*There are many important changes to this chapter so please do read all of it to get a better feel of the plot.

[Chapter 24]
Within His Mind

— LEO'S POV —

I was knocked down to the ground for what seemed like the millionth time today. A pained groan instantly escaped my lips as my face was pressed against the grassy ground of the football field. The feathery grass tickled my cheek the same time the musky aroma of the dirt entered my nostrils.

Like a pack of well-trained dogs, the shrilled scream of Coach Adams' whistle automatically caused the entire team to stop the drill. Whoever that tackled me stood up, and I gasped out in relief, attempting to fill my lungs with as much air as possible. I immediately grabbed the hand that offered to help me up, so out of breath that I didn't even bother to identify the helping hand.

"Archer!" Coach Adams yelled as I was being pulled up to my feet.

I glanced up at him, my chest still heaving up and down as I desperately tried to catch my breath. Coach Adams marched towards me, each player taking a step back as his surrounding aura of frustration and anger physically shoved through the team.

     Oh, shit.

I quickly stood up straight and ignored the stinging soreness on my back as Coach Adams halted before me. Despite the few extra inches I had over him, his intense gaze could still manage to intimidate me.

"You haven't been playing your best this past week but today was by far your worst day yet." He huffed, a slight tone of worry laced beneath his tough exterior. "What's the matter with you, boy?"

I glanced around me to see every one of my teammates staring at me with pure curiosity and concern, which they had every right to be. Our next game was in a few days, and there's no way they could afford having their captain in such bad shape.

I looked down at Coach Adams as he raised an eyebrow at me expectantly. I sighed and rubbed the side of my face. "I'm sorry, coach. I just have a lot on my mind right now."

More like, I had someone on my mind.

Coach Adams lifted his baseball cap and ran his fingers through what's left of his hair, the sunlight reflecting off of his bald spot. He let out a mixture of a sigh and a groan or whatever it was, all I knew was that he was practically reeking with frustration. I bit down my lip, utterly disappointed with myself as I looked down to the ground to avoid everyone's pressuring gaze.

"I think you should sit on the bench for the rest of today's practice, Archer."

My head instantly snapped up to meet his eyes. I could feel my lips slightly parting as I stared at him in surprise, absolutely certain that I heard him wrong. Coach Adams' deep voice pierced through the erupting murmurs, but it was his words that really struck me. I've never once been benched in the entire four years I've played football, whether it was a real game or just practice — so it was understandable to say the least, that it shocked everyone, myself included, to hear those words ever leave our coach's lips.

"Wait, but coach—"

He raised his hand to stop me from saying anything else, succeeding as he did so when I clamped my mouth shut.

"Look, son, I know it's unusual for you to have an off day like this but it literally happens to everyone." Coach Adams gave me a sympathetic smile as he gently placed his hand on my shoulder. "I'd rather have you watch from the outside and see if you could detect any mistakes the team might have made instead of wasting your energy by practicing unproductively. Understand?"

I sighed and reluctantly nodded, running my fingers through my sweaty hair in a slightly bitter manner. "There's a good lad." Coach Adams grinned, then blew his whistle once again. "Okay, everyone back in position! Thomas, take Leo's place for today."

With that, I walked over to the sidelines and plopped down on the bench. After a few minutes of watching or so, I rested my head in the palms of my hands and ruffled up my hair in frustration. I was trying to do as I was told, but despite all my efforts, my mind couldn't help but wander to the only person who could get me this distracted.

Flo.

It's been about a week since the whole Flo and Michelle fight broke out. Well, more specifically, a week since Flo punched Michelle out of nowhere. I still couldn't believe she would physically attack Michelle like that.

Michelle advised me that Flo and I should have some time apart to cool off so that we wouldn't say anything we didn't mean out of anger. I appreciated Michelle helping me make sure that Flo and I would end up in good terms — even when Flo had punched her. It was reassuring to know that one of my oldest and closest friends has got my back. This was the one thing I've always liked about Michelle, ever since we were in middle school, she would always put her friends before her despite how sick she was at the moment.

     Although, I did have a weird feeling that Michelle wasn't telling me the entire story about what went down between her and Flo. She really shouldn't have any reason to lie though, especially since she's going through a pretty rough time now — with her completing her treatments and her family's financial problems and all. She has more important things to worry about than to lie.

     It's part of the reason I've been hanging out with her all this while, to make sure she doesn't suddenly collapse and to make sure she has someone to turn to when things get too rough. Because knowing her, she'd be too stubborn and end up keeping it to herself until things get irreversibly worse, just to keep me from worrying.

I shook it off, feeling guilty I would even doubt Michelle like that. The poor girl's been through enough already — she's always been fragile but ever since sophomore year when her condition worsened, she would always lie and hide her pain from me and again, just to keep me from worrying. It sucked since I would always go to her and open up to her about any of my problems from school and not have any idea she was going through something worse.

     So when we started dating, we made a pact to always be there for each other and to always be honest with each other, even when people got in the way.

