The Let Down
2798 Words
Sarah’s POV:
I was still very confused as to what had just happened.
How was Nate able to catch up with me before the car hit me? How was he gone all of a sudden? And what was it with his eyes?
Those and many other questions rushed through my mind. It was really confusing and I honestly couldn’t think straight.
‘Everything okay Sarah? ‘, Daniel asked, bringing me out of my daydream.
I shook my head. ‘Yeah, everything is fine’, I said back to him. It flashed across my mind to tell Daniel what had just happened but I decided it would be best not to, I didn’t want him thinking I was some kind of psycho or that was mentally deranged or anything of that sort.
He stared at me for a little why, I hoped he didn’t feel that I was lying. ‘Alright’, he finally said. ‘Come on, let’s go. The game’s about to start and I’m pretty sure the guys would be looking for me right now’.
‘ I didn’t think you would be free’, he said as he stretched his hand to me.
‘ Well, a client canceled so there was room for your game ‘, I said and then he laughed and I joined in.
I had to control myself from squealing and I really hoped my palms were not sweaty or anything like that.
I finally held his hand back. He began walking to the school building and I followed right behind me. He had a very firm grip and for some reason I just felt safe as he held me.
I couldn’t stop staring at his brawny biceps. He looked back, I turned my head quickly so he wouldn’t notice that I had been staring at his arm.
He chuckled. ‘Well, we’re here’, he said as we stood in front of what was probably the gym door. I could hear the sound of loud music and cheering from inside.
‘Alright’, I said back to him.
He opened the door and then we went in.
‘I have to go now’, he screamed as he pointed to the quarter where his teammates were.
‘Okay’, I screamed. It was hard to here even myself through all that noise. ‘Good luck’, I said to him just as he was about to go.
‘Thank you’, he said as he smiled at me. I smiled back and that time I was definitely sure we had a moment.
‘Bye’, he said then he turned back and jogged across the court to where his teammates were.
I watched him go all the way before I finally turned back and scouted for where to seat. I finally saw a free chair and then I sat down.
The match finally started. The opposing team were actually also good but we still won and Daniel was the one that scored the last point to seal the win. He was really good and I meant really. I wondered if he considers going pro someday. And just like that because of him, I liked basketball.
Everyone was beginning to leave. I went to the court to congratulate Daniel but it was jam-packed and I thought it would be best for me to go home but just before I turned to leave he saw me.
‘Hey, Sarah’, he called out. He struggled to get through the crowd. He finally got to me and all I could do was nervously smile at him.
‘Nice game’, I finally managed to say.
‘Thanks. I didn’t believe I could make that buzzer beater. I guess I needed the good luck’.
I smiled and nodded at him.
‘You don’t know what a buzzer beater is right?’, he asked then he snickered.
I nodded no then I began laughing. ‘I just got interested in basketball today so I’ll begin learning about it now’, I said to him.
He laughed a bit. ‘Alright, well why don’t I get changed real quick so that I can explain what a buzzer beater is as I walk you home’, he said.
‘That’d be nice’, I said as I tilted my head a bit and smiled at him.
‘Okay, give me a sec’.
He went to get changed and after a short while of me just standing there he finally came.
‘Sorry I’m late, let’s go’.
Daniel and I slowly walked down the middle of the road. There weren’t any cars around so we kept chatting as we held hands, I couldn’t believe that was happening.
‘Oh, so a buzzer beater is basically when someone scores the winning point die minute?’, I asked him. He had just finished explaining what it was to me.
‘Yeah something like that’, he said then chuckled.
The night was silent so our footsteps and voices echoed past every quiet house we passed. This town was actually really quiet and peaceful because the city couldn’t be half as silent at this time of the night.
We continued talking for a while and it turns out he actually planned on going pro in basketball. He said a few colleges had already began reaching out to him. I was honestly kind of shocked to find out he was that good in basketball. The thing was that before now I thought that the taller one was the better he would be in basketball but Daniel was the best in the basketball team despite being the shortest. Not that he was short, I’m sure he was at least 6 feet and he probably saw me as a Pokemon but that was just what I used to think.
