WILL

Chloe's perfume had invaded Will's nostrils, and maybe killed his sinuses in the process. He never understood the deal with girls bathing in perfume. Wasn't it just supposed to mask the stink that came from their sweat?

Did they even sweat?

Will could swear he had never seen another girl sweat.

Wait why the fuck was he thinking this crap while hugging his girlfriend?

"Okay boo, how was soccer practice?" Chloe asked, smiling at him sweetly. It looked so unnatural, that smile. So...forced. Did he have something in his teeth?

"Ah it went as usual. One person fucked up and then Coach made us all do twenty push ups. How was your practice?"

Chloe, was the typical head cheerleader, with amber eyes and strawberry blonde hair. She was the kind who never wore the same hairstyle twice, always had this thick rim of glittery make-up around her eyes and this artificial glow on her face which never faded.

"Ugh Brittany was being a bitch as usual. Someone needs to tell her that getting lip fillers does not mean all the boys of the entire grade will swarm around her like a bunch of bees. Although it does look like a bee stung her. Maybe it works on regular bees..."

Will coughed out a laugh, "Yeah, it does look weird."

"And more than that, she thought you were checking her out. And I laughed so hard," Chloe said with a snicker. Will gave her an obligatory laugh as well. He never dared look at another girl, he didn't want Chloe to grow fangs and bite that girl's head off.

He liked his girlfriend. He did. But she became too negative and overwhelming sometimes. She never hesitated in bitching about someone, and she could never be able to keep a secret. He suspected a majority of rumors in the school were started by her.

He genuinely didn't think that Coach slept with three cheerleaders at once, those three cheerleaders being the ones that Chloe hated the most. Coincidence?

She herself was rumored to have been caught in girl's bathroom, getting stoned during a Math lecture. He didn't know what to believe at this point.

"Anyway, I need to go to the ladies room, toodles!" she said, and pressed a kiss on his cheek before hopping up the stairs.

He walked towards his car, and when he did reach the parking lot, his gym bag began vibrating. He found his phone ringing, a call from Chloe. He sighed, what did she want now?

"Hello?" he said. But he got no reply. Just some shuffling noises.

He smiled a little, she must have butt-dialed him or something. He was about to hang up, but then he heard a voice in the distance, and it was not Chloe's.

"Hey gorgeous," said the voice. Definitely a dude's.

"Hey babe," came Chloe's muffled voice. Wait what?

"Alone at last," came the dude's voice again. Will did not like where this was going.

He rushed to the school building and towards the closest girl's bathroom. He pressed his ear to the door, feeling like a total creep, but he had to know...

He checked three other bathrooms, and the fourth one was the one in which he heard strange noises. He burst the door open, without thinking, and a sickening sight unfolded in front of his eyes.

He couldn't describe it. He couldn't. He could just say that his relationship with Chloe was now over. Oh and he punched Stan in the face and left him lying on the floor of the girl's bathroom holding his bloody nose.

He walked out of the building, his hands curled up in shaking fists, as he forced his to hold the tears back. His mind was stuck in a storm of emotions and he wasn't being able to think straight. He could only see red, and there was blood pounding in his head.

He should have ended it long before, he shouldn't have given her an opportunity to break him. He knew their relationship was dead. He should have ended it.

He couldn't drive in this condition.

Matt picked up in two rings, "What's up?" he asked.

"Can you pick me up from school?" Will asked his childhood buddy.

"Why, something happen to your car?" Matt asked.

"Chloe cheated on me and I can't think straight, just come fast," Will said, offering no other explanation.

"I'll be there in five," was all Matt replied.

PENNY

Penny sat on the bench in the park, her feet folded on top of  the bench, with her head in her hands, which were placed on her knees. Her mother's words were resonating in her mind.

Basketball won't get you anywhere

Why won't she ever see that Penny was the only girl in the school team, the only girl coach had fought to keep on the team? Why was she so fucking sexist, thinking that girls were only good for studying and cheer-leading? Ugh.

'Join a business school to help with the business', she had said, that day when Penny had come home. But she wanted to go to an NCAA college. And coach had said that they were desperate for female players. Wasn't that perfect? 

