Chapter 134 CHAPTER 134
Sebastian woke to screaming.
High-pitched, sharp, tearing through his skull like glass. His body jolted upright before his mind caught up, heart hammering as noise crashed in from every direction.
“Get away from me!”
“What is he doing here?!”
“Is he sick or something?!”
Sebastian blinked hard. Light stabbed at his eyes. The ceiling above him was white and unfamiliar, fluorescent lights buzzing angrily. His head throbbed, heavy and thick, like it had been stuffed with cotton.
Then he saw them.
Girls.
Too many of them.
They were standing in a tight circle around him, backs pressed against lockers, gym bags clutched to their chests, towels half-draped over bare shoulders. Sports jerseys. Track shorts. Damp hair. Steam still clinging to the air.
The girls’ locker room.
The realization hit him like a punch to the chest.
“What…” His voice came out hoarse. He looked down and froze.
His shirt was unbuttoned halfway. One sleeve was twisted, like it had been pulled in a hurry. His jacket was gone. His shoes were still on, but crooked, untied.
“Why is there a boy in here?! Wait, did he come here to peep at us changing and….” She covered her mouth as she pointed to his half pulled trousers.
“Cover up!” another girl shouted, grabbing a towel and throwing it at him. It hit his shoulder and slid to the floor.
Sebastian stood up too fast. The room tilted. His knees buckled, and he had to grab the bench to steady himself.
“I…I don’t know how I got here,” he said, holding his hands up. “I swear. It’s not like that.”
“Yeah, right,” a girl snapped. “You expect us to believe that?”
One of them hit him with a sweatshirt, not hard, but enough to make her point. Others followed, tossing clothes, shoes, water bottles.
“Pervert!”
“Freak!”
“Get out!”
Sebastian’s ears rang. His heart was pounding so loudly he could barely hear them anymore. He shook his head, trying to pull his thoughts together, but everything felt slippery.
“I didn’t come in here on purpose,” he said again. “Please. I wouldn’t…”
Someone stepped forward, squinting at his face.
“Wait,” she said. “Isn’t that… Sebastian?”
The screaming faltered.
The girls stared at him more closely now. Recognition spread through the room like a slow ripple.
“Oh.”
“It’s him.”
“That Sebastian.”
The mood shifted - not softer, but cautious.
“Well,” one girl said, crossing her arms, “you’re lucky.”
“Yeah,” another muttered. “If it was anyone else, we’d already be calling Coach.”
Sebastian swallowed. His mouth was dry.
“Just go,” someone snapped. “Before we change our minds.”
He didn’t argue. He grabbed the towel off the floor and wrapped it awkwardly around his waist as he pushed past them. His hands shook as he zipped up and buttoned his shirt while walking, fingers clumsy and slow.
He didn’t look back.
The hallway outside the locker rooms was empty. Too empty.
The bell had long since rung. Lockers were shut. Lights were dimmed. The air smelled faintly of disinfectant and rain drifting in from open doors somewhere down the corridor.
Sebastian stopped and leaned against the wall, breathing hard.
What the hell just happened?
He tried to remember.
There was… class. Math, maybe. Someone talking. Then…
Nothing.
Just blank space.
His head ached fiercely now, a dull pressure spreading behind his eyes. His limbs felt heavy, like he’d run for hours without rest.
He checked his phone. The screen lit up.
7:12 p.m.
His stomach dropped.
Classes had ended hours ago.
Practice had ended too.
He pushed off the wall and walked toward the parking lot, his footsteps echoing too loudly in the quiet building. Outside, the sky was already darkening, streaks of purple and gray settling over the school grounds.
Only a few cars remained in the lot. Most people were gone.
He unlocked his car and sank into the driver’s seat, resting his forehead briefly against the steering wheel.
Think.
The last thing he remembered clearly was… Lisa.
Or the idea of her.
Not her face exactly. Just the feeling that she wanted to see him. That she had something important to say.
He scratched his head, frustrated, then slipped his hand into his pocket without thinking.
His fingers brushed paper.
He frowned and pulled it out.
A folded note.
His breath caught as he opened it.
It was the note Sarah had written earlier pretending to be Lisa.
His chest tightened.
“So I did come,” he murmured. “Didn’t I?”
