Location:Jewellery store, Hounslow High Street
Time:Evening, a few hours after the match
I didn't even realize I'd started walking toward them until I was already ten feet away.
The store was packed—gold everywhere, laughing women, clinking bangles, polished glass cases that glimmered like nothing mattered.
But right in the middle of it all, Sam and Laura stood side by side. She was smiling. He was leaning in close. They looked comfortable. Too comfortable.
She said she was at Nina's.
Sam said he was heading home.
My heart was still pounding from the match earlier—but this… this was a different kind of exhaustion. My lungs felt like they were filling with smoke.
I walked right up to them.
Laura was the first to notice me. Her smile faltered.
"Noah?"
Sam turned around, eyes wide.
"Yo… bro—"
"You two look cozy," I said. My voice was calm. Too calm.
Laura took a small step back. She was holding something—a silver bracelet or maybe a necklace. I didn't care.
"Thought you were at Nina's, Laura."
She swallowed. Her voice came out weak.
"I was going to tell you—"
"When? After dinner? Next week? Never?"
She looked down.
Sam ran his hand through his hair, clearly trying to come up with something.
"It's not what it looks like, bro."
"Don't 'bro' me right now," I said, stepping in closer. "You had a whole speech after the match. 'We're a team. We fight together.' Meanwhile, you were out here fighting for my girl?"
His jaw tightened.
"It's complicated."
"No, it's not," I snapped. "You're just the type who takes what he wants, even if it belongs to someone else."
Laura's voice cracked.
"We didn't mean for this to happen…"
"Yeah?" I looked at her. "You meant for something else, though. Like lying to my face all week?"
She winced.
"You don't understand, Noah. You've been… distant. Focused on your own stuff. I didn't know where we stood anymore."
"So you went to him?"
"I didn't plan it. It just… happened."
There it was. The classic line.
I laughed. Coldly. Loud enough that people near us started glancing over.
"You know what the worst part is?" I said, looking at both of them. "I expected more from you, Sam. At least with Laura, there was risk. But you? We've been friends since Year 9. And you still smiled in my face before stabbing me in the back."
Sam finally spoke up, trying to stay composed.
"Don't act like I haven't always had your back—"
"Except when it counted," I cut in. "Like today. You didn't pass. You never do. You don't trust anyone but yourself."
Silence.
"You played for yourself, just like you live for yourself. Everything's about you. Me, the team, even her—we're just background noise in your little main character life."
Laura looked like she wanted to disappear.
"Please, Noah. I didn't want it to go like this…"
"You didn't want anything, Laura. You just wanted to feel something. And now that it's ruined, you get to act sorry. But it's too late."
Sam looked down. For once, no cocky reply.
I turned to leave. My voice barely a whisper now.
"I hope whatever this is was worth it."
As I pushed through the crowd, I didn't stop to look back.
Not once.
Outside, the air was cool and heavy with pollution and leftover sunlight. The noise of the High Street buzzed behind me, but my brain was silent.
I didn't go home.
I walked.
Past shops. Past closed shutters. Past couples laughing over takeout.
My chest hurt. My hands were shaking. I'd given my heart to two people—and they both treated it like it was not.