--Day eleven--
What the actual fuck? Carly’s mind screamed. Her eyes were wide and portrayed nothing but shock, her cheeks had paled drastically and - if something wasn’t attached to them - she would have been biting her bottom lip. As it so happens Samantha was currently keeping Carly’s lips occupied with her own.
Samantha removed her plump lips from Carl’s and studied his stunned face. She giggled prettily and, with a last ‘good luck’ thrown over her shoulder, ran out to the stadium so that she could cheer alongside her school friends for their soccer team to win the match.
Carly stayed frozen in her place, the only movement was her hand moving up in robotic jerks so that she could place them on her lips. Her mouth was hanging open, her face a clear picture of astoundment, her body was still leaning slightly backwards when Samantha had made the unexpected kiss, causing Carly to go with instinct and lean away from her.
Samantha just kissed me, she just freaking placed her lips on my own and kissed me. I kissed a fucking girl...and I didn’t like it! Is this considered rape? Can I report this? Carly’s face contorted into a look of pure panic.
A slap on her back was the only thing that caused her to break out of her mental state, “Go on Carl!” Joshua cried, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and saving her from face planting into the floor from the harsh slap, “You managed to bag a kiss from one of the hottest chicks in school!”
Another slap was rewarded on her back from Benny – obviously if Joshua was there than Benny wouldn’t have been too far behind and vice versa – again Joshua’s arm saving her from her face greeting the ground, “You’re such a player. And you’ve only been here a week you woman seeking bitch!”
“Uh huh,” Carly muttered, her lips turning down into a frown.
“Why do you look so put out?” Benny asked, placing his hands on Carly’s cheeks and inspecting her face with a frown.
“Dude you should be on fucking cloud nine!” Joshua shouted, waving his arms in the air as if to emphasise his point.
“Yeah,” That was the only word she could muster. She ducked under their arms and avoided their questioning gazes in favour of her own friend’s faces.
She frowned when she saw Liam twitching on the ground, Callum only looking down at him with a glare that clearly stated ‘are you for real?’ and Jasper leaning against the wall nearest, opting to ignore his bizarre friend.
“What’s up with him?” She asked, standing at Liam’s feet.
“I don’t know,” Callum groaned, rubbing his face, “He was normal two seconds ago but then this happened.”
The source of Liam’s torment was in fact Carly. He had seen the kiss Samantha had given her, that wasn’t the problem – actually Liam had found that quite amusing – it was the thought of Elliot kissing Carly that was the problem. How he had come to this thought was unknown, but it was this thought alone that caused Liam to crumple into a twitching mess on the dusty floor.
Jasper loomed over Carly, his shadow consuming her small form, “Carly?” He asked innocently, immediately making her suspicious, “Wasn’t that your first kiss?”
Bryan Fletcher walked by two minutes after Jasper had asked that question, only to see both Carly and Liam lying on the ground, clutching their heads and muttering incoherently.
Keep walking. You didn’t see anything. Don’t think about it; don’t even look back at them. Bryan ordered himself, marching away from them and onto the pitch at a fast pace.
“Carl stop messing around and get on the pitch,” Elliot shouted from the entrance, “We’ve got a game to play in five minutes!”
“Sorry!” Carly shouted, scrambling to her feet and running towards the door Elliot held open.
“Elliot’s being a little demanding don’t you think?” Callum frowned towards the closing doors.
“Liam what are you muttering?” Jasper asked as he knelt down on the balls of his feet to the still deluded Liam, this time ignoring his over-protective friend.
Jasper strained his ears and said the words he heard out loud, “...Carly likes Elliot, Carly likes Elliot,” Jasper frowned and stood up slowly, “Ah,” He muttered. He sucked in a breath, grimacing when his eyes caught Callum’s horrified face, “Well I didn’t expect that.”
“SHE LIKES WHO?!” Callum shouted.
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Dirt, sweat, cheers, stench, sniff. Hold still. Now watch, calculate, move, dive, block, fall, curl up. And lay still.
Screams rang out of the stands; the Holloway High students were on their feet and were desperately trying to contribute their own voices for their – although small – goalie keeper. He lay on the grass, curled up slightly, with a black and white football tucked under his chin.
Carly sat up from her position, flinching slightly when the loud cheers from the stands met her ears. She held the soccer ball under her arm, shifting her eyes for the best person to give it to. Ideally it would have been a safer choice to have given it to someone like Benny or Joshua, who were both closer and more open. However, Carly’s eyes met with the soccer captain, who was further down the pitch with two players flanking him.
Carly stood and set the soccer ball on the green grass that had been mowed to perfection. She could hear the distant screams of the crowd, the Coach segregated as he bellowed orders to the team players. She breathed in and out, taking a couple steps back and jumping slightly on the balls of her feet. She sucked in a last breath before running forward, her eyes trained on the ball. Grass and dirt un-lodged from the underside of her shoes and lifted into the air as her foot connected with it, sending it reeling towards a struggling Elliot.