She felt hot tears roll down her cheeks and onto her jeans which were now partially soaked from all the crying. Her parents would never understand what it was like to run around the court, the ball in your hands, as others cheered you on. They would never understand the rush you felt when the ball flew through the air and into the basket, when the crowd would go mad. They didn't understand the euphoria you felt when your teammates came and hugged you (no matter how gross, sweaty and disgusting you are) when you win.

Her heart was pounding from running all the way to the park after getting into a huge fight with her parents. Her mind was raging, at her parent's ignorance for her interests, at their selfishness. She wanted to scream out in frustration, because of all the pressure. She was not good with studies. She did not understand numbers. She only understood the patterns of basketball, only heard the rhythm of the ball beating against the ground, the swish of the net when the ball went in. She was not Emma, who got As even without studying.

Oh, shoot. She was supposed to meet Emma. She looked down at her watch and sighed. She was supposed to meet her two hours ago. The poor thing must've already left. 

She was angry with herself again. She always did this to Emma. Why was Emma still friends with her. Soon Emma too would realise what a mess Penny was and leave her. 

Penny felt more tears roll down her cheeks. She wanted to run around, kick a tree, actually, kick a person, to be precise. She just wanted to leave the town, go to the countryside, work as a waitress, and play basketball with the locals. Yes, she could do that.

You're being a coward, said that annoying little voice in her head.

But then, when she thought she would burst with all the frustration, she heard the strumming of a guitar, which seemingly calmed her down. She had heard the tune, she just couldn't recognise the song. But then the guy started singing and she understood.

"It's just another night
And I'm staring at the moon
I saw a shooting star
And thought of you
I sang a lullaby
By the waterside and knew
If you were here,
I'd sing to you
You're on the other side
As the skyline splits in two
I'm miles away from seeing you
I can see the stars
From America
I wonder, do you see them, too?"

It was All Of The Stars, Penny's favourite, from when John would sing it to her as they looked at the stars every time Penny had trouble sleeping. She lifted her head towards the sound. Her vision was blurry with tears, but she saw two figures on the bench close to hers, one of them strumming a guitar. She wiped at her tears and focused to see Matt, her teammate's, friend Kyle, sitting on the bench and singing, with another girl who was looking at her phone. Oh, she was that chic Vanessa, who he was dating.

He moved on to singing the chorus, his eyes were closed, as he was solely focussed on singing. Penny too closed her eyes, and swayed to her favourite song.

"So open your eyes and see
The way our horizons meet
And all of the lights will lead
Into the night with me
And I know these scars will bleed
But both of our hearts believe
All of these stars will guide us home"

He stopped and Penny opened her eyes again. Her breathing had become even, and the tears had stopped now. The song always did calm her down. How did he know that?

"Babe, how was it?", she heard Kyle speak.

Vanessa looked up from her phone, "Oh, um, amazing", then she got up and kissed him on the cheek, and Penny turned away, in case they decided to make out.

"Okay, babe. Girl emergency. Breakup. Gotta go", she said, then walked away. She looked back to see Kyle, who was now looking directly at her. She quickly looked away. But then felt a presence beside her.

"You okay?", he asked her.

"I'm fine", Penny answered, "Amazing singing, by the way. It was my favourite song."

Kyle smiled, and Penny felt strangely...happy, looking at him smile at her, "Oh yeah? Why?"

"My butler John used to sing it to me when I wouldn't be able to sleep at night. We used to lie down on the roof, and he used to sing it to me while I counted the stars", she said, then wondered why she said it. She never shared her personal life with anyone but Emma.

"John seems like a nice person", Kyle said with a smile.

"He is", Penny returned his smile. Suddenly Kyle's phone rang. He received it, and his expression turned from amused to serious. He cut the phone and looked at her. 

"I gotta go. A friend of mine just had a break up. Time to go to a stripclub", he said.

Penny's eyes widened at that. Didn't he have a girlfriend?

Kyle laughed at her expression, "Joking. I wouldn't let them enter one", he then turned around and walked to the entrance of the park, leaving Penny who felt much better now.