That meant something happened in the locker room. Something real. Something he just… couldn’t reach.
His head throbbed as he leaned back against the seat, eyes unfocused on the dark windshield. He tried to replay the day from the beginning, dragging each memory forward like it might finally confess.
That morning.
King Ethan.
The warning came back suddenly, sharp enough to sting.
Stay away from my sister.
Sebastian’s jaw tightened.
What if they saw me? he wondered. What if one of her guards followed me? What if I went to meet her and they dragged me away before she even got there?
The idea settled uneasily in his chest.
Did they grab me? Did they shove me into the locker room and knock me out? Was that why my head felt like this - like something heavy had been dropped inside it?
He touched the side of his skull, searching for tenderness, bruises, anything that would explain the blank space.
Nothing.
Another thought crept in, slower, more painful.
What if I said something stupid?
The possibility made his stomach twist.
What if she did come… and I ruined it?
Maybe she tried to forgive him. Maybe she wanted to say something important, something private. That would explain the note. That would explain the secrecy.
And maybe he opened his mouth and proved, once again, that he didn’t deserve it.
The girls screaming flashed through his mind. The disgust. The way they’d looked at him.
Was that what I did? he wondered. Did I cross a line? Say something wrong?
He remembered his half nakedness. His chest felt tight now, breath shallow. What if… He stopped his mind from going there.
And then another question rose, quiet and cold.
Why would they leave me there?
If the guard had attacked him, if someone had punished him, why wasn’t he thrown out? Why wasn’t he dragged to an office, or reported, or sent home?
Why wake up alone?
Why half-dressed?
None of it fit. Every explanation cracked apart the moment he pressed on it.
All he knew was that time had been taken from him. Stolen cleanly enough that it didn’t even hurt - just left a hollow behind.
Sebastian looked down at the note again, smoothing the creases with his thumb.
Meet me.
His chest ached with something he couldn’t name.
Whatever happened in that locker room…
whatever he lost there…
It mattered.
But the memory still wouldn’t come.
A knock on his window made him jump.
“Sebastian.”
He looked up to see his coach standing beside the car, arms crossed, expression dark.
Sebastian rolled down the window. “Coach.”
“What are you doing here?” the coach asked. “And why weren’t you at practice?”
Sebastian hesitated. “I… I don’t know.”
The coach’s jaw tightened. “That’s not an answer.”
“My teachers told me you skipped afternoon classes too,” he continued. “Your grades are slipping. Now you’re missing training?”
Sebastian ran a hand through his hair. “It wasn’t intentional. I swear.”
“I’ve been lenient with you,” the coach said sharply. “Too lenient. And now you’re taking advantage of it.”
“That’s not…”
“You need to decide what you want,” the coach cut in. “Football and school, or running after skirts.”
Sebastian flinched.
“I’m guessing this has something to do with that girl,” the coach added. “Again.”
Sebastian opened his mouth, then closed it. He didn’t even know what to say anymore.
“Tomorrow,” the coach said, stepping back, “you report to practice early. Before everyone else. Push-ups. Laps. Whatever I feel like assigning. I can’t keep covering for you.”
He turned and walked away without waiting for a response.
Sebastian sat there for a long moment, the note clenched in his fist, head pounding.
By the time he drove home, his body felt like it weighed twice as much as it should have.
He slowed as he approached his street.
Someone was standing near the corner.
Sarah.
She stepped closer as his headlights washed over her. He stopped the car and rolled down the window again.
“Sebastian,” she said softly. “You’re just getting home from practice?”
“Yeah,” he replied automatically. “Something like that.”
She tilted her head, studying him. “You look off. Is something wrong?”
“No,” he said. “I’m fine.”
His hand stayed in his pocket, fingers worrying the edge of the note.
Sarah’s eyes flicked down briefly, then back to his face. Her smile didn’t change.
“Well,” she said lightly, “since you don’t want to be seen with me in public, I should probably go.”
Sebastian frowned. “What?”
“I don’t want to upset your dad,” she continued. “He doesn’t seem to like me much these days.”
She stepped back from the car. “Get some rest, okay?”
Before he could respond, she turned and walked away.
Sebastian watched her disappear down the street.
He sat there for a long time after that, engine idling, the note still crumpled in his hand, his head still aching.
And somewhere behind him, Sarah smiled.