Catch Me (The RLU #5)

Prologue

Theo

First day of classes - Freshman year

T here’s something to be said about the paradox of a new beginning feeling like the end.

How moving forward in my life feels like I’m drifting further away from my true self and closer to this made-up version of me.

“Remember, son, today marks the start of working towards your dream. There’s no time for mistakes or laziness now.” My dad’s reprimanding tone is just as intimidating over the phone as it is in person.

Most freshmen are excited and nervous to start their new chapter at college, but me? It feels like signing my life away to the man currently giving me an earful early in the morning.

“I’m well aware, Dad,” I tell him, my eyes tracking everything going on around me as I walk to my first class of the day. There are professors walking around with briefcases and coffee, a group of students taking pictures in front of a building, and an underlying sense of urgency in the air, like everyone is in a hurry to be somewhere.

It makes my skin prickle with anxiety.

“Coach Davis is aware of your extra training sessions with Rob, and expects you to perform and show up to each team practice regardless. I scheduled the sessions early in the mornings to avoid it overlapping with any team commitments,” he explains, making my stomach coil at the idea of early mornings every day for the next four years.

But I do what I do best, and please everyone around me.

“Thanks for doing that, Dad. I want to be the best, and that’s going to help me stay in peak shape which will improve my game play. Do you think I’ll get the attention of scouts this year?” I ask, sounding more interested than I actually am.

“If you work hard like you’ve been doing since you were a boy, then yes. You’re a freshman, but you’ve got the skills to outperform the starting quarterback. When you get your chance to show it, don’t hold back.”

“You know I will,” I assure him.

I hear my dad clear his throat, his telltale sign that he’s about to bring up something that will make us both uncomfortable.

“Theo, I know there will be a lot of girls trying to get with you, but you need to be careful. Those girls are only looking for one thing. Don’t get seriously involved, you hear me? If you do need to, you know … please wear protection,” he utters the last part, sighing as he does.

“I know how to be safe, Dad.” I chuckle uncomfortably, wanting to get the hell off this topic. “The way my schedule is looking between personal training, team commitments, and my classes, I won’t even have time to look at girls. So, don’t worry.”

“Good, keep it that way and get to class. You have a reputation to uphold as soon as you step foot on campus, so make it a good one,” he ends the phone call with one last demand, hanging up before I can even say goodbye.

I pocket my phone as I arrive early for my elective creative writing class, my hands clammy at the idea of sitting in my first ever university lecture. I wrap my fingers around the fidget cube in my pocket and fiddle with it, my breathing slowly steadying with the distraction.

I open the door and find a grand lecture hall, which looks like it could fit a thousand freshmen, completely empty. My dad always enforced the idea of being as good a student as I am a football player, which means showing up early to my classes and getting the best seat where I won’t be distracted.

So here I am, early as fuck, and taking the seat smack dab in the middle of the front row.

I look around the empty room, wondering how the hell high school is over already. Those four years flew by, and I’m worried these four will go by just as quickly.

This all feels way too grown up for me.

I’m used to being the goofball, the outgoing one, the life of the party. My fun persona is the only time I get to feel genuine joy, because otherwise, I’m following someone else’s orders.

But right now, everything suddenly feels more serious. It’s like I’m at the beginning of that LIFE board game, and every little action will determine how my life moves forward.

It’ll decide if I’m worthy of getting scouted by a professional football team and going pro.

It’ll tell my father if I’m worthy enough too.

Our professor already posted the syllabus on our course website, so I reach into my bag to begin the readings to avoid falling behind, even though we literally just started. With how busy I’m going to be, I’ll take any chance I can to stay on top of things.

I’m about to pull out my textbook when the lecture hall door swings open, revealing the prettiest girl I’ve ever laid eyes on. My previous whirling thoughts come to an absolute halt as I take her in.

She’s short, with killer curves, and long, dark brown waves cascading down to her waist. I admire her as she takes in the room, her eyes wide in shock. But there’s a smile on her lips too.

A devastatingly-gorgeous smile.

God, she’s so beautiful.

Her eyes finally find mine, and her smile instantly disappears, a wave of embarrassment clouding her face upon realizing she isn’t alone.

And holy shit, she’s got the prettiest shade of brown eyes, a honey-like hue.

A long moment passes before I decide to break the silence with some humor, hoping it’ll bring that smile back. “I guess we’re the teacher’s pets, huh?”

“I, uh—I guess so.” She chuckles softly, placing her backpack on the seat at the end of my row.

I pretend to sniff myself. “Do I smell bad or something?”

Her head snaps up, confusion written all over her face. “What?”

“Is that why you’re not sitting next to me?” I smile, letting her know I’m just teasing.

Pretty Girl’s lips open, close, then open again. “Well ... I thought it might be weird to sit right next to you. I don’t even know you.”

“We can change that, if you’d like.”

“You can get to know me from here,” she says, sliding into her seat, unbothered as she begins taking her things out of her bag.

“Alright, what’s your name?” I ask, starting off easy.

“Marcela Bass, and you are?”

“Theo,” I purposely leave out my last name. She has no idea who my dad is, and I want to keep it that way. “And your major?”

“English, you?” She looks over to me briefly, then opens her pink notebook.

“Biology.”

Marcela’s head swings back to me. “Why are you here then? In a creative writing class?”

I shrug, deciding to take out my notebook as well. “I needed an elective and this seemed like fun.”

She says nothing to that, and from her soft tone and slight hesitation, I get the vibe that she’s shy. Nothing wrong with that, I’ve always been able to talk to anyone. I twist my body to face her. “How are you feeling about your first day as a freshman?”

With her head buried in her notebook, she softly says, “Good.”

“You’re not nervous at all? C’mon, I can’t be alone in this,” I plead, being dramatic.

“You don’t seem nervous,” Marcela points out, still not looking at me.

“It’s my charming personality, isn’t it?” I wink, not that she sees it.

She finally turns to me, pity on her face. “I—”

The doors open, and a slew of students make their way into the room, cutting her off. People quickly fill the space between us, and class starts shortly after, but it doesn’t stop my eyes from darting her way every thirty seconds for the entire lecture.

That happens every class of the first semester, she always sits at the end of the row, and I’m in the middle. Always keeping her distance.

When creative writing comes to an end in December, it’s the last I see of her until sophomore year. She works as a waitress at Beers ‘n’ Cheers, our local on-campus sports bar.

You could say I’d become a regular—or at least tried to—between my insane school schedule.

I take every opportunity to talk to her, throwing in some harmless flirting whenever I can. She never flirts and is always nice, until she finally tells me she has a boyfriend, and I instantly back off.

Do I ever lose hope though? Fucking right, I don’t.

Call it delusion, but I call it fate. There’s a reason we showed up early to that creative writing class, We were meant to meet that day. She intrigues me, on top of being the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen, and she made me smile on a day I was dreading the most.

Despite all of the obstacles between us, I know there is more for us.

Now that she’s single and we’re both heading into senior year, I know all of this pining for her won’t have been for nothing.

Over the years, I’ve gotten to know Marcela, and I’ve grown to like her.

A lot.

That’s my girl, and when given the chance, I’m going to do everything I can to show her that.