Ahh its finally here. Spring Break... A great time to relax and play some Frisbee. Plus I am sure there are TONS of cute guys that want to chat. Right?
Spring break was here! Damn it was about time. Just the thought of relaxing on the warm San Diego beach sounded very appealing to me. While the drive was a bit long down on Friday we made good time, the drive only taking 2 hours. When we arrived it was only 8 o'clock, but it felt so much later.
I was stuck with my sister on the ride down, and man what an awkward ride it was. I mean we were both happy to see each other again but with Pike sitting in the passenger seat and me in the rear it was a little uncomfortable. Pike didn't object when Ally suggested we all ride together but I could tell from his eyes that he still was unsure of the situation.
Given Ally's driving habits, it was no surprise that she lead the group. I wanted to say something but I felt that any words out of my mouth might have created a situation. So I did what I thought was best: I kept my mouth shut. Pike however did tell her to slow down, especially since she was not technically authorized to drive members of the team.
Pulling into the hotel, it looked really nice. The hotel was called Capri at the Sea and it was really and quite literally at the sea. Unloading our stuff from the cars, we all stood in the lobby as Pike checked us in. Stepping outside to take in the ocean air, I took in the relaxing sounds of the ocean waves. It was comforting to think that all my worries of school were behind me. I didn't need to think about anything but Frisbee. No relationship issues, no craptastic excuses of why things went wrong or why things didn't work out. Taking a deep breath in, I smile and gleamed.
Clapping my hands and getting giddy, I moved back inside and wrapped my arms around Bryan and Zach. "Guys we are in San Diego. This is so sick!"
They were equally energetic, high fiving each other and pulling me in tight. Bryan grinned as he looked over the lobby, taking it all in. It was like any normal hotel lobby but the thought of it being in San Diego seemed to change everything. "Yea can you believe that just last semester we were barely getting good at Frisbee? And now we are here? This is awesome!"
While I really wanted to room with them, Pike instead tossed me with my sister, a slight downer. I knew though that he wanted to keep us all in line, no roughhousing or parties in the rooms. By taking me out of the equation, I had a feeling he thought it would stop the fun. Moving up the elevator with Ally and Pike, my two downer roommates, I tried to keep up a fun mantra.
Our room was amazing. We were one story short of the top floor, and it was a sick view of the beach. By now the sun had set and the moon was glimmering off the tide, the waves creating majestic nighttime scenery that you could only find in one of those electric paintings.
While some of us wanted to go walk around, Pike kept us to our rooms, his way of trying to foster any last minute team bonding. In my room though, Ally and Pike and I sat in almost near silence. Pike was looking over the schedule for the coming days and Ally reading some book, it looked to be 50 Shades of Grey. Meanwhile I was just sitting there twiddling my thumbs looking over the fliers and pamphlets that the hotel had provided.
Moving to the shower, I figured I might as well call it an early night. Taking the nice refreshing bath, I relaxed under the stream of warm water. I had always enjoyed hotel showers, the ability to adjust the settings of the nozzles. After the shower, I moved to my bed and pulled a pillow over my head to cut out the light.
The first day of Spring Break was here! Waking up on Saturday I was ready to have fun. I was up and ready to play before Ally and Pike were awake. Moving to the window, I pulled the blinds apart, instantly bathing the room in the warm sunlight. While it was only 7 in the morning, I could see teams down on the beach practicing. We may have been a few stories up but we were still close enough for me to make out the type of uniforms down on the sand.
There were some really sick designs on the teams practicing. There was a team that looked to have a fierce bulldog imprinted onto their red shirts. Another team wore pink-ish shirts with a very yellow banana plastered on the chest. Another team wore blue uniforms with what looked to be a wolf on the front. Turning around to look at my roommates, I saw that Pike was starting to stir. Not surprising, Ally was out of bed before Pike, her already occupying the bathroom to get ready for the day.
Around 8 we all collected in the lobby and made our way to the beach. Bryan and Zach talked of their night with Andrew, how they watched Clash of the Titans on the TV. I'm not going to lie, I was a little jealous. Reaching the beach, I took off my shoes and dug my feet into the sand. Even though it was still early in the day, the sand was already warm, a slight heat radiating through my skin to tingle my nerves.
Hearing a scream behind me, I turned to watch as Tyler and Terry picked up Sarah and dragged her to the water, stopping just inches before throwing her into the cold ocean. Sarah glared at them playfully, slightly angry but still enjoying the fun.
As we came up to the Frisbee groups, I noticed that Fullerton was one of the teams practicing. They really did look ragged, barely 8 players participating. I said barely because one of their players looked to be wearing an ankle brace and showed signs of a slight limp. Walking up to them to wish them the best, we made our courtesy comments.
I could swear I saw a little fire out of Victoria's eyes. In this case it seemed to be more jealousy, our team showing a solid 9 players, all players capable of participating. Ellie broke off from her throwing partner and came up to talk with me. "Hey Chris." It was a very lack luster greeting, the despair evident in her voice.
"Hey Ellie. You weren't lying when you said you weren't doing so well." I look over her team and then back to her. I grimaced at how slaughtered they were going to be. I wanted to help but I wasn't sure if I was ready for the task.
