I rolled off the sofa and groaned as my ribs squeaked in pain. My alarm was blaring as it insisted that I wake up for school. I reached a blind hand towards the floor, grabbing it to silence it. I didn’t need the other two to wake up. When I came home with all of our bags, it was already four.
I stumbled in the house, exhaustion clear in my eyes and I fell asleep on the sofa at the next minute. I had only three hours of sleep and I sat upright with my eyes still closed. Rubbing my eyes with the heel of my palm, I waited until my nausea settled down before I stood up. Looking around at the new apartment, I finally located the bag filled with my clothes.
It was weird waking up in a different place but I prefer this place rather than the old one. In this, I had no fear. In this place, I was free. No one to beat me, no one to vent their anger on me. Mum and I are safe, finally.
I rummaged through the bag and pulled out pale blue jeans, a t-shirt, underwear before heading towards the bathroom. Yawning heavily, I cleaned myself and smelt oddly like Jase when I stepped out of the bathroom. I smelled of spice. Anyway, I padded over towards the sofa and laid the towel to dry.
I glanced at Mum who was still dead asleep, a small smile framing her face. A smile appeared on my face and I ran a hand through my hair as I made my way towards the kitchen to make myself some coffee. I was arguing over the phone with Liam to come get me to school by the time I made some toast. I had already called Mitch, my other bestfriend but it seemed that his phone was switched off. Liam was my second chance to get to school.
I whirled around and only relaxed when I saw Jase. He smiled at me and walked over towards the coffee machine, pouring a glass of coffee for himself before sitting on the stool, sipping slowly as he watched me above the rim of the cup. I turned my back to him as I concentrated on the conversation.
‘Liam come on, give me a ride please! I don’t even know how to get there from here,’ I pleaded at him over the phone for the umpteenth time. ‘I tried calling Mitch but he isn’t picking up his phone that damn bastard. I’m going to be late if you don’t come down here this instant.’
‘Now Ally, I’m not saying that I don’t want to fetch you. It’s that-‘
‘It’s Isabel right?’ I interrupted him with a flat tone. My heart sank as his silence gave me the damn answer. I sighed heavily. ‘It’s okay Liam; I’ll just get to school on my own. What best friend you are.’
‘Wait Ally-‘
I hung up before he could finish his sentence. I sighed heavily and ran both hands through my hair, making it messier than ever. I didn’t even bother to run a comb through it and thanks to my hands, I doubt I need any. Sometimes, I’m glad that my hair was short cut concave style. It’s easier to maintain and besides how the hell am I supposed to run with a ponytail?
Kneading my temple, I gulped the rest of the coffee and made my way towards my bag. Checking my books and stuffing my uniform in with my gloves, I grabbed my bag from the floor. I grabbed my boots and stuffed them into the shoe bag too. I was about to grab my wallet from the coffee table when Jase cleared his throat from the kitchen counter.
I paused. ‘I can give you a ride if you want,’ he suggested with a shrug. I frowned and waited for the rest of his sentence. I didn’t know if I was about to like it or not. ‘But you need to help me with something for return.’
‘Help you with what?’
‘You do train right? Have conditioning every now and then?’ he asked me with a raised eyebrow as he watched me critically over the rim of his cup of coffee. This guy was really analysing me like some lab rat and I narrowed my eyes at his sentence. So this is where he was going.
‘You want me to train you? In return for driving me to and from school?’ I asked him in a flat tone. ‘Are you sure that’s all Jase? Because seeing your face, I doubt that’s it. It’s like you’re freaking scheming something.’
He grinned mischievously at me. ‘I do have something else in mind but that can come later. Now, I need to send you to school before you’re late,’ he told me before putting his cup of coffee on the table and standing up. I watched him stroll over towards his bedroom to grab a shirt, wallet and keys before we left the apartment.
I shook my head at him and walked towards the lobby of the apartment with him in tow. He spoke the rest of the way to school after I gave him the name of the school and he announced that he knew where it was. I let him speak since I had nothing else to provide, he was grinning over something he had said and he was emphasizing something with both of his hands.
I looked at him like he was crazy, literally grown two heads or something and I just listened to him spout nonsense. He was talking about the shots that he did with his friend and what little he remembered the last time he got drunk. God, he was a party animal. By the time the car was parked in school, I knew a lot about him.
I glanced at the watch and noticed that I had ten minutes left to spare. I thanked Jase and left the car. I was already ten feet away when I hear Jase calling me from his car. I turned to see him grinning at me.
