Love and All It Does

14

Anika's POV
I think about Harry as I walk back to the car. I think about him as we drive to the Korean place that Peter had been obsessing over recently. I think about him as I sat and ate lunch with my family. I think about him until it's almost time to see him again.

My phone notifies me of a message from Lorriane. Passing over your street, pick you up? I smiled, relieved not to have to bring a car to school nor to worry about fares. I sent back a thumbs up emoji.

After deciding on what to wear, I took a shower and got dressed. Grandad passes by my room and asks me where I'm off to. My body tenses because it's almost impossible for him to allow me to go anywhere when it's already getting dark outside. I mutter an apology before lying. "Oh, I forgot to tell you. I have to do some final checkups on our school fair. I'm part of the committee."

He narrows his eyes at this and nods in hesitation. "Be home by ten." He says and disappears from my doorway. "Sharp." He calls out and I sigh.

Lorriane and I get to school right in time for the game. I asked her if Ashley and Molly are coming as well, but she just shrugged the question off. I sent them a couple of text messages but they never sent one back. Later on, we both decided we're hungry and got ourselves smoked sausage and lemonade from the concession stands.

"I think the game is about to start." Lorriane says, already swallowing the sausage she was just about to chew on. She yanked me by the arm and pulled me through the swarm of people now lining up by the entrance. "We need to get good seats!" She exclaims, knocking back her lemonade and finishing it right before we got in.

Luckily enough, we got ones that weren't too near nor far away. This is the first time I'd be watching a soccer match and so I find myself holding a breath as the tension inside the stadium intensifies, and strident cheers fade in and out as both teams were being introduced. I never knew this much people actually watch it.

The captain of both teams meet with the referee to toss a coin. I don't know which side Harry chose but he was the one to point to which goal their team will attack. They get back to the center of the field and the people clamored once again as Sev High takes the kick off.

They're now running around the field and the crowd's cheer grew when Harry manages to steal the ball from the opponent and began making his way to the goal ceaselessly. He scores and we all shot up from being seated. I screamed for as loud as I can as the stadium was once again filled in with booming applauses and cheers.

Sev High scores two after that. The third attempt fell flat because Liam, our goalkeeper, happens to catch their ball. He throws it back to Niall who passes it to Adam then to Louis then to Harry. Harry dashes to the goal, kicks and...Goal!

Watching Harry play is making my heart race. It reminds me of the old days when he'll always nag me to go and watch him play in his summer camp tournaments. I then wonder how it feels to be Stacy, to be the girl everyone finds associated with Harry, to be the girl who owns his heart. Every time I look at him, I feel scared that I'm falling in love again with someone out of my league; that this is how it will always be like for the two of us. 

By my calculations and considering the throbbing pain from my feet, the game lasted for about an hour and half. The referee had already called for a time stoppage and declares our team as the winner.

The team swivels to the center of the field until they were already huddled in and springing up and down as they let out excited huffs. The Sev High team was clapping each other's backs, muttering soft pleasantries to each other. The two teams later exchanged formalities.

It took minutes for the entire stadium to clear up, and now as we were heading out with complacent grins plastered on our faces, I'm trying to understand exactly why my heart kept thumping so loud.