Unexpected

[16] Starstruck

Soooo, it's nearly been a month since the last update.... I'm sorry! :/ Life just keeps getting in the way, unfortunately. I hope you enjoy, regardless!!

Thank you so much for reading! Anything helps, so please comment and/or vote if you like it! :)

Clara.

P.s. There's a link to Kodi's dress, shoes, and accessories in the comments below, if you're interested.

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It was hard to believe that it was already the end of October. I would have thought that after almost five months, the pain of losing Mom would have lessened, but I still missed her every day. I had kind of hoped that if I ignored my feelings for Ryan that they would go away, but those hadn’t lessened, either. Katie and I were at a soccer game and it had just ended with an Ocean View victory. She waved and ran off to go find Kellan and tell him congratulations. I’d just stepped off the last stair leading to the bleachers when I heard a voice behind me.

    “Hey,” Ryan greeted, the usual cocky grin on his lips.

    I smiled back and pulled my cardigan a little tighter around me. “Hey.”

    “So I was thinking—”

    “Uh-oh.”

    He sent me a look, causing me to grin and shrug innocently. Rolling his eyes, he took the soccer ball from under his right arm and tossed it at me. Thankfully I caught it before it hit me in the face.

    “We haven’t hung out much lately.”

    “You’ve been busy at work,” I shrugged again, rolling the ball between my hands.

    “Yes, but I have tomorrow off. And since you sucked horribly at that friendly game of soccer last weekend, I’ve made it my personal mission to teach you. I mean, the captain of the team can’t be hanging around with people that are worse than his grandmother.”

    “Hey!” I protested with a laugh. “I was not that bad!”

    “Kodi... You kicked the ball backwards and then tripped on it.”

    “I told you, it was my strategy to distract the other team.”

    He just quirked an eyebrow and stared at me dubiously. Laughing, I gave in.

    “Okay, okay, so I’m bad at soccer. Why does that matter?”

    “Just meet me here tomorrow, five pm, okay?”

    I sighed, shaking my head. But I couldn’t deny that I was also kind of cheering inside, knowing that I would be spending time with him. Even if I didn’t want these feelings I had, he was still my friend and I enjoyed hanging out with him. I smiled and watched Ryan jog toward the locker room, shaking my head. Finding Katie chatting to a friend from the volleyball team, I wandered over to wait for her.

                                                                                     ~*~

The next day I pulled into the parking lot just in time. I wasn’t sure what to expect, knowing that Ryan would have one heck of a time trying to get me anywhere decent at this. I didn’t have a single athletic bone in my body. Honestly I didn’t know where Dean had gotten his ability to kick the ball so well, since neither of our parents were in to sports either. Ryan was already there, kicking a line of balls into the net. Letting out a breath of air, I got out of the car.