Lottie and the Boys

The Hot New Guy who's a Butt

The next soccer practice was Thursday, two days later. My brother and I arrived five minutes before it actually started like usual. A few boys were there already, and the coach was surprisingly early as well.

More and more people began showing up. Aaron was one of the first few to arrive, and he gave me a small smile which I happily returned. I was relieved that he was comfortable with me being on the team. I didn't want everyone to hate me.

Next game this guy. This gorgeous guy. Not as gorgeous as Abel, but a close second. His dark hair was combed upward like a lot of soccer players have it nowadays. He had thin eye brows that were pretty close to his eyes, which were a beautiful shade of brown. His eyes were small when he smiled, making him look more menacing and mysterious. It was sexy as hell. His lips were perfectly plumped and I'd give anything to walk over there and just make out with him. They were that nice.

He was quite tall, and well built. I could see his abs through his red thermo t-shirt, which he paired with gray socks and shorts.

"Gabriel!" a few people exclaimed excitedly. Once I heard the name I was able to pinpoint it. He'd joined the team freshmen year with my brother. They were in the same grade level, and this way their last year. He was quite good from what I'd heard.

Abel came a few seconds later, followed by another Godly-figure.

He was a few inches shorter than the other guys, but his long legs made him seem taller. He, like the others, had dark features. The only difference was his face was more oval and long, setting him apart from everyone else. He was hella attractive too.

He looked kind of taken aback when he saw me, and I could hear him whisper to Abel, asking if I was on the team. He looked shocked when Abel nodded.

"Don't fret, she's cool," Abel reassured him, but his friend wasn't listening. Instead he was staring at me, taking in every aspect of me, while my cheeks burned red in embarrassment.

"Alright everyone. This is Gabe for those of you who don't know. He's one of our senior captains this year. And this is . . ." he motioned toward the new guy.

"Erek," he stated confidently.

"All right, Erek. . . now everyone run two laps and then the captains will lead you in the stretch."

Jogging wasn't a difficult thing for me, or anyone on the team really, aside from a few boys who had to walk after the first lap. I stayed constant with everyone else's speed and after the two laps we got into a circle to stretch, the seniors in the middle.

". . . Charlotte . . . why don't you lead the stretches too?" Coach suddenly spoke up.

I realized it was a test to see if I was comfortable with directing things on the team and being in the middle.

I was fine with deciding the stretches and all that. I was not, however, fine with the fact that Erek stood right behind me in the circle, and had a pretty nice view of my butt when I bent over to touch my toes for about twenty seconds.

After stretches we had to dribble around some cones using certain parts of our foot and whatever. It was pretty easy and I could tell coach was satisfied with my performance.

"Everyone pay attention when Lottie dribbles. See how she keeps the ball close to her and keeps her head up?"

One boy stifled a laugh but the rest just nodded. At one point we had to dribble using the outside of both feet, and disappointingly, more than half the team was incapable.

"Good, good Lottie," Coach Carlo said.

Abel went after me, and I could tell coach was impressed. He moved slowly but he had a light, effortless touch on the ball that I was extremely jealous of.

Next we did an offensive passing drill where we were put into groups of threes and had to get around four defenders. I was put with a short boy with light orange hair and Erek. When it was our turn, Erek started with the ball in the middle. He passed the ball to the boy who passed it back. Erek dribbled a little and passed it to the boy again. The redhead looked for me, but I was too far away so he passed it back to Erek. He was then facing two defenders on his own since we were btoh covered, so I ran forward to get open.

"Here!" I called out. I was in the perfect spot.

Erek ignored me and tried to take on the defenders by himself, losing the ball consequently. I sighed and walked back to the line in defeat.

Why does he refuse to pass it to me?

Twenty minutes later we were practising shots on goal. Coach decided he'd be pulling us out by grade level to give us our jerseys. The seniors got first pick, then the juniors, and then us, the sophomores, and finally the freshmen.

By the time the sophomores were called, there weren't that many seniors left. Eventually only Abel, Erek, and I were waiting in line.

"What number?" Coach asked Abel.

"27," he decided.

"You?" he asked Erek, who said 29.

He then looked down at the jerseys and back at me.

"Those are all the mediums we have left, and there's no smalls," he turned toward the two teen boys. "One of you is going to have to change jerseys."

Abel gave his to me without hesitation, which I was quite grateful and flattered for. I'd be wearing "Abel's" jersey. I folded the jersey and put it on top of the socks and put the shorts I'd received on top of that. Then we continued practice.

At the end of practice, my brother and I helped Coach Carlos get the cones and put the balls in the bag. Afterward, I went to get my water bottle, ball, and gear. I walked toward the spot where I'd put everything.

The bottle was there. The ball was there. Even the shorts and socks were there.

But the jersey was gone.

Someone had stolen it.

And I was pretty sure I knew who it was.