From Foes To Flames

Chapter 26

Oscar

Sweat is dripping down my forehead as I make my way towards the goal. The last few seconds of the game have started. "10. 9. 8." The voice of Mrs. Peterson booming through the warm air.

I focus the goal, ready to make a final shot, the goalkeeper is waiting with anticipation, ready to catch the ball. "7. 6. 5."

In that moment, I stopped breathing. I take a swing and aim for the ball. "4. 3. 2."

But before my foot makes contact with the ball, a heavy force tackles me to the ground. Ouch. Suddenly the air is knocked out of my body as the heavy figure lands on me. "and 1."

The deafening sound of the whistle ringing in my head. Fuck, I was so close. "That's it for today."

I refuse to open my eyes. I nearly had him. I was so close to winning against that fucker. "Team Isaac won." Coach exclaims.

The familiar feeling of anger sneaks it's way into my blood. As I open my eyes again, I see him. I see Isaac still positioned on my body, a pained expression on his face.

"Get off me." I press through gritted teeth. Anger bubbling in my voice.

"Did I hurt you, princess?" Now he is smirking. He is fucking smirking. My knuckles turn white in an instant and my jaw clenches to an impossible extent. The boy doesn't make any effort to get up soon, pissing me off even more.

The position we are currently in, is kind of weird. I am lying on the ground, my body is angled forward with my elbows supporting me. Isaac's body is sprawled over mine, his arms on either side of my body. But the worst part is his head, which is lazily lounging on my chest, like I am some kind of pillow. And to make matters even worse, I don't completely hate our bodies touching. Shit.

I shove his body off mine with more force than needed, but I could really care less in that moment. He started it, I am only returning the favor. Now, I am smirking. Surprised by my sudden action, he is unable to stop his head from hitting the ground - hard. That probably hurt.

He lets out a pained grunt, as he sits up next to me. He looks pissed, more than pissed actually. I am just happy that none of our teammates stayed for the after-show. They are probably tired of us constantly fighting, understandable.

"Asshole." He says, his eyes on mine again.

"What is your fucking problem?" I question. I can feel the heat radiating off his body, that is only a few inches away from mine.

"You are my problem." He states. I guess we are back at despising each other, which is totally fine with me. Hate has always been easier to handle than any other feeling. Hating is easy, hating Isaac is easy.

Our constellation has always been doomed, bound to fail. How pathetic of us to think that a few kisses and sweet nothings could change that. Let's just say, we came too close to the sun and now we are falling, hard. I was the one who started it and I will be the one who ends it, once and for all.

"The feeling is mutual. Fucker." And with that I stand up, pain shooting through my body due to our collision. I make my way towards the locker room, not once looking back.

~~~~~~~

Isaac

"Hey." I greet my mom as I enter the kitchen. The women is standing in front of the stove, cooking. A rare sight, really.

"Oh Isaac." She exclaims surprised. "Dinner's ready in ten."

"Great." I nod and smile. Mom's food has always been the best, but since she started working more, I rarely get to eat it nowadays.

I already showered after practice and therefore decide to kill some time with my phone. As I plop down on the couch, I wince. Shit. My shoulder hurts, which is partly my fault to be fair. I shouldn't have provoked him. But somehow we always end up in each others track, call it gravitational pull, I don't know.

Today is Thursday, which means I have to work today. I debate whether to call Ming an ask her if I could sit today's shift out but I decide against it, a little distraction never hurt nobody. And I really need the money, because Ferndale High's annual donation fair is right around the corner.

This donation fair is mostly to collect money for people in need. Every year different clubs of our school organize their own stand and sell something. The football team sold cookies last year, they tasted awful, but we managed to sell all of them. Maybe because a dozen hot footballers promoted them,so the biscuits were actually only incidental.

We could try macrons this year, bet they will taste even worse. I smile.

"Dinner's ready." I hear my mom calling from the kitchen.

~~~~~~~

It is currently 10 pm and to say I am tired is an understatement. My eyelids are heavy and I just yawned for the seven hundredth time. Ming asked me to switch an hour ago, therefore I am sitting at the counter, waiting for the usual night owls. But since 9:30 pm not one single soul found it's way into the shop.

My train of thoughts gets interrupted by the little bell that indicates a new costumer. I look up and my eyes meet brown ones. Jayden.

"Hey." He greets as he makes his way towards me and stops in front of the counter. I am having a deja-vu right now. The last time he visited me in the store didn't end well for both of us, but we are good now, I hope.

"Hi." I smile at him.

"Working late huh." He states, flashing me an encouraging look. He looks good, I must say. White shoes, blue baggy jeans, a grey hoodie and a flannel to top it all of. And he smells good. Reminds me of a light summer breeze. But I already determined that we are better of as friends. I like him but not like that, if you get what I mean.

"Yeah, sucks ass." I flash him a toothy grin to which he starts laughing.

"You and your way of words." He shakes his head. I suddenly remember the fair. Telling him to stop by, might raise our income as he is pretty popular himself - the perfect advertisement, like a testimonial. He could bring some of his football friends as well.

"Yo, our school hosts a donation fair on Sunday. Just to let you know." I scratch the back of my neck.

"Is that an invitation?" He asks, smirking.

I smirk back. "Maybe but don't forget your wallet." I wink at him, which totally throws him off his game. He takes a step back, but collects himself a second later. Wow, I did not expect that reaction, I need to wink more, I decide. Back in middle school Zoe once told me I look like a twitching dolphin when I wink, so I haven't winked since then, up until now.

"Count me in." He flashes me a smile. Maybe working late is not that shit anymore.