I trust him, he’ll be able to break free, Carly thought. True to her words, Elliot feigned a right and due to the boys – who were flanking him – distraction of the upcoming soccer ball they moved to the right also, taking the bait.
Both schools watched with either cries of distress or shouts of excitement as the soccer captain manoeuvred around the players and drew closer to the nets. The other team’s goalie shifted from right to left, a panicked look on his face as he held his arms out on either side of him. Elliot pulled back his leg and gave a powerful kick to the ball, watching as it made for the upper left corner of the net. A small smirk was set on his face when he saw the other player jump to his right, the goalie’s eyes widening when he realized his mistake.
Holloway High were jumping with joy, hugging each other out of sheer excitement, banners thrown in the air and horns blowing. Everyone, too focused on their own celebration and cheers, were unable to see Carly jumping with joy and screaming, “That’s my baby!” That is, except, one soccer player by the name of Bryan Fletcher, who quickly ran towards his other team players and away from the over exuberant goalie keeper.
************************
Carly glanced at Callum and Jasper from the corner of her eyes, taking in their still sullen expressions. They had been like that since she had gleefully attacked all three of her friends in a hug. They had smiled, while Liam had held her hands and jumped up and down alongside her, but Carly could see that they were strained. She didn’t want to ask, she had an insecure feeling that whatever they were upset about had to do with her. So, instead, she did what she normally did whenever any one of her male friends were upset.
“So do you guys want to order some pizza?” She asked, lacing her fingers behind her head, “I’ll pay and we can watch the Lethal Weapon movies at Jasper’s house.”
Sure enough, small genuine smiles dashed their lips as they accepted the too tempting offer.
*************************
“Hey guys?” Bryan Fletcher asked, pulling a black t-shirt over his head.
“Yo,” Daniel replied, which was the guys way to say they were listening.
It was after the match, they were all slowly coming down from their adrenaline rush. They had been silently getting changed, a tradition that seemed to happen after every game. You would think that after winning a match they would be bouncing off the walls, instead, the boys seem to do the opposite; in fact if someone were to walk into the boy’s locker room they would compare its silence to a library.
“Do you think that...do you think-” Bryan started, only to trail off and start picking at his shirt sleeves nervously.
“Out with it man!” Chris shouted, slapping him on the back.
“Do you think Carl is gay?!” Bryan blurted out, smacking a hand over his mouth as soon as the words escaped.
Now the locker room was more silent than a library could ever hope to be. Elliot was the first one to break the silence, “What makes you say that?”
“Er something happened at practise the other day and...well, it kind of got me wondering,” Bryan murmured, shuffling his shoes.
By now Bryan had the attention of the whole soccer team, “What happened?” Elliot questioned further, taking a step forward along with the others.
“Well I heard him with someone else and it sounded like...like – like they were doing the down and dirty,” Bryan rushed.
“You nasty pervert,” Benny and Joshua said simultaneously.
“No, no, no, no, you got it all wrong!” Bryan cried, waving his hands frantically in front of him, “I was going to get changed and I just so happened to hear a bit before I high tailed it out of there.”
“Yeah right, I bet you get off on that shit,” Benny joked further.
Joshua placed his arm around Benny’s shoulders, “We got a closet pervert over here guys!”
Both Benny and Joshua continued to poke fun of the unfortunate soccer player, while the others contemplated on Carl’s sexual orientation.
“I wonder if it’s true,” Daniel mused.
“It would explain a lot,” Adam shrugged.
Chris frowned, “What would Carl being gay explain?” He asked.
“Why he doesn’t get changed with us,” Adam supplied, “Why he blushes every time one of us takes our tops off. Why every time Elliot talks to him he becomes a bumbling mess.”
At the last comment everyone turned to stare at Elliot, whose eyes had widened at the sudden attention. There was a chorus of “oh’s” as they all swooped down on Elliot, manic grins plastered on their faces.
“It seems like our goalie keeper has a crush on our soccer captain!” Benny shouted, Joshua laughing along with him.
“That’s a movie waiting to happen,” Joshua giggled drunkenly.
Elliot laughed it off, “Yeah right, like Carl would ever have a crush on me.”
“Aw, are you feeling insecure Eli?” Joshua cooed, wrapping an arm around his shoulders too, “Don’t let it get you down.”
“Shut up,” Elliot groaned, pushing his arm off of him.
“Seriously though Elliot,” Chris said with a slight frown, “I’ve noticed the looks he gives you, it’s like you’re a God or something.”
Elliot shook his head, “Nah man, he just probably looks up to me because I’m the soccer captain and student president. I mean not a lot of people can handle such a big task,” Elliot tried to reassure.
Daniel shoved him in to the lockers, “You are getting too cocky for your own good,” He pointed out, a playful grin on his face.
Elliot only chuckled, rubbing his arm slightly to get rid of the tingles of pain. However, a small frown etched onto his eyebrows as he thought over Carl’s reactions to his presence. Is it really possible that Carl is gay? And that he has a crush on me?