The Moments With You

SATURDAY 2

A few hours back, before that night, after Andrew left the for the Team practice, just like he said earlier on, he did receive an earful from the coach,

“I know you are tired, I know all your bones ache, even your brains are not resting; you kids have to meet up with your school work and the school’s festival  preparation and the School authorities still wont caught you kids some slack, I know it really hard on you guys … but still you just have to put up with it for now, its only for a short while “ Mr. Calvary  Flick, the coach of the Blue Cross Basketball team of Milford University tried to console them.

“Andrew, you have to add twice as much effort as well, you might not be the captain of the team, but you are our backbone, and everybody acknowledges that you are the corner stone of this team, you are just that good….but that doesn’t mean you should slack off, it just means you have to work even harder, because at the end of the day, all the responsibility falls back on you”  Mr., Calvary  gave Andrew an intense gaze as he stood In front of him, almost trying to hide his feelings of dissatisfaction.

“please try to put your head in the game Andrew”, he said as he patted his shoulder then walked past him,

“Well, that was certainly an earful” Andrew thought as he felt guilt overwhelm himself. Martina who was on the sideline saw everything and her expression became sullen, she feels deeply sorry for Andrew who got lashed by the coach, and she knew he felt guilty

“is it because of Alec this time” she muttered underneath here breath, and her sullen expression became covered by contempt.

Martina left the sideline, where she was practicing with her cheerleaders team; it was the cheerleader’s team that was meant for the basket ball team, and this was also where she met Ezekiel; to go meet with Ezekiel, who just stood in the middle of the court, being all pitiful, she couldn’t stand the sight of it so she decided to solve it,

“hey, nutcase how’s it going” she asked with her loud and dominating voice, “what are you doing here, why aren’t you over there, practicing with your team” Martina asked further  while gesturing to the left corner of the court, where their couch was talking to them about the team’s strategies,

Andrew raised his head, glanced at Martina, then glance at the direction of which she gestured both with an almost lifeless gaze, that gaze that say “why am I even here?” and then he smiled sheepishly,

“thanks, tina” then he left Martina at the center of the court and went on to join his teammates who were now playing on the field.

Though, Andrew didn’t hear the strategy the were going with while the played, but once he observed their movements and the way they played, he immediately knew and as usual, he was able to win the attention of the few girls who came watch them, sadly he also was able to strengthen the ill emotions some of his teammates might hold against him.

Martina was still standing in the middle of the court, after Andrew had left her, she stood there even while the team played, not fearing that she might be hit by the ball or worse, by a running player, all that filled her mind was the expression Andrew had when he looked at her and the team, she didn’t what to call it, but all she knew was that it give her negative chills

“what was that all about”. Martina thought as she stared at Andrew who was already soaked into the game.

Later that in the day, the sun had already set and the moon was now risen, and it light shown bright, but it still wasn’t noticeable unless you look up at the sky, the was because the neon lights of the city were as bright as they were many,

It was night, the moon is risen but the road was still as busy as ever, a million cars passed through, also did the buses, people walking to and fro about their businesses, most stalls and restaurants were still open, it seemed like it would never,

In this night, Andrew and Martina were going home from a hectic long day at practice, but tiredness wasn’t the only thing Andrew felt and neither did Martina.

As they were walking, both walking in silence, not saying anything to eachother, their minds were filled with different thought,

Andrew recalled everything that happened today and the feeling of guilt which he thought had faded away, filled his hearts again, he felt sore in his heart and he also felt misunderstood, and he didn’t like it. Earlier today, when he’s coach was talking to him, the sound of his voice, the looks in his eyes and the expression he wore on his face all told Andrew that his coach was sorely disappointed in him,

He knew he hadn’t been diligent or early at most of the practices, he loves sports, he loves athleticism he not only had the body for it, he was also good at it, so good you could call it his talent. He wanted to be an Athlete, his parents gave him the opportunity to be one,  the offered him the chance to go to ab formal athletic school in America because they knew he was good at it, but he declined that offer because he couldn’t bring himself to leave Alec alone, he was always so protective of alec ever since they were young, and he had he’s reason, a bad memory he didn’t want to repeat itself,

So, he decided to go to school with Alec here in Canada and also signed up the major alec signed up for as well, all for the sake of not letting alec out of he’s sight but still, he wanted to be at least part of a piece of what he wanted to do, so he joined the university’s basketball team and since then he wasn’t so diligent but he was good but he’s coach never acknowledged him, at least not from his heart and that troubled,

Ehen ever his coach looked at him with contempt and dissatisfaction, even though he tried to hide it, he always felt very little and at that point, he would ask himself why he was there in the first place and then would realize he was there for the same reason he didn’t leave for the Athletic school, at first he would fall into dismay  but when he remembers Alec’s face, he’s heavy heart would lighten and he would be at peace but for only so long.

Martina on the other was still trouble by the uneasy feeling she had when she saw that life-less look he had on his face back then, she wanted to know what it was but she couldn’t  just out straight ask him, she knew he wouldn’t and to make it worse, she’s not Alec.

Either way, she wanted to break the awkward silence between them, she felt uncomfortable walking by his side and not saying anything, so the let out a little cough to get Andrew’s attention but it wasn’t working, then she decided to see why,

When she fixed her gaze on him, he’s face looked so solemn for a moment, then after that, a warm smile appeared on his face and his gaze were fixed ahead of him, staring so intensely, like as if he was looking at someone or something he cherishes but even though there were so many people and so many thing on their way home, there was nobody and nothing his eyes actually fell on, his look was so abstract,

“beautiful”, while she gazed at his face, Martina reached out her hand to touch his light skinned face of which captivated her heart, but it hit her,

Martina knew that he was think about someone, who might probably be the person who he loved the most, she wished so much that it would herself , but she couldn’t even deceive herself that it was her because she strongly believed she knows who it is, she knows it was Alec

Upon this realization, she became consumed by anger and jealousy and she used it to hit him, immediately she hit him Andrew gasped like as if he just came back from a trance, and that just made Martina even more furious, because to her, it confirmed that Andrew was so deep in his thoughts of Alec, even while he was walking with her.

