Everybody must've known Archer had a thing for me except for, well, me.
Monday morning when he walk hand in hand into school every ones staring, which I hate and wish to disappear, and congratulating us for finally being together. Apparently it was inevitable for us to end up together. So it's Monday morning, meaning Archer survived Matts 'talk' yesterday, more or less. He was a little weird after. Scared shitless would be a better phrase to describe it actually. It was quite hilarious, though Archer didn't think so.
Nothing has really changed that much between us, we still are best friends which is why we're attached at the hip. We still are our goofy selves except we kiss. A lot. The air surrounding us is always on fire and filled with electricity, a desire that could consume me. How we, well I, never noticed it before is beyond me.
Our school isn't huge, but it's not small, so news travels fast. So by second period the entire student body knows about Archer and I. The thing is though, we aren't officially together. We haven't gone a date, and he hasn't asked me to be his girlfriend. But I don't don't his feelings towards me and I know we don't have to rush into anything.
So the day goes by slowly, every person in the hallway staring at us two and all the questions girls throw at me. Although not all of it's positive, some girls now hate my guts. They glare at me and whisper as I walk down the hall, which I can handle, I could probobly beat them up if I needed to, I'm not scared of their empty threats.
That whole girl thing never bothered me. I just stay out of all the drama, it's none of their business what is going in in my life.
So when school finally ends I hurry to the locker room to get my bag for the game tonight. Unfortunately the schedule is back in order so the boys have a game and won't be able to watch me play. But it's okay the big game agiants our rival school is on separate days, that's always a good game.
After getting my bag I go out the main door into the parking lot, full of kids trying to get home, and head towards the truck. When I'm a few yards away I see Hailey leaning against Matts car, twerling her hair while speaking to Archer.
I guess you could say that they have a past. If her getting attactched to him after a one time feelingless thing making her believe he is permenatly hers, is considered a past. Whenever he was with an other girl, which was often, she would start rumors and threaten them to back off. She is very possessive and controlling, something I could never be.
It's clear when I get close to the truck that she sees me but Archer has his back to me. Shes standing teally close to him and by his body languag I can tell he's uncomfortable. She smirks before stoping him mid-sentence and crashing her lips to his.
I'm not going to lie, right now I would love to run her over with a semi-truck. To harsh? I get a terrible feeling in my stomach knowing that she's kissing him when it should be me. She's practically sucking his face off like a vacuum. Then Archer does the unexpected, he quickly pushes her of of him and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand in disgust. Archer is a player, who gets all the girls, he would normally kiss her back.
"What the hell Hailey?!" he questions. I see her face fall and I use all the strength in me to not break out laughing at her defeated expression. I don't think she used to not getting what or who she wants. He says something else to her that I can't hear but Haileys face loses it's color. Her face quickly changes when she spots me again, this time to pure anger and hate.
Archer follows her gaze and turns around to see me. His angry face goes pale and he looks like a little kid who was caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
And I'm just standing there still in shock that the old Archer is gone, replaced my a one woman man. My Archer.
"Megan, it's not what it looks like, I swear," he walks to me and takes my hands in his. "She kissed me and I pushed her off and told her that I don't want her. I want you, only you," he pleads.
Suddenly I wicked idea pops into my mind. "I can't believe you, how can you lie to my face?!" I lie, trying my best to put on my fake angry expression when a smile is tugging in my mouth.
"I'm not lying! Megan please believe me," he begs, eyes desperate. He really does look like he's in pain. My heart skips a beat knowing how much he cares for me.
"I know, I saw the whole thing," I say. Confusion is clear on his face and I let out a laugh,"I'm pulling your leg,"
"That's was so not funny!" He scolds.
"Your face!" I say laughing in his face again, clutching my sides. I sober up and look at him in all seriousness "And even if I didn't see, I would've believed what you told me happened or didn't. I trust you," I say looking him in the eyes. His gorgeous smile slips on his face and he pecks my lips.
"I trust you too. Thanks, it won't ever happen again. I promise. So don't trick me," he says stoking my cheek with his hand, his smiling growing wider at his last sentence.
"I know it won't. Plus I don't like that feelling-seeing you kiss an other girl,"
"Jealous much?" his famous smirk on his face.
"Maybe," I say shyly, looking down.
"It's okay, it's cute. I like knowing you only want me too," he kisses me again, but this time a little longer. I hear car horns go off and I pull away, embarrassed. Hailey is no where in sight but Matt is already in the car staring at Archer and I.
"Somebody's in trouble, kissing their little sister in public is not allowed," I tease. Archer runs his hand over his face and I walk past him to the car. I stand by the door, waiting for him to open it for me like a good boyfriend, or whatever, should. I turn to him and raise an eyebrow, he realizes quickly and opens for me so I can get in then he gets in the passenger seat with Matt watching his every move. I giggle a little and Archer turns around to give me a look but I just stick my tongue out at him.
"Are you two done?"
