17 Black

"God damn you, Tomlinson," Liam grunts as he hastily retrieves the football from the net.

Louis smirks and shrugs his shoulders, smoothly catching the ball out of the air with the lace of his foot as Liam throws it back out at him.

"Don't hate the player, hate the game," he smugly retorts, taking a touch before swinging his leg back and cleanly striking through the ball.

Liam dives to the side and snatches the ball out of the air before it hits the net. A good save, Louis has to admit.

"Not bad, Payno," he compliments, placing his hands on his hips. "Seems like you've been training lately."

Liam shrugs. "Got to be ready for tryouts this week," he explains, dropping the ball to the ground and rolling it with his feet. "Rumor has it that the coach this year is a true pain in the ass."

Louis snorts, rolling his eyes. "Nothing the Tommo can't handle."

"Yeah, only because you're used to having people be irritated by you," Liam counters with a chuckle.

"Whatever," Louis laughs. "I'm sure this coach can't be that bad."

Liam kicks the ball into the sidelines, then strolls over to the bench and takes a seat, leaning his elbows on his knees.

"I dunno, mate. I heard that when he was coaching his former team, he made some kid run sprints until he puked, just because he was ten minutes late to practice."

Louis crosses his arms and cocks an eyebrow, albeit, impressed.

"That's pretty harsh, don't you think?"

Liam shrugs. "Told you he was a pain in the ass. Oh, shoot, I've got to go," he says suddenly, jumping up and scrambling for his backpack.

"Why?"

"Dinner," Liam explains, slinging the bag over his shoulders. "I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?"

"Yeah, see you then," Louis says, smiling.

Liam pats him on the back and turns to walk away. Louis just sits on the bench, watching his friend leave until he is already out of sight. He wonders how tryouts will go for him this year, and if the new coach is going to be as much of a prick that Liam made him out to be. He hopes not, because when Louis doesn't like someone, admittedly, he can be a little bit of a bitch sometimes. He's sassy and stubborn, not the type of person that you'd want to give a bad impression. Louis could be a real sweethart, though. He'll follow some rules, be nice if he has to. Just depends on the person, is all. If he has any luck at all, this new coach will be just like his old one: Louis' absolute, number one fan in the universe, and really easy to negotiate with. If things don't turn out in his favor, it'll be a rough season, for sure. Not just for Louis, but for the coach as well.

Last year, Louis was team captain. Star player, great athlete, best center midfielder in town. He was the coach's pet, and had gotten used to nothing less than complete favoritism throughout his whole high school career. Coach Hughes always had Louis leading warmups, organizing team work-outs, and starting all of the games. He played almost every minute of every match for the whole season, and he was never off his game. The loads of attention that came with his success in the sport wasn't unwelcome, but it was unusual for him at first. His childhood hadn't really offered him the same caliber of attention that he has been receiving for the last three years since he's been on this team, so it's been a change, to put it simply. He's doing well with it. The only thing is, Coach Hughes is leaving, so technically, Louis isn't guaranteed anything this year. He might not even keep his spot as captain, which before, seemed like a permanent title. It's a frightening thought to him, honestly. Louis is self aware, though-- he knows that he is a pretty good player, and easy to get on with for the most part. So how hard could it be to just simply win over this new, supposedly dick of a coach with the same charm he used on Hughes?
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