The Final Season

Chapter 18

NOTE: Sorry for taking so long to update guys but seriously it's only been like a week of school and I've been bombarded with hw each day. AP Bio will be the death of me, but I will continue to try and update as soon as I can, with whatever free time I get. Thanks for all the patience and support!

Chapter Eighteen

I was exhausted. I wasn't sure why. Last night I went to bed early. As soon as I came home from the horrid practice and my somewhat altercation with Davis, I took a shower and went straight to bed. I guess it would be safe to say that I was a bit cranky. Davis always found a way to ruin something for me. He always expects something and he doesn't seem to understand the answer no. He doesn't even have a valid argument honestly. He was complaining about an eighty. My average is decent in his class, I think it's an eighty five, so it's not like I'm barely making it by in his class. It's not like he's the king; I don't have to please him.


I stood up begrudgingly, missing the warmth of my bed as soon I made my way over to my mirror. Oh Saturday! How much I've missed you! Unfortunately for me, some of my Saturday was going to be spent with the devil. Today was our second last game of the actual season. A couple days after that will be our last, and then sectionals start. It was only eight in the morniing now(the only reason I woke up this early was because of the night before) and I had six hours before I had to be at the school for our away game. I walked down the stairs in my plaid pajama shorts and tank top to see Katie and Jace seated on my sofa watching cartoons.


Immediately I was in a good mood. Seeing the two of them in my living room munching on apple slices made me smile. I walked over to them and was immediately bombarded with Jace. His small arms were wrapped around my legs and he looked up at me with the most adorable grin a three year old could muster up. I picked him and kissed his cheek. I set him down and went to hug Katie, who was waiting patiently for her turn. I sat down on the sofa, ready to watch TV with them when there was a knock on my door. I frowned slightly. Who would come this early? I then thought it could be aunt Ellie or aunt Megan to pick up Jace or Katie. I pouted, not wanting either of them to show up considering I haven't seen the two toddlers in so long, and wanted to spend more time with them. Jace handed me an apple slice and I smiled and took it from him on my way to the hallway and opened the door.


Instead of my aunt Ellie or Megan, Austin was standing on my doorstep in a pair of grey Nike sweatpants and a black Nike hoodie. I would have smiled at the sight of him, at the fact that he never dresses up in anything other than athletics, but I was too bewildered to see him at my door. He smiled at me, and then his eyes scanned me over and then he raised an eyebrow in my direction. I looked down, remembering that I was braless, in a white cotton tanktop and pair of cozy shorts that ended above mid thigh. I flushed with embarassment and cleared my throat. Like a gift from above, Jace and Katie came barging in the hallway and stood on both sides of me, staring up curiously at Austin. He looked down at them and smiled, and then looked back at me, expectantly.


"Oh sorry, come in," I mumbled, embarassing myself further with my lack of manners. As if my mom could fish out the scent of any male, she walked into the living room, in a more than usual chipper mood. I looked at Austin, who was standing beside me with his hands in his pockets, and then looked at my mom who was staring back at him with curiosity. I scratched the back of my neck as I introduced the two of them, "mom this is Austin, Austin this is my normal, no way at all embarassing mother," I said as I directed a border line pleading look in my mom's direction. She laughed and shook hands with Austin.


"Are you the boy who was Iris's first date?" my mother asked. To say that I was surprised would be a lie. Every mother, whether it's intentional or not, embarrasses their children, and my mother, well, she's a champion in doing so.


"I don't know," Austin replied, his voice on the verge of laughter, "am I?" he asked turning toward me. I panicked. Do I lie? Or would he be flattered with the revelation of him being my first actual date?


"No way!" I scoffed, "I've dated before."


"You have?" my mom interrupts skeptically.