Ellie looked at the team, "Yea it will be hard to play some of the games. We will be cut very short over this week. Have you had a chance to see Kyle yet?"
Not even lying to her, I shook my head. "No, but when I see him I will talk with him. But not for me, this is for you." Cracking a weak smile I continue, "You owe me one."
Ellie chuckles lightly, "Hey if you can get him back to us, I will owe you way more than one. Trust me."
I wanted to talk more with her but Pike was calling us to start heading down the beach. Moving up to hug her, I held her tight, feeling sorry that she had to put the extra effort in just to have fun. Breaking off from her, I waved lightly.
As we walked down the beach we saw that the courts were properly marked. Unlike the fields we would use on the grass, the sand courts were a lot smaller. This was mostly because it was harder to move around on the soft sand. Also unlike the cones that were used on the fields, University of California San Diego and CSU San Diego chipped their money together to get ribbon courts, the lines marked by thin strips of fabric.
As Pike checked our team in, I looked over the teams that were practicing out before us. There had to be at least 10 teams all tossing Frisbees back and forth. Moving a little away from my group I watched as the Frisbees flew, the slicing of air with the disks mesmerizing. Looking at the players throwing the disk I realize who I am standing in front of.
The UC Irvine was unmistakable, the three huge letters making their presence known. Gulping I flicked my eyes back and forth looking for Kyle. "Shit is he here?" Looking over the players, I didn't see him at all. Then I heard his voice, or more his cry of amusement.
Looking out towards where I heard him, I locked onto the blond hair instantly. Kyle was emerging from the water carrying a wet Frisbee, the drips of ocean falling off him. The salt water seemed to glimmer off his shirtless chest, the toned body moving in and out as he laughed at the task of receiving the Frisbee. Tossing the Frisbee in the air, the water flies off the disk, spinning right to the player next to me.
Stepping back, I almost trip. Keeping my dark blue eyes locked on him, I felt the color of my eyes darken. It had been over 4 months since I last saw him and at least 5 since we talked. Well not so much talked more of fought since I did punch him. Kyle's normally welcoming smile dropped instantly when he saw me, my unintentional glare at him sending a flash of anger then fear through his face.
Moving up to me, Kyle crosses his arms. "What are you doing here Chris?" There was a spiteful tone to the words, the sentence stinging me. Realizing how that sounded Kyle changed his tone, rephrasing his sentence. "Sorry Chris, I didn't mean it like that. Hi."
Looking down at my feet, then back up to him, all I could muster out was a "Hi." I wanted to say more, counter his tone but I couldn't. I wasn't here to fight with him. I was here for Ellie. It was hard to keep that in mind as all the emotions of him came rushing back to me. I felt my face get flush as I locked eyes with him, our internal souls raging against each other; the storms connecting so well it was hard to distinguish which one was stronger. He really was my equal. I suddenly felt sick.
Kyle uncrossed his arms and put them in his pockets, exposing his body. He had toned up a bit since I last saw him, his chest more defined than last time. Meekly squeaking, Kyle pipes up "How are you doing Chris?" His hair looked so great on him, a little longer than I remember. It fit him well, the surfer look with a slight scruff on his chin.
Why was I feeling this way towards him? This was complete bullshit. I used to hate him so much. I still am mad at him for what he did to me. The rage boiling inside me twitched out on my cheek, "I'm fine."
Kyle wanted to say something. I know he did. I could see it in his eyes. They were hurt. The pain was clear that I had caused a crack in his bravado by showing up. "Cool."
Not wanting to end the conversation yet, I blurted out, "You?" I still needed to talk about Fullerton. Stay on task Chris. There is nothing between you two anymore. Right? FUCK! My mind was running crazy, as if the little men up there were fighting over what emotions to display. No not what emotions to display; it was a problem of what emotions to feel. I was showing a very stone figure, little emotion being demonstrated.
Kyle shrugged his shoulders. "I'm ok." Again with the crappy answer. Say more KYLE!
Come on Chris, say something. DO something. "Hey Fullerton needs you. Ellie is looking for you. You need to talk with her Kyle. Their team is crap." I blurted it all out while also showing the emotion of complete despair. They really did need him.
All Kyle mustered out was "Oh really?"
I really wanted to slap him right now. I really wanted to slap myself. This was not how I was expecting my reunion with him to go. Why were we speaking so few words towards each other? "Yea. Just talk with Ellie could you?" Looking over my shoulder to my team, I saw that Pike was looking for me. "Hey I gotta get back to my team. Good luck."
Kyle only said "Thanks" as I walked away. I felt so angry at myself. The pit in my stomach had returned. I wanted to shoot the fucking butterflies that were flying around.
Our first game was at 10 o'clock against UC Davis. It was an extremely hard fight as they were a really talented team. Not only that but I had to mark a tall player. I swear the guy could jump at least five feet, no joke. I did my best to cut away from him but every time I would turn to run a different direction he seemed to stay with me. It almost felt as if Kyle was going against me, the shadow of the guy reminding me of how Kyle and I would spar. Though this guy was different; he was more aggressive.
