Chapter 8; the Game

Leigh's POV

"Thanks again Al. You really helped me a lot. Tell me what I can do in return. Do I have to buy you a better stick? New sunglasses maybe?" I said to the guy who was my tutor for the past couple weeks.

"No, I'm okay. When my mom says I need new sunglasses, I'll call you." He said, smiling to me and getting up grabbing his stick.

"You have to! Thank you so much." I went over him and kissed him on the cheek. I saw how he blushed.

"You're welcome." And he turned to walk out of the library.

I grabbed my books, put them in my locker and went outside to my bike, ready to go home.

"Hey Leigh, wait up!" I heard someone yelling.

I turned around and saw that John was running towards me. I felt the butterflies in my stomach fluttering.

"What's up John?" I asked once he was standing in front of me.

"As you might know, there is a big football game tonight. And I was wondering, if you could come and watch?" He said and I saw him blushing.

"Oh, well, I don't know." I said.

"Is it because you're dating that blind kid?"

"What? We're not dating. He was tutoring me. He helped me a lot."

"Well, why can't you come then?"

"Alright, I'll come. But my family is also coming. I bet my moms want to see you kick ass." I smiled at him.

"Great! I'll see you tonight then. The game starts at 6." He kissed me on the cheek and walked away.

I don't think I ever blushed like that. Lately, he is so sweet to me. But I can't really trust him. What if he just uses me? To have sex again I mean? That night meant something to me. He is the only guy I have ever slept with and I want him to be the only guy. I know it's cliché, but I really feel that way. I remember when my moms were going to explain sex when Milo and I were 15.

"Kids, we want to talk about something." Ma said, a little uncomfortable.

"I thought it was mine!" I said, automatic reaction I guess.

"What?" Ma said.

"Oh, I thought that I was in trouble because… Never mind. You wanted to talk about something?" Milo and I were sitting on the couch.

"Yes, we did. Since you guys are already 15 years old, we wanted to talk about something that is going to be a part of your life. Sex." Mom said.

I swear Milo's eyes popped out of their sockets and I had to blush. I'm not quite sure why.

"You need to know that you're at an age where these things are going to matter. And I know this is embarrassing but I'm sure there are kids around you who already had sex. We wanted that you guys know when you do it, that you need to make sure it's safe. I mean, I was 15 when I started to have sex." Mom said.

"Mom! That is something a child never has to know!" I said.

"We know what we have to do. Always have a condom." Milo said.

"Yes, that's when there is a boy and a girl. Let's talk about boy on boy and girl on girl, in case you guys are experimenting.."

I remember being so embarrassed. They actually explained a lot, almost every kind. Because they didn't had that doesn't we won't have that as mom said. As I was setting my bike in the garage, I saw that ma returned from her work and got out of her car.

"Hey, I just did some groceries. We're having mac and cheese. Your mother's and Milo's favorite." She said, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.

"Actually, don't bother. John asked me if we wanted to come to his big game tonight and I really want to go." I was blushing again.

"John, huh? Well, we come for the little guy. When does the game starts?"

"At 6 pm."

Later, I changed into clothes that were the school's color. When I walked out of my room, I saw that Milo was on his bed reading a book.

"You're not coming?"

"Naw, football was never my thing you know."

"Yeah, I know. Need to bring you some nachos?"

"No I'm good. Have fun." He turned to his book again.

We arrived at the Lakewood High School football field. I was walking to the stands when I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and saw John smiling at me in his football uniform.

"You guys go ahead and find a seat, I'll be there soon." I said to my moms who, I know, are sending knowing looks to each other but were going to find seats.

"I'm glad you came. I'll make sure I play even better." John smiled at me.

"But you are already a good player. I don't think it's very fair to the other team if you play even better."

"You're cute. Look, I have to go, but I see to you after the game? I heard there is going to be an after party if we win or lose."

"Sure. See you later."

John smiled at me and kissed me on the cheek again. I blushed again. That is some kind of a record. No one blushed that much. I saw my moms sitting in the stands next to Quinn and Sam. I went over and sat down. The Lakewood Lions eventually won the game by 62-48. I was so proud of John. The only sad thing was that I couldn't say that he was my boyfriend. I turned to my moms when I saw John waving at me after he showered.

