Off the Field

Chapter Twenty

Helloooo. No school today! Some teachers thing. That meant a 3 day week cuz we had ANOTHER cold day on Monday haha it's been fabulous. Hopefully I have loads of time and inspiration to write this weekend because I'm almost done with this book...I think I have like 3 chapters left, which is crazy insane but yeah. Then I've got some new ideas I'm excited to work on. So yeah! Get pumped. Anyway, please comment and vote and thank you for being wonderful readers!

Gracias! <3 vb123321

Chapter Twenty

“Haven’t you ever heard of knocking?” asked Mal as I barged through her front door and she came up the hallway from the kitchen to greet me. She leaned against the banister of the stairs with a Gatorade in hand, still dressed in sweaty running clothes.

Without a word, I swooped down on her and wrapped my arms around her, smothering her in a massive hug. The Gatorade slipped from her hand and spun across the floor as she tried to push me away from her, protesting about sweat and smelly clothes and personal space.

“Danny, what is wrong with you?” she sputtered as I finally let go of her. Her brown hair was falling out of its ponytail, her face flushed as she straightened her headband and scooped her Gatorade off the floor. “You are so lucky that this was closed and didn’t make a mess –”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry –”

I stepped away from her so that I could take her in: her rumpled attire, the irritation on her face as she tried to hold back a smile, the shine of her hair that came from a combination of sweat and the sunset streaming through the front door.

“Stop staring at me like that,” she said, narrowing her eyes at me. “What’s up with you, anyway? You aren’t usually so eager to be with me.”

“You talked to my dad.”

Her face went a little red. “Yeah, so? I do that all the time.”

“Mal – you –” I couldn’t find words, tripping over my jumbled thoughts. “I can’t believe you could convince him – Mal, I’m still a captain! He said I could still be a captain!”

“Oh, good.” She looked relieved, smiling at me. “I hoped he would, but I didn’t really know how to tell him that directly.”

“You did fine. I – you –”

I stuttered to a stop, my thoughts still in pieces as I looked at her. She met my eyes with a questioning expression as she unscrewed the cap of her Gatorade, and I wanted to say something about how I owed everything to her, how I was so sorry for everything that had happened, how I didn’t deserve what she’d done for me. But I couldn’t.

“He said he was proud of me,” I blurted out.

Mal took a sip of her drink, shrugging. “Well, he should be. I made you look like quite the hero.”

“But – I mean – he’s never said anything like that before.”

She looked up at me for a long moment with the Gatorade bottle halfway to her mouth, her eyes softening, and then she shook her head with a smile. “You’re something else, Danny Cooper. Sometimes I wonder how you’ve survived so long with so little brain cells.”