Trapped (egobang trans)

Chapter 4 - Games

< Arin's POV >

Arin's first two lessons went okay. She didn't really talk to anyone, and no one talked to her. She was okay with that - it was less people to be picked on by. Come break she found a nice shaded tree to sit under and took out her sketchbook from her bag. Arin often drew in her spare time. It was an escape, and a chance to not be so caught up in the real world.

If she let anyone look through it, they'd find an abundance of animé girl sketches, and occasionally a few badly drawn cats (she wasn't very good at drawing animals).

At some point Arin was snapped out of her bubble by a ball flying her way. It narrowly missed her face, bouncing off the tree she was sat against. She gave a yelp and her pencil fell from her hand, landing in the grass at her side.

"Whoa, sorry!" cried the guy who had kicked it that way.

He jogged over, calling to his friends that he'd be right back. He picked up the ball and was about to leave when he looked down at Arin on the floor.

She was shaking quite a lot, the ball having scared her more than she wanted to admit. She'd had problems with anxiety in the past, and even as a small child had been far too easily spooked. Now was no exception and she struggled to calm down.

"Dude, are you okay?" asked the guy, coming a little closer.

Arin looked up at him. He had dark hair and round face not unlike her own. For whatever reason looking at him calmed her down and she was able to pick up her pencil again. He smiled, seeing her calm again. He had a cute smile.

"Hey, you wanna join us? We've got an odd number so the teams aren't fair," he offered, glancing back over at his friends who were waiting.

Arin knew instantly by the way he spoke that he thought she was a guy. Usually that would put her off, but there was something about him that she liked. And so, before she could stop herself, she stood up and smiled at him.

"S-Sure. I'm Arin," she said shyly.

"Jon," the guy returned, beckoning her to follow as he went back to his friends.

There were two of them, one thin with a slightly crooked smile and the other with a mop of dark hair and the beginnings of some facial hair. Both looked unsure about Arin, probably thrown off by her pink attire. Arin felt herself blush and looked away, fiddling with the ends of her sweater sleeves.

"H-Hi," she muttered.

"Okay, guys this is Arin, he's gonna be joining us so our teams are fair. Arin, this is Ross and Barry," Jon introduced.

"Hey," greeted the thinner guy, Ross.

He had a strange accent, Australian, it sounded like. He still looked a little wary, but Barry was smiling now. Arin gave a shy smile back, not sure how to interact with them. She was kind of in the middle, not fitting in with either boys or girls, but she still wanted to try. So far the setting reminded her of that day in the park when she was 4, before she came out to the other boys. She shuddered remembering that day. She didn't want to repeat it here, so she didn't correct Jon for using the wrong pronouns.

"Whose team do you wanna be on?" Jon asked her, pulling her from her thoughts.

"Uh, I-I'll go with you... I guess?"

Jon smiled his cute smile again.

"Okay! So, basically you're trying to kick the ball so that it goes past the other team. If they don't stop it and it goes past them, we get a point. And if they do manage to stop it, they get a point. Got it?" he explained.

"Y-Yeah." It sounded simple enough.

"Okay then, let's go!"

Jon placed the ball down on the ground in front of him and took a step back, lining up his shot. Arin watched the concentration in his eyes and blushed again. She'd always found guys attractive, of course, but there was something about Jon that was special.

His foot met the ball and it went flying. It seemed to be going straight past the other team, but at last moment Barry dived in front of it. He tried to catch it, but it ended up just bouncing off his chest and onto the floor, landing next to him as he too sprawled in the grass.

Arin wondered if he was hurt, but a second later he threw his hands up.

"Woo! Barry wins!" he cried in celebration, jumping to his feet.

Jon and Ross laughed, and strangely Arin found herself smiling too. Next it was Ross's turn to kick, and Jon and Arin had to stop the ball. Ross gave a side smirk as he reeled back. When he came forward it looked like the ball would go towards Jon, but at the last second Ross somehow managed to change his course, sending the ball off to the side.

Arin tried to run after it, but she had never been athletic and was nowhere near as it sailed past her. She heard Jon swear in frustration as Ross and Barry cheered and she suddenly felt embarrassed.

"I'm s-sorry, I-" she started, but Jon cut her off.

"It's fine, man. It's just a game," he assured, jogging past her to fetch the ball.

She opened her mouth, wanting to correct him, but fear of rejection held her back. She didn't want them to think she was weird. They wouldn't like her if they knew. She stayed quiet as Jon came back with the ball, but was surprised when he handed it to her.

"Your turn, Arin. Go and get us a point, dude!" Jon said, giving her a hard slap on the shoulder and a wide grin.

"Um... O-Okay..."

Arin awkwardly placed the ball in front of her. She stepped back and her eyes travelled between Ross and Barry. They were slightly crouched, bracing themselves to catch the ball. Arin started to sweat, intimidated by how serious they were. She didn't really like sports - what if they got mad at her for not getting as into it?

"Come on, Arin! Kick it!" Jon yelled, making Arin jump.

His tone wasn't harsh, in fact it was encouraging. Still, the sudden volume was enough to shock Arin and she kicked the ball with a power she didn't know she was capable of. It sailed right over Ross's head, and though he jumped his fingers didn't so much as brush it. There was a moment of stunned silence before everyone caught up to what happened. Arin expected anger from the other team, but they looked impressed.

"Whoa, that was awesome!" exclaimed Barry.

"Yeah, didn't expect that," added Ross, then going to get the ball.

Arin yelped as she was suddenly put in a headlock by Jon as he congratulated her on getting the point. She blushed bright red as she tried to escape. As friendly as it was, it was something boys did and she wanted no part in it. At that moment the bell went and to Arin's relief Jon let go. Feeling awkward and uncomfortable again she slinked away, quickly packing up her bag by the tree and hurrying inside. She heard Jon call a goodbye but she didn't return it.

A/N: just realized how much teenage angst I accidentally put in here so far xD

Also I realise these chapters are very introduce-y rn, but I swear once the main characters have been established more exciting stuff will happen

(Only one person is reading this rn lol, hi)