“hey! Gorizilla what it is” Andrew came back from his long chain of thoughts,

“you… how can you, I offered to walk you home because I was worried about you, you didn’t look so good back at the playing court, but you treat me like this” Martina was even more furious

“what?” Andrew was confused at what she said and even more because he didn’t think silently walking home would be that much to work up like this

“hey Martina what’s up with you, I wanted you to just take the bus home like you normally do didn’t I? but you didn’t adhere”

Andrew was a little frustrated, he was tired of hearing people nag at him all day, he just wanted a break, but when he looked at Martina’s face, she was sulky, her face looked so sad, it felt she was gonna burst into tears any minute and he didn’t consider himself to be the type of person to make girls cry so he brought out a suggestion

“okay, let’s make baby Tina happy, let’s walk back to school, seeing as we are already close to my apartment, then we’ll walk back to my house again and this time we can talk about anything you want” Andrew gave her a big warm smile  “that’s what you want right?”

When Martina heard his last statement, all the anger she felt turned into pure sadness, she started trembling from trying to hold back all the tears that wanted to escape her eyes, she just wanted to disappear from there, she didn’t care where she was gonna end up, as long as it was not in front of him.

So, she just gave a loud sigh then laughed sheepishly “you should go f**k yourself, you know” then she hailed a taxi immediately and got in leaving Andrew there without even saying  goodbye, as she was entering the car, she glanced at him “you make me feel so little” she  muffled  and the car drove,

Immediately the car’s door shut, she finally released all the tears she was holding back, she wept heavily  It made the rhythm of her breathing distorted and she was gasping for air, the taxi driver was so worried about her, he asked her if she was okay, but she just yelled at him to keep on driving.

After, Martina had left in the car, Andre was bewildered at what just happened with her, but all the more, he was worried about her, “she didn’t look so great” he thought as he entered his apartment, because he was now directly at the door.

As he input the passcode to open the door and walked in, he was still deep in though about Martina but was brought back in shock when he realized Alec wasn’t back yet, he’s worry immediately deviated from Martins and was now all about Alec

He checked his phone to see what time it was and he was immediately thrown into shock and uneasiness because the time was 11:49 pm and it was very late, “his shift should have end like 2 hours ago” he thought to himself.

In hastiness Andrew called Alec to see what was going on with him, but there was no answer no matter how much he called, so he decides to go look for him at the café or somewhere else where he thought he would be, because he’s mind wouldn’t let him be.

******

Alec who was not at the bar with Mr. Sidney Whales, having some beer and alcohol with him even though he doesn’t drink saw the call from Andrew and he didn’t take it, he saw the several other calls Andrew gave him but he still didn’t answer, even thought he knew Andrew will be worried to death about him, but he just didn’t think it was the right time to take Anthony’s call.

When Alec found his teacher at the back of the coffee shop, where they usually dropped trash, in that lonely and dark place, his lecturer was weeping heavily, his memories of Mr. Sidney Whales where never like this, he always saw him as a calm, smart and organized man who is always upright.

He was so confused, he just couldn’t warp he’s head around the sight he saw, so he wanted to get to the bottom of it, he wanted to see what exactly it is that made him fall so low, but before he could ask anything,  Sidney suggested they go to the bar, and that how they ended up at some random bar tat was father away from his apartment than how the school was

“sir… how are you” alec asked Sidney who was sitting just across from him, chugging down a huge cup of bear, at a table that was loaded with all kinds of alcohol, it had bear, tequila, whiskey and the list went on, alec stared at the table and stared at him who was drinking then he thought;

“he’s definitely not okay”

“hey… Alec Cross right, why aren’t you drinking you wanna help me right, drink with me, let’s finish all this on the table” Sidney was completely not sober, he was so drunk and was just spouting nonsense

Although, Alec didn’t want to drink, because he didn’t know how to and mostly because he didn’t like to, but he felt it would be a better way to console people and comfort them when you drink with them, so he decided to join him,

As Sidney took the first sip, he felt disgusted at how bitter it tasted but he still tried to drink it all, despite how he felt about it.

An hour later, Sidney was already dead ass drunk and Alec was half sober and they didn’t even finish half of the drinks that were on the table. He wanted to take himself and Sidney home but he could hardly walk not to talk of carrying another person home, someone who was like 2 times heavier than him, so he sorts for help.

The first person who came to his mind was Andrew, but he didn’t want Andrew to catch him like that, because he knows Andrew wouldn’t let him out of his sight even for a second and that will disturb his tight schedule, making him become a burden to Andrew.

However, after Andrew, Alec had no other contact on his phone he could call so he picked Sidney’s phone, to see if there was anybody he could call but unluckily for him it was locked and at this point, even the owner of the phone wont be able to remember he’s own password.

Alec was just about to be pushed to do the one thing he didn’t want to do and that is to book a room at the hotel beside the bar, he didn’t want to spend the money he didn’t have yet;  but he was saved by the sounds of a phone’s ringing tone, he knew it wasn’t his phone, because he’s phone was usually on silence so he figured it was his teacher’s and he was right.

Sidney’s phone rang as a call came through, and immediately Alec saw who the call was from, his pupils shrinked as his eyes widen and he became completely sober.