Near Miss

by Haley Warren

Being paid a few million dollars to kick a football a few times a game is arguably the best job in the world.

fair enough

to someone who literally had a fucking Timbit thrown at them from a moving car last week.

what the fuck is a timbit

“Everyone loves football.” One of her eyebrows rises, followed by the shrug of one shoulder. “I don’t.” “Maybe that’s because you’ve never seen me kick.”

shut up while you’re ahead

Willa rolls her eyes and bangs her head against the back of her leather desk chair. “We know. You don’t date. You’re choosing you; you’re picking yourself against a job that leaves nothing for anyone else. All pieces of your heart belong to you. We’ve heard the whole soliloquy.”

her friends kind of seem like bitches

“Stella—” Willa cuts in, glancing away from her phone. “Can you show us these dresses? I have a meeting soon.”

i don’t like willa

But it’s not the type of thing I would have forgotten. “Sarah didn’t tell me. I guess I just write the cheques.” Nathaniel cocks his head. That same muscle in his jaw jumps, but his voice is uncharacteristically soft. “I think she just didn’t want to stress you out this close to the start of the season.”

either fucking way

But one grew in me, and I gave it away, and sometimes I think I didn’t want to.

Lemme guess your dad drank himself to death had cirrhosis of the liver he didn’t qualify for transplant because he’s an alcoholic you were a match so you give him a piece of your liver and that’s why you transplant surgeon

“No. It’s a transplant scar. I donated half my liver to my father when I was eighteen.”

called it

don’t mean to fall in love with her.

that’s what they all say

“Your brother always looks great.”

okay queen slay

She answers the door after I smack the glass for the fifth time.

bro why can’t people be happy

“How were the mice? How were their livers?” Full lips turn down. She shouldn’t make a frown look so beautiful—that feels unfair. But her eyes cloud over, and she gives a little shake of her head. “The mice still don’t like me, and the liver cells still aren’t replicating.”

okay meredith grey