That One Moment...

Chapter 28

Day 101

It was the start of the third week back from break. January was pretty much gone. Sarah had thought her life couldn't be in more turmoil, but she had not expected the weekend she just went through.

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It had started on a high note really. Last Thursday was the first girls basketball game. Sarah had not really known what to expect, even after attending practices and getting some gossip from Abby and the rest of the team. They boarded the bus before final period and were shipped over to a nearby town. Sarah had warmed up with the team and then prepared to just sit on the bench for the duration. What she had not expected was to be tossed into the game in the first quarter. Sarah was rotated in when another guard had rolled her ankle and the starting guard was still out for a dumb foal. Sarah found herself on the court with Abby and immediately started by screwing up and losing the ball. Fairly quickly, her competitive nature hit in and outweighed the nerves. Sarah had ended up making some good plays, which she thought contributed to their win. She hadn't noticed during the game, but at the end there was a large cheering section for the team. Likely the group had shown up shortly after play began, but Sarah was so nervous she couldn't concentrate on anything but the play. Ryan had been in the cheering section along with a number of her other friends, which had made Sarah more happy than she should have been. The bus ride back to school was a blast as they replayed the game in stories. No one was up by the time she got home, even though it was only 8:30 when Abby dropped her off. Sarah texted her sister about the win, but also didn't get a response from her. Too bad that put a damper on the excitement.

Friday classes went by in a blur. She had fallen behind over the past few weeks as her focus was all over the place. Trying to concentrate in class had been stressful with everything else weighing on her nerves. She felt like she was finally beginning to regain her composure some, but it was still a struggle. Friday night she was working. Leo gave her a ride over to the diner since Ryan had a basketball game and Abby was going out of town. Chris had been her ride earlier in the week and she was once again feeling like she was just using people. Leo took the chance to reiterate that Ryan was in a pretty bad state after the holiday "break up" like her, just he could hide it a bit better and had more support. Sarah didn't need to struggle alone with her feelings and he was there to talk. Leo thought Ryan was dumb and foolish for falling back on his flirting at parties, that Sarah was too good an influence for him, and that although Ryan didn't really deserve her Leo thought they were actual good for each other - that Ryan helped her become a stronger, more outgoing person. Sarah half listened, since she really didn't want to consider anything yet. She knew that Leo did have a point. Sarah had come out of her shell, tried new things, and felt more confident since she started even hanging out at school as acquaintances and lab partners with Ryan. That being said, she hoped if she didn't confront things it would just go away...even though she knew that wasn't how it worked, she just didn't have the energy to think things through in any real sense.

Work had been hectic. The diner was crazy busy with constant customers. Sarah liked that she had no time to think. It was how she kept her mind away from issues, how she kept from having to delve into and consider what others had told her. The strategy was totally wrong and she knew it, but that was how she had learned to cope with things at home (or not cope if you really thought about it...push things aside and hope they go away or work themselves out...not interact with people because then she had to deal with things). Sarah was exhausted, physically and mentally, as she walked home in the cold and dark that night. She had stayed over her shift since the place was packed, even helping to clean up. There was a nice stack of tips in the end, but she also just wanted to be helpful as well. She might not be best friends with anyone at the café, but they had become closer over the months she had worked there. She had opened up to them some over the weeks, but had closed herself off again after break. While they could sense it, the other waitresses and cook staff didn't push her to talk.