Settling The Score

Part 23

Hey! okay, so I'm really excited. The peak of the story is slowly approaching. Anyways, enjoy the chapter and please don't hesitate to leave me some of your thoughts in the comments. 😉

o0o

I dribbled the ball, scanning the field in the split second it took the opposing team player to be on me. I sidestepped her just before she could intercept the ball. On my right, Bethany was open, so I passed it to her and increased my pace to a sprint, flying past the other players. Bethany knew precisely what I was doing, and when I was in shooting range she passed it back to me with deadly precision. 

I took a deep breath, as everything halted to slow motion around me. I pulled my leg back, ready for my one and only shot. I aimed for the left corner of the goal. The goalie saw the angle of my leg and smiled, situating herself a bit more to the left.

Just as my foot was about to make contact with the ball, I bent it in the direction of the right corner. The ball went flying, spinning in mid-ear and hitting the net with a thud.

My ears rang as the crowd went wild. 

I could only laugh as my teammates lifted me up and carried me off of the field after scoring the winning goal. 

My attention fell to the crowd of people still applauding. I spotted Lucy and Macy among the spectators but my eyes continued scanning.
Then my eyes met his, Mason Hayes. He was smirking at me, pride shining bright in his green eyes. 

This past week went by rather quickly and after Mason and I no longer loathed one another, it was one of the few good weeks I've had in a long time. He continued escorting me to class and although I still hadn't asked him about the fight on Monday, everyone could tell tensions were extremely high among the football players.

When I was finally lowered, I got a few pats on the back as we made our way to the dressing room, after taking photos with our trophy.
Jenna and Bethany came to walk next to me and all three of us buzzed with excitement.
We had just won the finals, for the first time in five years. 

"I'll be right back," Jenna said absentmindedly as she disappeared behind the stands. I looked back and saw Mason making his way through the crowd of people and going behind the stands as well, to where Jenna disappeared to.
An unsettling feeling clawed its way into my chest.

I decided to shake it off and interlocked my arm with Beth's as we continued discussing the game. We made it inside and the excitement was thick in the air as everyone began getting dressed.

I took my time, pulling on my clothes and get everything from my locker, until almost everyone had already left. I finally slumped my bag over my shoulder and as I hoped, I found Jenna standing at her locker.

"Hey, Jen," I said as I neared her. She looked extremely guilty as she locked eyes with me and my stomach dropped. 

"Hey, Leslie," she said softly, "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, anything," I swallowed. 

"You and Mason, you guys aren't like a thing, right?" 

"No, we're not," I answered, my face blank.

She let out a sigh. "Okay, good. Cause he kinda just asked me on a date. And I sort of said yes. He like approached me when I went to fetch my bag behind the stands and just started talking to me. He just went on and on about how smart and how great I am! Can you believe it!"

With all the effort I could muster, I forced my smile to remain genuine-looking, even though it felt like I just had the wind knocked out of me. 

"Congrats," I said, my voice hollow. "Have fun on your date." Without another word, I promptly turned around and walked out of the changing room.