Chapter Two: The One With Dreams and Rules

“Are you really leaving, Fin?” Twelve year old Anton looked glum as his eyes staring absent-mindedly at his two feet.

“Can’t help it.” Fin shrugged as he threw the football towards Anton who caught it perfectly. “I mean my family’s happy after dad got a promotion.”

“You know, it’s not fair!” Anton exclaimed as he threw the ball back. “You are homeschooled so we never get the chance to create our own football team.”

“It’s all about bad timing, Anton,” Fin said, nonchalantly and threw it back to him.

“Well, it won’t be the same, Fin. Football doesn’t feel fun anymore without you.” A ball back to Fin. 

Fin sighed and as if something hit him, he suddenly threw an overhead pass which caught Anton off-guard. 

Luckily, with his athletic reflex, he jumped off and swiftly caught the ball in the air. “What the hell was that for?!”

“Nice catch!” Fin grinned. “You know you can definitely be a great tight end if you want to, Anton.”

“Oh I couldn’t steal that position from Greg.”

“He will be fine! He’ll be happier to take yours as the running back in the team.”

“Not in a million years!”

Both of them laughed then Anton finally caught on with Fin’s intentions. “Hey, did you throw it to me so we could change the subject?”

“Ah shoot, I got caught,” Fin said as he chuckled. He went closer to Anton and patted his shoulder. “Listen, Anton. I hate cheesy goodbyes so I’ll make this straight.”

“Yeah?”

“I will definitely come back here to study at my dream university in Michigan. I want to be like Tom Brady and reach the top! And well, I was hoping to be in the same team as you someday.”

“Y-you really mean it?”

“Of course! I won’t be the best quarterback out there if I don’t have my fastest runner with me.”

Anton grinned as he showed his pinkie. “Then, I’ll be the best running back in here so I could get a scholarship. I’ll be waiting for you in Michigan, Fin.”

“Promise?” Fin’s small finger interlaced with his.

“Promise.”

---

The first thing that came to his mind when he woke up was the warmth of the cushion on his back. Not to mention the temperature of the surrounding felt so much better than dealing with the cold concrete of the subway for those two weeks.

Anton wanted to sleep longer till he realized the reality of the situation. He suddenly jolted up, his eyes widened when fresh new memories resurfaced in his mind.

He met Fin, didn’t he? Not only that, Fin turned out to be a woman and not the manliest guy. Oh boy, he kept bragging about it to his friends all his life!

God, didn’t Eric know?

“So, what’s your relationship with the boss lady?” 

Anton almost screamed when he saw the same shop assistant from Fin’s jewelry shop, sitting on the stool next to the bed.  She was beaming widely from cheek to cheek.

He didn’t sense her sitting next to him at all. 

“I-uh- Blaire, right?”

“Ooh! You even know my name?” She gave a dramatic gasp. 

“Your name tag says it, unless it's just an alias or something.”

“Oh! For a second there, I thought we had met in the past!” She giggled.

Blaire looks really young to be working in the jewelry shop. But then again, she could pass as a highschooler or a freshman in the university. 

“H-how long have I been sleeping?” 

“Just only for 14 hours, you were even snoring really loud when I arrived. Oh and here’s your meal!” She placed a huge lunch box on his bed. “I cook all the nutritious food needed for the hungry,” she grinned.

Anton carefully opened the lid to see Korean kimbap rolls on the side, garnished with lemon citrus and some Korean soup that had a stronger lingering smell that made his stomach grumble. There were sprinkled seaweed on top of the rolls of omelette and he couldn’t resist but to grab one roll and swallow it.

“It’s delicious!” He immediately wolfed down the lunch box to his desire. His mother can scold him for his lack of manners, but he hadn’t eaten anything good since…since the breakup.

Blaire on the other hand, continued to stare at him as he continued munching his meal. She didn’t seem disgusted with the scene as she continued to smile.

“So, is the boss lady your girlfriend—oh wait, you thought of her as a guy, soo, uhm, boyfriend, maybe?”

He almost choked when she asked that since four of the kimbaps were already stuffed in his mouth. As if by auto-pilot, Blaire took out a water bottle and gave it to him. 

