Marked

Chapter 3

After school, Mai had asked you to join her soccer team since she was short on one. Being the good friend you were, you accepted. Seven was the referee and in the other team, Greenwood was the captain. Mai was your captain and Ani was in your team too. You didn't know the rest of your teammates but it was fine. The only problem was. . .

"You have to take your jacket off," Mai said. The thing was that you loved your jacket. You never let it out of your sight and you never leave without it. Even if it's just a bathroom visit.

"You can leave it with Seven. He will watch it like a hawk."

You sighed in defeat. "Fine, but I'll get to be the first one to substitute out," you requested. Besides the undeniable fact that you horrible at soccer, your jacket conceals many horrible things. Like the scars from mother's slashing or the pale white lines from your cutting. Well, used to. You stopped a year ago and wrote songs instead. Either way, you didn't want anybody to know. Not even your friends.

"Can do," Mai chuckled.

You dropped your bag on the bleacher where Seven stood as referee. "Hey Seven." He jumped a bit.

"Oh, it's you, (Y/N)," he said.

"Look, I feel bad for being harsh at you. And-"

"(Y/N), you no need to apologise," he interrupted.

"So, even?" You asked.

"Yeah, even," he smiled. There he goes again. You felt a warm sensation spread across your chest. "I wanted to ask if you could help me look after my jacket," you attempted to take off your jacket but it clung to your skin. You tugged it harder and managed to pull it off but your right side of your white t-shirt was also pulled down, exposing a green bra strap. You immediately covered it with one hand, awkwardly handed Seven your jacket and quickly adjusted your top with your other hand.

"T-thanks S-seven." You stuttered again and blushed and averted your gaze from his.

"What was that?" He asked, pointing at your right shoulder. Oh shit, God have mercy.

"(Y/N)! Hurry up, the game is about to start!" Mai yelled. Thank you Mai.

"Coming!"

And so the game began. You were the goalie since you could dribble well like Mai or Greenwood. At first you were anticipating for the ball but it never came. So you sat on the grass and managed to tie your hair up. The game was at a stalemate, 2-2. We needed one more to win. Mai got cocky since she scored the second goal for her team. So when the ball suddenly came thundering in my direction, I panicked. Greenwood ran at full force with the ball while Mai and Ani followed in pursuit. I didn't know what to do besides stand up and open my arms to anticipate. She kicked the ball and all of a sudden, everything went in slow motion. My body moved on its own and I ran in, tackled Greenwood and successfully snatched the ball away from her.

Time was restored and I was away from my post, panting with a ball under my foot. Greenwood laid on the ground, stunned. It was Mai's voice who snapped my back to reality.

"(Y/N)! I'm open!" I turned in her direction and dribbled it to her. Without failing. What a miracle! I passed the ball to Mai and ran by her side, alternating between us and Ani. Mai was about to score when she suddenly kicked it in my direction. The ball went airborne for a while before descending rapidly towards me. A defender ran in the same direction and, before the ball reached me, did a slide and tackled my left knee. I instantly dropped to the ground, clutching my left knee.

"(Y/N)!" It was Seven. He made a whistle sound and handed the defender a red card. Ani helped me to my feet as I hobbled back to the bleachers.

"Oh my gosh! (Y/N) are you okay?" Ani held my hands as I sat down.

"What do you think? Of course not!" You snapped. Wait. Oh no.

"Ani I'm sorry–" You tried to take it back but the damage was done. Ani avoided your eye contact.

"(Y/N), how's your leg?" Greenwood came up to me. She had the first aid under her arm. I looked at the wound and my hands. They were smeared with bright red blood and it looked sickening. My jeans were coloured with a shade of maroon.

"I can treat it but I need you to take off your jeans," She pointed at them.

You immediately blushed. It was probably as red as your blood.

"Not here, doofus," Greenwood laughed. Your blush didn't help when Mai and Seven came over. Seven had your bag and jacket in his arms.

"What's so funny Greenwood?" Mai demanded while Seven set down your belongings next to you.

"I told (Y/N) that she needed to take off her jeans so that I could treat her wound, and she–"

"Thought that she would take it off here?" Mai joined in the laughter. You considered burying your face in your hands but you remembered that your hands were covered your in blood.

"Let's just go." You attempted to stand up. Pain flared from your knee, causing more blood dripped down. Ani yelped. Mai shrieked. Greenwood frantically dug into her first aid. Seven covered his mouth with his hands. Only you remained calm. You have dealt with overflowing blood, wounds and scars before. Most of them inflicted by mother, only a handful were from you. There were days when you were more depressed than usual. You would stash extra bandages in your secret desk compartment and wait for night arrive before you would do your illegal business.

"I'm going to be okay. It's not like I'm going to die, right?" You reassured them as they calmed down. "Now, who's going to help me up?"

Apparently, no one. Mai said that she didn't want to support my weight since I kind of pulled her down before music class. Ani wasn't strong enough to help me and Greenwood wasn't the 'touchy type'. That left Seven. But instead of supporting you, he carried you and your stuff.

"Haha, look at you!" Mai would laugh. "Your face is so red!"

"Shut up, Su." But she was right. You could feel your own face burning up. Seven then gently placed you down as Ani took over and helped to limp to the girls' toilet with Greenwood, who had your bag and jacket. Mai offered to stay with Seven while waiting.

The wound wasn't so bad. Deeper than a scratch though. You didn't take off your jeans but instead, took out a pair of scissors and trimmed it until it was inches away from your wound. You did the same with the other side to make it look symmetrical. Then Greenwood patched up the bloody knee and washed up. You kept the jean fabric since throwing it away would be such a waste. Ani and Greenwood then left you alone in privacy. You took a long look at your left knee. I'd be lying if I said that Greenwood did a horrible job. Then you looked at your bare arms.

The pale white lines almost blended in with your fair complexion but they were there if you'd stare closely at it. Taking the extra bandages, you wrapped them around your arms, from the elbow to the wrist. Then you covered it up with your jacket. Mother would definitely notice the leg injury, that's for sure. But honestly, what can I do about it?

I left the toilet and Mai and Greenwood decided to call it a draw and a day. Ani was in fact not at all mad at me when I snapped. That's a relief. I found out that Seven and Mai lived in the same street as me. They were a couple of blocks from me, which made it easier for us to work on the music project.

The three of us stopped at Mai's house. It looked bigger than my place. A dog came up barking its head off when it saw me.

"Momo, this is (Y/N). (Y/N), Momo," Mai held Momo in her arms as she introduced me to Momo. I petted his head as he stopped barking.

"Well, today's been fun. I got to–" you stopped mid sentence when your phone beeped. You took it out of your pocket and all the colour drained from your face.

Mother: BITCH WHERE ARE YOU!? You're getting it tonight, you hear me!? I swear it!