"Yes mom, I have," I said, exasperated, through clenched teeth. She tells me that whenever something is being said(by her) that there is no questioning in it. Even if she's telling a lie, sit back and let her tell it, because what's more embarrassing than a mother being corrected by her child? I know lying isn't the best habit to develop, that it can be destructive, but I don't necessarily see it as a lie. It's more of a fib, a fib to me isn't as bad as a lie. Lies initiate trouble, but a fib; a fib like Austin not being my first date won't. I doubt that it would hurt his feelings, it doesn't hurt mine when I know that I'm probably not the first person he has asked out.


"Really who?" Austin asked and I coughed.


"It's really cold in here," I remarked, "I'm going to go get changed."


I let out a relieved sigh once I reached the safety of my room. That is until I saw how terrifying I looked. I groaned in frustration. Why can't I look like a super model whenever I wake up, without any effort at all? Why do I have to look like a monster coming out of the scariest movie? How could Austin ever find this attractive? I was horrified at the thought of him seeing me like this. Not that he seemed repulsed by me(or he was very good at hiding the fact that he was.)


I put on any regular t-shirt that I could find and a pair of warm sweatpants. It was cold outside and the house was freezing. I re-did the bun on the top of my head, the previous desire to look nice was slowly slipping away. If Austin liked me enough, he wouldn't care what I was dressed in. In fact, he'd learn to get use to seeing me in a pair of sweats and a t-shirt because I was rarely in something else around the house. I had nice clothes and all, they were just shoved away on hangers in my closet. I didn't wear sweatpants every single day for school, because my mom frowned upon it, so it was more like sweatpants on Fridays and other crap every other day.


I came back down the stairs to find my mom and Austin seated in the living room and she was whispering. My eyes widened at the sight of her using a quiet tone. Nothing about my mom is ever quiet so the fact that she's trying to keep her voice down worried me. I rushed over to the living room and sat on the couch right beside Austin, hoping to stop any sort of conversation between the two. He turned towards me and smiled while I stared at my mom with narrowed eyes.


"Well, I'm off to the grocery store, it was nice meeting you Austin," she slapped her hands on the top of her thighs and then stood up. I watched her as she left the room and once she did I looked back at Austin.


"Whatever she told you, it's a lie," I ranted and he laughed. I shoved him slightly and he regained his composure and smiled at me. "What?" I asked.


"Nothing, you're really funny Iris," he replied.


"Oh, well duh, of course I am. Thanks for noticing," I grinned at him when he rolled his eyes skyward.


"And dorky," he added. I scoffed and placed a hand on my chest, not even offended the slightest bit. The way he used the term "dorky" made me guess that he liked that about me. Not that I really considered myself to be that dorky in the first place.


"Jace come here I have somebody you need to beat up!" I called out to my godson who came running into the room and Katie followed him. Jace halted in front of me, his blue eyes filled with excitement and I heard Austin chuckle in amusement. "See this annoying boy right next to me?" I asked, "I need you to teach him a lesson." Jace looked over at Austin while he played with his fingers and then averted his gaze at me again. I could see the hesitance in his eyes because he wasn't familiar with Austin. "It's okay Jace don't be afraid of him, he's scared of you." I said and smirked at Austin.


"You shouldn't condone violence to a three year old. You're gonna be a terrible mom," Austin laughed and I glared at him.


"You know I can kick you out right now? What are you doing here anyway?" I asked.


"Oh you want me gone? Okay," he stood up and I grabbed his hand. I did not want to be alone when I could be with him. He smiled at me and I rolled my eyes. "Oh so you do want me here?" he asked, now slightly closer to me than before. My hand still held his and I had no intention of letting it go. I thought back to yesterday when Davis ruined our almost kiss. I nearly scowled at the memory. That monster doesn't like seeing me happy ever. I bet he relishes in the fact that he ruins my days.


"Kinda," I replied distantly. I was way more focused on the fact that he was seated so close to me. If my father walked into the room(not that he's home) he'd have a heart attack. I felt like a giddy middle school girl waiting for her first kiss to happen.


