Monstrous

17

"Autumn Tyler, wow.." He was tall, from underneath his clothing he looked built. The beard on his face had faint traces of grey along with his slicked back hair, his face was littered with wrinkles but it didn't take away from his appearance, he was a fine looking man, and if I didn't know who he was I would've given him a compliment but unfortunately I did, and all I could look at his was fists, and all I could see was seeing Nile's battered faces from the very first time I met him to now. All I felt was a burning rage and the pain he caused Nile.

"I'm Markus Cale, Nile's father.." He wore all black clothes and smelled of cheap cologne and alcohol. He reached his hand out to me, and offered a small smile. I wouldn't take the same hands that were used to abuse the guy I cared deeply for. I wouldn't cause a scene, today was Nile's day, and if his father found out that Nile told me about the abuse and what he did to his sister, God knows what he'll do next. So I would play nice. But this fucker could shove his hand up his own ass.

"Oh, hi. I guess you already know my name.." I responded, I was trying to keep this conversation as short as possible. I was disgusted to be in this man's presence. My arms crossed over my chest, I brought my eyes to look past him to give Markus a subtle hint that I didn't want to talk to him and he had just approached a underage girl in a secluded area.

Luckily he wasn't a complete fool, he took a step back letting out a small laugh. He held his hands up to show me he was no threat, at least to me.

"I didn't want to make you uncomfortable, I just wanted to make sure my son hasn't been causing you any trouble. Your parents have expressed to me their concerns, ever since he was a kid Nile has always had behavioral problems, sometimes he could just be a bother, I'm sorry about that-" He laughed but I stood there completely unamused. I sighed softly and forced a smile onto my lips.

"Nile and I are friends now, besides...do you have any idea how special your son is?" I took a step closer to him wanting to gauge his eyes out, I wanted to know why he would be so vicious and cruel to his son, I wanted him to feel the pain he caused Nile. Before I could let my emotions get the best of me I laughed dryly.

"You must be so proud, I mean...Nile is smart, popular, and is an absolute beast on the football field. Even though he has his flaws, Nile is...this amazing human being. I could only imagine how much you love him" I bit down on the inside of my mouth knowing that he couldn't give two shits about Nile, he only cared about keeping up appearances. Both he and I knew the truth, his face changed, I could see the guilt eating at his feet as he shifted uncomfortably. He tried his best to hide it by nodding his head at me with a ridiculous smile on his face.

"Yes of course. Um, I'm going to buy some school apparel, to show a bit of support for my son. It was finally nice meeting you Autumn-" Now he was the one desperate to make an escape. I took a step away from me and waved at me. I watched him trot off with his tail in between his legs.

The game had commenced, and I found my mom having the time of her life catching up with her old high school friends. I didn't see any of my friends just yet, I wasn't really looking. I was so caught up with the fact that I met Nile's dad and what Nile said. I couldn't even pay attention to the game, there was so much running through my mind before I even knew it the first half of the game was over and the football team had retreated to the locker room, our team was down by six points. The marching band began to play and the cheerleaders began to perform their halftime performance. I looked around scanning the bleachers to see if Nile's dad was in sight. He was talking to a group of other dad's who all wore specific numbers on blue shirts, it must be the numbers corresponding to their sons' jersey numbers. Over his jacket, Nile's dad wore Nile's number, filled with pride. I had been glaring for too long, the halftime show was over and the football team hustled back onto the sidelines. I searched for Nile's number and easily I was able to point him out. He was carrying his helmet and his hair was pulled back into a small petite bun. He never looked so serious, he must've been agitated that the team was down by six points.

"THAT'S MY SON!!" Suddenly Markus's voice boomed over the audience, it drew all attention towards him, when I looked back at him he was standing on the bleacher pointing out at Nile. If I hadn't known the truth, I would've heavily admired the way he showed his enthusiasm for his son. Unfortunately those around me were fooled by the facade he put on and were touched, Markus has a wide smile on his face adoring Nile from afar.

