The Player
Chapter 10

Brielle
2:12 PM
"Should we watch Clueless or Mean Girls tonight? Because Clueless is so iconic but mean girls is hilarious."
Sam stood by my locker as I got out my things, trying to get me to decide on a movie. I knew that I should be paying attention to what she was
saying, but my mind was elsewhere. I was still thinking about what Christopher had told me yesterday. Today was the anniversary of his parent's
death, and I couldn't imagine what he was going through.
My eyes scanned down the hallway, hoping to catch a glance of him. He wasn't at school today, but something inside me hoped that I would see him
and know he was alright.
I let out a yawn, rubbing my eyes in the process. If someone had told me two weeks ago that I would care about Christopher's feelings, I would have
laughed in their face. But even though we weren't friends, I just couldn't help it.
"Hello?" Sam said, snapping her fingers in front of my face. "Earth to Brielle."
My attention refocused on her as I shut my locker. "Any movie is fine with me."
She rolled her eyes, annoyed. "I just listed the pros and cons of both movies for five minutes just for you to say that you don't care?"
I shrugged my shoulders, making my way to the parking lot with her.
"I'm sorry," I apologized. "I was thinking about something else."
"You've been sidetracked the entire day," she squinted her eyes, inspecting me. "Is everything OK with you?"
"Yes," I said, brushing her off. "Everything's fin- "
I cut myself off, my eyes growing wide. "Crap, sorry Sam but I have to clean the bleachers today!"
Since Christopher wasn't here today, I would have to do double the amount of work. If I didn't get started soon, I would be there forever. I turned away
from her car, doing a slow jog towards the stadium.
"I knew you were side tracked!" she called after me, shaking her head in amusement. I turned around and blew her a kiss before booking it to the
field.

When I did arrive, I was surprised to see Christopher there, already scraping at the benches. He kept his head down as he worked, his back muscles
rippling in the process. I silently grabbed my scraper from the bucket beside him as I got to work. Every now and then, I would sneak a peek at his
face, trying to catch a glimpse of an emotion. But his face was stone cold, his feelings masked from the outside world.
We went on like this for an hour. Me, secretly looking, and him, completely oblivious. When he put his spatula in the bucket and got up, I followed suit,
wanting to talk to him. After we had put the tools away, I headed with him to the parking lot, despite my plans to walk home. Once we were halfway
there, I finally mustered up the courage to say something.
"I noticed that you weren't here today." As soon as I spoke I mentally face palmed myself, realizing that I sounded like a stalker. "Not that I was
looking for you or anything. I was just curious on where you were. But you're here which is good. Unless it's not good, which is good too I guess."
I took a deep breath in, trying to stop my rambling. "What I meant to say is why are you here if you weren't at school?" My face was red,
embarrassment flowing through my body.
He smiled at me, amused at how flustered I was. Even though it was at my expense, I was happy that I could cheer him up.
"I got a call from my coach saying that if I didn't come he would be forced to bench me."
I nodded my head, stuffing my hands into my jean pockets.
"So," I dragged on, not sure how to approach the topic of today's significance. "What are you planning to do today?"
He shrugged his shoulders, his eyes now concentrated on the ground in front of him.
"Come on," I urged. I knew that I was overstepping my boundaries, but I really wanted to help. "You have to be doing something."
"I'll probably just sleep," he mumbled softly.
After hearing the pain and hurt in his voice, I knew that I couldn't let him get in his car and drive home. Even if I was being annoying, I knew that I had
to try to help him get through the day. Although we weren't friends, for some strange reason that I have a hard time admitting, I care about him.
I care about him.
"Nope," I said, suddenly chipper. "I'm not letting you spend tonight alone." We had finally reached his car, and I jumped into his passenger seat before
he could protest.
"Seriously Brielle, I'm fine," he groaned, hopping into the driver's side. I crossed my arms, leaning back in my seat.
"You have no choice. If you want me to get out of your car you're going to have to drag me out."

His eyes scanned me up and down, seeming to mill the idea over in his head. Before he could reach a conclusion that resulted in me sitting on the
asphalt, I quickly butted in.
"It's going to be fine, I promise," I pleaded with him, wanting so bad for him to say yes. "Trust me."
After a moment of hesitation, he let out a deep sigh before putting the key in the ignition. A victory smile spread on my face as we pulled out of the
parking lot.
"You won't regret it," I grinned, fiddling with the knobs on the radio.
"I already do," he mumbled.
****
After half an hour of driving via my subpar directional skills, we were parked in front of a carnival. The rollercoasters and booths all had their lights on,
but no one was there. It would have been a good setting for a horror movie with how deserted it was.
We got out of the car before walking up to the tall gate in front of us. A heavy iron padlock sealed it shut. Christopher turned towards me, a look of
confusion on his face.
"You brought me here so that we could sneak in? Because if so, I'm in."
"Yes," I responded dryly. "I made us drive thirty minutes so that we could get arrested for breaking-and-entering."
"Wow goodie-two-shoes, I didn't think you had it in you."
I let out an exaggerated huff, blowing a strand of hair away from my face in the process. "I'm just going to act like I don't hear that."
Just then, a man in a black uniform came walking towards us from inside the carnival.
"Brielle!" he shouted, now approaching the gate.
"Hey Uncle Tim!" I called out, now face to face with him through the iron gate. "How's Anna doing?"
"She just lost her first tooth and is now demanding large sums of money from the tooth fairy." He shook his head in disappointment. "They start off
young I tell ya."
I turned towards Christopher, realizing how confused he must be in the situation. "This is my Uncle Tim. He guards the carnival when it's closed
during the week so he always lets me come in while he's working and ride the rides."

