The Little Things [Book 1]

Chapter Five: Armband

"What was McGregor doing at the beginning of practice?" Dean asked as he finished changing clothes.

"I might have urged him to join the yearbook committee..." Thomas said, zipping up his duffle bag. Dean turned around with a frown.

"When did you speak to him?" he asked as they left the changing rooms and headed to Dean's car. Blake, alongside Bryan, were already resting against Dean's car, having finished changing a few minutes ago.

"I sat with him during lunch. We talked a bit and it came up... sort of," Thomas said and ran his tongue over his lower braces.

"Someone's getting a new friend," Dean replied with a smile, in a sing-song tone. Thomas shook his head with an exasperated look and they got in the car.

"A new friend?" Blake echoed and looked at his two friends in the front seats.

"It's nothing," Thomas jumped in with a wave of his hand. "Dean just thinks he's funny".

"Oh, that again?" Bryan noted. "Dean, we're so sorry to inform you, but you'll never be funny".

"Fuck you," Dean muttered as he started to drive away and a string of soft laughs rang in the car.

A few gray clouds littered the afternoon sky, but it was for the most part sunny that January day. For the past couple of days they had gotten used to seeing small, barely frozen snowflakes dance down from the sky, but today was a day of clarity. Dean drove all the way to the Chevrolet "mansion" -as they called it-. The structure was not really a mansion, but it was big enough to host the whole extended Chevrolet family.

Coming from a big French line of descent, Rachel and her close family of seven lived in comfort. And whenever their aunts and uncles, alongside their six kids came over, Rachel only had to share her room with her younger sister, Leyla, to fit them all in.

Almost within seconds of parking in front of her house, Rachel was outside, in a sprint.

"Hello, boys. How was practice?" she asked them, fixing her circle skirts and pulling up, slightly, her thigh-high stockings.

"Coach had us play against the freshmen. So it was pretty relaxing," Blake said.

"I'm pretty sure Beck will be in the starting line-up though," Dean said. "He almost managed to score against me!"

"Yeah, and Bradley will definitely be your substitution," Bryan added, tapping his friend on the shoulder.

"Bradley? Bob Bradley? The junior who just decided to join?" Dean scoffed.

"Hey, he almost caught one of my balls!" Thomas snapped at his friend.

"I've caught your balls before!" Dean snapped back and their friends from the back couldn't contain their laughter anymore. Dean shed them an annoyed glare from the rearview mirror, while Thomas just dove deeper in his seat.

"Bradley, just like Beck, is good. He'll probably be your substitution, while Beck will be in the starting line-up. We need one more player this year for our line-up and no one is as good as he," Bryan said.

"We don't need another forward, though," Thomas mumbled and looked at his friends.

"Beck can play as a midfielder. Coach definitely won't replace you. Maybe he'll have Beck as a center forward next year when you're gone," Blake said.

"I just asked how practice was!" Rachel yelled out. "Can we -for a second- talk about something other than soccer?"

"Thomas had lunch with Mark today," Dean announced. "They were playing friends".