"Psst, Ryann -" Audrey mumbled quietly, trying to wake me up without alerting my brother.
"-Ryann, wake up!" She tried not to groan, or yell, but her whispers were definitely getting angrier. She doesn't like being ignored, which is why I was lucky enough to get the Audrey special - a painful elbow to the ribs.
I sucked in a breath and slammed my eyes open, sitting straight enough to at least, hazzingly, figure out where I was. And going by the pain in my crinked, stiff neck it sure as hell wasn't my bed.
Eventually, my lazy brain came back to life.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Rose tap her leg nervously. She lived down the block from me and we were always 'neighbor friends' just not hanging out in school, kind of friends. I could almost hear the music blaring from her headphones, probably destroying what's left of her eardrums. Her red hair teased out from her lucky headband, one that she wore every game. It's hard to imagine a life where headbands actually stayed in place, so I felt blessed to know a person who was lucky enough to experience that sensation.
Rather abruptly, my gaze shot to the front seat, hearing Jax mumble some colorful insults - failing to keep them under his breath. And if his white knuckled grip on the steering wheel was anything to go by, Jax was suffering from some serious road rage.
HONK! Jax beeped as a crappy looking pick up truck cut him off.
And of course, that set off a never ending train of cars honking at one another, just for shits. Part of me wanted to cover my ears, but the other part of me, really needed to join in.
So I did. I took off my seatbelt, leaned across the dash and laid on the horn, giggling at the ones that came after. Almost like some kind of sick song - like that episode of spongebob when Patrick writes a song and it was so bad that it killed people, or fish. Don't worry though, an angry mob formed and put a stop to it.
I was so lost in my thoughts, that I didn't even notice the full on glare I was getting from Jax. I dropped my gaze and immediately went back to my seat, buckling back in and looking out the window.
We were on our way to a soccer game, and already I was glad I decided to sit in the back. Besides falling asleep, which thankfully he hadn't noticed, sitting next to him gives him too much time to study me. Studying leads to questions about the bags under my eyes, and right now, I felt too tired to even come up with a passable lie.
Last night was exhausting; both the sneak out excursion and the planning that came with it. And to be honest, my knee felt a little achy - not that it mattered - I was not missing this game. We were playing against my least favorite team, Bennington Prep, a school made up of evil people's offspring.
I coughed, leaning my head against the seat and trying to keep my eyes from closing. Audrey laughed at me and gave me a nudge when Jax started talking.
"Look alive, we're almost there. Get ready to do warm ups when we get to the field." Jax said, looking more relaxed now.
I took a deep breath and looked out the window, it was wet and muddy, with no sunshine; this day felt gloomy. And gloomy days never worked out for me. I sat up in my seat again, and slid my hands down my face, which oddly felt like pudding. I chastised myself.
I needed sleep to survive! Damn you Ryann and your dumb ideas. Wasn't even worth it. Actually, Colton made it kind of worth it. I bit my lip, holding back laughter as I thought more about last night. But before I could whisper funny reminders to Audrey, I heard Jax's door slam; we were here. I needed to get into the right mindset so I shook my limbs, and stretched my achy neck, trying to get my head in the game.
Jax opened my door when he noticed that I still hadn't gotten out. He gave me a look and I gasped in surprise, my eyes becoming wide as saucers, as if I was caught doing drugs.
I may as well tell him I snuck out last night even though I was grounded, went to a senior party and saw Colton there, ran away from him, kind of hurt my knee and then ran back home. Damn my adorable face and it's inability to lie. And you know what else, damn my stupid paranoia, my mind was obviously convinced he already knew everything and was putting up some secret facade. I should just put my hands up and ask him to arrest me. Or I needed to go to face expression class, so I can learn how to tell lies, and maybe get away with something once in a while.
He was taken aback by my expression, but I swiftly moved on, stretching my arms above my head, trying to appear neutral and unbothered.
"What are you doin' weirdo? Let's go" he said, unphased by my odd behavior. He started shuffling closer to the open car door and I smiled slightly, letting my arms drop.