"Look at that, satan supporting his demon offspring" My mother mumbled underneath her breath, I snapped my neck at her. I forgot that she was still living in the world where Nile Cale is my tormentor and caused me to cry. So much has happened since then, and I wish I could tell her but I knew she would go insane, she'd probably think I was delusional for falling for a guy like Nile. So I kept my mouth shut, she nudged my arm with a smirk on her lips and I painfully smiled at her crude joke.

Nile wasn't in the first two halves of the game which made me wonder why, but as the third and fourth quarter came by, the coach finally put him in. It was my first time watching Nile play, and even though I was mad at him, I couldn't help but be completely mesmerized by how he dominated the field. He was fast, strategic, majestic even. The crowd went wild every time he successfully caught a pass, or out ran the opposing team to score. Nile was an amazing athlete.

It was the final minute of the game, everyone was on edge, even my mother. The score was tied, and our team seemed beat down in every way. I heard the group of dads' running plays through their head, the moms' were going on about the after party, with all the chaos and nervousness around me, I focused on one thing. I was ashamed to admit, but all I could keep my eyes on were Julien and Nile, and how they interacted with each other. She would bring him water whenever he was on the sidelines, whenever she chanted out a cheer for him, he would wave at her with a smile. I was going insane. My mom had even commented on how cute of a couple they would be. I was fidgeting nervously in my seat, with my leg shaking, and my hands gripping the metal bleacher underneath me. The teams got into their formation, and impatiently waited for the whistle to blow.

"Come on Nile!!!" I heard Markus screaming behind me. The whole audience began to roar his name except my mother and I. The cheerleaders went wild, and the marching band began to play their concluding song. The ball was passed around, numerous players had been tackled to the ground, suddenly the ball was in the air and Nile flew into the air to catch it, from there he took on speed aiming for the end zone. There was only fifteen seconds on the board and everyone in the stadium was holding their breaths. It was like every player from the opposing team was after Nile, the audience gasped and slowly raised out of the seats watching Nile dodge tackles flawlessly but those chasing behind him where gaining ground on him and was only just an arms reach away from grabbing him.

"You can do this.." I whispered underneath my breath as the entire audience screamed as he neared the end zone, I stood out from my seat with fear as the opposing player right behind Nile lunged his entire body into Nile's backside, he threw him down with everything he got. The player was successful in bringing Nile down to the ground in a violent thud, but it was only seconds after Nile had crossed into the endzone, scoring the touchdown, with only one second left in the game.

The crowd went wild as they watched Nile stand up and threw the football onto the ground. He removed his helmet and brought his hands up to the sky. His teammates ran and celebrated his win in the endzone with him. Being able to see him bring home the win made me want to run down there and celebrate with him. But I couldn't, I was barely holding myself back when the audience flooded onto the field to celebrate the victory of the team.

"That's my son!!! That's MY son!!" Markus kept on screaming as he raced down to the field. I kept my eyes on Nile, he was completely shocked by his performance and congratulated his team members on how well they did. In the middle of talking to Adam, Julien jumped into his arms laughing heavily. Although I was far out in the bleachers, that were near empty, it felt like this was happening less than two inches away from me, the way my stomach dropped and a sharp pain arose in my chest watching Nile enjoy her touch by twirling her around and laughing along with her. Just before he put her down on the ground, he had opened his mouth to say something but his father had quickly pushed through the crowd and pulled him into a big embrace. Nile was shocked to see his father there but happy. As the world began to praise him for his amazing performance, he was surrounded by his friends, his dad, this girl who was obviously taking an interest in him, I felt like I was looking at the life he could live if I wasn't around, if I didn't exist and right now it felt like I had no value in his life.

"Mom, can we go home?" I asked, turning to face her. My mother was eager and didn't hesitate to stand up from her seat. Without wasting anymore of my energy, I looked away from Nile. My mom wrapped her arm around my shoulder and she led us out of the stadium. She seemed to have had a good time catching up with her friends, they planned a small after party and invited her, and to also spend the weekend, she agreed, she wanted me to tag along but I wasn't in the mood to be around anymore people. All I wanted was to go home and be alone to process the night.