"Sir yes sir," I say looking at him through the rearview mirror and saluting. This causes Archer to snort which he quickly stifles and shrinks down in his seat when Matt glares at him.
"C'mon Matt, lighten up. Stop playing the protective older brother. It was going to happen sooner or later, so get over it. You know Archer, yeah he's stupid," my comment makes Archer complain but I continue, "but he'll take care of me. Its fine. I'm fine,"
After my little speech both of the boys are quiet but Matt looks deep in thought and Archer looks proud that I defended him.
"I just don't want to see you hurt, we all know how Archer is,"
"Seriously Matt? How many times will I have to explain myself?" Archer says, joining in on the conversation. "You know how it was. I only ever wanted Meg those girls were just distractions. Megan is more than an other fuck buddie. I want to be with only her. I could never hurt her and you know it." my heart flutters with the words he says. Then he turns and looks at me to say the next part, "I'll never let anything hurt her,"
"Okay," Matt says sounding convinced. "You passed, congrats,"
"What?" Archer and I harmonize. Matt sighs.
"You're obviously new to the process so I'll fill you in." Me and Archer exchange a puzzled look then turn our attention back to Matt. "Being the older brother, it's my job to give the younger sister's boyfriend a tough time to see if he's good enough for her. You are, so you passed. Plus it was getting hard to hate my bestfriend for so long," Archer stares blankly at him and I just shrug, it's a guy thing I guess.
"Um, thanks?" Archer says, but it comes out more as a question. "Then I guess it's a good thing you actually know me, just imagine if it was some other guy,"
"I'd kill him," Matt says without hesitation.
"Gee, thanks dude. I'd like the guy enough to bring him home and you kill him, does my happiness mean nothing to you?" I question, fake hurt.
"Apearently not," Matt states.
"Please, tell me how you really feel," I joke. Finally, the situation is lightened. I was getting tired of Matt 'fake' hating Archer. It was strange, funny at times though. I'm glad everythings back to normal, well as close to normal as we can get.
The drive home is filled with talking and laughter as usual and flies by. When we get home we make some food to eat before our games and change into our uniforms.
Matt comes storming into my room just when I finish putting on my shorts over my compression pants.
"OH MY GOSH!" he yells,
"What?!" I ask scared.
"Penn State is coming to watch me play!"
"Oh my gosh!" I echo. I jump on him and wrap him in a hug to congratulate him.
"Oh, no. What if I suck?" He suddenly says, doubting himself.
"Matthew Luke Wallace, you will go out on that field and play amazing and they will love you," I assure him.
"I'm nervous," he tells me clutching his stomach. I slap him upside the head.
"Get it together man. You'll do great, you always do. They'd be crazy not to want you," he's only been of dreaming to play at a division one school since he was a little boy. He's an amazing player and has colleges calling 24/7.
"Thanks, I wish you and Dad could watch though," he says glumly.
"Call him! He'll be so excited for you,"
"Okay! I'll call him right now," he says leaving my room with a wide smile.
There are no word to decribe how incrediably proud I am of my brother. I'm truly happy for him-but I cant help feeling envious of him. Playing college soccer is all I can think about, I believe that im a good player, so why dont colleges seem to notice me?
I head to Archer's room down the hall and open the door. He's still changing and only has his shorts on. I can't help but stare at his perfect body. The way his muscles flex as he moves his strong arms; his wide shoulders; his stomach with six perfect muscles; and his amazing back.
"See something you like?" he says amused.
I tear my eyes away from his exposed upperhalf to meet his eyes, "Nope, you need to loose a few pounds," I say, quickly recovering.
"Have you seen my jersey? I can't seem to find it," he says rummaging through his soccer bag. I walk over to his dresser pulling open the second dwar and get his jersey out.
"I already checked in-" he stops short when I hand him the jersey he 'missplaced'.
"What would you do without me?" I ask him, a sweet smile playing on my lips.
"Play jerseyless," he's such a smart ass. I roll my eyes; if it wasn't for me his life would be chaos.
"Anyways, keep Matt focused tonight, Penn State is coming and he needs to be on his game,"
"Sweet! Great for him. Yeah, I'll watch out for him,"
"Okay, thanks. Im leaving now, good luck,"
"I don't get a good luck kiss?" he pouts.
"Nope," I say turning my back to him heading to the door.
I reach for the handle and turn it but before I can open the door Archer comes up behind me and places a hand on the door keeping it closed.
"I'm gonna be late," I tell him in a sing song voice, not bothering to turn around.
"Just one minute," he begs, his voice deeper then his usual upbeat tone.
"Let me think about it," I playfully tease. I feel him move my ponytail off my neck and his hot breath on my neck as he plants kisses below my ear. The hair on my forearms stands on end from the electricity running through my nerves. He leaves a trail down my neck then he starts sucking my sweet spot. My grip on the door knob tightens, turning my knuckles white in order to not let out a moan. His hands grip my waist and turn me so we face eachother and he immediately kisses me.
