Give Me A Chance (boyxboy)

Twelve

I watch from the sidelines as half my team fights for the last point. We've been stuck at eighteen while the other team's been stuck at seventeen. All we need to do is get that nineteenth point, but it's proving harder than we thought. We're slowly tiring, but so is the other team. Right now, we're at a standstill. We're almost two hours into the game.

We're playing outside, and it's chilly. Most of us are in sweaters and shorts, which looks really odd. Nancy is pacing in her windbreaker, whispering suggestions from the bench that nobody can hear.

Since we haven't been able to make any substitutions since we got our eighteenth point, I've been on the bench for forty minutes, anxious, cold, and itching to get back on the field. But neither coach has called a time out so I'm stuck on the bench until another point is scored.

As I watch, Connor, who seems to be playing alright, given the high he was on yesterday, gets hold of the disc. The defense of the other team is superb, and they're blocking most of his throws. Drew, the petite, big-eyed girl, darts around her burly defender and out into an open area. She's had to cut down the field a little bit, but we're pretty desperate at this point.

Connor tries to throw the frisbee. His defender slaps it as it leaves his hand. It stays in the air but it banks to the right. Drew tries desperately to follow it, but her ankle rolls underneath her and she tumbles to the ground. The frisbee hits the ground a few feet away from her.

"Injury!" Nancy yells, her voice commanding the air. Everyone on the field automatically stops. No one wants to anger Nancy. Even the other team can sense the power of her persona. She rushes onto the field to where Drew is sitting, clutching her ankle. The rest of the team rushes over to the sidelines.

"Yikes," Aydin says immediately.

"Way to sum up an unfortunate situation, Nicolls," Shane says.

"Which Nicolls?" Aydin and I say at the same time. We give each other a smirk as Shane shakes his head.

"I think we've almost got 'em," Gina says, but her chest is heaving and her breathing is coming a little wheezy.

"We need to switch strategies," Blaine says, sweat dripping from his nose. He quickly grabs his water bottle from nearby and drains it. He rubs his neck with his hands, collecting sweat, and wipes it on his shorts. "They've got us covered with everything we try. We might have to get desperate." And oh my god. Even exhausted and disheveled and sweaty, he's still very appealing.

It hasn't even been two weeks since my stupid heart decided that I was gonna fixate on him. And hanging out with him isn't helping me get over it. Getting to know him isn't helping me get over it. But, from experience, liking a boy so much for so long without any reciprocated feelings seems to make it go away. I've just got to wait it out. What else am I supposed to do?

"Desperate isn't reliable, Blaine," Sadie says from her relaxed position on the bench. At this point it's safe to say she looks like she's in the same position as Kate Winslet was in that scary drawing scene in Titanic.

Blaine glances at me, and I think of last night. Of the amount of insecurities he shared with me, the level of truth he decided I was worthy of. He seems to be worried I'll tell someone about it. But already today, I've managed to hold out against Sadie's interrogation, which is no easy feat. I wonder if he takes me for someone who would sabotage everything to make him look bad. I try to sink into myself to avoid his gaze.

"Alright," Nancy says, returning, supporting Drew as she sits down beside Sadie, who is forced to sit like a normal human being, which she seems to think is the end of the world. "Lyam, you're on in Drew's place." She hands Drew a water bottle. "As soon as we get the disc, Lyam, I want you to act like you're cutting forward, but instead circle behind. Whoever's got it, get it to Lyam."