Sage stared quietly at Jim. She moved her lips slightly, wanting to say something.
“But I know that your heart‘s with someone else.”
Jim continued without giving Sage a chance to say anything. “And even though he isn‘t around anymor
e, he still left a scar on your heart. I just want you to know that you deserve the best and I hope that yo
u‘ll stay happy.”
“Thank you.”
Sage felt tears welling in her eyes. She walked over to Jim, wrapped her arms around him, and said, “T
ake good care of yourself. I‘m waiting for the day you‘d make our country proud and I promise that I‘ll b
e there to support you.”
“You promised.”
This was the first time that Jim got so close to Sage. He felt a warmth and soft energy embracing him.
He held back the waves of emotions in him, looked at her, and flashed a smile. “I‘m looking forward to
when the day comes.”
Sage smiled.
“Mm, me too.”
The coach and the boys had their ears stuck against the door and Luther too tried to listen to their conv
ersation. No one knew when Luther suddenly showed up. The boys came to a sudden realization. They
turned to look at their coach and whispered, “Jim has a crush on her.”
“Damn coach, you‘ve made a big mistake. You‘ve exposed Jim‘s crush.”
The coach knew that he had made a mistake and he too regretted his actions. “How would I have know
n!”
The three of them stared at each other when they finally noticed Luther.
Luther only decided to join in the party as he was curious as to what the boys listened to. He was pleas
antly surprised that he overheard Sage being confessed to.
Luther wondered how long it had been since Sage received a confession. Luther was amazed by how
Sage attracted all kinds of people. The door suddenly opened. The coach and the boys were caught off
guard and nearly crashed into Jim.
Only Luther stood calmly behind them.
Sage explained Jim‘s condition to the coach and got Jim a wheelchair. The teammates then left togethe
r with Jim in the wheelchair.
***
On their drive home, there was a growing tension in the car. The coach and the boys looked
as if they did something wrong. They stole glances at Jim and neither of them dared to utter a word.
Jim was quiet all the way. He had his eyes fixed on the picture of Sage on his phone.
He found Sage‘s smile gentle and
warm. He found himself choking up as his eyes turned red. Jim turned his head and looked out of the ca
There were times when he wished that
he was the one who met Sage first; where he wished that he was stronger so that he could protect her.
He wanted to comfort her
but every time he clicked into their conversation thread, Jim somehow could not find the right words to s
He decided to confess to her today because he wanted her to know that there was someone else who lo
One of the teammates could not stand any longer and said, “You should‘ve chased after her since you li
The coach cleared his throat and chimed in, “Um... Even though it‘s not encouraged that you date right n
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