Epilogue
“You should tell them the truth.” Alyssa said as soon as Christen sat down in front of her.
The forward just shrugged her shoulder.
“It’s their own fault for coming out with the conclusion, themselves.”
“But you don’t do much to change it and you didn’t tell them differently. I’m so tired getting the third eye from Alex. Like I stole you away.” The keeper added.
“Again…not my fault. They never even have the nerve to ask me directly. Instead they just assume that I was the bad guy here.”
“Isn’t it though?” Alyssa asked in quiet voice.
“What made you say that?” Christen looked at her companion perplexedly.
“By refusing to tell them the truth, you also didn’t help them understand better. Omitting facts also can be considered as lying.” The keeper insisted.
“What did you want me to tell them? Hey guys, sorry if you thought that Alyssa is my new girlfriend. But she’s not though. She just there to provide moral support during my ESPN body issue shoot. Wouldn’t that make it weirder?” Christen replied sarcastically.
“Urgh…you were just being stubborn like always. Honestly, if I said the sky is blue, you will just say it’s purple instead of agreeing with me just for the heck of it. You are being unreasonable right now. But I really think you need to at least think about it. Because I don’t think I can stand another tackle from Alex. See this..it’s already turning blue!” Alyssa show the bruise that started to form on her thigh.
For the past few days since the camp started, she noticed the hostile receptions she received from Tobin’s best friends. Especially Alex. What make it worst is that Alyssa seem to take most of the brunt physically and she knows she need to come clean sooner before it gets worst. So, when she saw Allie, Alex and Kelley lingered around in the hall after the team dinner she took her chance that night.
“Hey, guys..” She greeted the three players.
Kelley and Allie let out a small smile as a respond while Alex continue glaring into her phone. So, Alex will be the most difficult one, she concluded. Ignoring her fellow forward at the moment, Christen continued on.
“I need to talk to you guys about something.” Christen started.
“Is this about your new girlfriend?” Kelley asked back curiously.
“Something like that..yeah..” The forward replied hesitantly.
“Are you guys making it official soon? I mean to the rest of the team.” Allie added.
“Erm..no actually I just want to tell you guys that there’s nothing between me and Alyssa. So maybe you can stop giving her and me the cold shoulder?”
Alex suddenly looked up from her phone and glared at Christen. “What do you mean she’s not your girlfriend? Tobin told us that you two were an item! She saw you two!”
“Erm, I think there was a mistake here. She was just making that assumption on her own.” Christen defended herself.
“Why would she say that if that was not true?” Alex demanded back.
“Well, she saw Alyssa fetch me back from our lunch with Nima and his boyfriend. I may have hinted that I have a lunch date that day but not just with Alyssa. She was in LA to accompany me for the shooting with ESPN body issue. They want me to be on their cover for November issue.” Christen explained.
“Wait isn’t that the magazine that show athlete’s in the nude? You are doing that? I thought you are very shy about your body?” Kelley asked back in shock.
Christen nodded her head.
“Yes, you know how I feel about my body, Kell. That’s why I need my friend, Alyssa with me. She suggested for me to do the indoor shooting first just to see whether I’m comfortable enough.”
Alex just shook her head sadly. “But that didn’t explain why you didn’t visit Tobin. You know she needed you.”
“I can’t change my schedule with them, Al. It’s bad enough that they agreed to do two separate shooting with me I can’t suddenly back out from my agreement.”
“Shooting doesn’t take weeks, Chris. There’s no reason for you not to come after that.” Alex grumbled out.
Christen looked at Kelley helplessly.
Looking between the two, Kelley shot up straight in her seat. “Erm, I think that was my fault. I told her not to because Tobin doesn’t want her to.”
“Why the hell did you do that!” Allie punched Kelley on her shoulder.
“Ow…wait wait. I didn’t know that Christen and Alyssa were not a couple, okay? How can I know that! The first time I asked Chris to come visit Tobin, she just said she can’t do it. Then few days later she change her mind and said she want to. I don’t know what to think. You know how bad Tobin was that day. I thought if she come back then Tobin will surely started to feel hopeful but then once she know Chris was not available, that will crush her! I don’t want to mess up with her recovery okay!” The defender exclaimed loudly.
“Oh my God. We really are a bunch of idiots. Kelley, next time can you just ignore the urge to get into anyone business? Especially if it involves our love lives! You made Tobin think that Chris didn’t care and made Chris here think that Tobin doesn’t want her there! That is so mess up!” Allie shouted at the defender.
Kelley can feel the start of tears in her eyes. Before long, the tears started running down her cheeks heavily. She know she screwed up big time. Shit.
Looking at Kelley’s teared stricken face, Christen suddenly was overwhelmed with a realisation. Alyssa was right. This is all her fault. Kelley will not feel the need to protect Tobin if she just being honest with them in the first place. Christen crouched down in front of Kelley and bring her now sobbing friend into her arms.
“Shhh….shh…Kell. It’s not your fault. It’s mine. Shhh…sh…I’m sorry, Kell. I should just tell you the truth and all of this will never happen.”
Alex and Allie each side hugged the defender tightly.
“Yeah, Kell. I’m sorry for shouting at you. I’m just surprised that’s all.” Allie tried to sooth the defender.
“Honestly, it’s Chris fault. She just admitted it. Now we will let her fix it.” Alex demanded.
Chris nodded her head. “Yeah, Kell. Come on. I need you to help me on this. You are good at planning right?”
Few minutes passed before Kelley leaned back to stare at Christen. Her tears stopped and a soft smile appear on her face.
With a hiccupped voice, the defender replied.
“How..hick…do you think..hick..Tobin will react…hick..when she know…hick…about…Alyssa..
hick..seeing you naked?”
Christen eyes widen while the other two sitting beside Kelley let out a soft sniggered.
Oh..she didn’t think about that.