Theo landed down somewhere, before blinking himself out of disorientation. He woke up and realized that it was in his room. Except one thing wasn’t right. His anime posters didn’t fit in the same places they did before.

Then he looked down onto the bed and saw himself.

Well, not himself now, but a younger version of himself. He still had that attempted perm, meaning he was 16. He was on his phone, typing something before he got a call. Theo looked over at it. It was from Shay.

Why was she calling, and what was she doing here?

The younger Theo accepted the call, looking flushed. The image of Shay popped up, creating a hologram outside of his screen. She was looking like a bombshell, with long blonde hair in waves, sage eyes, pale skin, and a beautiful thin frame.

“Hey, Theo,” she said. “Ready for our date tonight?”

The younger Theo swallowed before scratching his head. “I have a match tonight.”

“I’ve been waiting for this moment for months and you bail on me,” Shay scoffs. “You know, it seems like you have a match every single day. What about me?”

“I know, babe,” he tries to calm her down. “But it’s important. I can’t just bail on them like that. I’m their captain. They need me.”

“And you’re my boyfriend,” she argued back. “I should be the priority, but it seems like you care about that stupid SCOPE thing.”

“It’s not stupid!” Theo argues back.

“You’re just being overdramatic,” Shay tells him. “And why do you love SCOPE so much? It’s just a game.”

“It matters to me and my team,” he finishes. “I have my things, too.”

“I’m thinking that this isn’t just a game,” Shay finishes. “I know about the girls you have on your team. Especially that girl Lucia. Have you seen the way she looks at you? I think she likes you.”

“She does,” Theo admits. “But before you get angry, I let her down. It was just a stupid crush she has. I barely even know her.”

“Remove her, then,” Shay demanded. “I don’t want her flirting with you.”

“Then why don’t you come to a game?” Theo angrily suggests. “I want you there. And I come to every single thing you have. Why can’t you just do this for me?”

Shay sighed. “Let’s just forget about it. It seems like you care more about your teammates than me, so just do what you want.” Theo gets ready to say bye, but then she just leaves.

The landscape swirls into something else. It’s now him and Shay sitting on his bed watching something. Then his phone rings and he goes to check it, then laughs.

Shay takes notice and pauses the movie. “What’s that, babe?”

“Oh, just nothing,” Theo said, putting his phone away before Shay grabs his wrists and takes the phone back. Theo tries to reach for it, but she pushes him away by the chest.

“Why are you talking to her again?” Shay yelled. “That Lucia girl. Didn’t you say that she’s just a teammate? I thought you let her down.”

“We’re just friends,” Theo tells her again. “Can’t two friends just talk to each other?”

“You and this friend spend too much time with each other,” Shay says. “What is her number?”

“Why do you want it?”

“Just tell me,” Shay demands. “What is her number? I just want to tell her to lay off.”

“I’m not just going to let you harass her!” Theo yells. “Lucia is just a friend, okay! Nothing more. You’re just jealous!”

“I’m jealous!” she said out loud. “I’m just supposed to go and let you hang around with this girl? No!”

Then she slaps him.

Theo falls back, blinking and cradling the burning feeling of his cheek. Theo now sucks in a breath and holds back a whimper. At that moment, she couldn’t tell if Shay looked truly sorry because he just yelled for her to get out and she did.

Suddenly, he’s being frozen over like ice. He tries to move but feels ground. Why does he feel so much guilt? Then the world fades to black.

It’s Shay, and she’s swatting her hand out. That would’ve never happened if SCOPE didn’t get in the way.

But it was Shay’s fault she hit him. Not his. Instead, he dodged her hand before pushing her over into nothingness.