He Shoots, She scores

Chapter Thirty-Two: Gracie | Down in the Clubs

I'm at the kitchen table, drowning with homework when my two roommates swarm me. RJ sits to my left. Eli to my right. "Um. Hi?" I ask while jotting down some notes.

RJ takes a bite out of the cream cheese bagel sitting right next to me. "Good stuff" he mumbles with a full mouth.

"Guys. I'm kind of busy right now. What do you want?" I continue scribbling in my notebook when Eli slides it away. "Hey!"

"Sorry, Gray, but we need to talk with you. This is serious."

This has my attention. I pull my chair back to glance at them. "Are you guys okay?"

Eli says, "We're okay, but I'll tell you who's not. Weston."

RJ jumps in. "As I'm sure you're aware, Weston's been an ass lately."

I roll my eyes, already irritated at the mention of his name. "Weston's always an ass. Notebook, please?"

Eli ignores me. "His ass level is usually to here-" he marks an invisible point in the air. "But now it's to here." That same hand raises two inches higher.

RJ takes another bite. "He snapped at me when I asked if he could drive me to campus. And then, because I was singing along to the radio too obnoxiously, he kicked me out. I had to walk the rest of the way."

"Geez" I mutter. Weston and I are still stuck in this awkward 'no man's land' territory, but last night on the balcony was a night where things felt semi-normal again. Something about that balcony just brings out the peace-keeper in me, I guess. But I'm a woman of my word, and I'm putting in all my restraint to ensure that I don't get sucked into Avery Weston's charm. Sure, all the flowers are nice, and the handwritten cards, the homemade breakfast, the rides home, but all that means nothing. He already showed me who he was with his character, and I refuse to get hurt by a player like him.

Eli adds: "He yelled at me for leaving a dish out. When I went to clean it, he began complaining about how nobody cleans around here and that he's never living with us again. Then, during practice, he made two of our teammates cry. Tears were visibly streaming down their faces."

"Down their faces" RJ echoes with dramatic effect.

"Okay." I sigh. "All of that sounds horrible and I'm sorry you've had to deal with it. But why are you telling me?"

RJ says, in a duh tone, "Because you're obviously the source of his shitty mood."

This gets my attention. I sit up straight. "Excuse me?! You're blaming me for his actions? He's an adult. Whatever feelings he has, I'm sure he can sort it out himself."

Eli shoves his palms up in a do-not-attack me position. "RJ phrased it wrong. What he meant was..." He cuts a glare at RJ, currently entranced in my bagel once more. "-it's clear that you and Weston had a fight. And Weston isn't the type to journal his feelings away. He bottles everything up, until eventually, he takes it out on innocent bystanders. And right now, with us being in the middle of playoffs, we can't afford that."

I blow out air. "Okay, yeah, so? What do I have to do with it?"

RJ clasps his hands together like we're in an important business meeting. "Our Coach threatened to bench Weston if his crappy attitude continues. And we need him on centre. He's our only chance at winning." He says all this like he's explaining a complex mathematical equation. "This means we need him in a good mood, Gracie. The whole team's counting on him." The urgency to his tone quickens by the end.

"And again, to that I say: what's that gotta do with me?"

They both stare at me like I'm the dumbest person to walk the planet. "Gracie" Eli starts, gently patting my hand. "We've known that man for years. And in that timeframe, there are only a few things that truly put him in a happy mood. And you're one of them."