Walking a fine line✔️

38. Heartache

We were interrupted by the players walking out onto the turf. I hated the way my traitorous heart fluttered when I saw Griffin.

Ruben squeezed my hand. "Dartington will win."

I realised that he must've thought my tenseness had been match anticipation.

Noah nodded. "Agreed. Even though Beckfall beat us in the practice, we will win now."

The whistle blew and the match began.

It was carnage.

Both sides were fueled with the drive to win. The ball flew up and down the turf and every time my brother and Griffin came face to face I could swear I stopped breathing. The tension between them was as sharp as a razor blade and a few times I thought the sticks would be abandoned and they'd result in using their fists. But that never happened. Instead my brother would often dance in circles around Griffin, the ball safely in his control. My chest filled with pride, I always loved watching my brother play hockey.

By the time intermission came around, the score was 1:1 and everybody was on the edge of their seats.

"Something's wrong with Griffin," Noah muttered.

"Or Beckfall is just better now," June replied.

Noah shook his head. "Every time he faces Jack his attention slips and he makes mistakes."

The second half began and with Noah's words in my head I began to realise he was right. I hated to admit it but Griffin ruled the turf, his passes were secure and intercepts strong; one could argue they were the best. The best until Jack came along and suddenly Griffin would seem blinded.

As the game progressed my brother seemed to realise this and began challenging Griffin more frequently. Slowly Dartington gained a point, then another and the score was 3:1 with only ten minutes left of play.

"We're gonna win!" June whispered excitedly.

At two minutes to go Griffin scored a goal and my heart raced.

One minute... Thirty seconds.... Ten seconds...

The ball zoomed down the court towards our goal.

I held my breath and—

PEEP!

The whistle blew out across the turf signalling the end of the game. For a moment everybody was quiet, and then our stand erupted. We had won. We had taken back our field hockey title.

Noah picked me up, jumping with excitement.

"Woohoo!" I pumped my arm in the air, momentarily forgetting all of the Griffin drama.

With the rest of our school, the four of us raced down to congratulate our team.

"We won!" Jack picked me up and spun me around.

I laughed as Jack put me down. "For once I don't care that you're a sweaty mess. You did amazing out there."

June high-fived Jack. "You brought it home today!"

Jack grinned. "We did."

Their coach began calling them over so we left them with promises of celebrations later in the day.

Ruben shook out his arms as we made our way around the gym. "I'm still feeling tense."

Noah laughed. "That has to be one of the most intense matches I've ever watched."

We rounded a corner of the building and came face to face with Griffin, still wearing most of his hockey gear.

"What are you doing here asshole?" June took a step towards him.

He looked over her shoulder at me. "I need to talk to you."

"No you don't—"

"It's okay June," I interrupted, my voice surprisingly calm. "I'll hear what he has to say then catch up to you guys."

The three of them gave me a look but I gave them a reassuring smile and eventually they started walking away. Griffin began taking a step towards me, almost as if he wanted to draw me to him. Then he stopped and his expression turned stony.

"What do you want?" I asked, repeating my question from earlier. "I've had enough of you."

He ignored me and said, "Congratulations on winning."

"You should tell my brother that, not me. He's the one who beat you."

Griffin's expression turned stony. "Oscar warned me that liking you would be a mistake. I didn't believe him, not until now." He shook his head. "I finally see my mistake. You're no better than Mia and Jack. In fact, he probably put you up to this. I bet he told you to mess with me so that he could win the match today. Well, this year he can go home knowing it actually worked."

"Put me up to mess with you?" I repeated in outrage. "After what you pulled, I'm surprised you even have the audacity to try and blame him."

His jaw dropped. "After what I pulled?"

A lump formed in my throat as I remembered what he'd done. I took a deep breath. "My brother beat you on skill, not by cheating." I laughed without warmth. "Face the facts Griffin, you can't win at everything."

"Screw you Aurora." Griffin walked away leaving me standing there, a stabbing pain echoing through my chest. As other people began walking past, I wiped away the few tears that had fallen down my cheeks and started heading back to the school myself. It was only when I'd almost reached the building that I realised something from our conversation.

Griffin had mentioned Mia.

A/N:

The tension is rising! Dun dun dunnn!

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SouthernAlps over and out...