Willow Academy (Spanking Story)

Chapter 25, Part 2: Owen's POV

Before I went out on the field, I liked to visualize. The score'll be tied, but it's more of us just stringing them along, making our opponents think they stand a chance. Ten seconds will be left on the clock, and the ball will effortlessly travel down the field toward their goalie. We'll win, and we'll cheer and jump into one sweaty pile, but we knew the outcome all along.

I know that may seem a bit... arrogant, but Coop always said to never go into a game thinking you're going to lose, because you will. And who's to argue with that? Besides, we made it to State last year and haven't lost a game this season.

Normally, I would start this visualizing the day of the game. It was inevitable that I would fail any test given on a game day, and the teachers had seemed to reluctantly accept this.

However, today my mind was a million miles away from the soccer field.

Nothing seemed to be going right. Despite my removal from all things related to illegal substances, my problems hadn't been solved. Penny had taken over pissing our brothers off for me, but just because I didn't have their full attention didn't mean they weren't just waiting for me to fall off the deep end; I wasn't really sure if I'd ever truly gain their trust back. I was back to having absolutely no social life, and this can't even be accredited to my current, long-term grounding. Although I wasn't on house arrest twenty-four seven, I might as well have been. Danny was completely ignoring me; we hadn't spoken in weeks, and I was pretty sure I wouldn't even have a roommate come next year. Lastly, there was this whole Zach ordeal. He was like some kind of epidemic, latching onto Penny and destroying everything he came in contact with. Not only was he dating my baby sister, but that asshole had the audacity to blackmail me into making my brothers like him. Of course he was the one person who would know about my only remaining secret; I was about ready to tell Dana about the answer keys myself. My backside wasn't worth my sister's happiness. Penny may be making some terrible decisions right now, but I was still her big brother, and I would always be there to scare the monsters away- even if they were as persistent and goddamn annoying as Zachery Oliver.

The walk from the locker rooms to my dorm seemed to stretch on forever. In my clouded state, I'd managed to forget everything but my socks; my uniform lay forgotten somewhere in my room, probably rolled up carelessly under my bed. I wasn't in a hurry, though, because the girls had a game at 3:30, and ours didn't start until 6:00 or something. I probably should make an effort to be there in time for Penny's game, but I couldn't bring myself to care. Zach was probably going to be there, and that would just piss me off even more. Honestly, Penny was so stupid sometimes.

I stopped in front my dorm door, and dug around in my pockets for my key ring. I cursed as I only felt lent, and realized I must have left them back in the locker rooms. I rested my head against the door, pounding my fist against the wood a few times in frustration. Why couldn't I just forget about all this shit and focus on the only thing I was good at?

"Dammit," I muttered, shoving my hands deep in the pockets of my khakis, desperately wishing the cool metal would just appear in my hands, but I knew it was futile.

Suddenly, my head lost its support and I went tumbling through the open doorway.

"Shit!" somebody exclaimed behind me.

I groaned, slowly pushing myself upright and off the floor. Danny stood behind me, doorknob still clasped in his hand and mouth agape. I guess he'd heard me pounding on the door and had gone to investigate.

"Danny?" I questioned curiously. He wasn't usually home at this time; he'd become remarkably good at avoiding our room until curfew.

"What?" he spat, turning around and shuffling toward his bed. He plopped down heavily, the box spring protesting, and pretended to watch TV. His green eyes were narrowed, eyebrows arched sharply down. Obviously, he hadn't expected me, either.