forum Dorm Room 210 [Private RP // Closed — Stalkers welcome!]

Started February 26, 2019 by @Imperfect_Autumn group

tune

William set his empty ice cream cup on the side, eyes flickering back to Amber. Finally, he opened his mouth to respond.

“You’re welcome,” he muttered. “It’s late. We should go back.”

“Yeah, we should,” Amber agreed quietly as she stood. This was getting to be a really long… time, for lack of a better word.

William discarded his cup, walking over to the exit and holding the door open. He didn’t bother looking at Amber. The sooner they got home, the better.

[Tuesday, December 4, 2018]

William strolled into the gym, keeping his face blank. He ignored the greetings of his teammates—only walked towards a basketball, picked it up and tossed it in the air. He caught it, eyes going towards Jace, who had been talking to Jude. The male didn’t look as energetic as he had been, but William overlooked it.

Just like he’d done the time Jace was late, William threw the ball towards him, watching in satisfaction as Jace froze, the ball whizzing past him and slamming into the wall. He slowly turned to look at William, who met his gaze in cold fire.

“Jace Foster,” William’s voice was loud and clear. “I challenge you. One-on-one, you and me.”

"Oh my gosh, did you hear?"

"Hear what?"

"William Jones just challenged Jace Foster in basketball to a one on one…"

Amber had been walking down the hallway when she heard the conversation between a couple of guys. She paused, her eyebrows furrowing slightly in confusion. What were they talking about? Maybe she should go to the gym and see what this was all about…

The entire basketball team whipped their heads towards William, eyes widened.

“William, what are you—?” Jordan started, but William cut him off.

“Mind your own business, Captain,” he said rather harshly. He continued to stare at a startled Jace. “How about it, Foster? Me and you for my position at the team. If you win, you become the main player. If I win… you do something for me.”

“Listen, William, can we—?” Drew reached out to touch William’s shoulder, but he slapped it away, shooting a glare towards Drew. He backed off.

“I issued a challenge,” William folded his arms. “None of you have the right to interfere. Isn’t that right, Coach?”

The older man sighed, nodding, his wrinkled face full of concern. William quirked an eyebrow at Jace, who began to walk towards him.

“What are the rules?” He inquired and William met his gaze head-on.

“Ten minutes,” William answered slowly, as if he were speaking with a child. “You have ten minutes to earn a point against me. If you win, like I said, I will bench out. If I win… well, you’ll do something for me.”

Jace agreed without objections. One point in ten minutes—that would be easy.

By the time the rules and stakes had been settled, Amber was just stepping into the gymnasium. She heard what was being bet and walked over to the bleachers. So far, she couldn't see anything wrong with what they were doing. Maybe it was really nothing?

(Not really going to describe the game…)

Both boys walked over to the court, and then the game began. When the whistle blew, the look in William’s eyes changed.

Jace didn’t stand a chance. When the time ended, William had a score of 34. Jace scored nothing, and even then, the younger man knew his teammate had been going easy.

“Well… I suppose I won, huh?” William tilted his head, wiping the sweat from his shirt.

Jace said nothing. He just tried to catch his breath, hands on his knees, teeth gritted. William stared him no glance. His eyes fell across the bleachers, trying to find familiar eyes. When he finally caught them, they narrowed.

“Blue,” he called out loudly, tilting his head. “Come here.”

What the heck was he planning? Why did he need her to come up to the court?

Amber frowned as she stood, crossing her arms over her chest. She slowly made her way down and raised her eyebrows at him questioningly. There was no way she was even going to look at Jace, much less talk to him…

Jace avoided Amber’s gaze while she walked over, but William kept his eyes on her. When she was standing in front of him, he turned towards Jace.

“Apologize,” though William’s voice was soft, there was a certain edge to it. Jace whipped his head up, confusion present on his features. William offered a roll of his eyes. “You know why, Tweedle Dee. Apologize.”

“You mean—“ he finally looked at Amber, wincing involuntarily. “You… you found out…”

Amber glared at William when he spoke. He had no right to do this. This was her fight. She could handle it. And now he was just going to make it known to basically everyone that she was cheated on by her boyfriend and best friend.

“Yes, I found out,” she started slowly, still refusing to look at him. “I was coming to surprise you and passed and empty classroom. And then I saw two heads of familiar hair inside… And the people attached to them making out.”

Jace flinched again, looking down, unable to meet Amber’s eyes.

“Can we… can we talk about this later?” He whispered. “I wanted to tell you—I swear I did, but…”

Amber finally looked at him, her glare turning harsh. “No. I don’t want to talk to you any more than I have to.”

“Amber, please,” Jace pleaded. “At least give me a chance to explain myself.”

“No, Jace. Not right now. I’ll come to you when I’m ready to talk,” Amber said, her voice hard and leaving no room for argument.

“I’m sorry,” he said in a quiet voice. “I really am. And whenever you’re ready to talk, we’ll talk.”

“Whatever you say, Jace,” Amber muttered before turning her gaze back to William. “Are we done here now?”

William, who had been looking at Jace, turned his attention towards Amber.

