Enchanted

Chapter 10

Nicolette

"Bye, mum! Bye, dad!" I slipped on my black high-top Converse shoes and ran towards the front door. "Have a good day at school, Nicole!" Mum exclaimed from the dining room. "Be careful," dad added.

I liked how today started, how this new week kicked off. I was delighted that I could return to my happy self. Seeing mum and dad being less worried about me while we ate waffles with berries for breakfast and laughed about the jokes in the newspaper made me beam.

I was tidying my locker because I walked to school 10 minutes earlier than the usual time when a hand patted my shoulder. "Is it spring already?" Sabrina asked sarcastically while scanning my outfit- a denim jacket paired with a black floral knee-length dress. "Oh, how I wish it is. I miss you a lot, Sab." I gave her a quick hug.

"I miss you too, Colette."

"I'm so sorry about that day and the entire last week. I was in a terrible mood." I continued before she could cut me off, "I thought through what you've told me and I guess I will be your dating mentor." "Oh my gosh, thank you so much!" Her face lit up.

"Anything for my best friend." I returned a warm smile of reassurance.

We headed to our respective classes before meeting up again for Spanish class.

"Sab! Take down the notes!" I whispered loudly. "Alright, you caught me, miss." Sabrina grinned while copying some vocabulary and its meanings onto her notebook. Sabrina was sketching a 45-degree angle realistic portrait of Cedric Orlando on her drawing pad. It was entertaining watching her shade the features of Cedric's face with different intensities of darkness using a pencil which was why I did not ask her to stop earlier.

"Pizza for lunch, what say you?" I asked as we walked back to my home. "That's for dinner. Bagels maybe?" She raised her eyebrow. "Sounds good. We can get those at the bakery down the street. I have toppings in the fridge." I gave her a thumbs up.

The indecisive us ended up getting a sesame, a sourdough and a garlic bagel.

"Why are you torturing the broccoli like that?" Sabrina questioned dramatically as she pointed towards me, who was cutting the broccoli into small chunks with a pair of scissors. "I'm trying to make broccoli cheese stuffing for my bagel."

We played a game of chess while devouring our stuffed bagels.

"I didn't know these are so delish!" she said. "Yeah, delish until you forgot you're playing chess."

"Wait, it's my turn?" "Duh."

We were in an attacking mode, exchanging pieces so there were fewer and fewer components left on the board. It came to a point where our number of pieces was equal on the board. I had a knight and 3 pawns while Sabrina had a bishop and 3 pawns. I tried to get my king to the last row and closer to the pawns to capture them and she does the same thing.

"It's been a while since we come to this stage of the game," I said in between bites. "Yeah, what do you think we should do about it?" Sabrina asked.

I moved my knight to check her king so that she has to move her king away and my pawn can move further down.

"I say we draw," she offered. "But I'm two steps away from getting a queen," I made a face.

Sabrina gave me a whatever countenance before making the next move. She gave me the chance to promote my pawn into a queen and checkmate her king.

"It's funny, you know, how both of us were super competitive in this," she said. "Were?" I questioned the past tense in her sentence. "I mean, compare to the times when we first met," she explained.

Yeah, true. A lot has changed between us and our games.

"Where did you get that?" I was gagging because of the water in my mouth. "Uh, Ella got it from her brother. We're twinning today." Sabrina was wearing the school's soccer team jersey, which is green and yellow colour paired with black leggings.

I grinned because Sabrina never wore school merch despite owning one or two t-shirts. She wore the soccer jersey because Cedric will be playing later.

"What's up, Nicolette! I didn't know you were a soccer fan," James walked toward me and Sabrina. "Nah, I'm just accompanying Sab," I slanted my head to the side towards Sabrina. "You guys attending the dodgeball game next week?" James asked. I was contemplating whether or not to accept his invitation when Sabrina cut in, "We're busy with chess practice next week, sorry."

I gave Sabrina a wide-eyed look. Really, chess practice!? "Come on, I have enough of Brent already. I don't need to spend my time watching him play dodgeball," Sabrina nudged me with her elbow after James left.

The bright spotlights shone brightly at the field even though it was only 6. The cheer team were stretching at the side of the field while school councils were making the final touch-up on posters that were hung around the field. Two teams will be playing against each other this evening, green against yellow. The winner will be playing against the teachers and they will be representing the school as well in interschool competitions. The speakers at the corners and the centre of the field were blasting loud music to create a sensation. This was one of the first events we have to begin our new school year so everyone was really excited about it.

"Popcorns, guys!" Ella walked into our row and took a seat on the bleacher beside Sabrina. "They're still hot!" I was shocked when I stuffed a few into my mouth. "Yup, my mum popped those corn kernels just now." The caramel melted in my mouth as I bit the crispy yet fluffy popcorn. "I swear your mum can just open a dessert shop," Sabrina said.

We continued to discuss our favourite desserts as more students arrived and filled the empty spots on the bleachers.

"Teachers and students, welcome to the summer soccer game of South Lake High School!" Applauses roared simultaneously with shrieks and whistles. "Without further ado, let's invite Red Hawks and Yellow Cheetahs!"

"Who came out with these names?" I bent closer to Sabrina so that she could hear me. "Probably the captain. It's funny, right?" I nodded while laughing it off.

Both teams were energetic as if everyone had drank bottles of Red Bull before coming in for the game. The Red Hawks wore bright crimson red jerseys while The Yellow Cheetahs wore golden yellow jerseys. I was waiting for the mascots to enter but I guessed they don't have it that time.

"Look, Cedric is over there!" Sabrina squeaked with excitement, pointing towards a guy wearing number 7 at the back with his name printed on the back.

The match got everyone on the edge of their seats, including me. The Red Hawks were fiery and received a yellow card from the referee. However, that does not stop them from fighting for the trophy. The Yellow Cheetahs were rewarded with a penalty kick when someone from the opposite team committed a foul. This helped them to earn a point, making the score tie between both teams.

"Red Hawk! Red Hawk! Red Hawk!" the chant grew louder while the other team's supporters tried to raise their voices to cover their opponent's, "Go Yellow! Go Cheetahs!"

The black and white soccer ball flew past half of the field and Cedric somehow manoeuvred the ball past three yellow players who surrounded him and scored an immaculate goal just before the second-half time ended. Cheers exploded on the field as the cheer team did another round of dance.

I saw Cedric looking towards our seating area and Sabrina waved at him. Cedric returned a wide smile, showing his teeth despite the tired face. Sabrina then gave him two thumbs up and mouthed 'you did great'. I did not manage to catch Cedric's expression because his friends pulled him into the crowd.

Plan #1- Interaction with Cedric Orlando: check

We left school back to my place for dinner at 8. There was barely any traffic since it was a weekday, other than the cars that came from the school's direction. Sabrina and I were too exhausted to speak after screaming at the top of our lungs for the past hour. Navy blue was painted over the sky and we strolled down the sidewalk, taking in the night air.

"I don't know if I can wake up tomorrow, Colette." Sabrina squeezed me tightly before leaving after pizza night with my parents.

"School's not optional so see you tomorrow." I messed up her hair with one of my hands.