KAYLA:
I watch as Cal gets sucked into the crowd, his expression bewildered. I sighed. He probably didn't hear me, I decided. Shrugging, I tried my best to part my way through the sea of people before finally reaching my classroom. Before I managed to step into it, though, Lizzie suddenly planted herself in front of me, a dazzling smile on her face.
This time, I was prepared for the sudden change in... certain people's behaviour, having already expected it. Before she opened her mouth to speak, though, I beat her to it.
"Look, Lizzie, I really am sorry about the other day. I was just... in a bad mood. Sorry," I mumbled, unabashedly.
Lizzie shrugged, as if it weren't a big deal to her.
"No, its okay, I totally understand, Kayla." Yeah right. "In fact, I want to erm... apologize for, you know..." her voice trailed off. Ha! I bet she's never ever apologized to anyone before. If she had, she would have at least perfected the art of trying to look sincere.
I just smiled, trying to walk around her so I could enter the classroom. Lizzie sidestepped and stood in front of me again, though.
"Listen, Kayla. Why don't you join me for lunch today? I don't know if you've heard, but..." she lowered her voice conspiratorially "... the back-to-school dance is coming up real soon, and we have to snag some guys. And, you know, me being the head cheerleader does have its advantages..." her voice trailed off and she smiled at me as if we were sharing a big secret. "So, what say you? And while we're at it, perhaps you could introduce me to some guys you might now? I don't know, do you have brothers or anything...?" Lizzie asked, a fake innocent look on her face that I wanted to wipe off.
I gave her a tight smile.
"Sorry, Lizzie, as much as I would love to, I can't. I promised my friend I'll have lunch with her."
Smiling at Lizzie's bewildered expression, I crossed the classroom and sat next to Samantha.
---
The bell rang, snapping me out of my reverie. Relieved, I loosened my shoulders, stiff from the hours of hunching over the mountains of papers.
Samantha turned to me.
"So, what are you doing? Wanna come over to my house?"
I smiled, taken aback. We had just met and she was already inviting me over to her house? She's so nice!
"I would love to, Sam, but I can't. I'm sorry... It's just that, I sorta promised my friend that I'll cheer for him." I stuffed my binder into my bag. "He's trying out for the school teams today."
"Oh." She said sadly, then suddenly brightened. "Anyone I know?"
I laughed.
"Definitely! Cal Cafferty, the school everything!"
Sam's eyes widened, and when she spoke her words were hushed.
"Cal? The Cal Cafferty? You and he are friends? Good friends?"
"Uhh, I suppose so, I guess. I mean, we hang out almost every day now, actually," I said, a frown on my face. Yeah, we do hang out everyday, come to think of it...
Sam stared at me as if I were a ghost. I shot a quizzical look as I tied my hair up in a ponytail. It was a warm day, and I didn't want to sweat through the entire tryout session.
"Can I come and watch? Please?" Sam squeaked, her hands pressed together as if in a prayer.
Ookay...
"Uhm, yeah, of coz?!"
She screeched happily, and threw her arms around me.
I patted her back, pleasantly surprised by her excitement, but inside, I felt a weird feeling in my gut.
Unless I was very much mistaken, I believe that Sam has it real bad for Cal. Real bad.
---
"Woo hoo, go Cal!!!" I screeched, jumping up and down. Sam, too, was standing up, but was cheering silently to herself. I had a feeling that this girl was shyer than me!
Down on the field, Cal and 6 other guys were warming up, flexing their leg muscles and stretching. Cal heard me, and flashed me a quick smile before returning to his exercises. From a far, I could see their Coach, a big-sized man walking towards them, a clipboard in his hands.
To be honest, I've always wondered why, in almost every school, it's almost a rule that coaches must never be fit, even though they're supposed to be, like, the leader their teams look up to. Go-freaking-figure.
Coach what's-his-name blew his whistle, and all 7 of the guys jogged up to him. They huddled around the Coach, and although I couldn't hear what was exchanged, I presumed that he was basically informing them about the usual stuff. You know like, first one to the finishing line wins or something as equally obvious as that.
Then the guys walked up to the starting line. My heart beated faster. They were first going to do a 100m sprint, and I watched nervously as the guys took their positions on the starting line. At the end of the line, there were 7 students, one for each line, holding a stopwatch to keep time. Licking my lips, I tried to channel my Good Luck to Cal telepathically. The other guys looked as fit and as toned as Cal did, and I wrung my hands together, hoping beyond hope that he gets a spot on the team. He needs this so very badly, I thought to myself. What with his family and all his problems and his image he needs to keep up! Oh god, if you're listening, please, give Cal a spot on the team!
So consumed was I by my worries that I jumped a mile when the gun was fired.
