The Football Coach • l.t. au

Chapter Twenty One

Chapter Twenty One


"I just have a few pointers for all of you today." Louis said as he pulled his clipboard out of his bag.

I was far away from them but I can see how his forehead creased as he stare at the paper in full concentration. His hair covered most of his face. When he looked up, he moved towards the little girl and gave her instructions. The girl nodded her head and he went to a boy whose about as old as Em. He laughed lightly and patted the boys shoulder. His laugh is contagious that the other kids laughed as well. I find myself smiling while leaning on my elbow.

When he dismissed the group, Em came running back to me holding her hand out. I threw her shirt towards her and she caught it with a squeal. I chuckle as she runs to the bathroom. I found myself staring at him. What's so captivating about a man stuffing footballs in a duffel bag? He looked up and smiled at my direction. I chuckled and shook my head. He nodded towards the way to the stock room. I stood up and followed behind him.

He put the duffel bag on the top shelf before turning back to me. He's only wearing a plain white shirt and his football shorts. He grinned as he comes closer to me. He's looking down at me and I bit my lip nervously. His grin turned into a smirk as he leaned closer to my ear.

"I saw you checking me out earlier."

My eyes widen and I push him away. "Don't be presumptuous."

But its true.

He shrugs and pushes me out the room. "Okay." He said simply as he ran back to the field. Just as he disappears, he pulls his shirt over his head and my eyes nearly bulge out of their sockets. He turns to me with a smirk then winks. He's doing it on purpose!

God his body is so toned.

"Meg!" A finger snapped infront of me. I look down and saw Em smirking at me. She nudged me on the side but I turned her around and squished her cheeks with one hand. She growled and pushed me away.

"You need to stop doing that." she complains, rubbing her cheeks

"Can't help it. You have such adorable little cheeks!" I said leaning down to pinch her cheeks again. "That's not what I meant." She said pushing me away.

I chuckle as we got on the bus. Em complained she's starving so we made a quick stop at McDonalds. As I was paying in the counter, a hand rested on my shoulder spinning me around.

"Surprise surprise!" Milly beamed and engulfed me in a hug. I groaned and got worried if she keeps hugging me, I'll break into pieces. When she lets go, I sighed deeply.

Behind her are Rachel and Jess, the three of them as usual.

"What are you guys doing here?" I ask them.

"I'd expect a happier tone." Jess complained. I roll my eyes and turn around to get our food. Seconds later, Emily ran to me and snatched the paper bag. She ran out the door and sat on the bench outside.

"I'd say the same thing." I tell Jess. Earning me an eye roll as well. I chuckled and walk out the store.
"Did you come with the others?" I ask them. Milly nods and puts her hands in her shorts pocket.

"You know boys doing... Boy things. Excluding Pez." Rachel said with a shrug.

"Shouldn't you be doing girl things too?" I ask them. Jess scoffed and turned around. She's always been difficult.

"Shouldn't you?" She fires back.

"Well you don't have a 10 year to babysit." I say gesturing at Em who's hogging her chicken nuggets.

"Your sister?" Rachel asks, smiling at me.

"My daughter." I told them. Jess scoffs again and looks around except me. She's interesting.

"You could pass off as a teenage mother, though." Jess says coldly. I roll my eyes at her as a response.

"Anyway! You're going to the match tomorrow." Milly spoke. It wasn't much of a question. It was more of a statement. Should I even be there?

"I don't think I should." I said shaking my head.

"Why? Louis would be delighted." Milly says. I raise my eyebrows at her.

"I love him... Alright... He's like my brother. He'd be more..." Milly pauses and stands beside me. "Inspired." She nudges my shoulder. I chuckle and push her off.

"Okay but even if I want to, no one will be there to watch Em." I said.

"Well think about it. We'll pick you up at 3" Rachel says. They're not giving me much of choice here.

"Then what's the point of thinking about it." I said.

