Borrowed Time

Chapter Thirty Seven

Being put on the field as a 'manager' because she was out on injury was such an interesting job to give to someone who still had concussion symptoms... Also, her coach was never going to give up control so that she could actually help, so Juliette had just been sitting on the bench, scribbling on a blank sheet of paper on her clipboard. Aside from helping a few girls stretch, she'd literally been doing nothing, and while it was boring it was... actually a good break for her brain, she needed to do mindless things sometimes.

All good things come to an end, specifically her manufactured serenity when she heard someone sit down behind her and recognized the earthy floral perfume... That could only be Ingrid, no one else wore her scent. She felt an arm slide around her shoulders and Juliette grimaced, sliding just a little bit further from her... Keep the distance.

"So... Be real with me for a moment." Juliette glanced at her warily for a moment before looking back down. Knowing Ingrid, this could go a thousand ways, and one of them was her pressing more to know who she met up with before games, which wasn't a line she wanted to go down right now... Some things were better left a mystery to some people.

"Okay...?" She asked, not looking up from what she was writing... Which wasn't anything important, she was just doodling in the corners of the paper because there was nothing for her to do... Honestly, her time would've been better spent doing anything else.

"What are the odds we actually beat Franstend?" There was no chance in hell, Franstend was nearly undefeated, and they... Lost. A lot. They'd really only won a few games and all of them had felt like flukes. Juliette sighed and put her clipboard down, running her fingers through her hair.

"Oh, zero. They're way better than us, we don't stand a chance. It'll be a total bloodbath." Juliette said, knowing her voice was monotone, but she didn't care. This wasn't a conversation that she was emotionally invested in at all, she could check out a bit.

"Damn." A beat of silence passed, and Juliette thought maybe she'd be able to just blend into the background again, but Ingrid didn't move, instead leaning closer to her. No. "How's the face?" It was a fair question, obviously it was the most interesting thing about her right now, but she didn't really want to talk about it.

"Hurts. But, I get to get the stitches out tomorrow before the dance." She sighed, figuring she could extend a tiny olive branch, just for tonight. Ingrid let out a sigh of relief, giving her a small smile as she nudged her shoulder... A little too familiar, but Juliette would allow it just this once.

"That's good, wouldn't want them ruining your photos." Juliette winced at that, clenching her hands around her clipboard. She'd thought that in her own mind enough, she didn't need someone verbalizing it externally, that only made her feel shittier.

"Well, I don't know if they'd ruin them-." Ingrid snorted, putting a hand on her shoulder. Juliette flinched away from her touch as she looked down at the turf... God, she hated how powerless Ingrid could make her feel sometimes.

"Please, Frankenstein doesn't match your dress, I'm almost sure of it." Bitch. Why the fuck did she feel the need to say that? Nobody had asked her opinion, nobody cared about her opinion... and now Juliette didn't want to go at all.

"You're such a dick, Ingrid." Her response seemed to genuinely surprise Ingrid, who looked taken aback by her tone as she furrowed her brows, like she was wracking her brain for why what she'd said had been wrong... Juliette felt it was pretty clear, but maybe that was just her.

"What? I was trying to be funny, Jesus." Ingrid mumbled, looking almost remorseful as she crossed one leg over the other and looked away from her, fiddling with the hem of her skirt... Juliette almost felt bad for snapping, she knew how sensitive Ingrid could be... and then she remembered that it was genuinely an insensitive comment and Ingrid could have a moment of discomfort for being an asshole.