Chapter 175 Andrew Walker

Chapter 175 Andrew Walker
I had been staring at the same line for almost five minutes.

The words were there. They were supposed to mean something. They were supposed to become a song. But every time I read them, all I could see was Lily.

I sighed and dropped the pen onto the desk.

This was ridiculous.

I had spent the better part of the afternoon trying to write anything that wasn't about her, and somehow every road led back to the same place.

Lily.

Her voice, her laugh, her stubbornness, the way she looked at me when she was angry, and the way she looked at me when she wasn't.

I picked up the pen again. Maybe I could force myself to concentrate.

I wrote another line, then I stopped and crossed it out. I wrote another line, then I crossed it out again.

"Come on," I muttered. "Just write."

But I couldn't because the truth was, I wasn't thinking about music. I was thinking about the trip to Sabrina's house. I was thinking about the storm. I was thinking about the moment Lily had panicked in the car and how helpless I had felt watching her struggle to breathe.

I remembered pulling her closer. I remembered the way she eventually calmed down. And I remembered the conversation afterward.

The questions she had asked. The questions I had tried so hard not to answer, until I finally did.

I like you.

I closed my eyes.

Why had I said it?

Maybe because I was tired of pretending. Maybe because the storm had made everything feel different. Maybe because, for one selfish moment, I wanted her to know the truth.

But telling her hadn't changed anything. If anything, it made everything harder.

She wanted answers, but I had given her reasons.

Reasonable reasons. Necessary reasons. Reasons I believed with every part of me.

She was my brother's friend… She was my student. There were boundaries that existed for a reason. There were consequences that neither of us could afford.

I had seen what happened to people who convinced themselves that feelings were enough to overcome everything else.

It never ended well.

So I pushed her away. That was what I was supposed to do. It was the right thing even if it hurt. Even if I hated myself for it.

I opened my eyes and looked down at the unfinished song.

I tried to turn my thoughts into lyrics again,but every line became about her.

‘Someone I shouldn't want.’

I stared at the sentence, then I slowly crossed it out.

"No," I whispered. “I'm not doing this."

I tossed the pen onto the desk.

Maybe I should stop writing altogether. Maybe I should stop thinking altogether.

I leaned back in my chair and rubbed my face.

The office was quiet, but from outside, I could hear faint sounds from the school grounds. Normal things… Ordinary things were going on outside but my mind was anything but ordinary.

I thought about Lewis and his fake relationship with Lily.

I had told myself I wasn't going to interfere anymore. I had told them both to enjoy themselves. I had told Lily to look at Lewis differently. And now I couldn't even sit alone without thinking about her.

Maybe I was the hypocrite.

I had asked her to move on while I was still struggling to do the same.

I reached for the pen again, but before I could touch it, my phone rang.

I looked at the screen and my heart stopped when her name flashed on the screen.

Lily.

For several seconds, I stared at her name.

I didn't answer because my first instinct was to let it ring. Whatever she wanted to say, I probably shouldn't hear it.

Maybe she wanted to tell me about Lewis. Maybe she wanted to ask another question. Maybe she had remembered everything from that night and wanted to talk about it.

I didn't know.

And I wasn't sure I wanted to know.

The phone continued ringing.

I watched the screen for a few seconds. Then my hand moved before my mind could stop it.

I answered.

Silence greeted me.

"Lily?"

I heard her breathing and it was uneven. Something immediately felt wrong.

"Lily, what's happening?"

She didn't answer.

Her breathing became shakier.

My entire body tensed.

"Lily?"

"I..." Her voice cracked.

I stood up.

"What happened?"

"It's Lewis."

Everything inside me went cold.

"What about Lewis?"

"He..." She swallowed. "He got hurt."

My grip tightened around the phone.

"How?"

"I don't know," her voice was trembling. "It happened during practice."

I walked away from my desk.

"Is he conscious?"

"He should be."

The room suddenly felt too small.

"Where are you?"

"At the court."

"Stay there."

"I don't know..."

“Lily, stay there."

“I'm scared," she whispered.

Something inside me broke.

I had heard Lily scared before but this sounded different. This was fear that had nowhere to go.

"Listen to me,” I tried to keep my voice steady. "Stay with him."

"Andrew..."

"I'm coming."

"But…"

"I'm coming, Lily."

I grabbed my keys from the desk.

My unfinished song was forgotten, the notebook remained open, the crossed-out words staring back at me.

For a moment, I stood there. Then I realized something.

It didn't matter what I had been writing. It didn't matter what I had been thinking. It didn't matter what boundaries I had spent so much time convincing myself I had to protect.

Lewis was my brother and Lily was scared.

That was all that mattered.

I rushed out of the office.

As I moved through the hallway, my mind raced.

How bad was it? What had happened? Was he conscious? Was someone already helping him?

Why had Lily called me instead of someone else?

I didn't have answers and not knowing was driving me insane.

I pushed open the door and hurried towards the court.

My phone was still in my hand.

"Lily?"

"I'm here," she said faintly.

"Just try to stay am," I encouraged her.

"I don't know what to do."

"Just stay with him."

"Okay."

"Andrew?"

"Yes?"

"Please hurry."

I closed my eyes for half a second.

"I will."

I ended the call.

Every thought I had pushed away came rushing back.

Lily… Lewis… The fake relationship.

The arguments, the jealousy I had refused to name, the confession, the night at Sabrina's house… everything.

But none of it mattered now.

I didn't care about the fake relationship. I didn't care about what the school would say. I didn't care about the blog. I didn't care about what people thought of me.

I only cared about getting to my brother.

And yet, as I ran faster toward the court, one thought kept returning.

Lily had called me, not Lewis's coach.

The fact that she was with him during practice made my thoughts go wild again.

I pushed it away.

She had been frightened, and the first person she thought to call was me.

I didn't know what that meant. I didn't want to think about what it meant because right now, there was only one thing I was supposed to think about.

My brother was hurt.

And I was running to the court because of him.