"You can either run off with us to the stadium or stay in your room staring at a blank wall. Honestly sweetheart by the looks of it, you've done that a lot." Jess says.

"You should get out more. You're not 21 forever." Rachel says with a grin.

"We'll see you tomorrow, yeah?" Milly says before running off.

Rachel smirked at me before turning around and walking off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You found some friends." Em says as we enter the house. Holly and Karen are sat on the staircase so Em and I sat on the couch.

"Are they?" I ask her as I pull my shoes off.

"Come on, Meg.you could use friends your own age." she says. "Louis doesnt count. You practically drool over him and the same goes for him."

I chuckle and plop on the sofa. "I don't want to trust people too easily." I say as Em stares at me confusedly.

"You can always trust your friends." She says without second thoughts.
I shake my head then shrugged.

"You can't trust everyone and how are you so sure your friends you've told your every secret to wont turn against you?" I ask her and she shrugs.

"No one's really that trustworthy so you'd better be careful who you spill your every secret too." I said.

She looks at me and blinks a few times before nodding. I sigh and stand up to bring my shoes upstairs to my room. Holly scoffs as I pass her but I ignore her and continue going to my room.

I put my shoes in the corner by the door and change into my sweat pants and an oversized white t-shirt. Em greets me as I walk out to the balcony. From here the whole neighborhood can be seen. Its a line up of expensive looking houses identical to our own. I can only imagine what kind of people live in them.

The ones like Holly and Karen whose gotten everything they want all their lives. It's the total opposite of the neighborhood I grew up in. It's not really a poor neighborhood but its average. People there work 24/7 to keep themselves alive. We don't scavenge for food in the rubbish but we learned how to work to surivive. These people here are the ones whose got everything, afford everything they could ever want.

As luxurious as that sounds, that's not the place for me. It's not home. This is not how I was raised. To depend my life on someone I barely know just because my mother tells me so. I was raised how to make my decisions and choose them wisely. I was raised and taught how to be independent.

Being here and living in this luxurious village with perfectly posh people is not my decision. Like I have choice but this is not the wisest decision I've made.

From here on out, I have to trust my instincts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Where'd you disappear to last night?" Mum asked me as I picked on my food.

"Out with a group." I said without looking at her.

"You mean Louis' group?" She asks and shrug.

"Listen, Meg." This time it was Rick's voice. I sigh and looked up. "We're not really comfortable with you and Louis-"

"Whos 'we'?" I ask him, obviously cutting him off.

"Me, your mother, Holly, Karen-"

I scoffed cutting him off again. I chuckled sarcastically and shake my head. "You'd better stop there." I say.

"Megan." Mum hissed but I completely ignore her.

"We care about you, Meg." Rick says. I nearly flipped the table over. Is he being serious?

"Why would you?" I ask him. He just gapes at me. "You don't even know me that well to care about me." I tell him.
B
"Because I'm-"

"My dad?" I let out a mock laugh. "You're not my father, alright? You can be her boyfriend but you'll never EVER be my father." I said and walked out. I push the door to the garden open. I heard someone calling after me. Its so clear that it was my mothers but I didnt turn back.

"What the hell was that?" She says. She sounds infuriated. I laugh to myself. Thats something new, note the sarcasm.

"He does care about you, Meg. Why would you for a second thought he doesn't? He practically treats you like his own daughter!"

I turn around to face my mother.

"Because I've been there, mum. I've been around people who I thought cared about me but the minute I was broken, they turned their backs and gave up on me. I'm not falling for that trap anymore." I said.

"So you think its easier if you push them away? Is that why you're pushing Rick and Holly and Karen away because you're afraid they'll turn their backs on you when you're falling apart?"

"Thats what you did." I murmur to myself as I stare at the ground. I heard her suck in a sharp breath. Her feet scuffles on the ground until we've come face to face. "And you're my mother."

