Starting Off Wrong [𝐠𝐱𝐠]

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟑𝟒: 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐎𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐬

I hand the man at the entrance my ticket, half thinking it will be a counterfeit one, like last time. He pries the ticket from my fingers, and using the palm of his hand as a support, he stamps the ticket. It quickly produces a gold stamp on my ticket and without another glance, he passes the ticket back to me and urged me on.

I stare at my ticket, carefully walking forward, not wanting to hold up the line. I thought the boy at the ticket booth might have had some counterfeit tickets too. I guess not. However, I'm sure that if he did, there's no doubt I would have a forged ticket in my hands right now.

I stick the ticket into my purse, taking in the scene around me. This stadium is enormous, a lot bigger than other other high school I've seen. Thaxted High must really care about their sports. I guess it makes sense as to why they're so competitive.

"Where are we all going to sit?" I ask to no one in particular. Everyone looks to the stands, trying to find a place for the five of us to sit. Most of the seats are already full and if there are empty seats, it looks like there's only three empty seats at the most, and even those are quickly filling up.

"There!" Karina points, her voice loud so we can hear her over the crowd's noise. "I'll run up there and save our seats," she says, before speeding off, up the steps. "I'll help you," Magnolia says, before joining her.

"Come on," Aurelia says, walking towards the steps carefully to avoid running into some students coming down the stairs. "We can get our snacks after."

Suri and I nod in agreement, chasing after her. As we pass by the students, I realize that I barely recognize anyone. Everyone is wearing red shirts with the bold letters "Thaxted High" on them. I notice a frequent slogan appearing on the back of a lot of the shirts. "No one nails them like Thaxted High!" It's chest, by nothing compared to what Macy told me on my first day.

I can practically see Macy as she shouts, "The brightest of all hearts learn and strive here, Odette!" as she throws her fist in the air. But as immediately as I think of it, I'm thrown back into reality as I nearly get trampled over someone running down the stairs.

I grab onto the back of someone's seat, earring a glare from then, to which I just continue walking.y friends have a streak going on. I can't be the one to break it with a fight. Anyways, it's just not worth it.

I continue walking and finally, squeeze into the row Aurelia walks into. "It would be nice if some people moved their legs," Suri mutters under her breath, just as a boy spreads his legs out as of hearing her and doing the exact opposite. I can't help, but roll my eyes and I'm glad I'm facing the field to avoid any confrontation.

I'm relieved to see Karina and Magnolia guarding our seats. As we approach them, Karina bows and says, "Your first class seats, ma'am's," making her voice sound like Professor Runecrest. I laugh before choosing my seat, in between Aurelia and Suri.

I can't believe this time last week, at the last game, I still hadn't confessed to Aurelia. It truly has been an extremely long week.

I turn to look at Aurelia, who's busy looking out across the field. On the bus, I wanted to ... I wanted to kiss her. My leg nervously shakes with the thought. As if the motion alerts her, Aurelia turns to me.