dedicated to calumbreon bc A BRIGHTER DAY AND REHAB CAN WE JUST WOW
~*~
A shallow breath left Hallie's lips as she heard the whistle. For a moment, no one on the Hallie's team moved. The boys, on the other hand, were slowly inching closer toward the girls, anticipating for when they moved.
Hallie discreetly looked to Mia, who wore an intense expression, looking ready for something far more serious than a football game. Mia acknowledged Hallie's gaze by tilting her head slightly before passing the ball to her. Hallie stopped the ball with her foot without looking, as she had locked eyes with Calum. Her bashful thoughts about him had been forgotten as she smirked at him. Suddenly, Hal takes off confidently, weaving through her male peers swiftly as she dribbled the ball towards the goal. She had made it nearly halfway across the boys' part of the field quickly. Hallie had nearly gotten the ball taken from her and she knew that her breakaway wouldn't last much longer, so she passed the ball to Larissa, the left forward. After Hallie caught her breath, she backed up slightly, ready to have the ball again.
The ball eventually made its way back to Hallie, who gladly accepted it. She was just about to begin dribbling towards the goal again when the ball had been stolen from her. Her eyes widen in confusion and she realizes that Calum, who'd taken the ball, was already dashing towards Rylin and the goal. Anger surges through her veins because she'd let her guard down. The thought of her precious scholarship made her let out a growl of frustration and she hurries off towards Calum. Calum, like Hallie, was weaving through girls nimbly. He managed to make it to the goal, where Rilyn was. A frightening scowl was etched onto her features as Calum powerfully kicked the ball into the goal. Rilyn dove for the ball with as much grace as a goalie could have and the ball soared into her chest, her arms closing around it. A frown shapes Calum's lips when he realizes his shot was saved. Rilyn gets up, the ball tucked under her arm, and the crowd roars.
"Nice try," she tells him before shouting a midfielder's name, dropkicking the ball to her. The midfielder, Natalie, takes off with it, but doesn't get very far because of Luke attempting to intercept the ball. She's forced to pass it backwards to McKenzie, a defender. McKenzie sends it flying to Hallie, who lifts her leg to let the ball hit her thigh. She swivels on her brightly colored cleats, the ball between them, only to be met by Calum. She pushes the ball to the side with the outside of her foot in an attempt to get around him, but he blocks her easily. As Hallie tries to get past Calum, she elbows him constantly in the gut. Calum told himself that he should be just as aggressive as well, but he felt bad. Hallie was a girl. He was scared he'd hurt her.
"Don't tell me you're scared to be aggressive with me, Hood," Hallie muttered, her voice ragged from effort in the game. He didn't respond, though, because he knew what she was trying to do. She was trying to distract him. Calum rolls his eyes before deciding that taking it easy on her wasn't worth it and he uses his upper arm to shove her. At the same time, Hallie had done the same, their arms colliding roughly and causing them both to recoil. Calum lets out a small grunt before going back to block her and Hallie collects the ball between her feet.
"Bet this game isn't going as well for you as that midnight practice," Hallie jabbed, and memories of Gretchen and angry kicks to his football from that night flooded into Calum's mind. He couldn't help it; Gretchen was all he thought about, even now. He had even wondered if she was here tonight.
"That's what I thought," Hallie sang with a giggle before giving him a rough shove that sent him stumbling backwards. Her distracting tactic had worked and she shot off with the scuffed football, her long, messy braid flying in the air behind her. She made it to the goal after shoving multiple sweaty boys, including Luke as well, out of the way. With a victorious grin, she lets her left foot connect with the ball, launching it into the corner of the net without much effort.
"SLAY, HALLIE!" Rylin screamed from the opposite end of the field. The kids in the bleachers erupted in a frenzy of screams and whistles as Hallie made her way back to her end of the turf with a happy smirk.
"Maybe if you manned up back there, you may have been the one with the goal. But, even then, we all know Rylin would have saved it," Hallie said to Calum, bumping shoulders with him and turning around to face him as she finished her sentence. Calum was surprised by her words and her overall demeanor on the field; she was nothing like this from what he saw in the school hallways. He glowers at her as she takes her position in front of him.
~*~
The game was nearly over and both teams had scored another goal, making the score 2-1.
The referee blows the whistle again to resume the game and Calum passes the ball to Luke. Luke sprints down the field, but Mia intercepts the ball and begins to dribble towards the other goal. She hears Hallie calling her name from across the field and once Mia has a clear path between her and Hal, she crosses the ball to Hallie.
Hallie takes off towards the goal again. She kicks the ball out in front of her to set up for the perfect shot. Suddenly, she feels a harsh shove and a sharp pain in her right shoulder. Hallie finds herself on the ground with Calum sending her a smirk from above. She lets out an annoyed sigh as soon as the whistle is blown, standing up briskly and glaring at the brown haired beauty who'd knocked her over. The crowd watched in anticipation as they waited for the referee to make the call.
"Penalty kick!" the referee announces, making the spectators erupt in a roar of mixed emotions. Hal collects the ball and spins it a few times on her fingertips before placing it on the turf. After taking a deep breath and making sure Calum had noticed her death stare, she set her sights on the goal. Ashton notices her glancing towards one corner of the goal and gets ready to block her shot. Hallie smirks playfully before taking her shot in the opposite corner. As soon as her foot collides with the ball, Ashton dives for where he assumed she would shoot. As Ashton falls to the ground empty-handed, the black and white ball hits the corner of the net. She lets out a squeal of delight and moments later, her team tackles her to the ground. They had won the scrimmage.
~*~
Calum despondently approached the bench his team was seated on. He was greeted with half-hearted pats on the back and lame words of encouragement. It wasn't that he was really that upset about losing the game. He was more upset that he let Hallie beat him. He really just wanted to be alone to sulk about the loss of the game and his girlfriend. He didn't seem to have the best luck with meeting girls who were actually nice to him.
"Calum?" he heard a timid voice call from above him. He glanced up and met the hazel eyes of Hallie. She rocks back and forth on her heels, wiping her hands on the sides of her thighs nervously. He rolls his eyes and begins to drum his fingers on the seat of the bench.
"So, uh," Hallie mumbles, "good game? I don't mean to be sarcastic or anything because in all honesty, you did really well, and even though you pushed me down and stuff, it's okay because that's part of the game and you were just trying to help your team and I ju-"
"Hallie, get on with it," Calum deadpanned.
"Well, the team is going out for a kind of like celebratory dinner and I thought that maybe you guys, as in you as your team, would maybe like to come? I mean, you don't have to, I just thought that it would be a friendly gesture. But maybe it was stupid and I shouldn't have even come over here. I'm so sorry, oh my gosh. I'll just leave now."
Calum chuckles softly before making eye contact with the rambling girl.
"I'll only go if you meet me again on the field."
And he didn't have to specify. Because she knew exactly what he was talking about.
~*~
BUT CAN WE JUST #HALUM5EVER
XOXO- SARA AND LENNON
