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“Sterling, if I were you, I would walk away. You do not want me to play my version of this game with you,” I muttered, annoyed, and he chuckled as he did when I asked.
Closing my locker, I walked out of the room and noticed the coach standing in the middle of the floor. He moved us into groups of two, and I stood, waiting with my helmet as Luca walked up to me with a smug look on his face.
“Well, hello, partner.”
“You know, I actually don’t mind practicing with you. This is the closest I can come to stabbing you within legal reasoning,” I muttered, and he chuckled.
“Oh, Archer, you make me feel special. I’m flattered.”
“Are you really?”
“Well, in all honesty, I could care less, but I was just hoping to set the mood in a friendlier tone.”
I nodded my head. “That’s what I thought.”
We both looked to the man in the spandex who was directing us, and eventually, we were able to begin. Putting on my helmet, Luca did the same, and we stared at each other as the others had already commenced. He started walking towards my left, and I walked opposite him.
“So, Archer, it’s been two weeks. It seems you’ve listened to Delilah’s wishes and stayed away.”
“I’m assuming you did the exact opposite?”
“Archer, you wound me... do you really think so low of me?” he asked, and before I got to speak, he struck me with his sword. His bar turned green, and a point showed up by his name on the scoreboard. “I’ve only mildly bothered her. It isn’t as much fun if you’re not there to be her knight in shining armor.”
“So you admit you enjoy defying my direct order to stay away from her, Crawford?” I asked, and he shrugged.
“In a sense, yes, I do... Playing against you, Archer, my hands are going to get dirty one way or another,” he replied, and I nodded as I caught him off guard and struck him.
He chuckled. “Actually, I’ve come to realize that, in reality, everyone is playing a game. Oddly, it’s like a game of chess. There are just some people who control their board, and others are mere pawns.”
“And you refer to me as a pawn in whose game?” I asked.
His demeanor seemed to shift as he gave me a menacing glare. “Calvin’s, and soon enough...mine,” he remarked, and I pausedmomentarily as he tilted his head. If I hadn’t paid attention to what he was saying, I wouldn’t have caught on to his wordplay. I knew my words to him a few weeks ago about my father essentially owning his struck a nerve, but something felt odd.
All of a sudden, he got ready to strike me, but I ducked and rolled to the other side of the mat. He smiled almost wickedly, and the second he was within arms’ reach, I ditched the sword and grabbed him by the collar as I brought him to the ground.
“Now you listen to me, Crawford. I don’t play in anyone’s game, not in my father’s and certainly not in yours. I don’t know if I’ve made it clear or not to you, but I’ll repeat it. Stay out of my business, and you stay thefuckaway from Delilah. Do I make myselfclear?”
He smiled cockily and tilted his head. “Crystal.”
I dropped him to the ground and walked out of the gym. Going to the lockers, I took a quick shower and got dressed.
Grabbing my bag, I noticed the other students just getting out of the gym, and I made my way to the exit. Walking down the hall, I stopped in my tracks as Delilah waltzed through the halls alone, most likely heading to one of the girls’ locker rooms with her gym bag on her shoulder.
She turned her head my way and froze almost immediately.
I approached her slowly, and my eyes went down to her lip, which she bit softly, and then back to her eyes.
“Hi, Archer.” She spoke just above a whisper.
“Hello, Delilah,” I said, realizing that many of our encounters started like this.
“I haven’t seen you much in the past couple of weeks..”
“I’ve been busy,” I replied, and I wasn’t lying. While attempting to give her space, I found myself strictly focusing on going to class, attending my extracurriculars, and busying myself at my father’s office.
“Listen, Delilah…” I began, and she gave me her full attention, gazing up at me patiently. “I wanted to apologize for the words I said to you a few weeks ago.”
She gave me a slight shrug and a sad smile. “Not like I’m not used to it or anything,” she muttered, and I couldn’t help the guilt that began to build in my chest. “No hard feelings,” she said softly, but I didn’t say anything.