“You are, yes,” he answered, quirking an eyebrow. Yes, he hadn’t expected her to be pleased with what he did. Still, he didn’t care.

“Good,” Amber huffed before sliding her backpack up higher on her shoulder. She didn’t look back as she walked out of the gym, heading towards the dorm. She was going to have a nice talk with William when he got back…

“Okay, what was that for?” Jace finally whipped his head towards William. “You had no right to do that.”

“Just like you had no right to do what you did?” William quirked an eyebrow. “You won’t run away anymore, not when you’re aware Blue knows.”

“I admit, that was out of the line, William,” Parker crossed his arms. “You barged in on someone else’s business. That’s not okay.”

“Isn’t it, though?” William quirked an eyebrow. “He keeps on talking about being the Shooting Guard, but what about his skills? He wants to replace me in the team, but with what qualifications? He skips practice, he causes distractions—everything he does, it’s for his sake, not the team’s. He had one relationship and he couldn’t even protect that. I don’t care what the rest of you think, but someone like that doesn’t deserve to even be on the team.”

“I don’t think you have the right to decide that,” Drew said quietly. “That’s the job of a Captain. You could have talked to us, but you issued a challenge.”

“William’s right,” Jordan cut in with a sigh. “It’s my fault. I should have cut in as the team’s leader, but I didn’t. Still, I wish you would have talked to us first. I’m not kicking Jace out of the team—“

“And I’m not asking you to,” Jace looked at William in alarm. “The team needs him, but he needs to realize that first. Basketball isn’t a first priority for most of you, but when you barge into something, you give it your all. It becomes your priority and you never let anyone get in the way of it.”

Those who noticed the second meaning behind William’s words didn’t comment on it. The tall player shook his head and walked out, grabbing his bag as he did so. Now all that was left was an earful from Amber. That, he was not looking forward to.

Amber was pacing the living room and kitchen when William opened the door. She walked over and stood in front of him, eyes narrowed and arms crossed over her chest.

“You had no right to do what you did,” she started with deadly calm. “You cannot just butt into other people’s business like that! I can’t believe you just did that, William.”

William stared down at her before he walked around her, making his way into the kitchen. Couldn’t he at least get a chance to drink water first?

“I simply taught him a lesson,” he said calmly, opening a cabinet to take out a glass. “I don’t see what’s wrong with that.”

Amber spun on her heel and followed after him, glowering at him from the doorway.

“You weren’t a part of this. You didn’t need to teach him a lesson. I was going to talk to him. I should have been the one teaching him a lesson if I deemed it necessary! You just decided that you needed to deal with something you had no part in!” she exclaimed. “Why would you think that was okay? Did you really think I would be okay with that?”

William returned her glare with his own, setting down his glass before he broke it.

“What I did was for my team. The longer you waited around the bush, the more he would have caused problems for all of us. I gave him a chance to realize what he was expecting and what he was doing did not stand at the same level and he needs to step up his game if he wants to keep something in his life,” he started as calmly as he could, though his voice shook a little from the frustration he was holding back. “I became a part of this when he began to skip practice to avoid the guilt. Did you know he skips practice three times a week, and today was the first time he came since an entire week? He says he wants to replace me, but on what basis? I give him ten minutes to score a point against me and he fails. I even went easy on him.” William took a step towards Amber, a palm on the cold kitchen counter. “Though you are right about the second part. I didn’t have any right interfering with your business, and what I demanded out of him was uncalled for. I wanted you to get done with this so you could move on.”

“I was working through it on my own, William. Just… don’t interfere in my love life when it doesn’t involve you. I will deal with my life in my timing,” Amber declared, glaring at him a moment longer before turning around fast enough that her hair nearly hit William in the face. “I’ll be in my room if you need me, but I would suggest staying away unless it’s an emergency.”

William nearly grabbed her hair out of frustration, but managed to hold himself back. Instead of responding, he grabbed his glass of water and finished it, rinsing it out before he made his way into his room. He knew he did something he shouldn’t have, but he didn’t regret. Maybe it worsened the situation with Amber, but what he wanted to happen was Jace taking things seriously. He was nineteen, but he acted like a child. That needed to change.

He needed to clear out his head.

Halfway to her bedroom, Amber paused. She took a deep breath and turned her head slightly so that she could see William out of the corner of her eye.

“I just have one question for you,” she started quietly without fully turning around. “Why would you do that? Make Jace apologize, I mean. You don’t even like me.”

William froze, turning to face Amber though she still had her back to him.

“You’re not wrong about that. I don’t. I don’t like you because you try,” he sighed, rubbing a hand through his hair, letting out a chuckle. “You don’t leave me alone even when I tell you to. Hell, you even told me I shouldn’t be bloody avoided! What the hell, right? What kind of an idiot tells someone with anger issues that he shouldn’t be avoided, that he deserves a chance? Especially if that someone has hurt them once and almost did the second time? I don’t like you, Amber, but that’s only because you’re the first person outside my family who doesn’t flinch away from my anger and stands her ground against me. Even when she knows she’s going to get hurt.”