“Of course not!” Anton retorted after drinking the water. “He—She was a childhood friend and I was looking for hi—her.” He hadn’t been used to calling his hero a “she” till now.

“I see.” she giggled. “Honestly, I haven’t seen her embarrassed like that before.”

“Err… where is she?”

“Oh, she’s talking to your friend using your phone. He had been calling you for like forty times since you arrived at the store. That guy Eric, right? Well, he filled in the details for us, so we immediately asked the shop assistant nearby to carry you to the boss lady’s place since it’s close by.”

“I—” Anton flushed. “Sorry for that.”

“No worries, you should really take care of yourself, you know.”

 Then he scanned the room which is still empty with the exception of the bed and the bedside table with a small typical lamp next to him. “This room is nearly empty.”

“The boss lady recently moved here a month ago. I guess the same time she launched the store. It’s actually my first time being in her place.”

“I see. So she finally came back and started her jewelry line,” he said, disappointment was clearly visible on the way he commented. Blaire easily caught that.

“You should go talk to her, Anton,” she said as she stood up. “I’m going to bring her here.”

“Oh! I—Thank you for the food and well, for everything, Blaire. It was nice chatting with you.” he  smiled.

“You should smile often.” she giggled. “It looks perfect on your handsome face.” And just like that she left the room, leaving him with a now empty lunch box.

He placed the lunch box next to the table as he sighed. 

Now that he met Fin again, what are they going to do? It seemed so awkward just being next to her.

Not to mention, the way she scowled at him, the way that the frown which became naturally plastered to her face didn’t resemble the old Fin Naese he used to know.

The Fin he knew was more talkative and cheerful. And the younger Fin had the aura of a prideful alpha male.

The door opened from behind and he glanced on his shoulder to see Fin coming inside. She still had that scowled on her face. 

 “Hey, Fin.”

She didn’t reply as she sat on the chair where Blaire sat earlier, glaring eyes darted at him and he gave an unintentional yelp.

He would never have thought Fin looked so intimidating with those metallic stud earrings piercing her whole left earlobe. Her face was the same as he could remember minus the glare and the scowl plastered on her face. 

This is not the Fin he used to know.

“From now on, you’ll be staying in this room.”

“Come again?” His eyes are probably as big as a saucer by now.

She gave a deep sigh. It seemed that it was even harder for her to speak since she didn’t answer quickly. “You are going to stay here in the meantime until you find yourself a place to stay.”

“Seriously?!” His upper body jolted as he clasped her hands. “That’s—”

“Also,” she immediately cut him off. “There are rules you need to follow.” She released her hands from his grasp as she continued, “Rule number one, you’re not allowed to enter my room. Rule number two, you have to be in your room each time I leave the bathroom because I’d rather dry my hair in the living room.”

“Ah, you don’t need to worry about that! Since all this time I’ve seen you as a guy, I have never seen you as a woman at all. So no worries!” He chuckled.

For some strange reason, Fin’s scowl got even worse. Her face clearly showed irritability instead of impatience. 

“In that fucking sense rule number three, you have no right to question me. I’d rather mind our own business until you’re ready to go, capiche?”

Anton could only look at her. Why won’t she allow him to ask questions? There are so many things he wanted to ask but she won’t give him the chance to speak.

What the heck did he say to piss her off?

No questions at all? He looked at her, worriedly. “But why?”

“And you failed before we got started,” she said as she rolled her eyes. “Look, we have no choice here. If you go on your own, your friend is probably going to wring my neck.”

“But why?” He repeated, this time his voice an octave higher. “Fin, I’ve been looking for you since I entered school, do I have a say on this?” He tried to compose himself but he couldn’t. All he could think about was their time as friends at that park years ago. “What about our dream? What about...what about football, Fin?”

Fin didn’t say anything. Instead, she stood up and turned her heel to the direction of the door. “One last thing,” she said, her voice sounding disgruntled. She slowly walked towards the door while Anton could only stare at her.

 “Rule number four: Never talk to me about football. Ever.”

And with that, she closed the door.