I was going to wait until tomrrow to put this one up, but finished a little early and thought the late night folk may want to read another chapter.
Chapter 3
>>>Chris watched bewildered as Alex disappeared over the hill. Statuesque, Chris remained rooted on the bench. What should he think? What did he do? What should he do? He was transfixed by the shimmering of his key, which laid on the ground out of reach.
>>>Unable to take it anymore, he did the one thing he could do...
*ring* *ring*
"Hey Cay..."
"What wrong Chris? You sound depressed".
"Damnit! Why the fuck did you have to meddle! You ALWAYS have to put your nose where it doesn't belong. Fuck! Oh, talk to him, get to know him. You should know your roommate! Happy!? I had a damn roommate before today..sure we didn't talk...but now hey I'll be lucky if I have a roommate at all!"
>>>Caley sucked in a deep breath - Chris rarely lost his temper, so it was obvious to her that something was seriously wrong and retorting with all of the colorful and easy arguments on the tip of her tounge wouldn't help anyone. "Deep breaths Chris. What happened? Weren't you just going to hit a little with Alex?....oh and stop pacing".
>>>Chris immediately halted his back and forth march. 'How did she....' Despite himself a small smile released most of his frustration, the woman knew him, and that was beyond comforting right now. He slowly began reciting the day since she had left them. "He's a prodigy! You should see how he plays and what he's done, he's amazing. I tried to tell him he should come onto our team...he wouldn't listen! I don't know what's the problem...Cay what am I supposed to do?"
>>>Caley pondered the predicament, working her thoughts through. If nothing else she was amazing at seeing through to people. "Maybe....maybe ....well it sounds like he's scared of something Chris. Really scared. Maybe the pressure of competing got to him. Ohh I bet that's it! Probably got scared of losing and that's why he stopped playing! ....Anyway. For now its obvious what you have to do...find him Chris. Find him and apologize".
>>>Chris let out a pent up breath, "thanks Cay. I bet your right, I guess I pushed him too much...maybe...Okay, I'm going to go look for him, thanks again". He hung up the phone with new determination, 'guess I'll start with our room'.
>>>In a flurry of motion, Chris' bag was packed and he was headed off toward the dorms. It was probably the fastest he ever got to his room in his life. Chris realized this upon leaving the elevator, 'I guess I care about that guy'. He unlocked the door, hoping for just a second that Alex would just be sitting on his bed. The door swung inward, but no Alex. 'Damn'.
>>>With desperate hope, he looked everywhere, searching for a note or some sort of clue as to where Alex was. He scanned through the room, 'hey that's odd, I could've sworn he relocked that closet before we left'. He peeled the door back - empty 'double damn'.
>>>Chris sat on his bed willing for something to give him some sort of hint. After 10 minutes he gave up on the lost cause and headed out, locking the door behind him. 'Wait...something is weird about that closet' Though he couldn't figure out what, some part of his mind wouldn't let it go, knowing that something so obvious was sitting just in sight, if only he could see it.
>>>Shaking his head he entered the elevator, jamming his finger into the lobby button. Slowly, the elevator descended and with it, Chris' mood. By the time it reached the first floor Chris did the first thing his body told him to do, punch the wall. *thud* 'Damnit. Now I pissed off my roommate AND my hand hurts. Smooth move...'
>>>Chris stepped out into the cool night air 'already 10 pm..' A chilling breeze passed Chris, bringing with it a clear mind. 'Idiot! It's so obvious' Chris took off at a sprint toward the north end of campus. 'That closet wasn't empty even when Alex relocked it! There were cans of balls and about 20 Target cones'.
>>>*thwack* A red cone went flying into the air. *crack* Another one followed its brother. Chris slowed to a silent walk as he approached the lit tennis courts. 'Noone would be out playing this late...it has to be Alex'. He neared the fencing, but stopped in awe.
>>>Serving on court 2 was a man wearing a heavy hoody and track pants. The hood waved like a mane each time the man leapt into the air, absolutely crushing a serve. Cones were placed a few inches apart covering the service line. Every toss meant another cone was soon spiraling in the air.
>>>It was without a doubt the best serving Chris had ever seen. 'This guy is just amazing'. He watched as the second to last cone went skidding back past the baseline. One more toss and the last cone was obliterated, but as the ball made a resounding impact with the cone, a sharp click rang from where the man was standing. Alex had crumbled into a ball, his racquet fallen beside him.
>>>'What the hell!?' Chris slammed the gate open and leaped to Alex's side. He slid to a stop as he heard sobbing. Alex sat with his head in his arms crying. "Alex. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to upset you".
>>>Alex looked up at Chris, for the first time noticing his presence. He forced himself to stop his tears, letting out small hiccups as he yearned to control himself. "It's not you".
>>>Chris fought every fiber of his being screaming - well then what is it!? He stood watching Alex for a moment deciding if he should go ahead with what he concocted on his flight over to the courts. Chris let out his breath again, thinking of Caley, and plunged into his plan, praying that it wouldn't lead to more pain for Alex...but he had to try.
"Alex I have a favor to ask you man. Can you help me out with it? I'll owe you one".
>>>Alex worriedly replied, "what?"
"Uhh its my wrist, you see?"
>>>True to Chris' plan, his wrist had already swollen to a red lump (must have sprained it on that elevator wall). >>>"I accidently fell on my way to our room and landed pretty badly on my wrist". Chris sucked in his breath 'lie number 1. Now for the risky part'. "I'm not going to be able to play in the highland tournament in two days. Can you take my spot?"
"No".
>>>Chris bit his cheek, "is it because it is a ranked tournament?". Alex stared flatly at Chris, his jaw wired shut. 'Okay, here comes lie number 2....you're a pathetic person Chris', "Please just for the first round, I'm set to play this jerk who used to bully me when I was little. I just don't want him to go on".
>>>An odd flicker lit in Alex's eyes. He sat, eyebrows crossed, studying Chris who had remained crouched next to him. "Okay, I'll play".
Oh, if you want to know what has Alex so upset, stay tuned!