"Y-yeah, no problem big brother, n-no problem at all. Just gave my limbs the old stretch before the big game - little of this, a little of that - wouldn't want to pull something'." I replied, while getting out of the car. I turned away from his confused, and probably suspicious gaze and walked towards the others.
I was clearly fucking this all up for myself. When have I ever said big brother? Or 'a little this, a little that'? Never, I have never said it in a million years. I cursed myself again.
But if Jax felt weird he didn't show it, following behind me as I walked to where our team was gathered. I swiftly pulled on my shin guards, before bending down to tie my cleats; I stood in line for warm up drills, and pretty much shut off most of my brain. I was in the zone; I didn't feel tired anymore, just the opposite, I was wired. I got into the line for warm ups, ready to go.
After faking out the defense in a drill, I sprinted towards the goalie, using my weak side to kick the ball into the top right of the net. Our goalie, Sammy, groaned having missed the save, and so I, of course, started to get cocky.
When I was in the zone, I could get a bit, full on, kind of obnoxious, really.
"Fuck yes!" I cheered proudly, picking up the ball for the next drill. I heard Jax scold me for swearing but there was no stopping me today. Especially since the other team had arrived, and were doing their own warm ups. I glanced over a few times, giving Veronica my famous evil glare.
Ah, how to describe Veronica? The girl hates me, loathes me, and we've been enemies since the day we both played soccer. First, it was grade school, then middle school, now...It was serious. She was horrible really, wore makeup to the games, flirted with anything that could walk, talked down to her teammates and talked shit about other players to their face. She played dirty, and I hated dirty soccer.
Minutes later, still in line, I noticed Veronica trying to out glare me, flipping her hair dramatically with a fake smile plastered on her face. I growled before introducing her to both my middle fingers. She gasped in mock surprise and turned back to her team, clearly snickering with her friends. I stomped my cleat into the grass, and then felt Jax standing right in front of me. I looked at him and shrugged.
"She asked for it," I grit out, my jaw clenching from anger. He sighed, running a hand down his face lazily.
"Take it down a notch, huh? Just focus on the game." He sternly suggested, while watching me grow angrier at the sight of her untied hair. I mean really, who wears their hair down to a soccer game? I turned away from her, and inhaled visibly to appease my still-standing-there brother.
We finished warm ups, and it was time for the game to begin. I was chugging water as we stretched, then moved to the field after our team huddled. I spotted Liam sitting in a vikings themed folding chair, drinking from a water bottle. He had a baseball hat on, and was wearing a zip up with jeans; it was always weird to see him in casual clothes. Sat right next to him, Zack, who wore joggers, a white long sleeve and a puffy vest, was laughing with Liam about something. I didn't see Colton, no surprise there, he was probably dying of a hangover, or still at that party. What a goon. I smiled again at the memory of him stumbling around last night.
I made it to my position, right midfielder, closest to the crowd and behind the right forward, Rose. Audrey was the left defensive mid, which was probably how we got along so well. We could get pretty aggressive. I grabbed my legs, stretching them against me, pulling them back before cracking my neck for the fourth time. A ritual of sorts. I tightened my ponytail, put some baby hairs behind my ear and took breaths. I saw Zack get up and stand closer to me, he snapped a picture and laughed. I groaned, and turned to him, giving him a look.
"Sorry - couldn't resist, you look so adorable in that little uniform," He teased me in surrender.
"Zackkkkk, stopppp," I whined. He smiled at me again and then sat down, laughing with Liam.
Ugh! Okay, get your head back in the game, Ryann, I scolded myself, shaking my head.
Then the refs came out to the field.
And I narrowed my eyes once I spotted their right forward.
My mind raged, when she stared at me with that same, creepy smile. I was ready to wipe that smirk off her face, maybe with a soccer ball, or better yet, my fucking fist.
I shifted, looking at the ground and breathing through my nose to calm the intense anger growing inside me. The ball was put in the middle of the field and since we had lost the coin toss they had possession first.
Didn't bother me though, I was ready. The ref blew the whistle...
Note:
Sorry it's shorter than most of my other chapters, another update will be coming out soon though :)
Thanks for the votes and reads! Enjoy!