It All Started With A Match

It was a cold winter night but Chase did not care. He had just woken up from a nightmare which reminded him of that horrific accident in which he lost his father. He needed to clear his mind and there was only one thing that could give him solace, it was basketball. Chase got up from his bed, shrugged on his grey hoodie and headed for the door. He was going to go to the basketball court near his school. 

Chase was a fairly handsome young lad of seventeen. He had a well-built physique with tall and lean stature. Last but definitely not the least was his coffee-brown eyes behind his black-rimmed round spectacles. 

On reaching there he was taken aback to find someone already there. As he went closer, the girl who was so focused on her ball looked up. She was a pretty looking girl with golden hair which were tightly in a bun and were matching the colour of her beautiful golden eyes which were twinkling under the light from the streetlamps. As Chase looked into her deep golden eyes, he couldn’t help but be mesmerised by them. They were a beautiful shade of golden with a hint of hazel in them, those eyes were extremely expressive, just like those of a person whose heart is pure as love. They held kindness along with a hint of sternness. 

“Hey! I’m Bethany.” The girl introduced herself, breaking Chase’s train of thought as she held out her hand for him to take. “Chase” was his reply as he took her hand and gave it a gentle shake 

Bethany offered for them to play a match together, it was quite an appealing idea. Chase gladly accepted the offer. As they played, both of them realized that the other was fairly good with their game thus making their match all the more interesting. While playing, Bethany observed each and every little gesture of Chase and soon concluded that something was troubling him. They sat down exhausted after a good forty-five minutes match. “There’s something that’s bothering isn’t it.”

Chase was evidently startled by the fact that this girl whom he had met less than an hour ago could read him like an open book when almost everyone he knew always said that his face rarely gave away his thoughts or his state of mind. He had always been hesitant to open up as he knew he had to look strong, only then would he be able to support his mom and his sister. And the fact that Bethany is almost like a stranger doesn’t make things any easier. Sensing his hesitation, Bethany adds “You can talk to me about it, it’ll probably make your heart feel lighter.”

As he looked at the golden-haired girl sitting by him, a warm feeling crept into Chase’s heart and his conscience told him that he could open up to her. Deciding to go with what his heart was telling him, he started narrating his story to the girl in front of him. 

Chase was very close to his father. They were both the pranksters of the house, partners in crime. Both of them loved messing around with Chase’s mother and his sister, Hannah. Two years ago, one evening they had a good laugh after pulling a prank on their dearest Hannah which, much to their delight, caused her to spill her milkshake all over herself. However, Hannah wasn’t as happy, in fact, she was fuming. So, to cheer her up and make up for it, Chase along with his dad decided to bring coffee and snacks for everyone from the new cafe close by. While coming back, Chase was cracking jokes, this caused his father to get distracted. He could not see the truck coming in their direction.

They had an accident, Chase thankfully survived it but his father wasn’t fortunate enough. He flatlined in the ambulance and his son, Chase had to witness it. That incident left him devastated. He sustained only a fracture in the arm, apart from that he was physically unharmed but he had recurved a deep emotional wound that would stay with him life long. He still got nightmares about it. 

Bethany calmly listened to him as Chase poured his heart out to her, she saw that pained and far away look in his eyes as he talked about it. However, what she felt for him w not sympathy, in fact it was far from it. On the other hand, Chase actually felt lighter at heart after talking to someone about it and what helped in that more was that Bethany was a very calm and patient listener who everything he wanted to let out without expressing sympathy or even judging him for it. 

They got up to leave soon after realising that it was already past midnight. As they did so, they exchanged numbers and decided to meet up again but at slightly more godly hours. And as they turned to leave, both of them realised that they were quite elated about this newly formed friendship and were looking forward to their next meet up.