"I tried my best to get close to you again, Meg. It was impossible because I can't seem to get the idea drilled into your think head that I will always be there for you until you've pushed me away far enough and decided to do the most cowardly and foolish thing you could think of."

My glare at her softened with a smirk. I laughed sarcastically and turned around.

"It was a good thing I did because you know what? You would've given up on me anyway. You would've just left me broken there on the pavement. Actually you did, right? You did leave on the pavement when I was absolutely shattered! I was longing for someone who can actually understand the pain I was going through but what did you do? You left me there! You left me crying on the pavement in the middle of the night because you thought I was hopeless, didnt you? You think it was a waste of your time, didnt you? That was the moment when I actually longed for my father but h wasnt there anymore! You were the only person I could count on when I was betrayed but where were you?! So don't blame me for pushing you away because you were the one who asked for it!"

I didnt realize I was yelling already. Rick and her daughters and Em are standing by the door. I look at my mother again who now looks sad rather than infuriated.

"I was trying to give you space, Meg. To clear your head."

"Bullshit!" I shouted. Her eyes widen and I can see how furious shes gotten with that single word.

"Your problem is, you stubborn girl, is that you don't know when to move on! You've been at this for five years and you've practically ruined your life because of this!"

"Mum I lost my father!" I yelled again and she stiffens. "To you its like nothing happened at all! You've got everyone around you! You've got everyone to help you move and you had a distraction but I didnt! Everyone I thought I could trust turned their backs on me! I had no one there to help me! You might have moved on but you did it for yourself! It felt like I didnt only lose my dad but my mum too! You left me in pieces when everything for you was all coming together. You didnt even try and that makes you just as much of a coward as I am"

Tears were streaming down her face now. I look at Rick and Em behind her. Em looks afraid and shocked. When I touched my cheeks I didnt realize I was crying as well. I wiped them away frustratedly and ran to my room like a spoiled teenager. But I'm not spoiled!

I'm hurt. I'm hurt that even after five years my mum doesn't understand me. I just need to get out. Get away.

I grab my jacket and my shoes, slipping them on before running out the house. I can hear Em calling my name but I ignore it. I didnt know where I was going but I'm surely not going back in there.

My heart was pounding so hard against my chest. I walk as fast I can to escape this retched place who people call 'luxury'. I hope on the first bus I see, not even sure where it takes me. I just sat by the window and lean my head against the frosted glass. I close my eyes and take a deep sigh.

I decided to get off on the third stop. The place is not the place I'd picture myself going to after tonight. Right now I've come face to face with the place that made me and convinced me to do the 'foolish' way of forgetting things.

When I opened the door, the bell chimed. I walk over to the counter with the bottles in my hands. I put them on the counter and wait for the cashier to tell me the price. I didnt realize I only have £10 in my pocket but at least it was enough to cover it. I walk out of the store and settled in the park.

I twisted the cap open and chugged down the liquid. I cringe as the bitter taste but swallow it nonetheless. Within minutes, I managed to down the entire bottle.

These are desperate times anyway.
I will probably regret this decision in the morning but that's still a few hours away. My mind's already foggy and I can barely think straight. I should've remembered my alcohol tolerance is very low. But who cares?!

Just as I was to open the 3rd bottle, I heard the bushes behind me scuffle. I got up on my feet but I was unsteady and I double over.
The noise got louder that when I open my eyes I've come face to face with a stranger. He's about in his early 20's, he has a smirk on his face as he stares at me.

"Out for a night stroll, love?" He speaks in a low husky voice with a thick Scottish accent.

"What... What do you want?" My voice is low and barely audible. Snap out of it, Meg! Get your head straight.

"A night stroll? Geez woman, you're pretty cookoo." He says. I see him pull out a lighter from his pocket. He grabs a cigar behind his ear and brings it to his lips. I hear the lighter flick and soon I can smell smoke.

"I wouldn't be out here in the middle of the night if I were you. There could be robbers and kidnappers around..."

"Your point?" I ask him.