"GO CAL!!!!!" I screamed, my voice breaking. There was Cal, in lane 7. Speeding, moving up places as. He was neck-to-neck with 3 other guys. Then he quickened his pace. He was now in third place.
"CAL!!!!"
Second place. Neck-to-neck with an annoyingly fast brunette guy. The finishing line was approaching. I could see Cal gritting his jaw. Brunette guy kept up with Cal's pace.
And they reached the finishing line.
"What??! What happened? What number did he get?"
I screeched at Sam, my face red from shouting.
"I don't know, Kayla! I couldn't see!"
I stamped my foot in frustration.
"Never mind, Kayla, there's still the 200 meters, the 400 meters and the 800 meters! He'll be fine!" Sam said, trying to console me. I didn't say anything, though, anxious to death.
---
But he wasn't fine. For the next 3 events, as far as I could see, Cal had tied with the brunette guy. For every single freaking race!!! What was wrong with this world?!
Coach blew his whistle again, signalling time off as he called out to the students, the clipboard swinging from his arms. I ran down the bleachers to Cal, leaving Sam behind. She could wait, this was a life or death matter!
Cal smiled at me, sweat glistening on his forehead. I could see the frustration in his eyes, but he seemed genuinely happy to see me.
"You came!"
"Yeah, I told you I would, didn't I?"
Cal gave a bark of laughter.
"How did it go? Did you guys really tie?" I asked him worriedly.
Cal grimaced, casting a dirty look over his shoulder where brunette guy was sitted.
"Yeah, I mean, I guess so. I'm not really sure, though."
I sighed frustratedly.
"Listen, Cal. I wish, I completely, absolutely wish that you would make it on the team, Cal... but..." I bit my lip.
Cal smirked.
"But if I don't...?"
"Well, if you don't, Cal, then I'm sure its for the best. Something good will come out of this either way, believe me," I said bravely.
Cal looked at me strangely for the longest moment, his expression soft.
"Thank you, Kayla. That was... sweet of you. Come here, you," he said, trying to pull me into a hug.
"What? No! Eww, you're all stinky!" I giggled, running away from him. Cal's eyes flashed mischievously as he started to chase me.
"Cal!!! No fair! I don't run, remember?!" I screamed, positively stumbling by now. Making my way to the bleachers, I sped up... and tripped over someone.
"Oof!" a masculine voice cried out in surprise, as his arms reached out to hold me steady. I blinked, halfway through the act of tripping. Slowly, I steadied myself. The guy who caught me chuckled, his voice deep and throaty. Slowly, I turned to face my saviour.
A pair of green eyes stared back at me amusedly. His hair was messed up, damp with sweat, and his lips were curved up into a sweet smile. He had a couple of freckles scattered across the bridge of his nose, and a dimple nestled on his left cheek.
"Are you okay, miss?" he asked, still not letting me go. American, I realized from his accent.
"You're the brunette guy!" I exclaimed suddenly. Stupidly.
Brunette guy's dimpled deepened.
"So I've noticed," he said, an amused expression on his face.
For a while, the both us stood there, cacooned in our own little world, memorizing each other's faces. I mentally traced his jawline, the faint stubble on his cheeks, whereas his eyes travelled my eyes, my nose, my lips...
"You can let go of her now," Cal suddenly appeared, his voice frosty.
"But why?" brunette guy asked, and I saw his eyes blinking in surprise as he realized what he just said.
I blushed furiously.
Gently, though, brunette guy released me from his embrace.
"I'm Aiden, and I'm new," brunette guy said with an easy smile.
"I'm Kayla Thomas," I said, trying not to sound too breathless.
Oh my god, what was wrong with me! Why did I sound like those cheesy girls from the chick flick movies Cal accused me of watching?!
"Where you're from?" I asked, peering up from my eyelashes.
Oh my god!!! Stop it!!!
"New York City, the big apple. You're definitely English, aren't you?"
I smiled, blushing again.
"London," I giggled.
STOP IT!!!
Cal cleared his throat, loudly. With much difficulty, I unlocked my eyes from Aiden's face and turned to face Cal, who looked pretty annoyed.
Honestly, what was wrong with him? Couldn't he see that I was busy???
"We're about to start our football tryouts." Cal gestured wildly at the cones and balls that had magically appeared on the field. "So, back to the bleachers, Kayla," he snapped, all trace of laughter gone.
I shrugged at Aiden, flashing him another smile. He gave me one back, and, dazed, I tethered up to the bleachers unsteadily. Sam asked me a question I didn't hear, and I mumbled something unintelligible back.
Looking down, I realized that the guys, 10 of them or so by now, were dribbling the balls around cones, passing them to and fro. I quickly zoomed in on Aiden, who was kicking the ball to Cal, his face relaxed and happy, wind whipping through his soft, thick hair.
Suddenly, I wasn't quite sure who I was supporting.