"Is it okay if I went to a party?" I asked, almost begging.

My moms just laughed and nodded their heads. I hugged them both and run over to John who hold out his hand for me to take. I took his hand and he kissed it. And I blushed. AGAIN. God, this boy. He helped me into his car and drove to the house where the party was. I looked at him.

"Your hair is getting darker. It's turning into black."

"Yeah, I noticed."

"Are you going to dye it?"

"Nah, I might as well just let it get dark." He turned for a second to smile at me.

We arrived at the house of some guy named Jackson. The same house where I lost my virginity. Suddenly, John was opening the car door for me and grabbed my hand to help me out. He kept holding my hand as we went into the house. There was loud music. Everybody was dancing and drunk. John gave me a drink and I drunk it in 1 second. I grabbed his hand and we started dancing. I think we danced for almost 2 hours when I said to him I'm going to get more drinks. I walked to the kitchen and poured some drinks for us. It was then that I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see the anger face of Abigail Knoxville.

"What do you want Knoxville?" I said annoyed. I really didn't like this girl.

"You embarrassed me in front of the whole school!" She said in my face. Her breath smelled like alcohol and she was holding a bottle of beer.

"Knoxville, that was like 3 months ago. Get over it."

"I don't want to get over it. I want payback."

"Payback?"

Before I could ask further, she smashed the bottle against my neck. I felt how the glass cut the skin in my neck. I yelled out the pain and pressed my hand against the cut, maybe cuts. Before I could react, I felt Abigail pushing me on the ground and jumping on me. A fist connected my jaw a few times until I heard someone yell my name. Abigail was pulled off me and I got lifted from the ground. The person who lifted me, carried me to the yard and laid me on the grass.

"Leigh, what the hell happened?" It was John.

I felt really dizzy. My jaw and neck hurt really bad. I pressed my hand against the cut again.

"I don't know. She started attacking me. How is my neck?" I showed him my neck.

"Damn, that is a really bad cut. Maybe we should go to the hospital to let that cut checked out. Come on." He lifted me again and threw my arm around his shoulder.

We walked to his car and he helped me in. We rode to the hospital to the ER and waited my turn. After an hour, a doctor called my name and I had to sit on a bed.

"Okay miss Lopez-Pierce, let me look at your neck." He lifted me head so he could look at my cut.

"That is a deep cut. A nurse is going to clean it and I'm going to close it again. So you need stitches. I think it's time to call your parents."

And with that he was gone again.

"Can you call my moms?" I asked John, handing him my phone.

"Of course." He called my ma's number, what was the emergency number. Mean while, a nurse came in to clean my cut. It hurt like hell.

"Hello? No this is John… I'm calling you with Leigh's phone because she is in the hospital now… No, nothing really serious… She needs stitches… If you can come, we can explain further… Yes, okay see you later."

John handed me my phone again, since the nurse was done with cleaning my cut.

"Your mother is coming right now, so don't worry. She will be here in 5 minutes."

And John was right. She was here in 5 minutes.

"Sweetheart! What happened?" Ma said, grabbing my hand since she can't hug me.

"You remember Abigail Knoxville? The girl I got in a fight with? Well, she wanted payback and smashed a bottle against my neck and hit me a couple of times in the jaw." I showed her the bruise that was forming on my jaw.

The doctor came in again.

"Hello Dr. Lopez-Pierce. Miss Lopez-Pierce, I'm going to stitch up your neck now. The anesthesia is going to hurt but try not the move."

After 20 minutes and 6 stitches, I could go home. John rode with us because he has been drinking (a little bit) and ma didn't allowed him to drive home.

"Ma, is it okay if John stays over?" I asked.

"Uhm… sure. But John, you have to text your mom that you are staying with us."

"Yes, ma'am."

Ma helped me up my room and I sat on my bed.

"Don't let anything happen, missy. He can sleep in your bed but that's it. And you know, I hear everything." She kissed me on my cheek and walked out of my room. 20 seconds later, John came in my room.

