Reyhaan's POV
"Move your lazy asses! Did I tell you to stop? Chop chop! 3 more laps!" Coach yells at us like he usually does. I can feel my muscles burning as I continue running under the scorching sun. We have a match against SJU tomorrow and everyone is on toes as it is the qualifier match. If we win this then we directly go to the finals which will be held after a month and a half.
Once we are done with the running we finally start with actual practice. It goes on until 5 in the evening and finally the coach spares us, letting us go home.
"You guys are back" Chachi says as Dhruv and I enter home "Go freshen up I'll get the food ready"
"Chachi I don't want to eat now, I'll have it later" I say which makes her frown "why? Aren't you hungry after practice? At Least have some juice"
I nod negatively "okay fine send a glass of juice across someone but no food I want to sleep for sometime"
She nods looking at me and then looks at Dhruv expectedly.
"I'll come down and have some food" He replies
She then asks "how was practice?"
"Rigorous"
"Tiring"
We both answer simultaneously. With that we leave to our respective rooms. I go straight to my bathroom after leaving my bag somewhere near my bed. After a hot shower, I change into my Nike shorts and crash on my bed.
Suddenly a sharp noise of my phone ringing wakes me up. I move my hand mindlessly searching for my phone and my eyes first go to the time which shows 7:30 pm. It feels like I've slept for only 10 minutes but in reality I've slept for more than an hour.
I then check the caller id which shows Aadhya is calling. I pick the call
"Hey" She sings in her honey like sweet voice and it automatically makes my lip twitch
"What's up?" I ask in my hoarse voice
She pauses for a second before saying "were you sleeping? Did I disturb you?"
"I was but good that you called I had to wake up anyway" I reply while changing my position to sleep on my back with my hand beneath my head.
"Are you sure? I can call you later" She says hurriedly
"No" I reply sharply, making me mentally hit myself for using that tone. "I mean no it's fine"
"So how was practice?"
"As usual coach whooping our asses, right now even if you ask him for something as simple as a five minute break he will burst like a volcano"
She chuckles "that's quite harsh but hey the good part is the match is tomorrow so it'll be over asap"
"True. You're coming tomorrow right?" I ask
"Yup Aditi and Anaya will kill me if I don't. Plus anyway Anaya is extremely excited because Dhruv is playing and all" She says.
All of us made a plan to trap Dhruv where we lied that Anaya is going on a date which made him jealous and he confessed that he likes her.
"Good it'll be nice to see my personal cheerleader on the stands shouting and hyping me" I tease her
She scoffs "Personal cheerleader? Excuse me, who said I will be cheering for you?"
"Who else will you cheer for?"
"The captain of the opposing team, who else?" Just the thought of her cheering for someone irks me
"Cheer for that guy and you will be responsible for a person's death" My chest rises and falls as I try to control my anger.
"Calm down Mr. Hulk I'm just kidding but that doesn't mean I'm cheering for you as well"
I hum feeling a little disappointed
"Acha okay I'm hungry now I want to eat bye"
I can imagine her pouting while saying this. Chuckling at her I reply "bye"
The next day I found the college crowded and buzzing as expected. People are constantly moving and chattering which only increases my anticipation. I wouldn't say I'm nervous per se but just a little stressed because winning this match would mean us getting into finals. This match is even more important because it is the last few matches I'll get to play since it's my last year of undergrad. Heck, only 6 months are left for me to graduate.
Once the coach completes his speech with his usual tips and strategies he asks me to give my talk. I look at all of them pumped with energy and excitement which cools down whatever jittery feeling I had.
I've made a family here, with these boys and having them on the field I know for a fact we will kick their asses.
"Boys" With a grin I say exactly what I feel, matching their determination and eagerness
"I have nothing to say but as usual let's kick their asses"
Once we get on the field, we let our inner force and strength to tackle them. No doubt the opposing team is strong, the only reason why they are here. But we have prepared and practiced. There is no way we will let them win no matter how strong they are.
The match is coming to an end - score is 2-2
We are leading.
Dhruv dribbles the ball, while the opponent team tries to not let him move towards the goal post. But he knows better, he keeps moving and defending himself against the player.
Dhruv's eyes keep searching for someone, then it falls on me and I understand he is trying to pass the ball to me. I can see the game falling in place because at the moment we're equal and this goal will mean us winning. Just the thought increases the adrenaline rush in my nerves and blood.
I increase the pace of my legs towards the goal post and just in time Dhruv kicks the ball to me. I wait for a millisecond to calculate my next move. I go with my gut and my instinct, and I kick the ball. The stadium falls completely silent, there is not as much as a whisper and this has made my heart thudding more evident in my ears.
