''Um, Excuse me.''
Wesley heard a soft voice near his ear. He opened his eyes and saw a young Asian woman holding his clothes. ''Ah, yes. Is there something you need?''
The young woman placed his clothes on the sheets Wesley and Cassy were under and lowered her head. ''I, I have to get to bed. If, If you don't mind, can you leave. I feel a bit uncomfortable with you around.''
Wesley Realized this girl was Cassy's roommate. He sat up while chuckling and nodded his head. ''Sure thing. If you don't mind can you tell me your name? I'm Antonio by the way.'' Wesley left the bed and got dressed. He looked at the young woman, fidgeting nervously and sighed.
The young woman who seemed to come to a conclusion introduced herself. ''My name is Ava.''
Wesley chuckled to himself. 'It took her that long to introduce herself.' He slipped his sneakers on and walked up to her. ''Nice to meet you, Ava. I'm sorry for intruding into your space.'' Wesley felt a little guilty for inconveniencing her. 'I would feel uncomfortable if I walked into my room and saw a half-naked woman I didn't know sleeping in my roommate's bed.'
Ava shook her head. ''No, that's...I was just.''
Wesley saw her timid appearance and exhaled deeply. ''It's okay, you don't have to be so tense around me.'' He walked over to the sleeping Cassy and kissed her on the forehead. ''I'll be going now.'' He said while pulling the sheets over her body.
Ava watched Wesley leave and sighed in relief. Her gaze fell on her roommate who was sound asleep. Unbothered by the world around her. 'But that's my bed!' Ava cried silent tears as she crawled onto Cassy's bed. She was happy to find that it was very comfortable.
Wesley was in his car looking for somewhere to eat breakfast. The food in the canteen was disgusting, and the food court didn't have anything good to eat. He thought of his parents and called Philip, wanting to ask if they had eaten already.
''Hey dad, how's the trip so far?''
Philip sighed. ''Not so great. Your mom has been sulking around the hotel room killing the mood for...ah!'' Before Philip could finish the sentence, a flip-flop hit the back of his head.
Wesley could hear his mom scolding Philip in the background and chuckled.
Sarah picked up the phone and scolded him too. ''You, where have you been? I called you ten times yesterday, and you didn't answer the phone.''
Wesley gulped and checked his call log. He saw all the missed calls from his mother and sighed. 'Why didn't they show up on the front screen?' He cried silent tears in his heart. ''Mother, let me explain. I'll be at the hotel in a few minutes.'' Sadly, the Wrath of an angry mother was something; not even a god could quell. He prayed for himself on the way to the hotel.
* * *
''Pass the goddamn ball, for christ sake!'' Coach Felix was drilling the new varsity members. It has been two months since the tryouts, yet some of the players were still having problems integrating into the team. ''Jake! Get your ass over here!''
Jake snarled as he jogged over to the coach. ''Yes Coach!''
Coach Felix huffed when he saw the young man in front of him. At first, he thought Jake would make a great addition to the team, but two months in, he was still making the same mistakes. ''Listen, boy, I know how much pressure you're under with how fast your brother is climbing the rankings, but you are quite famous in this circle too. You have massively improved since you have joined the team but you're too selfish while on the field. Football is a team sport.''
Jake clenched his fist. These past two months he'd sat on the sidelines while he watched his brother get all of the glory. Even after games where he would score a flashy goal, showcasing his talent, the coach wouldn't put him on the main lineup. ''Coach, even If I passed the ball to them, they wouldn't have been able to score.''
A vain appeared on Coach Felix's forehead. ''That's what I mean by 'your too selfish.' I have given you chances after chances to smarten up and work with the team, but countless times, you have let me down. During games against tough teams, you won't be able to do everything by yourself. They'll put multiple guys on you from the start, and you'll never be able to get the ball. Starting today, you'll be practicing with the JV team. Hopefully, you'll mature enough to play on Varsity in the future.''
''No! You can't remove me from the team! I'm just as good as Antonio, yet the treatment is so different.'' Jake was livid. ''Its Antonio isn't it? He asked you to suppress me didn't he?''
A vein bulged on Coach Felix's forehead. ''You, who do you think you are? A pro level athlete? You're a college player playing on my team. You are a freshman on Varsity, is this not enough for you? Have you ever watched your brother play? I believe you know better than me how much he values teamwork. I have personally witnessed how hard he works during practice, how easily he integrates into the team, and how much he has helped his fellow teammates improve. If you would just play the game like it's supposed to be played, you would be right next to him. You would have already become a star player. Sadly you're too caught up in your own world. You aren't ready for varsity yet.'' Coach Felix walked away, not wanting to continue the conversation.
Jake felt his heart rate rising. He gritted his teeth and looked towards the ground. 'This is all Antonio's fault. If only he weren't around, I would have long since become the top player. I would have been on my way to the top.' Jake's expression twisted as he left towards the locker room. 'I'll have what belongs to me. No matter what.' Jake pulled his phone out of his bag and called a number. ''Hello, Joanna.''
* * *
Wesley was on the sidelines drinking some water and had heard the entire conversation Jake had with the coach. He recalled the dumb look on Jake's face and laughed to himself.
He thought over the events that happened these last couple of months and smiled. He had risen through the individual rankings and was the highest ranked goal scorer in the NCAA so far. Not only that, he helped his team build a monstrous reputation before the NCAA soccer championship.
Wesley recalled how Jake had been lying low the past couple of months and wasn't provoking him much. He had taken Jake's spot as the star player of the team and expected him to continually stir up trouble, but that didn't happen. Instead, Jake jumped right into plotting how to ruin his life. Wesley, however, had played it safe, buying a micro-drone from the system to track and record Jake's movements. Through the micro-drone, Wesley had more than enough material to ruin Jake's reputation. He just needed Jake to act on his plans, a development that shouldn't happen until next year.