My house was at sight and I really wished it wasn’t because I didn’t want the night to end. I wanted to spend the entire night with Daniel. I don’t know why but I just felt safe around him but it also felt like he was hiding something from me. Of course he just met me so he obviously couldn’t tell me everything about himself but it just felt like whatever he was hiding was something huge.
‘ Everything okay? ‘, he asked me.
I had gotten lost in my thoughts and didn’t even realize how bad I was staring at him.
I looked away quickly. ‘Oh, well this is me’, were the words that inadvertently came out of my mouth. We had stopped right in front of my house.
‘Oh okay’
I had turned my face already but now I could feel it that he was the one staring at me.
‘This was fun’, he finally said.
I looked up at him and I smile made its way to my face.
‘Yeah, it was’, I said back. I really didn’t want the night to end.
He walked towards me and gave me a peck on my forehead. My whole face turned red.
‘Goodnight Sarah’, he said.
‘Goodnight Daniel’, I said back to him smiling.
I began to walk towards the door and he watched me with a little smile on his face right until I got in. He was everything.
My mom was in the living room reading a book, I greeted her and immediately rushed upstairs to tell my best friend about all that had happened. I was kind of shocked she didn’t complain that I was fifteen minutes late, I was also sure that Sam would have called a thousand times already and I was right.
About sixteen missed calls, four failed video chats and like a thousand texts, Classic Sam. I burst into laughter and then I face timed her. I wasn’t sure if she was still awake but she dismissed that thought when she picked before it even rang twice.
‘ What took you so long? ‘, she screamed immediately
I burst into laughter. ‘ It’s good to see you too’, I screamed back at her.
‘ Come on. Tell me all about it. How was your date with him? Did you guys kiss? Oh, did you guys- ‘
‘ Sam! ‘, I screamed at her.
‘Okay, I’m sorry. I’m sorry’, she said as she snickered. ‘I’m just really excited. Okay, tell me everything that happened. Don’t skip a single detail’
I laughed a bit. ‘ Okay so on my way I met Nate again and then the weirdest thing happened…’, I began but Sam interrupted me.
‘ Wait. Who’s Nate? ‘
I forgot that she had no idea who Nate was. Well she did know the boy that embarrassed me in the hallway and in front of the entire school but she didn’t know his name.
‘Oh, Nate is the guy I met before Daniel ‘, I said.
‘ You mean the guy that embarrassed you in front of the whole school? ‘
‘Yup, that’s the one ‘
‘ What did that jerk want with you? ‘
‘ Nothing, we just kind of bumped into each other. Again ‘
‘ Is this jerk following you? If you need me to I can come over there right now and kick his butt ‘
I chuckled lightly. ‘ There’s no need for that ‘. Because in fact I should be thanking him cause he kind of saved my life. I guess Daniel’s basketball game distracted me from the whole thing a bit but if it weren’t for Nate I wouldn’t even know where I would be right now, but even though I was grateful to him, there was still a lot of unanswered questions: How did he get to me so fast? And why were his eyes red? Did he use contacts? I felt I should have noticed that before. But the question that kept bugging me the most was who pushed me? There was no one else there and normally I’d just assumed that I slipped or something but I was sure someone pushed me, even though nobody was there.
I don’t know why but I decided I wouldn’t tell Sam about it, maybe because I didn’t want her thinking I was crazy or maybe because I didn’t want her to believe me. I didn’t believe me yet.
‘ Earth to Sarah. Can you hear me’, Sam said, bringing me out of my daydream.
‘ Oh, I’m sorry ‘
‘ Do you really think this Nate guy is following you? ‘, she asked again.
‘ Oh, no ‘, I answered quickly. ‘ I met him around school and he actually did apologize for… you know, being a jerk.
‘ Oh, well he can shove his sorry up his ass ‘, she said and I burst into laughter. ‘ So what happened next? ‘
‘ Well… ‘, I said then paused. I thought about telling her the whole thing with the push and Nate but I decided it would be best not to, especially since I wasn’t completely sure yet. ‘ He ran into each other and then he apologized and now he calls me Pooh ‘
‘ Pooh? ‘
‘ My hoodie ‘, I said then tried to hold my not so real anger in.
