Force of Nature (j.g.)

one

"i don't know why but my hands are shaking"

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

September 17th

The last thing I expected to see in the stands tonight was her. Well, now that I think about it, the last thing I expected to see in the stands was an actual, breathing human-being that wasn't our coach.
Tonight was our last team practice before our first home game tomorrow night, usually meaning that the bleachers would be completely bare and lacking any sort of life. Tonight, however appeared to be different.
It was practically impossible to miss her - well, at least it was for me. The first thing that caught my eye was the way her pale brown hair effortlessly framed her face even as the harsh wind nipped at her delicate skin, turning her cheeks the slightest shade of red. Her eyes were a chilling clear-gray color, causing me to freeze in my tracks. I felt my lips curl themselves into a grin, even though I knew she wasn't watching. Actually, she seemed like she couldn't care less about what was going down on the field. Her focus remained on the tattered moleskine notebook in her lap, the sleeves of her white sweatshirt pulled down as far as they could go as her chin rested in one of her tiny palms.
"Gilinsky!" I was yanked away from my thoughts by the harsh sound of Coach Jetson's hollering. I pulled my eyebrows together, partially confused as to why I was being yelled at, and partially disappointed that my attention was being pulled away from her. Reluctantly, I jogged over to him.
"Yeah, man? What's up?" I casually addressed him. He looked anything but impressed.
"What do you mean 'what's up'? We have our first home game of the season tomorrow night, and you're out here lollygagging during our practice. Am I going to regret making you our starting running back this year?" He folded his arms across his chest sternly, playbook in hand. The coach wasn't much taller than me, but man, could he be intimidating. There was no way in hell I was going to lose this position. I've worked too hard; I needed scholarships.
"No, sir," I replied curtly. This earned a rough pat on the back from him.
"That's what I thought. Now get out there, kid. There's only about twenty minutes left of practice. Make it count," he reassured me, his smile forcing the crinkles by his eyes to appear. After nodding in acknowledgement, I jogged over to the field to join the team.

--

Practice was well over, and she was still there. I could've sworn I felt her eyes on me, but quickly shook off the feeling as I downed another cup of gatorade. Tossing the plastic cup into the dingy trash can next to the bench, I mumbled a goodbye to the guys, who were too busy talking about which dancer or cheerleader to bed next. I shook my head at them, making my way to the parking lot. What a bunch of rookies. I was beyond ready to go home and get a full night's rest. At least, I thought I was, until a soft voice called my name from the bleachers.
"Um, Jack? Jack Gilinsky?" I looked up to see her standing there, weakly smiling down at me. Suddenly, my hands began to shake. I had no idea how to explain what was happening to me, but I did know that it was difficult to decide whether I liked it or not. Slowly, I trudged my way up the stairs to the front of stands where she stood, seemingly waiting for me. I clasped my hands behind my back inconspicuously, praying that the jittering would eventually come to a halt. God, she was even more beautiful up close.
"Yes?" I responded anti-climatically, avoiding those piercing eyes of hers. I bashfully looked down at my worn shoes, scraping dirt against the flimsy metal. She truly made me nervous, and that was honestly more intimidating than Coach threatening my position.
"Can I.. um," she paused, trying to string her thoughts together. "Can I.. have an interview with you, maybe?" she asked, her voice hardly audible. I looked at her with my eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. "Oh my god, please don't freak out." Her voice was suddenly a bit louder, with a sense of urgency behind it. "I'm with the school newspaper. I have to write a piece on the football team." I took the opportunity to look her up and down, definitely not pinning her as the sports type.
"I didn't th--" I was interrupted by her frantic explanation.
"I didn't sign up for this. I swear. I just.. wanna get this done as quickly and painlessly as possible, yeah?" I couldn't help but laugh a little. I was getting the vibe that she wanted nothing more than to leave, and I thought that maybe social situations like this made her nervous. That was cute.
So damn cute.

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A/N: New story omg !!!