Colin and Lauren went their separate ways. Like he had mentioned earlier, the cheer team also had practice during lunch break. They usually had some time to eat a bit but after that, they went straight to business.
Today they held their practice outside on the field. The game this Friday would be for the football team. Rumors had said the Burkendall’s football team could be comparable to wolves. As the cheer team, they needed to lift up everyone’s spirits, both the team and their supporters.
According to the cheer captain, Carla, they needed to make use of as much space as possible out in the field to achieve that and thus, they moved cheer practice outdoors.
This was also the time they adjusted their routine to fit the amount of space they needed.
Although Colin had his own share of cheering during any game, he headed for the gym.
Just as he predicted, Max dribbled a basketball alone in the middle of the court. He wore his old basketball uniform, the one they used to have before they changed the design. The main fabric had a royal blue color with white trimmings. His surname, Peyton, stood out at the pack in the same white shade. He matched the jersey with his black gym shorts and shoes.
Colin walked in, his backpack slung over one shoulder and his two hands inside his jean pockets.
He could see the sweat dripping down the side of Max’s face. He watched as Max ran up to the basket and threw the ball. It hit the ring and fell off the basket. Max side-stepped in time, catching the ball, and shot it again.
This time, it hit the backboard.
On his third attempt for a shot in the basket, the ball bounced on the backboard again then it landed on the ring before it ultimately fell off next to his feet.
Max took a deep breath.
Colin could hear it all the way to the other side of the gym. He placed his bag on a bleacher and walked over to his friend.
Out of nowhere, Max kicked the ball towards the outskirts of the court. He bent his knees and buried his hands in his hair.
“Didn’t know you wanted to try out for the soccer team” Colin said. Like Max’s breathing, his voice echoed around the empty gym, “How are you doing?”
Max lifted his head but his knees remained bent.
“How did you know I was here?” he asked, not even turning around to look at Colin.
“Where else would you be?” Colin shrugged. He saw the ball roll back into the court. He changed directions and reached for it.
“Am I that predictable?” Max joked.
The corner of Colin’s lips lifted up, “I wouldn’t say so… but you always shot hoops when you’re upset.”
“Who says I’m upset?” Max scoffed, standing up and turning around to face Colin.
He looked worse than Colin predicted. Not only did he have bags under his eyes but he looked as pale as a ghost.
Colin tossed the ball towards his direction, “Don’t even try, Max.”
Max caught the ball but sluggishly. His movements seemed slower than usual. Colin frowned at the sight of it.
Max snorted, rolling the ball in his hands, “And what? Is that such a surprise? Everyone gets upset.”
He dribbled the ball between his hands and looked away from Colin. He could say a lot of things but he knew that inside, this could be one of the worst states he had ever been.
It wasn’t exactly a moment he wanted others to see—including his friends.
He did a quick spin and shot the ball. Again, it didn’t make the basket.
Colin could tell Max purposely avoided them. When morning came after a night of drinking, Max disappeared. He didn’t leave any notes or text messages. He also didn’t answer their calls.
Jae started to look for him but Colin reasoned that maybe Max wanted to be alone. They decided to do that for the rest of the weekend.
And just like before, Colin found Max at the court. Only this time, he had been here for a different reason.
“It’s about the party, isn’t it?” Colin called out to him. Max put his hands on his hips, unable to meet eye contact with Colin. He still had the memories of the last time he had been upset fresh in his mind.
It didn’t look pretty.
He inhaled for a few seconds before he turned around, raising his eyebrows in mock surprise, “Which? A lot of things happened at the party.”
Colin sighed at his attempt to dodge the subject, “Maybe but not while Alex was there.”
“Oh, that?” Max snorted. The scheme he created to prove a theory. But then, it backfired on him. It didn’t sound like a big deal, “Why would that bother me?”
“That’s true. It didn’t” Colin nodded. He started to walk in a half circle around Max who followed him with his eyes.
“Glad to know you’re in your right senses” Max smirked. It looked quite fake, Colin thought. The lips curved in the right way, yeah, but Max’s eyes held no merit. It was probably one of Max’s good qualities.
His eyes never lie.
If he felt happy, one look at his eyes and people could see it. If he felt otherwise, no matter how much he acted and spoke, his eyes wouldn’t change at all and still held the true emotion he felt.
Colin questioned his own attentiveness. Often times, his friends would comment on how observant he was about their behaviors. He’d usually thank them humbly and say they thought of him too highly.
These facts together made him wonder how he could have possibly missed the truth right in front of him all this time.
Colin stopped underneath the basket. Max had to shuffle his feet to keep up with his antics. He didn’t break eye contact while Colin walked around him. He didn’t know why Colin acted so suspicious of him. You’d think he hadn’t done the same thing before to him and Jae.
They also rejected the idea but, at least, they moved on from it easily. Jae even hit him in the head, telling him that it wasn’t funny.
It had been a harmless idea. He would have stopped insisting if the started to get out of hand. Did people really think he’d drag Alex and a girl to a room and lock them up? That seemed highly unlikely even to him.
The girl would hate his guts if he forced her like that.
“You became upset because Lauren got mad” Colin finally said out loud. His heart hammered at how close he was at facing the truth. With the amount of pounding in his chest, it felt like something climbed up to his throat. He gulped it down.
His teeth also began to shake. He doubted if he really was ready for this conversation.
Max let out an exaggerated laugh. Of all the things he thought Colin would say, that one never came to mind. It seemed so ridiculous.
Upset over someone who got mad over his idea? It sounded really petty. If that were true, everyone would be upset all the time.
His tone of voice pierced Colin’s claims like a knife, “And why does that matter?”
“Because you love her.”
…
…
…
The playful smile Max had on his face slowly faded away. Unlike Colin’s, his heart seemed to have stopped beating. In fact, it felt like his body had become shallow, nothing inside it but air.
The word, love, between him and Lauren in a sentence had never been explicitly spoken out loud.
But did it ever come to his mind?
Yes.
Yes, it did.
