The Player novel Chapter 10

Brielle

2:12 PM

"Should we watch Clueless or Mean Girls tonight? Because Clueless is so iconic but mean girls is hilarious."

Sam stood by my locker as I got out my things, trying to get me to decide on a movie. I knew that I should be paying attention to what she was saying, but my mind was elsewhere. I was still thinking about what Christopher had told me yesterday. Today was the anniversary of his parent's death, and I couldn't imagine what he was going through.

My eyes scanned down the hallway, hoping to catch a glance of him. He wasn't at school today, but something inside me hoped that I would see him and know he was alright.

I let out a yawn, rubbing my eyes in the process. If someone had told me two weeks ago that I would care about Christopher's feelings, I would have laughed in their face. But even though we weren't friends, I just couldn't help it.

"Hello?" Sam said, snapping her fingers in front of my face. "Earth to Brielle."

My attention refocused on her as I shut my locker. "Any movie is fine with me."

She rolled her eyes, annoyed. "I just listed the pros and cons of both movies for five minutes just for you to say that you don't care?"

I shrugged my shoulders, making my way to the parking lot with her.

"I'm sorry," I apologized. "I was thinking about something else."

"You've been sidetracked the entire day," she squinted her eyes, inspecting me. "Is everything OK with you?"

"Yes," I said, brushing her off. "Everything's fin- "

I cut myself off, my eyes growing wide. "Crap, sorry Sam but I have to clean the bleachers today!"

Since Christopher wasn't here today, I would have to do double the amount of work. If I didn't get started soon, I would be there forever. I turned away from her car, doing a slow jog towards the stadium.

"I knew you were side tracked!" she called after me, shaking her head in amusement. I turned around and blew her a kiss before booking it to the field.

When I did arrive, I was surprised to see Christopher there, already scraping at the benches. He kept his head down as he worked, his back muscles rippling in the process. I silently grabbed my scraper from the bucket beside him as I got to work. Every now and then, I would sneak a peek at his face, trying to catch a glimpse of an emotion. But his face was stone cold, his feelings masked from the outside world.

We went on like this for an hour. Me, secretly looking, and him, completely oblivious. When he put his spatula in the bucket and got up, I followed suit, wanting to talk to him. After we had put the tools away, I headed with him to the parking lot, despite my plans to walk home. Once we were halfway there, I finally mustered up the courage to say something.

"I noticed that you weren't here today." As soon as I spoke I mentally face palmed myself, realizing that I sounded like a stalker. "Not that I was looking for you or anything. I was just curious on where you were. But you're here which is good. Unless it's not good, which is good too I guess."

I took a deep breath in, trying to stop my rambling. "What I meant to say is why are you here if you weren't at school?" My face was red, embarrassment flowing through my body.

He smiled at me, amused at how flustered I was. Even though it was at my expense, I was happy that I could cheer him up.

"I got a call from my coach saying that if I didn't come he would be forced to bench me."

I nodded my head, stuffing my hands into my jean pockets.

"So," I dragged on, not sure how to approach the topic of today's significance. "What are you planning to do today?"

He shrugged his shoulders, his eyes now concentrated on the ground in front of him.

"Come on," I urged. I knew that I was overstepping my boundaries, but I really wanted to help. "You have to be doing something."

"I'll probably just sleep," he mumbled softly.

After hearing the pain and hurt in his voice, I knew that I couldn't let him get in his car and drive home. Even if I was being annoying, I knew that I had to try to help him get through the day. Although we weren't friends, for some strange reason that I have a hard time admitting, I care about him.

I care about him.

"Nope," I said, suddenly chipper. "I'm not letting you spend tonight alone." We had finally reached his car, and I jumped into his passenger seat before he could protest.

"Seriously Brielle, I'm fine," he groaned, hopping into the driver's side. I crossed my arms, leaning back in my seat.

"You have no choice. If you want me to get out of your car you're going to have to drag me out."

His eyes scanned me up and down, seeming to mill the idea over in his head. Before he could reach a conclusion that resulted in me sitting on the asphalt, I quickly butted in.

"It's going to be fine, I promise," I pleaded with him, wanting so bad for him to say yes. "Trust me."

After a moment of hesitation, he let out a deep sigh before putting the key in the ignition. A victory smile spread on my face as we pulled out of the parking lot.

"You won't regret it," I grinned, fiddling with the knobs on the radio.

"I already do," he mumbled.

****

After half an hour of driving via my subpar directional skills, we were parked in front of a carnival. The rollercoasters and booths all had their lights on, but no one was there. It would have been a good setting for a horror movie with how deserted it was.

We got out of the car before walking up to the tall gate in front of us. A heavy iron padlock sealed it shut. Christopher turned towards me, a look of confusion on his face.

"You brought me here so that we could sneak in? Because if so, I'm in."

"Yes," I responded dryly. "I made us drive thirty minutes so that we could get arrested for breaking-and-entering."

"Wow goodie-two-shoes, I didn't think you had it in you."