𝐄𝐗

𝐕𝐈

The music echoing in her bathroom, Maxine applied serum to her face to prepare her skin for the products she was going to put on. The Sharks' long-awaited day had arrived, the rematch against the Dolphins. And Maxine was more than excited, it had been so long since she had seen Zachariah play. To the beat of the music of one of her favorite rappers, the black haired danced, sitting in her sink, with nearly three hours to fully prepare. Gently applying the concealer to her face, then using her wet sponge to spread the product, Maxine was still humming when she heard her house bell ring. First thinking of an auditory hallucination, the black haired continued her make-up before the bell rang again. "Who the fuck?" She took a long breath before getting up and heading for the front door. Without looking through the peephole, Maxine opened the door and was surprised to see her ex-boyfriend standing in front of the door. "Zach?" She couldn't help but ask. "Um, hi..." That sounded more like a question than a statement.

A long silence took place during which the two exes looked at each other, not knowing what to say. Confused and uncertain, Zachariah put a hand to the back of his neck and spoke again. "Um, I don't really know what I'm doing here, I, I'm sorry..." As he was about to leave, Maxine cleared her throat before answering. "You're nervous, like, hella nervous. Don't tell me it's because of the game? You're the team captain and the best player" Zach couldn't help but laugh dryly, the coach thought differently. "Yeah, that was before I lost focus on the field," he said bitterly, raising an eyebrow at the black haired. This one opened wide the door of her house, to make the curly enter, then closed behind him. "Tell me, Zachy, tell me everything," she said, heading for the bathroom to resume her activities. Her ex-boyfriend leaned against the door then recounted his adventures in the field while Maxine did her make-up. "Coach is one of your biggest fans, he yelled at you only to make you react. Besides, you know how he is, he's clearly not the best at encouraging anyone," she said, applying blush on her cheekbones. "But why are you so distracted? Because, forgive me for not believing you, but I doubt Holly worries you that much."

"Yeah, well, I don't even know myself," the brunette frustratedly said, now leaning on the sink. Maxine, who had her mascara in hand, stopped all movement then turned to her ex-boyfriend with a bored look on her face. "Don't tell me you're distracted because of me?" The curly pursed his lips as he looked away, making the black haired sigh. "In other circumstances, I would have felt flattered but here we're talking about football, Zachariah," she continued, turning to him somehow. "It's your sport, you've been playing since you were 12 and now that you're captain of the team, it's clearly not the time to lose sight of your goal. College scholarship, do you remember that? Your dream of playing in the NFL, do you remember that? All of that is more important than anything, so get you shit together, Martinez!" Despite the seriousness of the situation, the fact that the black-haired called him by his last name couldn't prevent the curly from smiling. He hadn't realized how much he needed those words, the words his ex-girlfriend had been able to find. "Do you need help putting on your lashes," he asked, a soft smile on his lips "Yes" There were two long hours left, one for Zachariah, before he joined his team to prepare mentally and to hear the coach's speech, and two for Maxine to eat and go get good seats at the high school stadium. With delicate gestures, the football player applied the glue to the false eyelashes before shaking them lightly to dry. After nearly 3 years of dating and watching Maxine put on and take off makeup, he clearly had the hang of it. Sometimes he even helped Alina remove her makeup, which surprised her. Zachariah almost suppressed a smile remembering the look on her face when she asked him how he knew so much about the products and their benefits. He had refrained from telling her that his ex-girlfriend had taught him all these secrets.

Oliver White, in front of his bedroom mirror, tied his dreadlocks in a messy ponytail, well, tried to tie them, while Holly was sitting on his bed, a Starbucks drink in her hand, and her eyebrows furrowed. "Um, Joshua ties my hair better, you know?" The blond turned to her and put his hands on his hips, annoyed. "Oh, really?" The brunette nodded frantically then sipped her drink loudly, as if to make her point and annoy her brother's best friend, incidentally her own. "Zach too, by the way," she added. "Sorry I don't know how to tie my hair, then. Where's your brother, by the way? He was supposed to join us, a while ago" Holly picked up her phone and tried to call Zachariah.

"I think it's okay, I put them on pretty well," he said, looking into Maxine's eyes, proud of himself. Which did not fail to make the black haired laugh. She still couldn't believe that Zachariah, who seemed so angry with her, and who was right, had come back to see her because he was nervous about his match. But it was far from displeasing her. "I think it was a good decision to teach you all this," she said, looking at her ex-boyfriend, who laughed at her words.