Runaway Man

Chapter 23: Us vs Love

Chapter 23: Us vs Love

My eyes were glued to the ball that was grasped tightly in Joey’s hands as he faced in eye level Pete. Never in my life had I seen such dedication in his face. Normally, he would have had a goofy grin that showed that most things to him were a joke but now, his expression appeared to be as if his entire life depended on his performance. In a way, it probably did. It was one of those long, complicated school reputation things that I would never get to grips on myself but whatever.

A whistle rang through my ears and he sprinted across the pitch with the stitched rugby ball tucked underneath his armpit. The boys from my school all chased after him, trying to tackle him but he was able to weave in and out of their strikes. Just before he reached the line needed to score a tri, Pete managed to sneak up behind him and slam both of them to the floor. The tackle looked horrific as the boys tumbled to the floor, coating themselves in mud. The audience winced and cringed as the top layer of their knees were scraped off.

Pete received a sharp look from Joey as they both brushed themselves up. It was evidential that Joey had really hurt himself because unlike just having the same grazes as Pete, there was an additional gash running across his right leg. I couldn’t take my eyes off of the wound as he refused for any medical treatment or to be taken off of the pitch.

The game continued onwards with both teams getting close to scoring a tri. It took forever before the first point was awarded to their team, to a tall black dude with long legs. He probably only made the team for his speed rather than his strength. All of the guys patted him on the back after he had finished racing around the pitch with his shirt covering his head in victory.

By the time it was half time, which was at forty minutes, all of the boys were stinky and sweaty. It was no surprise really because all of them were putting their all into the game. Diana snuck off to the bathroom and I sat, fiddling with my thumbs as everyone around me talked amongst themselves.

Until a voice made my spine shiver and the hairs shoot up on the back of my neck. His voice was so familiar yet unfamiliar… "Florence?” I jerked by body around to see Mason with a smile plastered on his grubby face. The thought of our date with Diana third wheeling automatically flashed into my mind but I shook my head at it.

"Hey."

"How are ya?"

"I'm fine. You're filthy," I let out a small chuckle as I examined his clothes. Unlike earlier when he was wearing clean clothes, the match made him seem like he had been dunked inside of a swamp.

"What'd ya expect?" he shrugged his shoulders innocently with his bottom lip turned over.

"You're still going to beat us," I sighed. We had never won anything. Our school had ended up in 2nd place for too many things because there was always someone that was better than us at something. It was a shame because maybe ten percent more effort could turn the tables.

"But your parents don't pay money for ya to learn," He climbed over the seats and sat himself down in Diana's seat (since she still wasn't back).

"True, true."

We conversed for the majority of the break. Other than our date, we hadn’t really talked much in person but everything was nice. He was different to Joey and that made me realise what a mistake and waste of time he was. However, I started to grow worried when I spotted that Diana still hadn't returned from the restroom.

Despite the game about to start off again, I went off to look for the silly girl. Jessica offered to come with me but considering that the crowd was huge and violent, I instructed her to stay put and text me if Diana came back when I was gone.

First, I scavenged around in the girls’ toilets but she was not there. The only slightly interesting things in there were some blocked toilets with sewage bursting out of them and some strangers reapplying their make-up. I decided against barging into the boys': because with the urinals I would come out half blinded. And I was just about to go when I saw something I'd rather not see... or hear.

((I absolutely cringed so badly writing this bit that it hurt, hahahahaha))

Diana. My own very best friend was snogging Pete against the door of the disabled toilets. They were going at it so much that I debated to myself whether or not I should interrupt. Normally I wouldn't but he was meant to be on the pitch otherwise we would definitely lose without going down without a fight! The team captain shouldn't just run off like that.

I coughed. No luck. I sighed. Then slapped Diana across the face to wake her up from her seven minutes of heaven.

Awkwardly, she sprung away from him and glared at me.

"Florence, what the hell!" She yelled, turning beet red.

"The game is about to start-" I announced timidly.

"Forget about the fucking game, you don't do that. I'm going, c'mon," she growled and grabbed Pete by the wrist and dragged him off… leaving me behind.

"Whatever, I can walk back by myself," I huffed. Maybe I had gone too far by slapping her but I was so mad that I didn’t even care or regret anything. She said she didn't like him yet she was kissing him? And no, I did not fancy him. It was just that my own best friend couldn't even tell me about her love life, considering I told her E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G.

Stuff her.

I stormed back to the bleachers but I purposely sat on a random empty seat near the back away from my friends. There was no way in hell I was going back there. I was mad. Like real mad. I'd rather be beside Linda right now.

Speaking of which, I hadn't seen Linda and her disciples all day. It was weird, really. No one ever missed the chance to see the fittest boys throw around a ball. Plus, her stupid boyfriend was playing.

I felt even more frustrated as I glanced over to see Joey running around like a headless chicken. Who did he think he was? I hated him so much. I didn't even get why most people dropped like flies at the sight of him. It simply wasn't logical.

I hated everything so much.

I ran my fingers through my hair before putting my head in my hands. Everything was giving me a massive headache that it was agonizing. My life was full of lies. Pathetic fucking lies.

It felt impossible to stay for the rest of the match so I left five minutes before the end. The upside of that was that I avoided the traffic completely. The idea of facing everyone whilst being lodged into a corner didn't seem pleasant in the slightest so I was glad about that.

Now I would just zone out from the world for eternity.