My uncle reached into his pocket, pulling out a key and unlocking the fence. As he held it open for us, he locked eyes with Christopher, sending him a
warning glare. "Don't go starting no trouble."
Christopher took an audible gulp before nodding his head profusely. "Yes sir." He barked as we walked away. Once there was a good distance
between him and my uncle, I turned towards Christopher, unable to hold back my laughs.
"Yes sir?" I said in between my giggles.
"Hey," he said defensively. "I saw a taser in his belt."
"That was his phone."
"You can never be too sure."
I rolled my eyes. "Yea, yea."
My eyes lit up as I quickly grabbed his hand, spotting my favorite carnival booth. "Come on!" I yelled, nearly dragging him behind me. "Let's go!"
*****
We had been at the carnival for nearly three hours, and although Christopher would never admit it, I knew that he had fun. After I dragged, and
schooled him, at ring toss, he insisted that we went to the basketball shooting booth. Besides being a star football player, he was apparently an
excellent basketball player as well. He took a little too much joy in outscoring me two-to-sixteen. Throughout the entire time, he seemed to be having
a genuinely good time. For the first time today, the smile on his face seemed to finally reach his eyes.
After hitting all the booths and rides, we decided to end the night on the Ferris wheel. The sky was black as we were lifted higher into the air, the wind
slightly whipping my hair. We sat quietly, as Christopher stared up at the stars.
"I'm really sorry about what I did to you yesterday," he whispered, locking eyes with me. I tried to tell him that it was OK, but he wouldn't hear it.
"It wasn't OK. I promise to tell everyone that it wasn't true." He diverted his eyes away from mine, ridden with guilt.
"You don't have to."
"But I want to." He replied.
We sat in a silence, comfortable without saying anything. Crickets chirped in the distance as we approached the exit platform. I was about to get off
until he sent an unreadable look my way. Even though I had no clue what it meant, my gut was telling me to stay on the ride. As we set off a second
time, he began to talk.

"My parents used to take us to the carnival every year." He said, his eyes still focused on the sky.
"Bianca and Nicole would always drag us on the tea cups. Even though I protested every time, I secretly wanted to ride them too. All five of us would
be packed in the tiny cart, just laughing our heads off." He averted his attention to his hands.
"My mom's favorite ride was the Ferris wheel. It was always the last thing that we rode." He chuckled to himself, seeming to remember something.
"She would always let me sit in her car because she felt bad that my sisters were always occupying her time. She called it the sister curse."
"What was she like?" I asked softly.
"She was selfless and kind," a hint of a smile formed on his face. "And somehow really good at pool. I could never beat her." I laughed softly as he
joined in.
"She was my biggest fan." His eyes seemed to gloss over as he fidgeted with his fingers.
"What about your dad?"
"He wasn't a man of many words," he let out a quiet laugh. "But once you got him started on football he couldn't stop. Every Sunday we would sit on
the couch, just me and him, watching games."
"Football united my entire family. Despite my mom's lack of interest in sports, she was there right beside my dad, cheering me on at all of my games.
After every game, win or lose, my dad would drive us to this cliff with the best view of downtown L.A. My mom would always pack her famous oatmeal
cookies with her. I kick myself every time I wake up for never paying attention on how to get there."
The car rocked softly in the air, calming me. We locked eyes again before I asked my final question.
"Do you miss them?"
He spoke without hesitation, his voice cracking in the process.
"Every day."
****
"Where are you taking me?" he asked for the fifth time, my hands covering his eyes. After our talk on the Ferris wheel, I knew the perfect place to
bring him.
"Calm down, we're almost there."

The Player
Chapter 9
You Saved Me Once Book 1
Chapter 50: 34I apologize for that
worlds apart
Chapter 76: Episode 75
I put him into position before finally removing my hands from his eyes. Thick trees surrounded us except for one side. He opened his eyes, the
distinct L.A. skyline in front of him. All the lights reflected off his eyes, casting a whimsical glow upon him.
"I know that it's not the place that your family would take you after your games, but I come to this cliff a lot to think and it has a pretty great view." I
chewed my lip nervously, hoping that he would like it. He stayed silent for a long while consumed in his own thoughts, before finally speaking.
"It's perfect."
I wrapped my arm around his waist as he draped his arm over my shoulder, pulling me closer to him. Our eyes were glued to the scene in front of us;
the view too beautiful to look away even for a second. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but something between us had shifted.
Something changed.

The
Player
You
Saved
Me
Once
Book 1
worlds
apart

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