‘What?’
‘What time do you end today Ally?’
‘I end practice at 4 today!’ I answered him before rolling my eyes and turning back towards the school. I left him by the carpark and made my way into the school, passing many students to get my ass to my locker. As soon as I got towards the hallway where my locker was, I stopped short and did a double take.
It wasn’t someone I wanted to see.
Huffing, I made my way there anyway because I need to keep my gear in and I don’t have the intention to haul the damn thing everywhere with me. It was already heavy thanks to the boots. He gave no indication that he saw me as he leaned casually on the locker next to mine.
Sighing heavily, I marched up towards my locker and ignored the rest of the world as I tried to stuff my gear into my cramped locker. I was about to stuff my books in when I hear him move and felt his gaze on me. This is not what I wanted so I ignored him as he stared pointedly at me.
‘If you want something permanent, take a picture,’ I told him without meeting his gaze. I slammed the locker shut as soon as I stuffed the last book in there. I left the locker without another word and made my way towards my homeroom. By the time I reached the class, I was already surrounded by my team.
We were all giggling and laughing over the last game that we had won. We were still having that euphoria in our hearts and we could feel the tension brewing inside the class when all of us filed in. Our enemy-the rugby boys were seated on the other side of the classroom. Mostly, this class was mixed with half softball team and half rugby team.
We were mortal enemies.
We hated each other.
We were both the best team in this state.
Some of the rugby boys scoffed and glared when we came in. it was the same ritual, we would glare at each other and none would make any noise. The teacher that comes in was a terrified-looking mousy lady that would come in with a slumped shoulder. She would squeak and whimper when she sees us like that but no matter how much convincing, we won’t even separate to work together.
It was that bad. It had gotten worse when the captain of the rugby team has a soft spot for me. It was ridiculous. Remember the boy that I didn’t want to see by my locker? Yes, that was the boy that I was referring to. An unhealthy soft spot. That made everything worse but he was still adamant.
Anyhow, we spent the first period in tension.
None of us was speaking to anyone and we were all taut, waiting just waiting for the other to snap its strings. So far, none of us had snapped and started a fight. I didn’t allow them to. I didn’t want them getting into trouble, even getting suspended. I needed my whole team. I didn’t want vacant spaces.
It was already hard to find people who loved softball.
My friend nudged me and jerked her head towards the window. She was a fellow softball player and a good one at that. ‘What is he doing?’ I whispered to her and chuckled at the signals my bestfriend- Liam was giving at the window. Abby shrugged and sighed heavily, doodling on a piece of paper.
He was pointing to his phone, mouthing at me to read it before he left the classroom. I frowned at him, laughing silently at his weird antic. I took out my phone and glanced down at it. Reading the text he had sent, I started to smile at his words. Abby just gave me a pointed look at my reaction but didn’t bother to ask me.
She knew it was something ridiculous.
After that tense first period, all of us left the classroom like it was on fire. We stayed away from each other, both teams separated and avoiding each other like the plague. It was hilarious actually.
‘Aww man, when can this rivalry be over already?’ Abby exclaim loudly, bringing her arms up as we made our way to our next class. ‘I hate not being friends with them, they are so damn hot! Sizzling hot!’
‘Girl, are you hearing what you’re saying? The others would beat you for that,’ I pointed out to her with a laugh. ‘How are we supposed to end this rivalry when it’s already been going on for years?’
‘See! I hate those people who started all this bullshit. Why can’t we live normally? God I hate people warring the other just because they want to be the best,’ Abby exclaim sarcastically and then sighed. ‘So Ally, what news of that boy you hate so much?’
I shushed her, placing a hand on her lips as soon as the words left her mouth. ‘There are many spies around here,’ I whispered to her gravely, my eyes looking left and right as I made my words more dramatic but then straightened up with a smug smile on my face. ‘Nah, he’s still the same.’
I left her looking at me in shock. ‘How dare you Ally!’ she exclaimed wildly at me from behind. ‘I will get back to you for this!’ A small smile was playing my lips as I left her by the hallway. I loved messing with her. She was fun, her reactions were epic.
I chuckled.
…
‘God what the hell? You are an idiot do you know that Mitchell? What the hell am I supposed to do now with you gone? Why did you get yourself into trouble? Why Mitchell?’ I shouted at the poor boy and shook him hard on his shoulders. ‘You are my best pitcher! We can’t win without you and we have a match next month!’