Speaking of Kyle, I saw the little shit watching my performance from time to time. It didn't help too much that he always seemed to hang back in the crowd. Even still there was no denying it was him, his eyes telling me which way to cut and when. Following his motions, I actually did manage to break away from the giant for the first time. I swear as I caught the disk and turned to spin around that I saw a smirk on Kyle's face. Pivoting out on my right leg, I flicked a hard forehand down the line to Andrew who managed to catch the disk in the end zone.
We managed to win the game, just barely though. 6-5 was a hard score to swallow but it gave us an idea of how hard we were going to have to work. After shaking hands with the teams and doing a small team talk, I wandered around to see how other teams were performing. I managed to find Fullerton playing on a nearby field and I cringed when I saw the score. It was already 4 to 1 and they were only ten minutes in out of a thirty minute game.
"Come on Ellie, let's go!" I shouted out to Ellie as I watched from the sidelines. No one was supporting them, not audibly at least. Even though they were losing, they were still playing a good game, watching their defense as much as possible. Victoria seemed to have known they were going to lose, and in the manners of a team captain, changed their formation to a defensive tactic.
Looking at the crowd watching the game, I scanned the faces of everyone. Then I locked eyes with a charming blue eyed guy. Shaking my head, I saw it was Kyle. Shocked to have locked eyes with him, I tried to look somewhere else but I couldn't seem to avoid the draw of his aura. Fuck you Kyle. I really wanted to yell that at him, the passionate anger seething through my blood.
Our second game was at noon. We had the luxury of playing the host team of CSU San Diego. Pike had warned us beforehand that they were an experienced team but it was not till we started going against they that they showed how skilled they actually were.
I could not stay with my mark at all. This was not possible. I had never lost my mark in my times of playing Frisbee. Off to my side I heard a familiar deep voice, "Come on Chris you can catch him!" It was meant to be supportive but as I noticed that it was Kyle, I lost my momentum. Looking back at him, I glared. "You had him!" He shouts at me.
Thankfully the play had been reset and I was able to catch back up with my player. This time around I stayed with him. Chasing him into the end zone, I saw the disk flying towards us. Jumping right as he did, I smacked the air, successfully hitting the disk. In addition to hitting the disk though, I accidentally hit the player, causing a nice red mark on his forehead. Coming down to the ground, I look at him. "Oh shit, I'm so sorry! Are you ok?"
The player rubbed his head then looked at me, grinning. "Yea I'm alright."
Pulling him up, I reset the disk at the end zone line and tossed off to Andrew. We managed to score a point that round and as I ran back, Pike pulled me off the field, replacing me with Bryan. "Chris, you need to calm down. You are getting a little too aggressive out there."
"I'm sorry. I'm not meaning to. I swear." I look around the field for Kyle, knowing he is the cause of my frustration.
Pike picked it up as well, catching me looking around. "He means well you know that? He wants what's best for you."
"I know, it's just I haven't seen him in all this time and we act as if there's nothing wrong. It's bullshit Pike. It's complete bullshit." I raise my hands over my head and take in a deep breath. Moving off to the side, I watch as my team performs.
Looking around, I kept trying to find Kyle but he seems to have disappeared. Then I see why; Michael and Skyler had shown up. While I know he didn't know Skyler, for some reason he seemed to have known Michael, or at least those were my thoughts.
Looking back to the game I saw it was almost over. I wanted to join but I knew it wouldn't help much. We were losing 7-8 and there was a minute left. It was so close that it bugged me. The timer rang and the game ended. Fuming I went out to do the handshake, though I didn't mean what I did. I mean they were a great team and they deserved the win but we could have beaten them. We should have beaten them.
As the crowd dispersed, Michael and Skyler moved up to me. "Hey sorry about the loss. You guys did fight hard." Michael tried to be sincere but I cut him off with a cold hard stare.
"We could have done better. We should have done better. I should have done better." I seethed my distaste for my performance.
Skyler instantly knew something was up, knowing it was more than just my performance. "What's going on Chris? This is more than your game." They both moved up to me, Skyler rubbing my shoulder.
Looking Michael directly in the eyes, I smoldered my blue eyes. "He's here..."
Michael instantly knew who I was talking about. Skyler didn't though and asked who. Michael retorted, "Chris's ex, Kyle. The guy broke his heart last semester. What's he doing here?" Michael looks at me, crossing his arms.
"He's playing for Irvine..." I feel so lost right now. The sentence conveyed that emotion as well. Michael caught the tip of it; my conflicted feelings clear as day to him.
Shocked, Michael grabs my face and forces me to look at him. I did all I could to avoid his pleading glances but it was inevitable. I matched my sight for his and saw his concern. The words made it even worse, "You DO still care for him?! Fuck Chris really?"
Breaking away from his hold, I hold back my tears. This was not what I was wanting. This was not how I wanted to start my Spring Break. This was complete bullshit! "Not now Michael. I don't want to talk about it. I don't know!" Never had I felt so confused about what to do.
Well now that was unexpected. And VERY awkward. Let's see how Chris remedies that in the next chapter. He has to talk with Kyle and get things sorted out. I hope you all enjoyed it.