Darker Than Sin

5.

When no one pipes up, he blows his whistle, the sound bouncing off the walls of the gym.

"Let's go!"

He leads the group. I fall in step with Heidi. She pants and groans beside me the entire time, but I don't pay attention. I watch Haze's even strides, the bulge of his biceps, the strong movements of his legs.

God, I have it bad.

When we finish the run, I throw my hands onto my hips as I even out my breathing. We take a vote on what to play and it ends up being a tie. It's decided we play basketball for the remainder of the first period and swap to futsal once the bell rings.

When Haze is elected as one of the team captains, I raise my eyebrows. Mr Casten must see his athletic abilities.

Michael Strand is the other boy chosen. I used to be close with him when I was younger, but we drifted apart once high school started. He joined the mathlete squad and I'm practically allergic to maths, so that was the end for us. We hang with opposite friend groups and have different interests. We still say hello to each other in the halls, but our friendship doesn't branch beyond that, anymore.

"New guy, you choose first," Mr Casten says.

"Ellie."

I grin, pushing to my feet and going to join him.

"Good choice," I joke and he rolls his eyes.

"Don't let it go to your head."

Too bad. It has.

I smile when he chooses both Heidi and Kai. Kai makes a sarcastic, "Yay!" when he's chosen, which we all ignore.

By the time we begin the game, we only play for twenty-five minutes, as we wasted so much time with warm-up and organising teams. I managed to score once, which I was proud of.

When the bell buzzes through the room, we take a drink break and set up the goals for futsal.

"I need to take a quick phone call from the office. Same teams, Haze on the left, Michael on the right. I'll be back in a minute." Mr Casten tells us, before marching towards the small room, attached to the side of the gym.

We kick-off. I run with Haze. We pass the ball to each other. Anita tries to take the ball from me but I ram my shoulder against hers and get around her. I shoot the ball to Haze, who boots it into the net.

I reach up for a high-five. He slaps his hand to mine and I stupidly link my fingers through his, turning the high-five into hand-holding. He jerks his hand from mine in surprise and my cheeks burn so red, I'm surprised they don't catch on fire.

I quickly turn from him and jog back to the centre, hoping no one else saw that.

The game continues and I hang back, avoiding Haze like the coward I am. The other team scores twice, before we take back control.

"Hey Ellie!" a voice calls out.

I look over, just in time to see the ball flying at full speed towards my face. Anita's face is split into a malicious smirk as the ball gets closer.

I screw my eyes shut, knowing I can't get away in time. There's a sound of ball hitting skin, but it doesn't connect with me. I snap my eyes open, to see Haze in front of me, having caught the ball, which is against the rules. Everyone stops as their eyes flicker between Anita and Haze.

He slowly walks towards her. She steps back, her face paling.

"Watch your back," he threatens quietly, before dropping the ball at her feet.