He closed the door and smiled at me. I smiled back at him. He walked towards me and pushed me against the bed. He went to lay on top of me and kissed the bruise on my jaw. Then he kissed my cheek and eventually my lips. He was so gentle. He was being sweet and I liked it. As we kissed more, his hands were under my t-shirt and my hands were on the small of his back.

"We have to stop." I whispered to him.

"Why?" He whispered back.

"Because my mom said nothing can happen. She will know. And I know she will know. "

John rolled off of me and laid beside me. He kissed me one more time before standing up.

"Do you have anything I can wear? Like a pj maybe?" John asked.

"Yeah, in my closet I have a incredible hulk boxer. Maybe it fit you?"

"You have a incredible hulk boxer?"

"I like sleeping in boxers. And the incredible hulk is my favorite superhero. That reminds me, can you grab my incredible hulk hoodie? It's the green one. The only green thing I have."

Soon John was wearing the incredible hulk boxer and I was wearing the incredible hulk hoodie as I was taking out my contacts.

"Goodnight John."

"Goodnight Leigh."

He kissed me on the cheek and put his arms around my waist. I was asleep within 5 minutes.

xxx

Next morning, I was woken up due to something wet on my cheek. I realized John was still here and kissed my cheek.

"You do know I see almost nothing right? It's that I wasn't too drunk to remember you are still here. By the way, have you seen my glasses? I forgot where I put them."

I felt John moving on the bed and a pair of glasses were pushed in my hand. I smiled and put the glasses on. I saw a clear view of John now and he was smiling.

"Good morning beautiful. How did you sleep?" He asked, kissing me gently on the lips.

"Besides the fact that my jaw hurts like hell and can fall off any moment, I slept great. I suppose we have to get out of bed right now and have breakfast." I said, standing up from the bed.

John also stood up. As he was shirtless, I looked at his chest and abs. Can you blame me? He has killer abs!

"Nice to know you like how I look." He said, laughing.

"I think you look very nice. So handsome."

He walked over to me and put his arms around my waist and pushed me against him.

"I really like you. I know I made a mistake by rejecting you. And I want nothing more than to be with you."

My heart melted. I put my arms around his neck and put our foreheads against each other.

"I really like you too. And I also want to be with you."

John kissed me softly on the lips.

"I can't."

I was confused. But he just said…

"But you said you want to be with me."

"I know, but I can't. We can't."

I pulled myself out of his embrace. I looked at him with a frown.

"Why can't we?"

"High school is over in 1 month. After that we go our separate ways. You go to college and I'm going to the Navy."

My eyes widen.

"The Navy?! You're going to the NAVY?! Are you insane? You can't do that! You can die!"

"Leigh, listen. I have no idea where to go to college. I already signed up and they accepted me. I'll start training in August. While I'm in the Navy, I can think about what I want to do for almost 4 years."

"I think fate hates me. I can finally have you and then you go do something like that. It's not fair!"

John tried to hug me again but I pushed him away.

"Leigh, I'm sorry. But I really want to do this. They also want me. I can't back out now! What am I supposed to do?"

"Maybe not go?! You're so smart. You can do anything you want. You know there is something going on between Mexico and the US. Maybe a war on sea start. I can't have you go there!"

"It's not your decision to make."

"Don't you think I know that? Look, we can find you a good college with a football team. Maybe you can get a scholarship."

"No, I can't Leigh. Stop trying to change my mind. I'm going, and that's that."

I looked at him with tears in my eyes.

"Then I don't see the point of us."

John looked at me with wide eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"It's May John. We can't have three months with each other before you go. You'll be gone for four years and I'll be at my college in Cleveland. And if we do get together, we will only hurt each other in the end."

I walked over to my bedroom door and opened it.

"I think it's better if you leave now."

John walked over to me and took my face in his hands.

"I won't give up on us. You may to this now, but I won't let you walk out of my life."

He kissed me softly before putting on his clothes and walking out. I heard him say his goodbyes with my mothers and I laid back on the bed with my face buried in my pillow. I let my tears fall and didn't leave me room for the rest of the day.