𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐢𝐫𝐥

15

tw's in this chapter: panic attacks, anxiety
SATURDAY

My mom drops me off at the rugby game at 10:40 and the game starts at 11. Olivia insists on putting blue and white stripes of face paint on my cheeks, the school team colours, as well as the other girls.

"And done!" She grins and shows me through the mirror of her compact case.

"It actually looks kind of cute." Logan says, taking out her phone for pictures of us five.

"I spotted the scout over on the other wing." Logan's mom, Teresa comes back with chips and sausages from the food truck for us and hands down the trays before sitting. "Oo, I like the stripes." She comments.

"Liv's idea." Rowan says around a mouthful of chips.

"You want me to do it on you?" Olivia asks.

"Oh, yes please." She replies and Logan rolls her eyes with a laugh as Liv climbs over her and sits next to Teresa, pulling out her face paint again.

"Teresa?" The rugby coach is walking up the stands towards us.

"Tony, exciting game day yeah?" Teresa says, tilting her head to see him while Olivia paints her cheek.

"Yes it is, but is Quinn not with you?" He asks.

"What? No, why?"

"He was in the locker room changing with his teammates earlier but he's disappeared and none of us can find him. The game starts in fifteen." Coach Tony says.

"That's weird, he usually stays with his teammates before going on. You sure he hasn't just gone to the bathroom?" Teresa asks, concern evident in her face as Olivia stops painting her face.

He shakes his head, "No, the boys have checked."

"Hang on, I'll try calling him." She pulls out her phone and starts dialing, phone to her ear.

"We'll go search for him. He's probably up getting a bottle of water or something." Logan says. We head down while Teresa and Olivia keep trying to contact him on the stands.

Logan and Phoebe look down by the food courts while Rowan and I look for him round by the car park.

"You'd think he'd be back from wherever knowing the scouts here today. Do you think somethings wrong?" Rowan says.

"He seemed a bit weird yesterday when he was driving me and Logan home, but I think it was just pre game jitters. Maybe he got sick?" I reply, shading my arm over my eyes.

"I'm gonna go check his car, you carry on looking for him round here." Rowan says and jogs ahead to his car. I head down towards behind the field by the woodshed, about to turn around before I catch a glimpse of his brunette hair.

"Quinn? You know your games about to start any min-" I pause when I notice his head down in his knees and his back shaking slightly. "Hey, Quinn, what happened?"

He shakes his head, squeezing his fists around his rugby helmet on the grass in front of him. "Panic attack. Happens, I'm okay." I hear him say, his voice shaky in a way that surprises me.

"Can I do anything?" I ask, kneeling down on the grass behind the shed next to him.

He runs a hand through his hair and shakes his head again, his face still hidden against his knees. "How long till the game starts?"

I check my phone and reply, "About ten minutes, do you want me to get anyone?"

"No, just need to calm down. I'll be fine." He murmurs unconvincingly.

I sit back against the shed next to him and lightly put my hand over his balled up fist. He tenses for a moment before finally unflexing his hand. His head lifts and turns to face me, cheeks red and tear stained. "What if I mess up?"

"I don't think you will, Quinn. I've seen you practicing at lunch and I don't know shit about rugby but you seem pretty amazing at it." I reassure him with a soft smile. He manages a small laugh at that and I continue, hoping to distract him. "I mean, I know that's probably does not mean a lot coming from me, but I really think you can do this."

"It means a lot coming from you." I try not to ponder on what he means by that and the way he looks at me when he says it before I become painfully aware of my hand still over his and I'm pretty sure he does as well by the way his cheeks redden further.

"Do you feel any better?" I ask.

"Yeah I do, thank you." He nods and exhales more steadily, fixing his hair. "I saw the scout out there and I just.. panicked I guess. This is my only shot at getting into my dream university and I don't want to fuck it all up."

I remove my hand from his, hoping I'm not as red as I feel. "I get it, the pressure probably sucks. But i think you should get out there and do your best, because if for some reason they don't want you, which I highly doubt, you'll be proud of yourself for trying."

"You're really smart, you know that?" He looks at me, the brightness in his eyes returning.

My phone vibrates before I can reply. "It's Logan. They're all wandering where you are. Think you're ready?"

"As ready as I can be I guess." He sighs, wiping his face. "Thank you, Mads. I don't think I would go out there if it weren't for you."

I smile softly and stand, helping him up. We head back towards the field and one of his teammates calls out, "There he is, get over here, Foster!"

I take the helmet from his hands and put it over his head. "Break a leg." He winces and I continue, "Okay bad choice of words. Just uh, do good?"

He chuckles and fastens his helmet, pulling down the face guard. "I'll try." He says before heading off to the other side of the field where his teammates are lined up.

I walk back up to the stands and sit back down. They all look at me expectantly but I don't think it's my place to say what happened so I lie, "He was by the shed, his helmet broke. We fixed it."

Logan huffs and smiles in relief as well as the girls but Teresa looks at me as the girls start cheering when the game starts and I think she knows. He's okay? She mouths. I nod and give her a faint smile before the focus shifts to the game.

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didn't proof read this so I'm sorry if there's mistakes😭 rooting for my own couple rn, thank you everyone for 115 votes!!