Don't Do It

T h i r t e e n

•Jake's POV•

Whilst my teammates are warming up, I drag an open black bag behind me that is filled with supplies.

I place ten orange cones on the field, in a zigzag manner. Afterwards I take two skipping ropes, putting them side by side, and far away from the cones. Walking a bit further, I place five small yellow hurdles in front of each other.

Once I'm done, I blow my whistle that is around my neck. "Warm up's over, guys! Make a line behind the beacons!" I yell with a stern voice, clapping my hands.

I'm the captain, which means I'm the only one who can give out orders.

Before you start thinking I have a huge ego, I actually don't. I'm normally nice to people, especially my closest friends.

The one time I'm not so nice is when I'm on the field. I have to set an example to my teammates and show them what the true meaning of a leader is.

"Alright, I've set up a mini obstacle course." I explain, folding my arms across my blue soccer shirt. My surname, Oliver, is written in gold on the back, along with the number 01.

"You have to run quickly in a zigzag, jump rope thirty times, and go over the hurdles. You will each repeat this routine six times without stopping. Understood?"

It may seem as though I'm being too hard on them, but it takes a lot of physical strength and endurance to be a soccer player.

"Yes, captain." they chant together. I know they won't even think of complaining since I don't tolerate nonsense.

"Good. One person at a time, so," I look amongst them and randomly choose a person, "Lucas can start."

He doesn't object.

I pick up the black bag I was dragging earlier, and walk to the lapa so that I can leave it there. Before I'm about to walk back to the team so that I can join them, someone shouts my name.

"Jake!"

Turning around instantly, I perceive Arianna running to me across the field, panting. She throws her bag down once she's under the lapa.

I scowl, thinking of leaving, when something deep down inside of me tells me not to. It's probably my conscience, well, that's if I have one.

"Jake, I really want to—"

"Hold it." I say sharply and raise a hand to stop her in her tracks, before she can get closer to me. She gulps, clutching her phone tightly and not looking at me in the eye directly. "Why are you here?"

Arianna exhales whilst momentarily closing her eyes. Maybe this is her way of calming her nerves, but she needs to start talking because I have to keep an eye on the team. I'm glad they can't see us from here.

"I n-noticed the way y-you've been treating m-me today. Did I do something wrong?"

Arianna eventually looks deeply into my brown eyes. I can tell that she's truly hurt and she has no cooking clue about why I'm being nasty to her.

So I decide to throw everything out into the open, just to save us time. I can't delay this any longer. I'll explode from anger and jealousy.

I clear my throat. "Yes, you did do something wrong. Long story short, I saw your boyfriend kissing you at the beach party and that hurt me. It still does."

Her eyes widen, and she blinks. "You saw us?" she questions, her lips parting in disbelief.

"Yeah. It's something I don't wish to remember so let's leave it. What matters is that you didn't tell me about him. Why?"