Melody In The Locker Room

Chapter 12

It was Stanborough’s first game of the year. Louis, Zayn and Harry were all out on the field wearing their white uniforms. Their jerseys read: the Stanborough Saints.

The opposing team, the Winterberry Wildcats, was on the other side of the field sporting their red jerseys.

Niall was ready in the stands. He always thought it was bizarre that they were called the ‘saints’ even though Stanborough wasn’t a religious boarding school by any means, but there’s logic for you. He also noticed that whoever named the teams must enjoy alliteration.

Two girls sat next to him, they had met him in one of their shared classes. They had signs just as big as his and pompoms to match.

“You two need to stop showing me up! Seriously, Maria, where did you get glitter on campus? And Court, isn’t the angel outfit a bit much?” He teased and the girls just giggled along with him.

Niall was finally making friends, which was very promising. It made him feel less alienated from the entire student body, as he used to. Zayn was helping immensely with that.

Down on the field, Louis had his iPod in and he was listening to the playlist that ‘someone who cares’ had created for him. It really did pump him up, he was currently stretching to ‘Stronger’ by Kelly Clarkson.

Harry warmed up next to Louis, trying to keep his thoughts intact. The enthusiastic smile on the rookie’s face wasn’t helping. Harry wanted to be smiling along with him, but he needed to concentrate.

Zayn waved up at Niall, who quickly waved back excitedly. The goalie’s heart melted as Niall lifted up a sign that read:

YOU’RE AMAZAYN

Zayn gave him a weak thumbs up, blushing like mad. Zayn’s stomach was swimming with nerves and now, pure admiration for the boy who supported him from the stands.

Louis noticed the sign and pouted for a moment because Niall was supposed to be his #1 fan. But, on the bright side, Niall was making friends finally. Louis even saw the blond talking to two other girls who were sitting next to him.

Louis took one look at Harry and knew something was wrong. He decided to reach out to the curly haired captain in a moment of uplifted team spirit.

Harry was staring down at his cleats in a cloud of weary anticipation when Louis tapped him on the shoulder.

“You doing okay, mate?” Louis asked, his brows furrowed with worry.

Harry was startled by Louis’s question but he quickly collected himself.

“I’m fine. I just have a lot of responsibility riding on me this year, I need to start acting like a captain instead of acting like an unsure coward.” Harry responded sternly.

Louis was taken aback by harry’s serious tone; the captain was usually so light hearted but now, Louis saw a totally different person in front of him. He hoped that it was simply the stress getting to Harry and that this wasn’t going to be a permanent change. He wanted the confident and fun-loving Harry back, not this …stranger.

“The last thing you are is a coward. And telling yourself you are one, won’t make you feel any better. I’ve been there, mate. It’s a tough hole to climb out of.” Louis advised, shaking his head in disappointment.

Louis had thought so highly of Harry but now seeing him crashing and burning it front of his eyes, it was slightly depressing. Maybe Harry was right, he obviously needed to work some things out before he could perform his position successfully.

Harry saw the absolute let down in Louis’s eyes and it deeply upset him. The very bloke that was distracting Harry from the game was now wallowing, which was even more distracting! Harry felt like he was drowning in a never-ending circle of suck.