Crownless

ⅩⅩⅫ

Calum

Who would've thought that Oxford has sports teams to compete with other universities?

Not me.

Well, until now. I'm trying out for soccer. Here it's football, which makes more sense to be honest.

Some championships are coming soon, and the team needs new additions. And I've always had a love for sports, especially soccer. I played it all the time with my younger brothers and neighbors. We had our own team, while some neighbors that we hated had another one. And our fights were just soccer matches. Funny thing is, between breaks we all talked normally and joked around. But on the field we were sworn enemies.

We won almost all of them, by the way. Not gonna lie, but I was a great captain.

"Everyone in a line!" The coach yells after he blows his whistle.

Everyone stood in one line as the coach made his way down the line, starting from the left. I'm fourth from the left. Knowing how these usually go, I stood with the best posture I can manage and looked straight ahead to not make eye contact with the coach.

"Great posture..." He mumbles, eyeing me then continuing down the line of students.

Oh god he's really intimidating.

As I'm watching the coach interact with the rest, I see Jake in a soccer uniform jogging up to the coach and patting him on the back. The coach smiles at him and turns to walk in front of us all, with Jake by his side.

"Alright, this is your captain. Jake Crown."

Well shit.

His eyes meet mine and he turns it into a glare. I keep my face straight and without any emotion. Eventually he rolls his eyes and turns to look elsewhere.

"Okay so let's see what you losers got!" He exclaimed, passing each of us a ball. He threw mine a bit too hard but I caught it with ease, looked him in the eyes, and left to join the rest.

Holy crap that guy can hold a grudge!

I swear he's doing anything he can to try and get me to fail. He assigned five people to shoot at the goal when I was the goalie. Five! The rule was each goalie gets one person to shoot at a time. 

Next, we went one on one to see which of us would win. It took a long time but eventually I scored a goal and ended that nonsense.

He did way more, but quite frankly, I'm too out of breath to remember. I thought that the coach would interrupt him and stop him from all of this, but he only watched.

I'm on the bench drinking water and catching my breath before I'm off to do more ridiculous challenges made just for me.

I feel so special.

"You don't want to drink a lot, your sides will hurt when you run if you do." I hear someone suggest. I look behind me to see my girl!

Well, kinda my girl. We're still not official.

"Aurora!" I grin, getting up to hug her. "What are you doing here?" I ask her, the smile never leaving my face.

"You're trying out for the team, and you expect me to not be there cheering you on?" She asks with a raised eyebrow before giggling.

I chuckle with her and hug her again, needing some comfort right now.

"So how has it been so far? Sorry I couldn't come earlier, I was studying."

"It's fine don't worry about it. I did great, even though Jake is practically giving me hell."

"Jake? What's he doing here?"

"He's team captain."

"You sure you still wanna join?" She pulls away from the hug, giving me a funny look. I just laugh and pull her back in.

"You know how stubborn I am. And there is no way I'd let him win. I'm getting on that team just to piss him off." I admit.

"See, this is why I like you." She laughs, her voice muffled by her face being squished into my chest.

Our moment of bliss is interrupted by the coach whistling for us to gather again to practice more. I leave Aurora with a sigh and a kiss on the cheek before jogging over to the middle of the field.

"Time for some trick shots." Jake explained. "Impress us."

I was the eighth to go up and do some tricks. I stood far away to the side of the goal net, and shot the ball in a specific angle to make it turn in the air and go right into the goal. Everyone cheered and clapped for me, and I heard Aurora's voice cheering louder than them all. 

I smile and do some more tricks I taught myself as a kid to impress my little brothers. Everyone is clearly impressed, and I glance at Aurora to see her giving me a proud and encouraging grin. I notice Jake looking over at her and smirking. He then came over to me and pushed me aside.

"That was super easy," He gloated, referring to my roundhouse ball kick. "I can do it ten times better."

I walk back, giving him space to do what I just did. He threw the ball up and tried to roundhouse kick it but he was too slow and the ball ended up falling on the ground and him kicking the air, making him stumble and fall.

Muffled snickers were heard all around and the coach pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head before going up to Jake.

"Stick to what you know, son." He advised him. Jake looked offended and threw the ball away before walking away. 

I turn my head to where Aurora was sitting and winked at her, making her grin wider.

"I think that's enough for you, Calum." The coach told me, patting my back. "You're in the team. Main player. You proved what a great player you are. Good luck." He congratulated me and told me I can go home now. I thanked him and ran back to Aurora who welcomed me with a tight hug and a congratulations. 

"I think this calls for a celebration." I smirk at her, pulling away slightly. "You in for pizza and bowling?"

"If there's food there's a me near by. Let's go!" She pulled me with her to my car. 

I kinda feel bad for Jake...Nah I don't. He's the one who decided to be a jerk to her. But I'm not complaining, because I got her, and I'm so happy. She is too, which is all that matters to me.