"Kinda?" Austin asked. "You'd probably want one of the guys you dated before me to be here instead huh?" Austin teased and I blushed, "did they kiss you too?"


"You're jealous," I replied with a slow smile. "You are definitely jealous," I repeated when he rolled his eyes. "Aw!" I cooed and pinched his cheek. He pulled his face away from the reach of my fingers.


"I'm not jealous. Only girls get jealous," he stated.


"Oh puh-lease," I rolled my eyes and he laughed.


"Fine so what?" Austin asked.


"I think it's cute," I said smiling, "but to be honest, you're the first guy I've dated." I played with my fingers and refused to meet his probably judging eyes. Out of all of the words I could use to describe me, I think Austin was spot on with the term dork. You wouldn't hear other girls my age tell a guy that he's her first date, because most of them have had numerous dates and numerous boyfriends, while I spend my time imagining fictional relationships with celebrities I fall in love with on television.


"Good," Austin remarked, "I'm glad I am."


I looked up at him questionably and he smiled slightly. His left arm was draped over my shoulder and I enjoyed the fact that his scent was filling my nostrils. Thankfully though, he didn't overuse cologne where it made it unbearable to be near him, instead it was more of a faint smell that had me straining to get a whiff of it. I wondered if that was what he was going for when he sprayed it on.


"Why's it good?" I asked.


"Because," he began and I waited for him to continue, but instead he moved closer to me until his lips pressed against mine. I closed my eyes during the brief contact and bit my lip when he pulled away to not give away how elated I was at the fact that he just kissed me. "It means that no one else got to do that," he finally finished his sentence and I stared at him in confusion until I realized what he was referring to. Our kiss. He enjoys my kisses! Austin, a guy I never thought I'd be kissing, was glad that it was me who he was able to kiss. I could run around my house with all the excitement building up inside me, hell I could endure one of Davis's ridiculous practices. Nothing would ruin this for me.


"You kinda taste like--" Austin trailed off looking for the right words.


"Rasberries?" I interjected and his eyes lit up.


"Yes! Exactly like rasberries, how'd you know?"


"My chapstick," I said laughing as I fished it out of my hoodie pocket, secretly marveling in the fact that I put some on right before coming back downstairs and it served its purpose.


"I like it," Austin said taking it from my hand and reading the label, "good choice."


I laughed and shook my head in amusement, "I want to spend all day with you," I admitted, shyly and he smiled.


"I'm sensing a but..."


"I have an away game soon," I sighed wishing I could skip it somehow. I never thought I would ever say it, but spending a day with Austin(with hopes of more kissing) was more appealing than an eighty minute game filled with possible frutration, definite sweat, and inevitable annoyance by Davis.

~

I think I might be psychic. Everything that I said the game might be filled with was the exact truth. Except, I was beyond frustrated, and way past annoyed with Davis. I was just sick and tired of this game and I wanted out. The whole team pretty much gave up, the refs were complete trash, and Davis was showing his true colors.


Our defense pulled a player offside and the ball was passed above their heads, reaching the player and our defense stopped running, expecting an offsides call, which wasn't a surprise by the looks of these refs when we didn't get the call. The girl was an obvious three feet away from our last defender, but these referees don't care. For one, they're like five hundred years old, and are probably here for the paycheck and the sunlight.


"Really sir? Are you just not going to call offsides anymore?" Davis asked furious once the girl scored on our goal keeper. I could tell by the way he slammed his clipboard on the ground that he had lost it completely, "do your freaking job would you?" Davis was never like this with the referees, he always had to make comments like: they do have a hard job to try and see every single play and call, cut them some slack, but I could tell he didn't like these refs at all.


"Hey no more from you," the ref with a bald patch replied, pointing a wrinkly finger in Davis's direction. Davis scoffed, ready to say something else, but Ollie put a hand on his shoulder and whispered something in his ear. Davis inhaled deeply, mumbling incoherant words under his breath and picked up his clipboard.


