Lean On Me

Chapter 2

As the car rolled up at the school gates, I gave a quick playful salute to Mr Carson, or who I affectionately refer to as Uncle Sonny, and made my way to the badminton courts. From a distance, I saw the stands full of supporters with drums and signboards with jersey numbers hearts, and unrecognisable surnames. Except for one.

I rolled my eyes and nearly managed to slip away to head back home, but I as too late. My overexcited best friend had already spotted me and was animatedly pointing to the seat next to hers. I begrudgingly made my way next to the seat she had graciously reserved for me.

"Were you just about to backtrack?" Vienna asked incredulously.

"Yeah, these neon orange seats are an eyesore," I lied.

Vienna chuckled, jabbing a finger towards the ongoing match. "You're supposed to focus on these eye candies."

I shifted my gaze to the spar below. I watched as our school's representative covered such a wide range of space and reacted quickly. Despite the high velocity of the shuttlecock, he managed to return a tricky shot back to the opponent. The exchanges were so quick, ,the players bodies were like a whiz, when finally our representative jumped a foot high and smashed the shuttlecock. 

I stood up anxiously wondering if it was going to get past the net. It felt as though I was watching its trajectory in slow motion.

The hall erupted in cheers as the shuttlecock grazed past the top of the net and landed an inch from the net in the opponents court. it was too quick for the opponent, who was standing too far behind at the base, to react.

I hadn't even realised that in my excitement, I had followed Vienna down the stairs to celebrate with the rest of the team. I had no idea who the player was, but I loved the atmosphere of celebration. Such raw happiness that I hadn't experienced in a while. It reminded me of lacrosse. A painful feeling was began to grow, but I determinedly pushed it away. I wanted to forget about everything, and soak in the happiness. The badminton players were emracing one another and the pure joy on their faces on their faces was refreshing. I found myslef smiling as I took a few photos of the scene around me.

"Faye Stone!"

Just as I heard the call, I cringed internally. This was why I wanted to vacktrack. I turned around and plastered a smile.

"James," I acknowledged curtly.

"Didn't expect you here to support me. I knew you were fond of me," he sent a vomit-inducing wink.

"Congratulations, but I wasn't here for you." Well, someone had to keep the arrogant cocky asshole in check.

There was a brief crack in his smug smile, followed by a hearty laugh ftom someone else. My eyes flitted to a guy who came along and slung his arm around James. It was the last player whose game I caught. The hero of the show.

"Shut up, Trav," James muttered, shoving them off.

I left the two, finding the villain who had made me come, realising she was directly behind me. She was standing still and seemed to be in some stupor, her gaze past me. I followed her line of sight and realised she was staring right at the 2 bickering boys, Chuckling, I waved my bands in front of her eyes and when her gaxxe snapped back to me, she whispered giddily, "Arent they hot?"

"Vivi!" I reproached, tugging at her arm towards the table of snacks and drinks.

We grabbed some condiments and walked out of the court towards our facoutite sport - the park next to school. As we sat comfortably on the parkbenches,, devouring a hotdog bun that my parents would never approve of, we discussed te hihlights of the game.

"The last match kept me on my toes," I admitted after Vienna had completed her intense fangirl commentary. I could never understand how James attracted her, but then again, she was attracted to all of the,.

"Travis Taylor," she replied dreamily, "arguably the biggest hotshot of the team. He's captain too."

I munched on my bun, and she continued on and on about a bunch of things she heard from the whispers of the school.

"He's had a few girlfriends, none of them long. He's quite a heartbreaker."

I nodded as she continued on her ramble about cute guys and stuff but I was zoning in and out of the conversation. Just then, my phone vibrated and my eyes widened.

Message from Mom: where are you?

I yelped, I hadn't realised it was 8.30pm already.

"Sorry Vivi, gotta go quick!" I frantically dialled Uncle Sonny.