"Just call him. Why are you reluctant? Or is there something going on that I should know about?" Kevin asked in a harsh voice, and Crystal inhaled and exhaled deeply as she slowly shook her head.
"We haven't gotten to this point, Kevin. You know I love you, don't ever doubt that," Crystal said in a pleading voice.
"I know because you say it, but your actions prove otherwise. I have noticed how distant you are, keeping mostly to yourself and always being on the phone. A part of me wants to believe that you're still the same person I have known and loved, but another part keeps shouting at me to be careful. You're just proving me right," Kevin said in a hurt voice, and compassion for him washed over Crystal.
She took a step towards him but asked her not to.
"I don't want to get hurt. It's better you leave now. I hope you won't be at my place when I come home," Kevin said as he walked out of the room to his bedroom, then to the bathroom, where he took a quick shower and left the house.
"Shit almost hit the rooftop," Crystal sent a quick message to the person she had been talking to before throwing away her phone across the room in anger.
Xxx
The coach blew the whistle to signify the end of the training, and the players rushed to gather in the middle of the field.
After addressing them, they all walked to the changing room, with Ivan and Kevin walking side by side, each lost in their own thoughts.
"You're awfully silent today," Ivan observed as they walked out of the washroom a few minutes later, feeling fresh and alive.
"Why? I mean, how?" Kevin asked, and Ivan slowly patted him on the shoulder and said with an assuring smile, "I know you as I know myself. What's up?"
Given a chance to share his predicament, Kevin found himself lacking words. He opened his mouth to talk, but no word came out of his mouth.
He cleared his throat and tried talking again, but nothing came out.
"Just to let you know I'm here," Ivan said in an assuring tone, and that did it for Kevin.
He ranted all he could about Crystal and being the man he was. Ivan reprimanded him for loving one girl.
"S*it! How did I expect you to understand?" Kevin asked in a humorous tone as he broke into a burst of soft laughter.
He was sure Ivan wouldn't give him a solution, but at least he had made him laugh and feel a burden being lifted off his shoulders.
A few minutes later, as they both headed to their cars with the assurance of catching up later, they saw a commotion a few meters from them.
'Never-ending drama,' Ivan silently cursed, and as if reading his mind, Kevin chuckled.
"I wonder when we'll finish campus and be done with these dramas," Kevin added as they curiously walked toward the crowd.
In the midst of students recording the happenings were Chloe, Camila, and Amy, who looked like she had just woken up from a nightmare.
"What the hell is going on?" Ivan thundered when he saw the state Amy was in. inasmuch as Amy was always an independent lady, for once, she appreciated Ivan's intervention, who, unbeknownst to her, was playing his cards closer to his heart.
"Nothing much, we're just having fun," Camila said in a sarcastic voice as she turned to look lovingly at Ivan.
"This is it, guys! Get the hell out of here!" Ivan asked the other students in a loud and sharp voice, but they all stood rooted, looking at him in dismay.
"Wait. Do you think you can just command them around, and they'll make your bid? Goodness! Where have you woken up from?" Camila asked as she broke into a burst of sarcastic laughter, and Ivan scoffed.
Chloe was playing around with her hair as she looked down while Amy was forcing herself to walk to her car, where she intended to catch her breath before going home.
'I need to see my mom,' she thought sadly after coming to the realization that, at that moment, her parents were perhaps the only people who cared for her.
"Mmmh…so you're taking out your anger on her, yet I know you really want to smash my head and squeeze the life out of me, right?" Ivan asked, and Camila nodded confidently.
"Then do it. I'm right before you. Beat me up if you want to. Let's see what you have got," Ivan dared Camila, who looked away at Amy in embarrassment.
She had the upper hand a few minutes ago, yet Ivan had somehow turned everything against her with a snap of a finger.