‘I-I…I’m sorry Ally!’ he exclaimed and he looked like he was about to burst into tears at any moment. This is the bad boy in the whole school. He had snakebite and a terrifying look on his face. But when he was in front of me, his resolve and his ego disappeared at one smooth move. He respected me and that’s why he dropped his bad boy attitude.
I sighed and patted his cheek, bringing him close to a hug. I squeezed him tightly and he wrapped his strong arms around me, bringing me up. He was a good head taller than me and my feet were already dangling in the air. He loved hugging me like that I have no idea why. The both of us were very close and we treated each other like siblings. People didn’t know how I became friends with the bad boy in the school.
They didn’t believe me either.
‘It’s okay Mitch; we’ll find a replacement for you. But you need to be there to pick the guy or girl,’ I told him severely, glaring at him closely as we were still in each other’s arms. ‘You have to train him too by the way. I can’t believe this, it’s like karma is out to bite me in the ass.’
He pouted at me cutely and kissed me on the cheek before letting go; sliding an arm around my waist as we walked towards the fourth period class we had together. ‘Well this is going to be brilliant, I know it,’ he told me in a sarcastic tone. ‘The coach had already flipped at me and I’m sure the rest of the team would kick my ass.’
I scoffed. ‘That’s the understatement of the damn century!’
He let out a bark of laughter and we quickly made our way towards calculus, the rest of the student body avoiding us like we were infected people. The girls were all looking at me, whispering and pointing at the arm that was around my waist. ‘I see we’re still popular, judging by the looks and the pointing,’ he pointed out.
I rolled my eyes at him.
‘Always the drama King Mitch,’ I said aloud and yelped when he poked me in the ribs, right where the injury was. I groaned and cradled my right rib. ‘That’s a very sensitive spot there Mitch, best if you stay away from it.’
His eyes darken at my words but he didn’t apologize. He knew about my Dad, he knew about the beatings because he had found me bruised and battered one fine day. He flew into a rage and was about to beat him senseless when I stopped him, begging him not to do it because I knew Dad would do something more drastic than ever.
‘You should leave that place Ally,’ he whispered to me as we walked into our classroom and heading towards the back, where our usual seats were. ‘He’s less than a man for doing that to the both of you.’
‘I already am out. I’m living with someone else,’ I told him quietly as I slid into the seat beside him. My whole body was tense as I forced myself not to wince. ‘Don’t worry about me Mitch; I can take care for the both of us.’
‘You’re living with someone else? How the hell did you get out from there? Is that the reason why you weren’t in school yesterday?’ he asked me with a frown. ‘Why didn’t you call me or anything Ally?’
I sighed. ‘I was bathing when I heard Mum screaming and him shouting. So I raced downstairs with my bag and pushed him away from her. I told him to stay away from her and he swung at me. I dodged the first but his fist caught my rib. Then he smashed a chair on my back. That’s when it happened. I carried Mum and ran away from there.’
‘Oh my god, he smashed you with a chair and you can still move fine?’ he whispered in shock. ‘Then what happened next? Why didn’t you call me for help Ally? I could’ve been there and kick his sorry ass.’
I laughed and watched the rest of the class file in for the next lesson. ‘I vaulted over the fences and ran through some streets. By that time I was already wheezing,’ I told him softly. ‘I heard his car coming for us so I hoisted Mum up again and I ran like mad towards an apartment building. I just crashed through a door and locked ourselves in.’
‘You what? You just entered someone’s apartment just like that? And he let you stay? Are you sure you can trust him?’ Mitch demanded at me, a scowl on his face. Seriously, he was such an overprotective boy sometimes.
‘He’s fine Mitch,’ I told him softly. He remained quiet but I knew he had rolled his eyes at me. ‘And don’t you dare roll your eyes at me Mitchell, it’s your fault that you got into trouble. How the hell am I supposed to fine another pitcher?’ I made sure I said the last two sentences loudly so that I got the attention of the other students.
He raised an eyebrow at me. ‘I told you I’m sorry right? We can do the auditions later,’ he told me with an exaggerated air of annoyance which I knew had to be an act. He caught on really quick. ‘You know we can announce later in the cafeteria.’
We could hear whispers erupting around the class as they caught on with our loud conversation. I could already see the others texting on their phones and spreading the news around like wildfire. By the time we’re at the cafeteria, I’m sure there would be a line of hopeful pitchers.
‘Really? Well you go do it then,’ I told him with a smug grin.
He gave me a flat stare. ‘You’re impossible.’
I grinned at him.
‘I know Mitch.’
…