"Come on girls! That was a good pull, it's not your fault people don't know the game of soccer," Davis commented and I stared at him in disbelief, and my mouth hanging open.


After a corner kick the other team took, we were able to get the ball out of the box and I was ready to counterattack but one of the fullbacks of their team grabbed ahold of my jersey, which caused me to stumble backwards and I watched as she kicked the ball toward one of her midfield. I stood there, waiting for the ref to make the apparent call, but he disregarded me with a turn of his back.


I stared at his back furiously, while I myself, finally lost my cool(not that it was that hard to do). I resisted the urge to walk over to the girl and unleash my rage on her, and decided it would be best to direct it at the idiotic ref instead.


"Are you kidding me?" I called out, "you're not going to make that call? Are you blind? She clearly grabbed my jersey." I shouted and he turned and blew his whistle at me. So scary.


"What's that sixteen?" He asked, in a warning tone.


"What you have hearing problems too?" I replied, anger still boiling inside me. I would never talk to someone like this, especially someone so much older than me because I loved the elderly, but this guy--this guy was asking for it.


"That's enough, I hear one more thing from you and you're off the field," he warned and I was ready to reply with another sarcastic remark like: I'll definitely be disappointed in not being able to carry on in this greatly officiated game, but Davis's voice filled the stadium as he shouted at me.


"Grey quit it," he demanded and I stared at him shocked. How can he tell me what I can and can't say when he was just mouthing off to the offical a few minutes before me. He was being a hypocrite, but he was also my coach, and as much as I hated to admit it, I had to listen to him.


By the time half time came around, I was way passed furious. I walked over to the bench and grabbed my bag from behind it. I took my water bottle from it and then slammed it back to the ground. Nobody was saying a word, nobody went anywhere near me. I ripped my prewrap off the top of my head and rummaged in my bag for the roll and teared a fresh piece off out of anger.


Tears of frustration were brimming my eyes as I shut my bag. "Grey stop," I heard Davis order. God I was sick of him ordering me around. He was so stupid. I hate him so much, does he not understand that? Does he not see it in the way I look at him? I just wish he'd stop talking to me. I ignored him, and bit my tongue before I lashed out on him(even though he deserves a good word or two from me). My chest rose and fell as my breathing became irregular due to all of the fury building up inside me.


"Grey stop it," Davis said grabbed me by the shoulders but I shoved him away. He gripped them firmly again and turned me toward him, "stop it," he repeated as I glared at him, tears now spilling from my eyes. I wanted to explain to him that I wasn't actually crying, that my definition of crying did not involve the emotion anger as it's fuel, so therefore, I was not crying, but I didn't want to speak to him. "You're acting like a child," he said pulling me to the side and away from the rest of the team.


"I am a child," I replied bitterly.


"No, you're practically an adult. Act like it. Sometimes things don't go the way we want them to, but we can't cry about it. We have to go back out there and find another way to make things work. Crying won't solve anything."


I wanted to ignore him and tell him how wrong he was, but I couldn't because he was right. Never did I want to admit those words when they came to Davis. God they were the most unpleasant words I could ever mutter.


"Now go out there and play your game. That will get you the results you want," he told me and I looked away from him, waiting for him to walk away and leave me alone. "Understand?" he asked and I looked at him and said nothing. He opened his mouth again, ready to order me to do something else probably, and I didn't want his annoying voice finding its way to my eardrums again so I muttered a quick whatever.


I thought back to Austin, and the way he kissed me out of the blue. How happy I felt by the small gesture. I tried to channel that happiness before the start of the second half. I thought about his attractive boyish laugh, or his nonjudgemental eyes, and pushed away the thoughts of the refs that had no clue what they were doing and Davis who always had to have the last word. I never thought I'd be one of those girls who became insanely obsessed with some high school crush. I laughed at those girls, but now I was one of them, and I couldn't tell if I liked it or not.

~~~

I don't know about you guys but I love Austin and Iris!!!

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