The Player

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?" Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

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."

I let out an exaggerated huff, blowing a strand of hair away from my face in the process. "I'm just going

to act like I don't hear that."

Just then, a man in a black uniform came walking towards us from inside the carnival.

"Brielle!" he shouted, now approaching the gate.

"Hey Uncle Tim!" I called out, now face to face with him through the iron gate. "How's Anna doing?"

"She just lost her first tooth and is now demanding large sums of money from the tooth fairy." He shook

his head in disappointment. "They start off young I tell ya."

I turned towards Christopher, realizing how confused he must be in the situation. "This is my Uncle Tim.

He guards the carnival when it's closed during the week so he always lets me come in while he's

working and ride the rides."

My uncle reached into his pocket, pulling out a key and unlocking the fence. As he held it open for us,

he locked eyes with Christopher, sending him a warning glare. "Don't go starting no trouble."

Christopher took an audible gulp before nodding his head profusely. "Yes sir." He barked as we walked

away. Once there was a good distance between him and my uncle, I turned towards Christopher,

unable to hold back my laughs.

"Yes sir?" I said in between my giggles.

"Hey," he said defensively. "I saw a taser in his belt."

"That was his phone."

"You can never be too sure."

I rolled my eyes. "Yea, yea."

My eyes lit up as I quickly grabbed his hand, spotting my favorite carnival booth. "Come on!" I yelled,

nearly dragging him behind me. "Let's go!"

*****

We had been at the carnival for nearly three hours, and although Christopher would never admit it, I

knew that he had fun. After I dragged, and schooled him, at ring toss, he insisted that we went to the

basketball shooting booth. Besides being a star football player, he was apparently an excellent

basketball player as well. He took a little too much joy in outscoring me two-to-sixteen. Throughout the

entire time, he seemed to be having a genuinely good time. For the first time today, the smile on his

face seemed to finally reach his eyes.

After hitting all the booths and rides, we decided to end the night on the Ferris wheel. The sky was

black as we were lifted higher into the air, the wind slightly whipping my hair. We sat quietly, as

Christopher stared up at the stars.

"I'm really sorry about what I did to you yesterday," he whispered, locking eyes with me. I tried to tell

him that it was OK, but he wouldn't hear it.

"It wasn't OK. I promise to tell everyone that it wasn't true." He diverted his eyes away from mine,

ridden with guilt.

"You don't have to."

"But I want to." He replied.

We sat in a silence, comfortable without saying anything. Crickets chirped in the distance as we

approached the exit platform. I was about to get off until he sent an unreadable look my way. Even

though I had no clue what it meant, my gut was telling me to stay on the ride. As we set off a second

time, he began to talk.

"My parents used to take us to the carnival every year." He said, his eyes still focused on the sky.

"Bianca and Nicole would always drag us on the tea cups. Even though I protested every time, I

secretly wanted to ride them too. All five of us would be packed in the tiny cart, just laughing our heads

off." He averted his attention to his hands.

"My mom's favorite ride was the Ferris wheel. It was always the last thing that we rode." He chuckled to

himself, seeming to remember something.

"She would always let me sit in her car because she felt bad that my sisters were always occupying her

time. She called it the sister curse."

"What was she like?" I asked softly.

"She was selfless and kind," a hint of a smile formed on his face. "And somehow really good at pool. I

could never beat her." I laughed softly as he joined in.

"She was my biggest fan." His eyes seemed to gloss over as he fidgeted with his fingers.

"What about your dad?"

"He wasn't a man of many words," he let out a quiet laugh. "But once you got him started on football he

couldn't stop. Every Sunday we would sit on the couch, just me and him, watching games."

"Football united my entire family. Despite my mom's lack of interest in sports, she was there right

beside my dad, cheering me on at all of my games. After every game, win or lose, my dad would drive

us to this cliff with the best view of downtown L.A. My mom would always pack her famous oatmeal

cookies with her. I kick myself every time I wake up for never paying attention on how to get there."

The car rocked softly in the air, calming me. We locked eyes again before I asked my final question.

"Do you miss them?"

He spoke without hesitation, his voice cracking in the process.

"Every day."

****

"Where are you taking me?" he asked for the fifth time, my hands covering his eyes. After our talk on

the Ferris wheel, I knew the perfect place to bring him.

"Calm down, we're almost there."

I put him into position before finally removing my hands from his eyes. Thick trees surrounded us

except for one side. He opened his eyes, the distinct L.A. skyline in front of him. All the lights reflected

off his eyes, casting a whimsical glow upon him.

"I know that it's not the place that your family would take you after your games, but I come to this cliff a

lot to think and it has a pretty great view." I chewed my lip nervously, hoping that he would like it. He

stayed silent for a long while consumed in his own thoughts, before finally speaking.

"It's perfect."

I wrapped my arm around his waist as he draped his arm over my shoulder, pulling me closer to him.

Our eyes were glued to the scene in front of us; the view too beautiful to look away even for a second. I

couldn't quite put my finger on it, but something between us had shifted.

Something changed.