His Fairy

15

Chapter Fifteen - Violent Minds

Noah Jackson's P.O.V.

I walk out onto the field with Abel matching my stride as we grin each other. Classes and labs have finished for the day which means it's finally time to play soccer and determine who the best player is out of us. After a lot of persuasion Coach let us use the pitch under his supervision and so, we've made up the teams of both the men's and women's soccer teams for this game.

We warm up and discuss strategies with our respective teams as the bleachers fill up with whoever's heard of the match. There's a good turnout as many of our friends, teammates who play other sports and most of the student body are here. The sight of Evie makes me frown and I shake my head at the path she's gone down, sitting with the wrong crowd, and looking as miserable as ever. My gaze continues to roam the area until I find who I'm looking for.

Faye.

She walks over to the bleachers with her arm linked around Jess' as they laugh at something. I watch as Lilah catches up to them and hops on Faye's back with a cheeky grin. Faye squeals before twirling them around and in doing so we lock eyes. She smiles brightly and mouths a "good luck," before blowing me a kiss. I pretend to catch it with a chuckle before smirking at Coach Williams who stands there staring at me with narrowed eyes.

I run away before he can tell me to do laps around the field and make my way to my position. The game eventually starts with grey clouds rolling in but I warm up within seconds of running around. Abel doesn't hold back and his team are aggressive, clearly aiming to bring me down when he tackles me for the second time in fifteen minutes.

"Fucker!" I laugh as he holds a hand out to me with a mischievous grin. "That's how you want to play?"

"No idea what you're talking about man." He pats my shoulder before walking back to his position. "If you want to call it off –"

"Never said that!" I yell as the ball is kicked into the air once more and I jump up to header it.

I pass it to Dakota who crosses it to Kane, assisting him in scoring the first goal. The crowd goes wild and the game gets even more intense when Abel's team scores the second goal within two minutes of ours. I swear heatedly when Shane blocks Sarah from scoring but she bounces back stronger and volleys the ball into the net in one clean kick.

Taking a risk, I leave my position and dodge the players trying to make me fall as I sprint for Abel. He laughs loudly when I steal the ball and score another goal. I decide to play it safe for the next while and let everyone else work their magic, realizing that Abel has the same idea. By the time Coach whistles for half time my team is winning.

"That all you got West?!" I bellow before taking a swig of my water.

"You ain't seen nothing yet brother!" He yells which makes me chuckle breathlessly as I bring my team in for a huddle.

"We're two goals ahead so they're going to get even more aggressive, probably focusing on you guys so I need more energy and action. Abel's known for always getting some of you to move from position and if that happens we're fucked. Keep it tight and be just as forceful." I say to my midfielders who nod. "Mariah and Faizal, they're going to play dirty so we all need to keep an eye out and watch their backs. I need everyone to push hard and if we win this then dinner and drinks are on me."

"Come on guys, we've got to save Noah here from getting humiliated by his girl's brother!" Kane snickers and jumps back when I move to hit him.

The teams laughs at that before we break and run back to resume the game. Either it was the offer of free food or wanting to save my reputation but my team switches into a higher gear and we push back harder against Abel's team. Cold droplets of rain drizzle down and calm us as both sides run into some trouble with several violations before the pace picks up again.