Switching Sides | A Jamie Johnson FanFiction

• Part 9

"So, who exactly are we going to watch?" I asked Lili as we towed the rear end of the line of us Thornlake students. The sound of shouts were getting louder, and I could make out a couple of whistle blows in the distance as we made our way along the footpath.

"Kingsmount vs. The Grove." Lili replied. "The Grove aren't signed up for the tournament, but Kingsmount are."

"Are they any good?"

She shrugged. "Not really sure. I've never seen them play before." 

Finally, the footpath opened up into a small field surrounded by trees whose leaves were turning red and brown as the term faded into autumn. The pitch was regular size, but there was something about the whole place that made it seem small, cosy even. 

I noticed Jethro and his friends take a good spot at the side of the pitch: a perfect place to watch and scope out the competition. Although I could have sworn i'd seen Jethro scoff when we first arrived at the pitch. I guess he was used to more glamour.

The players were well into the first half of play, and I grabbed Lili's hand, leading her towards the metal railings that separated the small space for spectators from the pitch. She jumped in surprise as I dragged her to watch the match, standing, coincidentally, only a few yards away from Jethro. 

We watched for the next half hour as Kingsmount got thrashed. One boy in particular seemed to be fuelling their win, scoring a hat trick to coincide with the other two goals scored by a couple of his fellow team members. After every goal, Jethro would raise his eyebrows at Alex, as if to say, 'if this team can beat them we'll have no problem doing it'. And I suppose I couldn't help agreeing with him.

As the final whistle blew, the Grove players celebrated whilst Kingsmount gathered with their coach, crestfallen with their heads hung low. 

As Lili and I got ready to leave, we turned our heads to a commotion a few yards away. I heard the familiar smooth voice of Jethro as he argued with a sharper, accusatory tone. Demi. I couldn't help smiling to myself as I watched the scene play out: Demi was practically begging for him to take her back, but the real motivation of the conversation was drowned out in a sea of allegations and presumptions whilst Jethro did nothing but laugh. 

"Glad you're enjoying the off-pitch entertainment." Lili said, with no hint that she was having fun herself. In fact, her tone sounded flat, like she'd seen this sort of thing too often.

It felt wrong to admit that I was enjoying it, because Jethro was acting so insensitive to someone who obviously cared a lot about him, but every time I thought this my brain pushed it to the back of my mind. How could I keep forgetting everything Demi had done? The pitch, for example. I know it was her who trashed it. I just needed to find a way to prove it.

"What makes you hate me so much?!" Demi was yelling, sending out ripples of sound that resonated amongst the trees.

"You're the one who broke up with me! Like i'm gonna take you back now." Jethro replied with a sharp laugh that was shared with his friends. This seemed to fuel Demi's anger even more, but she simply crossed her arms, tongue tied as one of her friends put her hand on her shoulder in comfort. "I could have any girl in this school and you'd  be mad it wasn't you."

Demi looked close to crying, her bottom lip quivering uncontrollably. 

"You should have worked it out by now: my dad was the one who set up our relationship. He wanted me to get with you so our families could be business partners." he shrugged. "Guess you never got the message. I suppose-"

"That's enough!" Lili yelled and I widened my eyes at her - it was enough that we were watching this whole performance. She didn't need to get involved. "Can't you see she's upset?"

"Who are you?" 

"Lili? I went to your primary school for seven years? I'm on your football team?!"

"Ohhh, you're the girl who thinks she's amazing at football. Or even good." Jethro retorted, rolling his eyes. 

"At least i'm not a player and a bully."

"At least i'm good a football." 

"Being good at football doesn't give you a free pass to do whatever you want. Neither does having money." she said. She was right up in his face now, not intimidated even with the significant height difference.

"It doesn't matter whether I have money or not. There's not a single girl at this school who wouldn't drop at my feet if I asked. Except maybe you two."

"Go on then. Prove it." Lili replied with a smile of satisfaction, knowing she'd already won.

Except, she hadn't. And it was all my fault.

Jethro rolled his eyes and looked to Alex, who I noticed was holding his phone in his left hand: he'd been filming the whole thing. Looking around briefly, Jethro scowled at having to prove himself, until his eyes found mine a few feet away. His frown melted into a wry grin as he walked toward me, and kissed me. Only for a couple of seconds. But I didn't pull away. I let him win.