be dead, they….they still alive. I know because they promised me.

I stood on my feet while enduring the pain from my right foot, “I want to go home, Mr Stewart. They are waiting for me there…please let me go home,” the tears kept pouring down on my cheeks with the two police officers tried to stop me. “Let me go…”

“Sir, please…calm down,” the tall police man tried to calm me.

“Let me go, dude!” I pushed him out of my way and Mr Stewart too as he was trying to stop me from getting out of my dorm. But I managed to walk out of it and ran towards the hallway with the hurting foot.

However, the pain was so damn hurt that made me fall almost fall, but there was someone managed to catch me from falling. The scent was familiar and I knew that person without even look at her face.

“They’re gone, Bella….” I shed the tears and the gentle Bella slowly pulled me into her arms by letting me crying in her hug. “My parents…..they left me.”