Forged [1]

26 is the one I'm watching

⚫Riley's P.O.V.⚫

I watched from the bleachers as the football players poured onto the field. I sat down on the first row, scanning the backs of their jerseys to try to find Seth.

I finally saw a jersey with 'McLoughlin' above the number 26.

26 is the one I'm watching.

I sat back looking at him. He finally returned my gaze and waved. I waved back at him.

A few minutes later, the cheerleaders came out of their locker room, some of them sitting on the bleachers near me and some of them going out and socializing with the football players. I looked over to the building with the locker rooms, noticing the two coaches talking to each other.

Guess this is social hour now.

I looked back at Seth, a bit shocked to see a cheerleader standing too close for my comfort. Not that he was mine, but I wanted him to be.

Stupid dumb cheerleaders in their little skirts.

"Little" skirts seemed to be an understatement. The skirts were definitely shorter than what looked comfortable. Not like I'd know the comfortable length of a skirt.

I stood up, a sinking feeling in my stomach.

Jealousy, that's it.

I started walking over to where Seth and the cheerleader were standing. I tried my best to keep from scowling, but it was definitely not easy.

"Oh, hey Riley," Seth smiled at me as I approached him and the cheerleader. He pulled his helmet off, holding it under his arm. He looked... relieved?

"Hey," I said, somewhat glaring at the cheerleader. She glared back at me.

"Tia, this is Riley," Seth said, either not noticing or ignoring our exchanged glares.

Tia.

"Nice to meet you," I said, sounding as kind as I could through my somewhat obvious jealousy.

"What're you doing here, freshman?" She asked snobbishly, turning her nose up at me.

Rude.

"Uh, he's here with me," Seth said. "He's my friend."

"What're you friends with a freshman for?" Tia asked, looking back at Seth. "You're the most popular guy in the grade, you could do better."

"You could fuck off," I said coldly.

"Ooh, little boy says bad words," Tia teased. "You'd better watch your mouth."

"Quit it, Tia," Seth said sternly, narrowing his eyes.

"What?"

"I said quit it."

"Uh-huh. I still think you can do better," Tia said, smiling the fakest smile I'd ever seen at Seth.

The cheer coach blew her whistle, and some of the other cheerleaders stood up and walked over to her.

"Gotta go," Tia said, standing on tiptoes and hugging Seth before planting a kiss on his cheek. I felt my face grow red with anger.

"Get off him!" I yelled, apparently too loud. Some of the other cheerleaders and football players were looking at the three of us now.

"You smell nice," Tia said to Seth, ignoring me. Seth just looked uncomfortable, but he didn't push her away. That kinda broke me.

"He doesn't like you," I glared.

He doesn't like me either.

"Shut up, freshman," she said, letting go of Seth and running off toward the group.

"Fuck you!" I yelled after her.

"Riley, what the hell?" Seth asked. I turned back toward him, noticing he looked confused.

"Sorry," I said, looking down.

"I mean, it wasn't bad," he laughed. "I didn't know you could do that."

"What? Scare off girls? I've become quite good at it," I grinned.

⚪Seth's P.O.V.⚪

My fucking savior.

"I can't believe she did that," I said, touching my cheek and looking down. I looked back up to see a rather defensive look on Riley's face.

"I can't either," he grumbled, glaring in her direction.

The coach blew his whistle, signaling it was time for practice to start.