Page 75 of High Baller

“Yeah, sure.”

"I'm going home.” I walk back into the house, and head over to give Jade a kiss.

"I'll come over later, Trey. I'm sorry,” she whispers, and I nod.

I walk over to my Ma next. "I'll see you when I get back from the next game," I tell her. She opens her mouth to say something, but I stop her. "Ma, I'm really not in the mood to hear it, so I’ll see you when I get back.”

I leave without speaking to Madison. She’s done enough for one morning; I don’t need more shit from her.

At the moment, I don't want to hear anything from anyone unless they want to tell me that Sky wants to talk to me, other than that, I really don't give a shit.

Trey - I'm not giving up on us, shorty. I love you.

I know she’s seen the message, and is still online. I feel sick to my stomach that she’s still not giving me the chance to talk to her, to tell her nothing happened. I watch the green dot, silently praying for a reply, but then it disappears. I’ve told her over and over that I’m not giving up, and I won’t. This day has only just gotten started.

Chapter 20

Sky

You watch movies and TV shows where the character gets their heartbroken, and you feel their pain, but when you go through it yourself, you feel like nothing else in the world matters… Nothing. I could've told the press that we were still together, but if I did, they would've still been outside my house wanting me to give them the gossip on all things Trey King. They'd always be hanging around, waiting for me to come out so they could harass me some more, hoping I’d lose it and blow up, spilling our secrets while they held their recorders in the air and their cameras in my face. I wasn’t going to let that happen, so I made the hard choice to say we had split up, it worked they left.

I don't hate Trey because I was in love with him—I’m still in love with him. I told Calvin that I don't want to talk to Trey, and I put him in charge of my phone in case I caved and called him. It was only when Trey wouldn’t stop calling and messaging that I got it back to tell him to leave me alone.

Derek said that Trey didn't do anything, so did all of his messages, but I saw it. I saw the women, and I saw the drugs. The vision is still so fresh in my mind that I can’t believe anything than what I saw with my own eyes. The pain grips me again as a fresh wave of tears roll down my face, remembering how he looked so peaceful in his sleep, women’s naked bodies draped across his bed as though they were invited, and the drugs were just an addition to their private party.

"Right, the spare bed will be here today, and Finn’s getting some friends to bring it over.” Calvin walks further into my bedroom and sits on the floor next to me. "I brought a pizza for lunch."

I rest my head on his shoulder. I've never needed my best friend more than I do right now. He’s helped me through this, he's lent me some money to buy some clothes, as I had none. Dave bought me a fridge and has also lent me some money. The amount I have left in my account isn’t enough to cover what I need.

"Derek called me again, and Trey…” He takes my hand in his. “Do you want to talk to him yet?"

I lift my head off his shoulders. "Should I?"

"Sky, at the moment, I don't know what to believe. Derek has been telling me over and over again that Trey didn't do it, but you're the one that has to believe him."

I've cried so much over this that my eyes burn whenever I blink. I chew on my lower lip as I rest my head against the wall. "How long do you think it’ll be until my parents come knocking on the door?"

They haven't gotten in contact with me since they took everything, and I hope this is the last I hear from them, but I really don't believe that's the case. The second they run out of cash, they’ll be here again.

"Won't be too long," Calvin tells me as he gets up. He walks to the front of the house as the door opens. "Finn's here with your bed!”

I get up and walk over to them, and smile at Finn's friends. "Thank you so much for this," I say as he wraps his arms around me and gives me a big hug.

"Always here to help you," Finn tells me, and I can't help but shed another tear.

This is how my life has turned out. Taking things from my friends, borrowing money from them… I'm going to use the money that I was giving Calvin to look after for a deposit on a new place so I can get out of here sooner.

I think, deep down, I knew this day would come, that my parents would cross every line and leave me nothing.

"In there," Calvin tells Finn's friends, and I watch as they walk past me. "Yes, they’re all good looking.” His eyes follow their movements. “Models." That makes me laugh, this is the first time I've laughed since all this has started. "So that’s how it sounds, you laughing again." Calvin wraps his arms around me.

I can never ask for a better friend than him.

My phone beeps, and I know who it is already before I pull it out of my pocket.

Trey - Can we please talk?

I show Calvin the message as my phone beeps again.