Thought Of You (A Madison Alamia love story)

Chapter 12

EDITED.

NICOLE BERNHARD

I tied my cleats tightly, making sure they weren't going to fly off when I smashed my foot into the soccer ball. My aunt had just dropped me off at the nearest field so I could practice. In the past two weeks I've been here, I felt as if I was wasting my talent by not spending more time practicing. Soccer season started in about a month, and if I wanted a shot at making varsity my freshman year I needed to practice.

I headed up the hill to the only available field, setting my ball down before jogging away from it. I ran and kicked at it with all my force, sending it flying into the upper right corner of the goal, "Still got it" I exclaimed triumphantly as I ran to grab the ball.

For the next hour I did agility training, core workouts, practice shots, and trick shots until I was panting and my entire body felt sore. I looked up to see that a group of boys were waiting to play on the field I was currently occupying. When I got closer I saw it was the ICONic Boyz, all of them staring at me in disbelief.

"I didn't know you could play like that" Nick said and I just laughed. The two of us had been talking non-stop since he gave me his number. It was a nice feeling to let someone in again.

"That's because you didn't ask, ballet boy" I smirked at him, still panting.

"Whatever you so, ball girl" He attempted to give me a nickname, which made all of his friends and I double over with laughter.

"Really? Ball girl?" I said once I had sobered up.

"I knew it was a poor decision once I said it," he said sheepishly, "but I will give you a name equally as embarrassing as ballet boy"

"You can try, but I think ballet boy will always take the cake," The rest of the boys ran up on the field and began playing, "Now go join your friends and forget the shame and embarrassment this conversation must have caused you"

"But I'd much rather be here, talking to you" He smiled at me and I almost forgot to breathe. All our communication lately had been through a phone, and I had forgotten how gorgeous he was. Mix his brilliantly white smile with the way his penny was leaving little to imagine in his torso area, and I knew that this was a recipe for disaster.

"Yeah well, I gotta go" I said, suddenly feeling like letting him in was a horrific idea. I couldn't let anyone in after my dad left us, especially not a guy. I saw how much my dad's death hurt my mom and I never wanted that to happen to me.

"Wait! How are you getting home?" He called out to me as I ran down the hill, trying to put as much distance between us as possible.

"I'll walk!" Mack's house was only about 3 miles from here. It would be a nice cooldown, and if it was too much I'd just call my aunt to come get me.

"Not so fast," I heard Nick gasping for air behind me, presumably from him running down the hill, "I'm walking with you, you're going straight through town and it's getting dark out, this isn't a walk you should be taking alone"

"No really I'm fi-" I gave up fighting when Nick fell in step with me, "Thank you"

"Anytime. So how'd you get to be so good at soccer?"

"A ridiculous amount of practice and a lot of love for the sport," I said and smiled at my feet, "I don't really believe you can be great at a sport unless you love it"

"I totally understand, but for dance. It's like I love it so much that without it I would feel like a part of me is missing" He replied. The two of us talked the whole walk home, and I was reminded how much better talking in person is than talking on the phone. It made me like Nick that much more, which scared me beyond belief.

Sooner than I wanted, we were walking up the driveway to Mack's house.

"Thanks for walking me home, I really appreciated the company" I said and he just laughed.

"Of course, you're a really cool girl Nicole and I'd like to get to know you better," he took a deep breath, "would you like to get pizza with me tomorrow night?"

I pondered my choices for a moment. If I said yes, that would be the start of me breaking down walls that I worked so hard to build up. If I said no, that means I lose the only boy I have ever had romantic feelings for.

"Sure" I said and I saw him burst with nervous excitement.

"I'll see you then, Fancy Feet" He yelled as he jogged down my driveway. I laughed at yet another failed attempt at giving me a nickname.

"Keep trying!"