Things were great for a while but I just couldn't reciprocate her feelings the way she wanted me to. So when I decided to be honest to her that I didn't love her the way she loved me, which ultimately led to our breakup, she distanced herself from me by a whole lot.

But despite our breakup, she still meant a lot to me as a friend and nothing else. She was practically a little sister to me, just like Lucy, my actual younger sister. The next thing I knew, she moved away to another state because of her worsening condition to get intensive treatment, and only told me the night before. It hurt to know she would keep something as big as that from me, given our history together as friends, but I guess she had her own reasons for it.

The point was, despite our 'romantic' history, I still respected Michelle as an old friend, and I wasn't about to treat a friend any differently because of a girl I've only known for a month — no matter how much I was falling for her. I didn't have as many friends growing up so I made sure that when I do, I'd always back them up. Especially for Michelle, who was my only close friend before I joined football in high school.

Still, every time I'd ask Michelle to tell me more about what happened between the two girls, she'd always give me the same answer, which was she didn't know what she could have said to trigger Flo like that, since according to her, all she asked was about Flo's work at the diner.

I was just so fucking confused.

I didn't know who to believe anymore.

Not that I didn't want to trust Michelle's word but I just wanted to know Flo's side of the story, and I would've by now if I hadn't been such an egotistic asswipe at the time. I have been trying to get some answers out of Flo lately, but she took what I said pretty seriously and wouldn't even acknowledge my existence. And honestly, I really don't blame her. I knew I didn't have the right to be irritated with her especially I was the one to initiate the silent treatment anyway.

     I am such a fucking idiot.

     I really should have just let Flo explain herself, especially when Michelle has made it clear that she has nothing else to say.

I was just so furious at the fact that Flo would ever dare to hurt a personal friend of mine. Like an animal instinct, words of anger came spitting out before my brain could even process it. The mental image of the betrayed expression on Flo's face was something that I certainly didn't want to experience twice. In that one millisecond, after I said what I said, I knew I could no longer take back my words — no matter how much I wanted to tell her I didn't mean it.

I was too caught up in the moment to put my stupid pride aside so I just rolled with the anger, and let my big ass ego get the best out of me. I wouldn't be surprised if I've ruined any possible future I had with Flo.

To make matters ten times worse, I was already struggling to balance all my responsibilities, ranging from helping my sister with her homework to getting a full scholarship to either Harvard or Standford. But now I have to decide who I had to trust more — my best friend of seven years or the girl, whom I'm possibly falling in love with, that I've only known for a month.

Life really sucked at the moment.

"Hit the showers!"

The familiar high-pitched sound of a whistle rang through my ears, causing me to break away from my thoughts. I dug my buried head out from the palm of my hands, only to see the entire team heading towards the direction of the locker room.

"Remember, since we used your lesson times and your lunch period for today's practice, there'll be no practice after school!" Coach Adams hollered after the team, earning a few hoots of celebration in return. I got up and slowly dragged myself to follow the rest of my teammates, locking eyes with Coach Adams as I did so. "Archer, see me first thing tomorrow morning."

I nodded silently, and without another word, Coach Adams left for whatever he needed to do. I entered the locker room, the warmth of steam that was coming from the showers fanned against my already sweaty skin. I peeled off the dirty football uniform off of my body, my eyebrows knitted together as Flo entered my mind once again.

Not only did she enter my mind, but her name chimed through my ears as well.

"Hey, did you hear about Flo?"

My ears perked up at the actual mention of her name. I glanced over at some of my teammates who were underclassmen, only to see them gathered in a small circle. Anthony, who was one of the sophomores on the team, was in the centre of the small crowd — making him the main source of all the gossip.

"Are you sure you should be talking about Flo here?" Tommy hissed in a sharp whisper, then glanced over to me worriedly. I could feel all of their stares burning into the side of my head, but I just pretended like I wasn't paying attention.

I heard Anthony softly scoff. "Please, I doubt he even cares about her anymore. He's back with Michelle now, isn't he?"

What the fuck?

Has she seriously been telling everyone that?

"Anyway, I heard from my brother's best friend's cousin, who goes to Seaside High, that Flo's going out with their and our school's rival quarterback." Anthony whispered loudly, causing everyone else in that little circle of his to gasp out in shock.

I froze.

"You mean, Joey Hart?"Someone else whispered.

"Yep—"

I slammed my locker shut, the sound of metals clashing echoed loudly throughout the locker room, startling everyone around me and mostly the group of gossiping underclassmen. I aggressively pulled on a random pair of clean clothes, not caring whether I showered or not. My jaw clenched in fury as I hurriedly gathered all my things into my duffel bag, then exited the now silent locker room.

What the hell is she thinking? Going out with a slimebag like Hart. Fuck, it's not like I can control her though — I have no right. I thought to myself as I frantically rushed down the hallway, now with students pouring out from ever classroom after being dismissed by the bell.

Still, I need to talk to her.

I spun around, turning my head from left to right in search for Flo, my forehead slightly wrinkling in worry. I stopped searching when I saw Flo approaching her locker with Kathryn by her side, laughing at something Kathryn said like she hadn't just walked into an enormous human-eating Venus fly trap.

