Redeeming Heart

Same old situation

I was silently cursing myself.

I overslept and no one bothered to wake me up. I rushed to get everything done in time and stormed out of my room, down the stairs and through my rushing I skipped a step. Almost went for a face plant but my knees and bum took the fall.

A deep, amused chuckle to my side made me raise my head to see my father smiling at me. “That was quite a fall, you, okay?” He was trying to conceal his chuckle but failed miserably.

“I would be better if you recorded that.” I joked, standing up and wincing as I was still recovering from the other day.

“I was more worried about having you break a leg or something.” I chuckled at his remark.

“Been there. Done that. Still have the marks.” I reminded him of when I first started out skateboarding. I wanted to be the toughest kid in the skatepark and Jaylin just showed me a new move, and I wanted to test it out.

Yeah, it didn’t end well. Ten minutes later, my father was rushing me over to the hospital and the doctors informed them I broke an arm. I thought it was awesome to wear a cast, yeah—not so fun.

“You were a real troublemaker.” He noted with a sad smile.

“Technically, I still am.” I headed inside the kitchen to find it empty. No, Jonah and no, Meredith.

“Meredith dropped Jonah off. He was mumbling something about you laughing at him.” My father gave me a pointed stare. “Do you want to explain?”

I rolled my eyes feeling like a teenager all over again. “I didn’t laugh at him. I laughed at something he said which I found amusing. It’s not my problem the kid doesn’t have humour.”

“Jonah’s father never took him seriously. Laughed at him when he was being serious. He tried hurting himself to get his father to take him seriously.” My father explained.

Oh, I did not know that. “How was I supposed to know that? You knew from the beginning that this was a bad idea to put someone like me with someone like him.”

“On the contrary, he has grown really fond of you and looks up to you. He rejoined the team because of you.”

“I think it has more to do with Brandon Hills.”

“The boy who dropped you off the other day?” I was even surprised that he still remembered his name.

He still can’t seem to get over it. “Does it bother you so much that a boy dropped me off?” I queried.

He shrugged. “I sometimes forget that you are getting older when all I want is for you to stay small forever.”

I really didn’t have a comeback on his remark because I didn’t know if just slipped out or he truly meant it. I decided to let it go and got myself some coffee before heading back up to my room to get ready for practice.

My dad was at least gone by the time I headed out. I grabbed my skateboard and hockey bag from its hidden place and made my way down the sidewalk and over to the training field.

It was an abandoned hockey field that we were only allowed to use temporarily until we find a new place.

The girls arrived one by one and we started with warm-ups and headed over to the drills. Our next game was in a week and we had to be ready. These girls we were facing was also looking for a chance to compete in the all-state tournaments.

I wasn’t sure if I should pick up Jonah from school or practice since he was upset with me. Nobody informed me on anything so I continued concentrating on practice.

“I don’t think I will be able to walk the next few days,” Briana complained, dropping to the ground and on her ass. Unscrewing the top of her bottle and dumped it all over herself.

“You are worried about walking. I am worried about getting back up.” Clarissa said.

“Hmm, maybe we can ask Brandon for a hand.” My brain didn’t immediately function to what she said but when I caught the look of admiration in a few of their eyes, it got me to glance over my shoulder and caught him making his way over with Jonah following him.

“What the heck?” I muttered to myself, standing up from the ground. 

I met Jonah’s gaze and I immediately picked up that something was wrong. I lifted my gaze to meet Brandon’s who told me a lot. “What happened?” I asked.

“He punched a kid during practice and chipped his tooth,” Brandon explained, his lips twitching as he was trying not to smile.

I gave Jonah a pointed stare. Meredith was going to kill me. More likely my father because I am the bad influence. “What happened, Jonah? Why?” I asked—trying to figure out what was going on. From when was he this aggressive?

“Why do you care anyway?” His attitude was very much unacceptable.

I arched an eyebrow ready to speak my mind but kept it suppressed for now. “Does your mom know?”

I prayed to God that Meredith didn’t know, it will at least give me a chance to come up with a reasonable explanation.

Jonah pulled his shoulders up. “I don’t know. The coach said he was going to call her.”

“Shit.” I cursed and headed back over to the girls to get my stuff.

“I have to go.” I excused myself and met up with Brandon as Jonah left already.

“He seems really mad at you,” Brandon noted with an amused smile.

We headed over to his car. “Were you there when it happened?” I asked.

He nodded. “He seemed completely different today, compared to other days and I have a feeling it has to do with you.”

“His father is in jail and my father forgot to mention that his father never took him seriously.” Brandon’s shoulders tensed up for a moment before falling.

“I laughed at something he said and yeah, he took it wrong and my father only informed me this morning. I feel like a total ass for what I did.”

“I’ve never seen a kid look up to someone as much as he looks up to you,” Brandon noted.

“Your friends make him believe that I am some kind of legend.”

“They aren’t lying because it is the truth.”

I shook my head. “My mom was the legend. I was just someone who followed in her footsteps.”

He pulled a face. A sign that he was getting fed up with me doubting myself. “Have you ever tried to google yourself?”

“No,” My mom kept me away from any tabloid that had my name in it. Told me that it would only bring me down and push me further away from my dreams.

“When you stopped playing. The world noticed and they were shook. You don’t see your worth, Adams.”

“It’s about the love of the game,” I repeated what he told a few days ago.

I caught the smile in his eyes. “I’m glad you decided to join the team. It started to get boring without you.”

I just shook my head at his ridiculous thoughts and got in his car. Jonah barely acknowledged us as he was too busy playing a game on his PSP.

The drive was a bit awkward with the tension between Jonah and me, and it only got worst when we arrived home. My dad was waiting for us outside and he didn’t look happy.

Brandon gave me a look of concern when we pulled up. “Should I tell him that you come in peace?”

I gave him a reassuring smile. “You will get used to it when you get to know me. I always disappoint.” I shut the door and walked Jonah to the door but got pulled to the side by my father.

Meredith embraced Jonah like he was an angel and did nothing wrong. Even the look she gave me drove me absolutely bat-crazy.

Blame me. It was easy. I was the screw-up.

“You know what. Screw this.” I grumbled. Whirling around and walking back over to Brandon’s car. He didn’t say anything when I got back in his car. He only drove off and I silently thanked him.