~Althia~

As the week continued, Zach and I grew closer. Sadly, Jeff became more and more distant as the days went by. He wouldn't sit with us at lunch every day anymore and when he did he was really quiet and looked like he'd rather be somewhere else.

"Are you all coming?" I asked the gang during lunch when the topic of them coming to the flag football practice tomorrow morning came up

"Well of course" Hannah and Jessica beamed as the boys nodded

"I'll come pick you up?" Tony asked

"If you want to" I told him

"Well I do, so be ready at 7" He said and I nodded

"Jeff?" I looked at him since he hasn't said anything yet

He looked up

"Are, um, going to come tomorrow?" I questioned while I played with my fingers

"I don't know" He replied, his tone as cold as it could be

I gave him a quick smile and looked away

"Do you know what's wrong with Jeff?" I asked Hannah as we were at our lockers

"I wish I did so I can smack him for it" She huffed

"So it's not just me? I thought I was the only one who noticed how distant he was" I told her

"No, it's weird and I don't like it one bit" She responded

We talked for a bit more before Zach came to walk to class with me

As we were walking Jeff bumped into me by accident but he didn't even say anything and kept walking

"You okay" Zach asked me as we sat down in class

I simply nodded my head

//

"I can drive you tomorrow to school if you want, hun" My dad told me as we were eating dinner

"Thanks dad but tomorrow is the practice for football" I reminded him

"Oh well, dad can still drive you to that" My mom spoke

"It's okay mom, Tony offered to drive me already" I told her

"Is Tony the one that came over Sunday?" She asked

"No, that was Zach" I answered "Tony is the one who drove me to the baseball game, you met him already" I added before she could even question me

"And who's that girl that I met the other day again?" Mom questioned

I took a deep breath

"That was Jessica mom" I told her

"Oh yes and the one who you went over before the party was..?" She asked

"Hannah, mom" I said, trying to not make it obvious that I was getting annoyed

"Lydia, please" Dad shushed her before she could ask another question

Mom closed her mouth and continued eating. I look at my dad and gave him a thankful look and he nodded slightly.

After I was done washing the dishes, I went up in my room and decided to text Zach to see if he knew what Jeff's problem was.

Althia:

Hey, do you know if anything is wrong with Jeff?

Althia:

Yeah, maybe he just needs some space

Althia:

I really hope he comes tomorrow

Althia:

Thank you Zach

Althia:

Just for being there for me and always knowing what to say

Althia:

💗💗

//

The next morning Tony came to pick me up as he promised and we made our way to school. I changed into the gym uniform and went out in the field to see everyone was there watching me, except for Jeff.

I started playing and I think I was doing pretty well. Coach gave us a little break and I looked over at the bleachers to see all of my friends but one cheering for me. Someone caught my eye at the corner of the bleachers and I quickly looked over, hoping it was Jeff.

To my surprise, it was Justin Foley. He was simply sitting down and looking straight ahead. To an even bigger surprise, Montgomery came out of nowhere and went to sit with everyone and they let him. Even Tony seemed to be friendly with him.

The whistle blew and that was my cue to go back in my position.

//

"I fucking told you" Was the first thing Jessica said as soon I walked out of the locker room

I rolled my eyes playfully at her

"How are you so good?" Hannah asked me

"I'm really not" I told her

"We could all say otherwise" Clay spoke and the others nodded

"Well thank you guys for coming" I smiled at all of them

I made the team just like everyone said I would

"Great work out there" A voice said from behind me

I turned around and saw Montgomery

"Thank you" I smiled at him

"If you ever need a ride to practice or after practice, you can hit me up" He smiled back at me

I was about to thank him but Tony stepped in between us

"You watch yourself Cruz" Tony told him "Just to be clear that's my job" He added

"Alright sorry man" Monty held his hands to surrender

"You're welcome to come watch any game or practice though" Tony said to him

"Sweet, thanks" He nodded "Well, see you around" He waved at us

"Tony!" I glared at him once Montgomery was out of site

"Hey, you told me to be nice and that's what I did" He defended himself "When it comes to him, that's about as nice as I could be" He added

"Alright" I nodded

The first bell rang and we all went to our lockers

"You did great, Knight" Zach told me as he put his arm around me

"While thank you, Dempsey" I replied and said bye to him as we arrived at his locker

On my way to my locker, I saw Jeff at his

"Hey, I missed you at practice today" I told him as I leaned on the locker next to his

He slammed his locker shut

"Yeah, sorry I didn't make it" He responded and walked away before I could say anything else

I shook my head and went to my locker

"Today is going to be a long ass day" I thought to myself