He hasn't put his jersey on yet so I can trail my fingertips across his bare chest and over his toned stomach. My fingers accidentally brush his nipple and he moans. Our kiss heats up; he pushes me against the door and his hands go into my hair, pulling us impossibly closer, causing hairs to fall out of my ponytail. My hands find his back and I gently scratch his skin with my fingernails going from his shoulders down to the top of his shorts. This causes a moan to erupt from his mouth and chest to vibrate against mine. I loop my fingers in his waistband where his v-line vanishes into his shorts, gripping the fabric tightly. He removes his hands from my hair and places them against the door in tight fists.
"Stop," he says breathless. "Meg, stop," he repeats weakly, pulling away from me. I take my hands of his shorts and put them at my side. I look down at my feet feeling rejected. I wasn't going to do anything, I just got caught in the moment. My cheeks burn in embarrassment as I continue to stare at the ground hoping to disappear.
"Sorry," I mumble not knowing what to say.
"No, god no. Not like that," he tells me. I look at him, confused. So many emotions are swirling in his eyes, dark blue lust, a bit of hurt and guilt, and something else I can't quite figure out. "It's not that I don't want you,
okay? Trust me, I want you-so bad. But I have to stop before we go too far. I respect you too much to rush you. And if you keep doing stuff like this it's gonna get hard to restrain myself. "
"Oh," is all I can say. I thought he didn't want me but really he just doesn't want things to get out of hand.
"Okay," I agree.
"You're too important. You're more than an other girl to me and I want things to be different. I really care about you," my heart swells at his words and a goofy smile appears on my face.
"I really care about you too," I tell him, looking straight into his eyes so he can tell that I mean it. Though deep down inside me, three little words are threatening to come out. A wide 100-watt smile, not smirk, lights up his face. He gives me one last peck on my lips, "Goodluck. I'll see you after the game,"
"Goodluck. Please play better then last game, you kinda sucked," I tease.
"Now, who's fault would that be?"
"Yours, it's not my problem that you're obsessed with me," I shrug, flipping my hair.
"Don't confuse caring for stalker-like behavior,"
"But you are a stalker,"
"I'm pretty sure you're stalking me?" he counters.
"Then why are you in my room?" I raise an eyebrow.
"Meg, this is my room," on que my head snaps up and looks around to find that I am in Archer's room.
"Oh, right," I say, crimson coloring my cheeks. I bite my lip to keep from saying other stupid things.
"Meg!" he scolds through gritted teeth, "Leave now before I jump you again for looking so god damn sexy when you blush and bite your lip like that," my blush gets deeper and I quickly
turn and walk away.
I yell a quick goodbye over my shoulder and grab my soccer bag by my door. I rush out the house and to the school so I can get there when it's quiet and everybody else hasn't shown up. I redo my ponytail Archer meased up in our hot embrace and put my gear on. Pulling out my iPod I jam my headphones in my ears, playing my pregame playlist. Cranking the music louder, I grab my bag and head through the gates out onto the empty field. It's still light yet, not dark enough to have the overhead lights on.
I set my stuff on the bench but rake out my ball so I can warm up. I focus my mind as I start juggling, keeping the ball in the air with my feet and thighs and doing tricks I've learned and perfected over the years. One by one people start showing up. My teammates and coaches, parents and students, then the other team and refs.
I'm 100% focused, mind trained at the matter at hand, oblivious to the umimportant distractions. And so are my teammates.
It should be a fairly easy game, but we cant let our guards down. We need to play like it's the championship game. both teams take the field and the game begins.
We seem to be dominating but the other teams not bad, we jut can't break down and we'll be okay. Our forwards are fast and good shooters, our mids are great passers and playmakers, and our defense is a brick wall-completely impenetrable. We manage to score a great goal by the first half.
Now the teams in the locker room at halftime listening to our coach talk while sipping on water and Gatorade. We walk back out on to field and set our drinks down by out bench. I rummage through my bag in search a roll of prewrap for my hair when suddenly my phone starts ringing. The number is unknown, I check the time on the scoreboard and realize I have enough time to answer.
"Hello?" I ask.
"Megan Wallace?" a lady says through the phone, sounding all professional.
"This is she," I switch my phone to my other ear and wait to hear what she needs.
"This is the Warren Liberty Hospital, we're calling to inform you that you father was in a very serious car accident," my stomach ties in knots. The air is thick as it gets harder to breathe, and my legs grow weak about to collapse.
"What?! Is he okay?!" I demand.
"I think it would be best to come down to the hospital," I gulp, tears falling from my eyes.
"Of course, I'll be right there," I don't wait for a goodbye before ending the call. I throw my phone in my bag and gather my stuff trying to be quick.
"Are you alright?" someone, I'm not sure who, asks.
"I gotta go," I don't wait for a reply before running out the gates to get in my car. My worst fear has finally come true.