Page 95 of Redeeming Heart

“What happened to us being friends, Brandon?” She asked.

“I’m not in the mood for this, Ashley. You’ve taken hits at Sasha and her teammates when they have done nothing to you. I gave you the option to be my friend, but you need to stop wanting to control who I am friends with.” She said nothing, only gave me a look filled with hatred before she was off.

“Brandon…” I began. “I don’t want this. Conflict. Wrong ideas or impressions. Ashley is your friend and has been for longer than I have. What you are doing to her is not right. I wouldn’t feel right if I have to push my friends away because I made new ones.”

I wasn’t a person to cause trouble between people and I had no intention to start.

“She’s not my friend, Sasha. She’s a girl who pushed herself into my life because she wanted to be with me and I had no intention of becoming hers. She couldn’t understand when I informed her right from the beginning because it’s not my thing to lead on girls and play with them.”

“I know how it feels to be pushed aside by my so-called friends and not feel good enough for them. I won’t ever do that to someone.”

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

It’s been a few days since I saw Brandon and it was mostly due to late nights of practice which in the end helped me out at avoiding him. Was I delusional for thinking what he was doing to Ashley wasn’t right?

What I’ve witnessed and learned from her from the few encounters we had, she wasn’t a nice person and it was obvious she had a thing for Brandon, and she was starting to show a little bit of desperation by wanting to control Brandon.

Brandon was still keeping her around and it was still feeding her some sort of false hope. Which wasn’t fair to her.

A big part of me was upset with the way Brandon handled things. If he felt strongly about his feelings of not wanting her then he should let her go completely, not keep her around as a friend, and pet her from time to time.

Maybe he was even too much of a nice guy and girls must have realized it, and decided to take it as an opportunity to mess with his mind. It probably shouldn’t bother me this much as we were only friends and his dating life had absolutely nothing to do with me.

I just don’t want him to get hurt because of one innocent mistake he should have taken care of months ago.

My dad offered to drop me off where I will be meeting the bus that was taking us to Texas. It was an early drive and I don’t think there was ever a time I was up this early. My dad and I have made some progress over the past couple of days.

We were finally facing each other without any tension or awkward conversations.

“Do you have everything you are going to need?” My dad asked pulling up at the bus stop where half of my team was waiting for us.

We were going away for a couple of days and when we make try-outs, we are going away for at least two months until the championship is won. I’ll have at least one week to come home to get a chance to pack for the national championship if we qualified.

“Yeah, I got everything I need,” I replied, opening the door and stepping out. I frowned when my father got out as well and helped me with my bags. He was trying to become a part of my life again.

I introduced him to the girls who seemed as much as surprised as I am.

“How are you feeling?” He asked when I walked him back over to the car.

“For now, I am calm. I will probably start feeling the pressure when we have try-outs.” I answered aware he was concerned about my anxiety.

“You do have your prescribed medication with you, right?” He made sure.

I nodded. “Dad, I will be fine. The crowd is going to be much bigger and they will probably show their distaste for having me back, but I have to at least try and fight. Mom would want that.”

“I wish I can be there to cheer for you.” He noted.

“Hopefully, we make the cut and by next week we will start competing for the cup and a chance at the regional cup. You do have a lot of time to cheer for me.” I know it was hard for him as well.

He grew up attending each of my mother’s games and when I started to play, he was there as well with her in the crowd. It’s tough facing things that used to include her.

“The moment you tell me your team made it, I will order tickets for every single event and make sure I am there.” I smiled at him and gave him a goodbye hug.

“Just remember that Jonah would want to be there as well.” He chuckled, wrapped her arms around me, and returned the hug.

“I’m pretty sure Brandon would want to be invited as well.” I shrugged because I think he knows that I am upset with him. I didn’t join him the night of my mother’s birthday. He dropped me off at home and I spend the night spending time with my dad and playing games with Jonah.

“I haven’t seen him, did something happen?” My dad inquired.

---