Stuck Together

Life didn’t go his way. Anton sighed as he slumped on the bench at the waiting shed. His hiking backpack was finally put to use as he placed all of his belongings in one go. Regrettably, he left his bank card at his old apartment. His stomach growled profusely and the woman next to him looked at him with her judging eyes as she proceeded to scoot a bit farther from him.    He couldn’t blame her. He probably reeked of sweat and dirt since the last time he showered and Anton wasn’t sure to swallow his pride and beg his former teammates for a place to crash… or just a spare cash for food.   You could say, he’s homeless now. Two weeks after he left the apartment, he blocked all contacts from his friends and girlfriend. Girlfriend, huh? He smile

“Hey, the fuck did you do with my clothes?”    Anton didn’t need to look to know that once again, he had pissed off his roommate. As a matter of fact, his eyes were fixated with feeding Bessie as the golden retriever munched the last piece of doggie treats without a care. He wished he could at least trade places with Bessie even for a day.   “They’re in the washing machine and they’re about to be done.” At least she should say thank you. But any retorts coming from him might end him up on the streets again. No way he would experience that again.   Dark brown eyes narrowed as her lips curved into a scowl. Her long wavy hair was tied in a bun and she was wearing her red satin nightgown. He hadn’t noticed her glasses were placed on top of her head and he mentally slapped h

 Anton was always a light sleeper. Maybe because when he was at home, he needed to be a good older brother. Since his parents were often late, he had to cook and clean the house and sometimes he woke up from the sound of his baby sister’s cries and he had to sing or tell stories to put her to sleep.  Those were peaceful times despite his hectic schedule.  When he lived on the streets, he couldn’t sleep well. He was often worried about getting mugged or being arrested by the police.  The first time he had a deep sleep was when he arrived at Fin’s place. And he thought he could finally get enough sleep. 

When Mikey first met Anton, it was in highschool. It was at the cafeteria when he caught students whispering all over. He and his nerdy friend, Eric, were still freshmen then. Anton was begging Eric to join the football club while Eric was showing his complete annoyance. They were in their own world and most probably clueless of the eyes set on them. In Eric's case, he probably noticed since his eyes were clearly observing in his way. Even though he managed to get into their school with a full sports scholarship, he was the center of attention. Taller than most Asian guys and to some degree, Caucasians, he had a refreshing look that Mikey couldn't comprehend. But he noticed how Anton never remove

In sports, you can't avoid people with impulsive behavior. Some have a strong desire to win at the expense of strained relationships among the team, others for the sake of becoming better in their skills. Some took the initiative to deal with drugs. A coping mechanism he often heard from shower room gossip. Their team kicker, Caden, had the yips, he usually bawled each time he nervously kicked the ball during training. They considered him the dark horse of the team but the pressure they kept on him, made him psychologically incapable to please them. Thus, after two weeks of the yips, he miraculously overcame it and was doing successful kicks.