When I met you

16

The shower in the locker rooms belted down on me, the tension from having slept on the half sofa in coach's office finally beginning to release. I grabbed ahold of the spare kit that lay awaiting for me in my locker for when I could play later on in the week, changing into it considering all my clothes were still at Harper and Kali's dorm.

"Who's in here this early? Oh. Hadley." Coach said, taking a seat on the bench next to me as I checked out the bandage that covered my ankle.

"The one and only." I said, not turning to look at her, taking the bandage off completely and allowing the slight graze that was left to heal on its own.

"I'm sorry." She said, trying to occupy herself from the guilt by grabbing onto my leg and analysing my ankle herself.

"Those words are starting to sound really empty." I sighed, offering her a slight smile so she knew that I wasn't mad at her anymore. I was wrong to be. She wasn't at fault.

"Well I mean it. I shouldn't have gotten involved in family stuff." She said, dropping my leg and standing from her position. "How come you're here this early anyway? And in your kit?"

"Kind of not talking to the girls. Needed a break, and I didn't have any other clothes to wear." I said, standing too and following her onto the pitch as she made her way to the seats.

"That's not something I'm happy to hear Hadley. You were doing so well. What happened between you? I take it that it's you, Kali and Harper that you mean?"

"Yep. Just a misunderstanding. I'm sure it'll be fine soon. Or at least I hope it will."

"Well try not to make it worse okay? Think before you speak." She said, kicking the back of balls over and allowing them to spill out onto the pitch for when the girls arrive for training.

"They'll be here soon anyway. I'll just try and stay out of the way."

"I was going to suggest you joining in. That ankle of yours is doing better than I though, even if you just coach with me, at least you're getting to know the girls on the pitch." She said, picking up a stack of cones and placing them randomly in a section of the pitch ready for dribbling.

"Okay." I said, finding a spot on the grass to sit on as I waited for the team to slowly pile in. And where they would usually be the last, Harper and Kali were the first, followed by the rest of the team. Harper made a direct route to me, shaking her head at something Kali said and jogging over herself, leaving Kali with the coach and the girls as they warmed up.

"Your bottle and your watch. Kali said those are the things you usually bring with you. I tried talking to her but she's kind of put a wall up. I swear she's never done this before Smith, I really did try. My advice would be to leave her be and let it play out in her time. I know thats easier said than done but there's bot much else I can say." She said, patting my head as I was still sat on the ground and running off to join the team and their lap of the pitch.

"Kali, Smith. Over here!" Coach shouted, standing with a clipboard and awaiting our arrival. "You two are paired up for camp, like I said before but if there is going to be a problem with the two of you then tell me now. I can change you around now but after this I can't. Your partner is who you'll go everywhere with. So what's it going to be?" She said, looking between the both of us.

"We're fine being partners." Kali spoke up, her arms folded and her glare set on me, daring me to go against her.

"Glad you think so." I muttered under my breath, looking away from her glare and offering a cheeky smile to Coach.

"Problem Hadley?" Coach asked, her eyebrows rising with a very clear warning.

"I don't think so. Wait. No. Absolutely none at all." I said, raising my arms before walking away at my over display of excitement.

"Why are you being like that?" Kali's voice followed behind me.

"Being like what?" I said dismissively.

"Like that. We're going to be spending a lot of time together and you're holding a grudge. You're going to be unbearable." She concluded, a frown etching onto her face.

"That's a shame for you then isn't it. You had the chance to change. You chose not to. Now it's up to you to live with the consequences of your actions." I said, turning on my heel and facing her, causing her to nearly bump into me.

"I sense the double meaning. I deserved that. But you can't do this to me. I can't change who I am to make you happy." She said, her hand grabbing ahold of her neck in a state of stress.

"That's not the reason. You kissed me Kali. Twice. How is that fair on me? Please tell me because I have never been more confused in my life as to why you would do something like that if you weren't interested in me." I said, my hand rubbing my face in an attempt to get rid of the constant frown on my face.

"I don't- I can't... I'm not like you. Okay? I'm not." She said, trying to justify her actions without fully owning up to why she had done it.

"Maybe you're confused. Maybe you haven't figured it out yet. I just don't know what to tell you and until you can figure it out, whether your gay, bi, straight etc, you can't expect anything from me."

"I'm not gay." She said, almost too defensively.

"Okay." I said, nodding at her stressed out state.

"No. You don't understand. I'm not gay. I'm not bi. I'm straight. I don't like girls. I don't like you."

"But you kissed me."

"I don't like you." She said, her voice getting quieter.

"Good to know. Glad we cleared that up on more than one occasion in the last 15 seconds. You don't like me. I got it." I said, looking over at the girls.

"Good." She said, looking at me a little while longer before joining back in with the girls.

What the fuck?