The Infected - Hanji Zoe

Extra Chapter

But this time you had your lucky charm with you, watching from the bleachers as she spins around a noisemaker or pumping her fists in the air with the melody. She was trying her best to include herself in your world and she does so with a smile on her face.

When the last chorus of the song starts playing, your heart begins to beat faster in your chest, your breathing becoming more irregular as a few drops of cold sweat drip down the side of your head.

From a distance, you can see as Hanji pushes her body forward, the notebook that she was writing on resting above her knees as her eyes are glued to your figure. Time moves by slowly and everything feels like it is in slow motion.

Though you are terrified of the final jump, you do it anyway. At the same time, your teammates throw your body in the air, and you leap out of their hands, landing a backflip while Hanji yells your name, their nails digging into the skin of their hands in a nervous state.

The world now turns upside down as you are in midair and, for a second, you notice that the necklace that once rested around your neck is nearly falling off. Instead of reaching for it, you focus on not falling down, though you make a mental note to pinpoint the location where it lands.

Finally, you extend your right leg and find the balance to stretch your left one up, never once stopping the movements of your pom-poms. From a few yards away, you hear Hanji's ecstatic screaming, the excitement in her voice awakening butterflies that once lay dormant.

As you stand on the top of the pyramid, you feel like you are on top of the world. For a few seconds, you simply take in the view of the football team preparing for the big game tonight, they throw the ball to each other as a warming exercise and you smile.

Then you move your vision to the left to meet Hanji's bright, brown eyes. A few happy tears form in yours and you can't keep them in, they drip down your cheek onto the head of the person underneath you.

When the music stops, you bring your arms down the side of your body, eyes going through the freshly cut grass on the ground before you leap down onto it, bending your knees as your feet touch the floor in an attempt to cushion the fall.

Your blood rushes through your veins, your heartbeat pounding in your ear. The grass contrasts with your training uniform and the air rushes through your hair, your vision is blurred by the bright sunlight and all you can do to protect yourself is bring your forearm up to cover your eyes.

"You did it!" Hanji's voice becomes louder as she runs towards you once more, her books hanging from her open backpack. You don't have time to wrap her in your arms before your teammates have already abruptly grabbed ahold of your body, lifting you in the air.

Ultimately, you do feel Hanji's hand squeezing your ass and you shake your head. They pump you in the air a few times, celebrating the accomplishment and, ultimately, the end of training

before the big game.

You can't help yourself but smile, proud of yourself for being able to perform the difficult maneuver you have been practicing for the past couple of months, proud of your friends for being able to support you throughout the entire process, and proud of Hanji, for finally doing her homework as she watches you practice.

First, you reach inside your bag to pull out a pair of jeans, which you glide through the sweat of your legs with a certain level of difficulty, though you are more than used to it. Then, you wipe the sweat off of your back before placing a hoodie on, finally, remove the skirt you were wearing for practice and the pair of dirty white shoes and replace them with a pair of blue flip flops.

As you pack your things to go back into your dorm, a pair of arms wrap around your waist and a head rests on your back. Her curly hair sticks to the skin of your neck like glue due to the amount of sweat but she doesn't seem to mind it at all.