Deeper Than The Skin

Chapter 7- Netball?

Grace

"Have you ever played?" Jaya asked me airily as she and I lounged on my bed. It was Saturday - I'd made it through my first week at Norwest and made a few friends, including Jaya, Luke, Calum (who was still flirting pathetically, yet adorably), Ashton and a nice girl in a few of my classes called Jasmine who didn't say much, but looked like someone who could talk the hind legs off a donkey (Michael always seemed to have somewhere else to be).

Jaya had texted me if she could come over this morning while I was brushing my teeth at a tad past 9:30, and less than ten minutes later had knocked on my door and come inside armed with several DVDs (Teen Wolf seasons 1-3), several packets of chips (salt and vinegar, sour cream and onion and honey soy chicken) and a phone full of the photos of shirtless Dylan O'brien that she knew I'd be asking for after watching the first few episodes of Teen Wolf.

She was now inspecting my extensive collection of books - I had a total of 208 (including two copies of every Harry Potter book, and three different copies of TFiOS) and read them all at least twice - while talking to me about netball. "I'm the captain of the school's team. Which doesn't mean much." She laughed shortly. "It's just a fancy title."

I smiled. "I've played a bit, not really. I totally suck, though. I'm a music-book nerd,' I reminded her.

Jaya looked at me seriously, finally turning away from the boxes of books that I didn't have a shelf to unpack them into. Her hair was braided over her left shoulder and she wore a Teen Wolf t-shirt and black jeans with ankle boots that she'd immediately pulled off when she got to my room. "What position did you play?"

"Um, the one that can shoot but can't leave the first section thingy," I told her lamely, waving my arms around for emphasis, like it would help. Jaya laughed.

"Goal shooter?" I nodded. "Were you any good?"

"I already told you, I suck. I can't catch, throw or shoot the ball," I confessed shamelessly. Sport was something I'd just never clicked with and never would click with. I'd given up trying long ago.

Jaya tapped her knee thoughtfully. "I'm sure you're not that bad. You look like a shooter."

This conversation continued for a few minutes and by the end of it, Jaya had somehow magically convinced me to try out for the schools winter team in a few weeks. Running, passing and shooting - in front of strangers supposed to judge me. The mere thought made me blanch.

"Anyway, I brought at least forty episodes of this amazing TV series that you are going to watch" - she shot me a menacing glare, though I knew she was joking - "and munchies. So," Jaya dragged out the word, similar to how Zali would drag out the 'well'.

Thinking about Zali no longer suffocated me in a wave of sadness - it was more like a pitiful body of water that rolled onto the shore pathetically and lapped at my ankles. I still missed her, but not so much that I couldn't function (our daily FaceTimes and constant texting made that bearable).

"Grace, did you hear me?"

I blushed. "Sorry," I said. "We can watch that wolf show now if you want."

Jaya's widened at how I referred to such a significant part of her life as a 'wolf show', but she let it slide. "Season 5B came out recently," she informed me as she slid the first disc into my DVD player and regained her seat on my bed. "Let's get you up to date." She looked at me and smiled evilly. "I'm sorry in advance for destroying your life."

I didn't ask, though I think I maybe should have.

She pressed the 'go' button and the marathon began.

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We successfully watched the whole first season and the first seven episodes of the second season. I was addicted, and didn't want to stop, but it was nearly midnight (Jaya was spending the night - we'd asked after Episode 5 Season 1, because we knew I'd be transfixed for a while) and Jaya insisted we do something else until we fell asleep. I assumed this was because she didn't want me falling asleep in the middle of an episode, but it was actually because she knew that I'd be up all night if she didn't pull the plug.

Smart girl.

"UNO?"

"If you want, I suppose. Preferably not."

Pause.

"Monopoly?"

"Played so many times."

Pause.

"Scrabble?"

Jaya looked at me, a curious expression on her face. "I've never played," she admitted.

"Never played?!" I whisper-shouted incredulously, aware of Dylan sleeping on the next room. "Never played Scrabble, the best word game in the history of the universe?"

Jaya shook her head. I leapt from the bed and sprinted to my boxes, searching for my board games. Finally I found Scrabble.

I set it on the floor. "Be warned, I am undefeated at this game."

Jaya smiled. "Okay, then."

That night we fell asleep at around two in the morning. The final thing I thought about before I drifted into unconsciousness was that I was no longer undefeated. In fact, far from it.

Jaya had beaten me every single game.

Zali🐬💛: (4) Missed Calls

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A/N
Okay sorry this is a bit of a filler chapter :3 I kind of wanted to write a sleep over scene because I feel incredibly lonely. And I wanted teen wolf to be in it because ermehgerd why not.

This was a shorter chapter too.

And Zali's trying to talk to grace but grace is too busy with jaya uh oh

Love you guyssss

Ps. I don't really want to do promos and crap but please tell people about my story!! There isn't really a reason to write if there's no one reading it, and I promise it'll get more exciting.

ALSO THANKS SO MUCH FOR 125 READS YOU GUYS ARE LEGIT MY FAVOURITE PEOPLE RIGHT NOW (sorry Emma Watson)

Dedication goes to my lil sister Ari who proofreads all my chapters for me <3 love you babe

Ps I'm with a friend rn so couldn't proofread  sorry if mistakes