wonderwall ♔ k. bryant

twenty-one

Kris

I've avoided Mallory all week. I don't even want to, but I just don't see myself talking to her other than telling her how I really feel. 

Which brings me to my next point.

I hate feelings. I seriously fucking hate them. My life was so much easier when I just had Sarah and we had no emotional attachment to each other, but no, Mallory had to come in and throw my whole life off balance. And now I can't even do anything without Mallory being on my mind.

"Bryant," Joe called to me after the game, "You okay? You've been kind of weird lately." I went 0-4 today, but I haven't been struggling. 

"Yeah, I'm okay. Just a bit stressed with some stuff, but I'll manage," I lie and he just raises an eyebrow.

"Whatever it is, try not to let it affect you out there. But I'm sure you'll be fine," he says before walking off and I sigh. 

Yeah. I'm sure I'll be fine, too.

I get all of my stuff ready and as I'm getting ready to leave, Kyle comes over to me and acts like he has to talk to me about something.

"Are you free tonight?"

"Yes, why?"

"We were going out for drinks later tonight. You should come.You've been acting kind of weird lately, so I thought we thought it would be good for you," he says.

"I have not been acting weird," I protest, "But I guess? Who's coming?"

"Anthony, the other Kyle, Javy, Jason, and a few other people."

Part of me is glad that he didn't mention Mallory. I want to be around her, but at the same time, it's hard for me to be in her presence.

"Alright, fine. I'll go. I'll see you guys tonight," I tell him before walking back over to my locker and make sure I have everything. Once I double check, I turn to go towards the door and see Mallory writing something down on a clipboard. She looks up for a brief second, sees me, and smiles. I can't help but smile back.

Yeah, I'm falling pretty hard.

***

Mallory

"Mallory, I haven't seen you since your date, which brings me to my next topic..." Lauren says as she gets into my car, "You just... Stormed out. He said you just straight got up and left."

I groan as I start my car. "It's complicated, Lauren. You... I don't know. It's hard to explain what happened."

"Can I ask you something? And be completely honest with me, please," she looks over at me. Honesty has never been an issue with Lauren and I, if we've lied to each other, the truth comes out either the next hour or the next day. 

"Go ahead."

"Did you storm out because you thought that should be someone else?"

I nearly slam on the brakes when she says it. I don't want to say that, but I know that the thought crossed my mind at least once that night. My issue is just that I don't know if it was a random pop up or something I genuinely meant.

"I don't know. Honestly. Something just didn't feel right, and I freaked out and left. That's the easiest way to describe it, I guess."

"If I knew there was someone else then-"

"Lauren," I cut her off, "There is no one else. It's hard to explain what happened, and I'm better off not talking about it, really."

She sighs. "I talked to Blaine. He wanted to make sure everything was okay, and I told him I had no idea what he was talking about, and he told me what you did. I just wanted to know, Mallory, it just seemed like something that you wouldn't normally do."