I made a mistake. I didn’t see it at the time, but now I know.

The last couple days, I’ve been beating myself up over how to fix it. Every time I close my eyes, all I can see is Casey crying her eyes out. Those beautiful blue eyes of hers glossed over with tears. Tears that I brought about.

I shouldn’t have reacted the way that I did. Blaming her for choices she made when she was younger. Blaming her for being with someone else beside me. Telling her that I never wanted to see her again. All of it was a mistake.

I let my anger consume me. Everything happened all at once. Finding out Dwayne slept with Casey, my chance of getting back on the field taken away, and my team captain title stripped away.

I couldn’t take it. And I lashed out at the only person who cared about me. The only person who came in the middle of the night to see me.

Now, I need to show her that I care about her. That I made a mistake. And that I was willing to do anything to fix it.

I grab my coat off the couch and I’m out the door. I need to make this right. The sooner I do it, the faster I can see that pretty smile of hers.

It doesn’t take more than a couple of minutes to get there. I take a breath and knock on the door. And I wait.

The door creaks open a little and I let out a sigh of relief. “What do you want, David?” Dwayne’s eyes are bloodshot and tired. I haven’t talked to him since the night at the police station. This is the first step that I have to take in making things right. Also something told me that, Dwayne can help me out.

“I want to make things right. I want to apologize.” Dwayne stares at me, and for a moment I think that he’s going to slam the door shut. And if he did, I wouldn’t blame him one bit. I overreacted at the time and let my emotions get the best of me. Dwayne leave the door open and walks over to his table. There are books scattered on the desktop. He sits down and starts to scribble into his notebook. “I shouldn’t have punched you. I’m sorry, Dwayne.”

Dwayne looks up at me from his books and nods. “It’s not all your fault. I was drunk off my ass and being an asshole to boot.” He taps the end of his pencil on the table. “I shouldn’t have talked about Casey that way. I don’t know what came over me.”

I hold out my hand. “How about we put it behind us and start over?” Dwayne looks at my hand and a smile breaks on his face.

“One little fight ain’t going to break us up, man. We still have a national title to win.” He grips my hand and gives it a firm shake. I sit down and take off my coat. Dwayne looks at me. “So, you really like her?”

“I really do, Dwayne. I really really like her.” I can feel my heart swelling as thoughts of Casey streams into my head.

This next part is going to be a little more challenging. In order to make things right with Casey, I’m going to need his help. He might be able to give me some information to repair the damage that I’ve done.

“Dwayne, I need your help.” I dig my thumb into the middle of my palm. I’m not one to ask for help often. I like to handle things on my own for the most part. Stepping out of my comfort zone and being forward with Dwayne is something I would have never done before. That’s how important Casey is to me right now. I will do anything to patch up things with her. Even if it means asking for help.

“What can I do?” There’s no hesitation in his words. He sits upright in his chair and turns all of his attention to me.

I take a couple minutes to explain to Dwayne what happened at the station. To tell him how badly I fucked up. When I finish, I let out a sigh.

Putting everything out in the open is exhausting. I almost can’t believe how much of an asshole I really was to her. The things I said and how cold I was to her. It’s not the person that I want to be. Not when she means so much to me.

“I need to make this right, Dwayne. Can you tell me what kind of girl Casey was in high school? Maybe it can help me figure out a way to make it up to her.”

Dwayne runs his hand through his hair, puts his pencil in the middle of his textbook, and closes it. He gets up from his chair and gets two bottles of water from the fridge. He sits down next to me and takes a big sip before he starts. “You’re not going to like this. Just remember that high school kids can be cruel.” He takes another drink of his water and clears his throat. “After her epilepsy attack, Casey lost all of her friends in one night. Nobody wanted to hang out with her and everyone pretty much avoided her. In the blink of an eye, she became an outcast.”

I hold my breath and try to place myself in her shoes. Go from being the most popular person in the school to being ignored by everyone. Ignored because of something that is out of my control. I would be so hurt. And feel so alone.

“It quickly went downhill from there. Casey was valedictorian of her class before the incident. After she became an outcast, she stopped going to class. She stayed home for weeks on end. She got really lonely.” Dwayne squeezes the plastic bottle and twists it. He turns it into a small ball and chucks it across the room. “That is, until her parents got her a dog.” There’s a smile on his face. “That dog made her happy. It pushed away all the feelings of loneliness until they had to give it away.”

“What do you mean? Why would they give it away if it helped her?”

“Her mother was allergic to the dog. They ended up giving it to some family friends a couple towns over. Casey could still visit the dog, and it still helped but it wasn’t the same as when the dog was with her. Luckily, by the time that happened, Casey was only a couple weeks from graduating. And that’s all I know. I wasn’t really the best boyfriend back then. I made some mistakes.” Dwayne pats me on the back and gets up, sitting back at the desk.

An idea pops into my head. A possible solution to fix my relationship with her. It’s a long shot, but at this, point I am willing to try anything to get her back.

I stand up and throw my jacket on. “Thanks, Dwayne. You’ve been a lot of help.” I give him a hard smack on the back and I’m almost out the door when I see a telephone book on his bedside shelf. I grab it and hold it out. “Do you mind if I borrow this? I’ll give it to you next time I see you.”

Dwayne nods. “Keep it. I don’t need that old thing anymore.”

I’m already out of the door, finger flipping through the pages until I get to their name. They’re going to think I’m nuts when I call them, but I’m hoping they’re as understanding as Casey.

All I want to do is fix what I broke.