‘ Oh ‘, she said then laughed.
‘ Anyways Daniel came and then…. ‘
She interrupted me before I could finish. ‘Oh my God. Did Daniel see you guys together? ‘
‘ No ‘, I said. ‘ I don’t think so ‘
‘ You don’t think so? ‘, she asked me
‘ I mean, he didn’t ‘.
‘ Okayyyy ‘
I began to wonder if there was any way Daniel saw Nate but it didn’t seem like he saw anyone and I felt he would have mentioned it if he did but it all began to feel so weird again how quickly Nate had left. Maybe it was all just in my head.
‘ Anyways Daniel took me to the gym and then he left to play ‘
‘ How was he? ‘
‘Oh my God, he was great. Like really really good. I don’t know the rules and all but he was good. I think the best in the squad. And he scored the winning goal. I think he called it a buzzer beater or something like that ‘
‘ So basically you’re dating Curry ‘
‘ What? ‘, I asked her, not hiding my confusion at all.
‘ Curry. Steph Curry. The basketball player ‘
‘ Oh, Steph Curry! ‘
‘ You have no idea who he is right? ‘
‘ Nope ‘
‘ Well he’s a basketball player and he’s really good ‘
‘ Oh, you know basketball stuffs ‘, I said as if I had just gotten an epiphany. It wasn’t a shock to me though, given that Sam had four brothers. She was basically a boy.
‘ Yeah, so? ‘
‘ Well, you can teach me basketball things, so that when I see Daniel there would be more things to talk about ‘
‘ Hm, yeah. You’re still coming over this weekend right? ‘
‘ Are you kidding me? Definitely, it’s all I’ve been thinking about… ‘
‘ And Daniel ‘, she interrupted.
I chuckled. ‘Yeah, and Daniel ‘, I said then a smile made its way to my face.
‘ Okay, what happened after the game? ‘, Sarah asked and I couldn’t remember how we drifted from that conversation in the first place.
‘ Oh, yeah. Well, he came to meet me after the game and then I congratulated him and all that then he got changed and walked me home ‘, I said then paused to remember that moment. ‘ He walked me home, I wish I could have that moment for life. I know nothing huge happened but it was just the both of us and it felt like I really connected with him in that short time even though I didn’t tell him much about myself but he really opened up to me and I don’t know why but I just felt safe around him ‘
‘ Wow ‘, Sam said and I came back to my senses.
It was as if I had gotten lost and even forgotten I was on a video call.
‘ You really like this guy ‘, she said.
I smiled gently. ‘Yeah, I do ‘.
Sam told me about how things were in school and said she still had a lot to tell me and I couldn’t wait for the weekend to come to hear all she had to say and so I could see her.
I was so upset. I really wanted to see Daniel again especially after that night but school was canceled for the rest of the week because there was some insect breakout of some sort and the whole school had to get fumigated.
It was a really long week given it was only my mom and I all through the week. I had no idea where all the kids hung out and I didn’t even think I would want to hang out with people if I did. I was really pained I didn’t get to see Daniel though but it was Friday and I would get to see Sam so I felt a little better. Also, I would get to see Daniel when I came back, I hope.
I had packed a little box and I was sitting in front of the curb with the box right beside me. I knew I could just wait inside but I had been in that house for way too long that I could die if I didn’t get out. Also I knew my mom wouldn’t want my dad to come in so I just decided this would be best to avoid any ‘problems’.
My dad was to pick me 4pm, but it was already fifteen minutes after four and I couldn’t stop wandering about what was making him late. It was around that time that I received a text from him.
‘ Hey pumpkin, I don’t think I would be able to make it, maybe the next weekend ‘
A drop of tear fell on my phone. I hadn’t even noticed when I began crying, maybe it was because I just got stood up by my dad or maybe it was because I wouldn’t get to see Sam anymore even after planning the whole weekend with her but I couldn’t just help it.
My head was to the ground so it wasn’t hard to notice when someone with a black sneaker was now standing in front of me.
‘ Hey Pooh ’
- Writer
