Derek's Dilemma
620 Words
The evening air at Ridgeview carried the faint smell of cut grass from the football field. The team had wrapped up practice hours ago, but Derek Ortiz was still there — sitting alone on the bleachers, his backpack tossed beside him, his elbows resting on his knees.
The sun had dipped low, staining the sky orange and pink. He watched the goalposts in silence, replaying Tiffany’s words in his head.
“Why are you even friends with him?”
That line had been echoing all day.
Jude wasn’t just some random classmate — he’d been around since first grade. Back when neither of them cared about football, popularity, or who was “in.” Back when it was just two scrawny boys chasing a ball on an empty field until their shoes tore.
And if anyone asked, Derek was the star now — Ridgeview’s golden boy, captain material, girls cheering his name from the stands.
But what people didn’t know was that Jude had taught him almost everything.
It was Jude who’d shown him how to balance his weight before a strike, how to read the pitch, how to keep his cool when defenders closed in.
Jude who stayed after school to run drills with him when the others went home.
Jude who never asked for credit — who never wanted it.
Derek exhaled slowly, dragging his hand through his hair.
So why did he feel like he was betraying the one person who actually believed in him?
...
His phone buzzed.
Tiffany Rogers.
He hesitated, staring at her name before opening the message.
Tiffany: Hey, you. Busy Friday night? 😏
Derek: Maybe. Why?
Tiffany: Because I’m throwing a little party. My place. Everyone who’s anyone will be there.
Tiffany: You’re coming, right?
He read it twice, biting his lip.
A party. Tiffany’s party.
It wasn’t just a party — it was the party. The first big one of senior year.
Most the football team would show up. Cheerleaders. Seniors. Even some of the juniors desperate to make an impression.
If you weren’t there, you didn’t exist.
Derek typed slowly.
Derek: Yeah, I’ll come.
Three dots flashed on the screen, then her reply:
Tiffany: Good. Don’t bring your bookworm friend though 😉
He stared at the message for a long time before locking his phone.
...
On the field, the floodlights flickered off one by one until only the dim glow from the gym remained. Derek leaned back, looking up at the darkening sky.
He knew Jude would hate everything about Tiffany’s world — the noise, the fake smiles, the shallow compliments.
But part of Derek wanted that world. He wanted the thrill, the recognition, the cruise of senior year — everything Jude didn’t care about.
Still, when he imagined walking into that party without his best friend beside him, something felt off.
Hollow.
He picked up his backpack and started walking home, kicking at a loose pebble on the sidewalk.
Jude doesn’t fit in there, he told himself. He wouldn’t want to come anyway.
But deep down, Derek wasn’t sure if he was trying to convince himself — or excuse himself.
...
That night, he lay in bed scrolling through his phone, half-watching old highlight clips from last season.
There was one where he scored a winning goal — the crowd roaring, his teammates lifting him up. But in the background, if you looked closely enough, Jude was there too, smiling quietly, the first one to run to him.
Derek paused the video.
He didn’t know it yet, but Friday night’s party would be the night that everything changed — the night he’d have to choose between the friend who built him…
and the girl who could destroy him.
- Writer