"You're a cocky one arent you? The point is you don't want to get robbed or... Other things. By the looks of it, you sound like a girl who can barely get up. At the moment"

"Excuse me?" I ask him. He's so arrogant!

"Not judging but, sweetheart, you're better off fantacisizing over your future or fucking with someone with more experience."

My jaw dropped. My mind is clear for once. I can finally see his face. He's not much older than I am. Around 23 or whatever. But the more important thing is I can't believe he said that.

"I should be doing much better things than talking to someone who's so arrogant and out of their mind." I tell him

"You're not very stable yourself, babe. You're shaking like a chihuaha..." He says with a scoff. He drops the cigarette to the ground and takes a step closer to me the same time I take a step back.

"I think I can make you shake even more." He says in a scary seductive way.

He puts his hand on my back pushing me closer to him. I cringe as I can smell the smoke in his breath.

I shove him but he was too strong for me. His face was so close that I can feel his breath against my skin.
I push him off harder but I wasn't stable so I stumbled backwards. Soon after her wrap both his arms around making it impossible to push him away. I screamed for help but no one is around the streets at this hour. His fingers fiddled with the sleeves of my shirt. I gasped in shock as I punch him in the face as hard as I can. My hand throbbed making me wince as the pain traveled up to my wrist.

"You bitch!" He yelled. When I look up I see his lips bleeding. When he looked up I can see the fury in his eyes. He lunged towards me but I dodge him.

My heart was pounding faster than my legs as I ran away from him, clutching my hand. I can barely breathe that when I knew I was far away, I stopped to catch my breath. Only to have me pinned on the near by tree.

"You're going to pay for this you bitch!" He growls as he clamps his hand over my mouth. I bit his finger making him scream.

He glares at me before pulling my hair making my head tilt up.
I scream for help. For anyone who can hear me. I started to cry when I felt his skin on my my neck.

Just as the contact was there it was gone! When I open my eyes, the man was on the ground with his face bleeding.

"If you lay a finger on her once more, I'll kill you!" I look to the side to see where the voice came from. Its so different but the person behind that voice wasn't. His normal soft and gentle voice turned into something more stern and scary, even. I almost felt afraid of him.

He looks at me and there it is. I see the familiar boy I've come to know this past few weeks.

The man on the ground stood up and looked at Louis. His broken face twitched into an evil smirk.
"Shes yours?" He asks. When Louis doesn't answer, he lets out a loud laugh that sent chills to my spine. "Come on! You're kidding right?" He laughs even louder.

He grabs him by his shirt and I panic! I didnt know what to do. I don't know how to stop him.

"I'm serious, man. If you don't want me to repeat what I did then, you'd better step off." He hisses and shoves him away. I look up at Louis to see his blue eyes enraged as he stares at the man.

When he looks at me, he softens as the Louis I've come to know. He holds my hand and pulls me away. When I turned back, I see the man grinning at us.

"Come back! Be a man!" he yells. I turn around and saw the guy laughing hysterically before throwing up. I cringe and I can't help but look at Louis again. His face twisted at the mention of the words from the man.


Do they know each other?




<<<*>>>


Hi ho, hi ho! Its home from hell we go!

Went back to school today, fuck.

Yay! Homework! Quizzes! Essay!

Woohoo! The joys of being in high school!

Let's put aside my seemingly miserable life.

Every time I update, I get more votes and comments that has never happened in my 2 years on WATTPAD!

I love hearing your comments that you're really enjoying this story, I love you guys! :)

Every time I refresh my email, I see that I've got new comments and that never fails to make me smile like a lunatic!

That just makes me more driven to finish this story faster. Literally, ideas just flood through my head, LOLS.

Omg! Do you guys watch Danisnotonfire?

God I love him! His sassy persona reminds me a lot of Louis, no? YES!

Now I have to get back to my term paper :) two pages out of ten! Yay!

........ Fuck.

Adios my lovely nuggets :)