The ball hits the side of the goal post and then moves inside it, which the goalie misses.
The stadium erupts in loud cheer and people are screaming
"St. T! St. T!.."
We won! We fucking won and we are in the fucking finals. All my teammates jump over each other, as we all hug, not bothered about the sweat. We find coach secretly wiping his tears off his cheek. He pats our backs and gives us an appreciative smile.
Everyone from the stands comes on the field and my eyes search for the familiar hazel orbs. I turn around when I hear Aditi's voice, to find her running towards us.
She jumps on me "Oh my god I can't believe this! I'm so happy we won!"
I chuckle while hugging her back. She then hugs the others and I see Anaya and Aadhya walking towards us.
Dhruv starts jogging towards his girlfriend and scoops her in a hug. Aadhya stands in front of me, her eyes twinkling in joy with an everlasting grin.
"Congrats you did it" she says
I smile "we did it"
The smile on her face only grows appreciating me for acknowledging the team's effort and not just mine.
She takes a step forward, and I get so happy when she extends her hand to hug me but instead she hugs Sid who comes out of nowhere. It feels like someone just splashed cold water on me.
She was supposed to hug me, not him.
I then realize that it is not only that she hugged him first, she also fucking hugged everyone but me. And what was I doing at that time?
I watched her hug everyone and give them friendly kisses on their cheeks. I thought it was our thing. I fold my hands against my chest, hating every moment of it with a permanent frown etched on my forehead.
"Someone is jealous" I hear someone whisper from my side. From the corner of my eyes I find Aditi standing with a smirk.
I act oblivious to her question "what?"
"Pretending are we?" her smirk only widens when I say "You're delusional"
She says "tsk tsk don't deny its okay, we all know you're crushing on her"
"What! There is nothing like that" I spat
She gives me 'i don't believe you' look
"Aditi, I mean it. I don't like her. stop over looking into things" I make it as clear as crystal
She simply shrugs before walking away.
God knows what that meant. I don't understand how people are even assuming that I like or have a crush on Aadhya. What am I? A fifth grader? I really think I need to get the actual Reyhaan out. It's been a long time since I did anything and I think that has made people assume rubbish.
"Bro" I hang my hand around Rishi's shoulders "it has been long since we partied, no?" I smirk looking at him and he looks at me, matching the smirk I have, knowing exactly what I mean by party.
A while later we reached the party organized to celebrate our win.
I go straight to the bar area, where people hoot and cheer for us as they make space for us to stand. There are vodka glasses arranged with lemon and salt. We all stand positioning yourself in front of a glass
"1 2 3 go!" when someone shouts we immediately chug it down. I can feel my throat burning but not so much because I've had a lot of these before.
It was as if something hit me on my head because after that one shot I don't remember how many I have.
***
"Is Mr James' order ready? He is leaving for Australia tomorrow" I ask Viraj, one of the people working at our showroom. I walk down the stairs at home to find dad watching Tv.
Last night I got shit drunk. This morning I could only remember parts of it, in between drinking alcohol I remember hooking up with someone. Her face wasn't familiar at all so I'm guessing it was someone outside our college. Because the party was in a club and only a few people were invited, including the team members, cheerleader group and their friends.
"Sir, it is an antique pendant set right? It is packed and ready to go. I personally checked it, "he replies.
"Yeah alright contact them for delivery, if they can pick it up then fine otherwise ask the driver to give it to them" I give instructions to which he says okay and cuts the call. Hearing my voice dad looks towards me and says "Reyhaan come here"
I walk to him and sit on the sofa next to him "Yes dad?"
"Nothing, I just called you simply. How are you doing?" He asks
I shrug "I'm doing fine"
"Australian order ready?"
"Yup just spoke to Viraj, mostly by tomorrow morning it will be delivered" He nods. We sit in silence watching the news playing on the television.
All of a sudden he then states "You gave an order for a personalized item"
I did. Well it is Aadhya's birthday in three days and we've planned for a surprise. Therefore a gift is necessary.
"Yes" No point in denying
He clears his throat and looks me in the eye, "For?"
"A friend"
After a minute long silence he says "It's better to know something before time passes because it doesn't wait for anyone and once its gone you're only left with regret"
I try to make sense of what he said but I don't understand what he is implying. Before I could ask anything further, I see his retreating figure walking towards his room.
.
Author's Note
How is everyone doing?? I hope y'all liked today's update. And last time I did request for a few ship name ideas and one of the suggestions that I liked is 'Reya' I'm still open to more suggestions, I would rlly appreciate if you guys could be a lil more interactive yk. Not gonna force ofc, it's upto you guys.
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Love y'all, stay safe and happy <333