I scrambled towards Flo, attempting to shove through the crowding hallway, only to be stopped when I felt someone grab my arm. I looked down at the culprit in annoyance, unsurprised to find Michelle with her hand wrapped around my forearm.

"Hey, Leo." Michelle grinned gleefully.

I huffed out in slight irritation. "Look, Michelle, I can't talk right now." I quickly told her, easily pulling my arm out of her grip. Before I could another step away from her, she was already in front of me to block my path. "Michelle, would you please move?" I sighed in exasperation.

"Just hear me out! I really need to talk to you about something important." She pouted, clasping her hands together in a pleading manner. "It's about word from the hospital."

My eyes softened when I heard the word hospital. "Fine. What's up?" I sighed, crossing my arms as I glanced over in Flo's direction, letting out a breath of relief when I saw she was still there.

     I tuned Michelle out as she rambled on about literally anything but the hospital, waiting for her to get to the point and nodding once in a while in response despite my eyes being utterly glued to Flo.

Kathryn caught my stare and frowned, then whispered something to Flo, causing her to turn around. She scanned through the crowd, her eyebrows adorably furrowed together in confusion until she locked eyes with me. I could feel my heart skip a beat the second our gazes connected, revealing that gorgeous face of hers to me. Her lavender locks were effortless pulled up in a tangled bun, showing off her natural dark roots.

I couldn't even feel the tight space of the crowded hallway anymore, and it was as if we were the only two people standing in this imaginary empty hallway. I wanted to touch her so badly — her cheeks had never looked so soft, and her lips had never looked so kissable. Her lips parted slightly as her eyes softened just for a millisecond, then I was brought back to reality when the bell rang. Her entire face immediately hardened after noticing Michelle, then stormed off but not before dragging Kathryn with her as well as sending me a harsh scowl while she was at it.

"Wait, Flo!" I yelled after her retreating figure and attempted dashed towards her.

I felt a familiar hand coil around my wrist, causing me to instantly wrench my hand away from it. My eyes darted around the cleared out hallway, only to realise she'd already gone to her next period. I groaned in disappointment and ran my fingers through my hair in a stressed out manner.

"Leo—"

"Now's not the right time, Michelle. Just give me a call after school, okay?" I gave her an apologetic pat on the shoulder, unbothered to even get a glimpse at her as I stormed out of the hallway through the main entrance of the school. I need some air for fuck's sake. I thought.

I needed to clear my head.

"Oh my God, I've literally done all I could to make Flo look like a horrible person in your eyes, and yet you're still incredibly in love with her! I even had to do fucking research about her dead mom just to get her to react the why she did! Don't you care about the way she attacked me? And yet you're still pining after her! What the hell is wrong with you?!" Michelle screeched after me before I could even completely step out of the hallway.

I whipped around in shock, my eyebrows sewn together in confusion as my eyes slightly twitched with anger. "What?" I growled.

Michelle paled and started to shake in nervousness as she slowly pulled a strand of hair behind her ear. "Oh, um, I mean—"

"What the fuck have you been saying to Flo?" I asked in a low voice, so upset that I couldn't even muster the energy to yell at her. Her mom's dead?

"I didn't say much—"

"Just tell me the fucking truth!" I screamed, a little surprised myself from my sudden raised voice.

Michelle squirmed in her position, unable to move an inch as she started to cry. "I had to!" She whimpered. I could feel my heart crack open with betrayal and it hurt like shit. "She was stealing you away from me, Leo! I need you! I need you to protect me and you need me! I know you do! We're so good together, can't you see that?" She shrieked, her voice cracking from all the crying.

"You're a fucking sociopath!" I shut my eyes and placed both of my hands on top of my head in resentment. "I'm such a fucking idiot." I muttered.

"Leo, please listen to me! We're perfect for each other — we always were! I need you." She cried as she shakily gripped on the hem of my shirt tightly. "You're making a huge mistake by going after her. Can't you see that Flo's only going to bring you down? She's bad news! She's not right for you—"

"I don't fucking care! She can break my heart for all I care!" I bellowed in outright rage, taking a major step away from her as if she could transmit a fatal disease over to me if I were to be any closer. "You have NO right to decide what's right or wrong for me, especially when it concerns who I want to date. I can't believe you would do this to me, after all we've been through. I thought we were friends."

     Michelle sobbed uncontrollably as she stood in front of me and I can't help but feel nothing for her. "Michelle, do you hate me?" I stared at her blankly.

     She looked up, her eyes red and swollen, and completely drenched in tears. "Of course not!" She exclaimed. "I love you!"

     "Then why are you trying so hard to get in the way of what would make me happy?"

     She looked at me, at a loss of words as tears started to fill up her eyes once again. I went back in, not even bothering to look at her as I pass by.

     I need to find Flo.

I rewrote this chapter extra long because you guys fucking deserve it. Thank you for being so damn patient with me.

Shoutout to Chloe60Scott This girl is the reason why I'm so motivated again so you could all owe it to her. Go check out her books, they're incredible!

Many more coming soon, and I really do mean it this time. :)