1. Kick (Thomas Muller)

in which Libby almost scores

[November 15]

Libby spent the whole day wondering if yesterday had really happened.

When she woke up on the couch, her head felt light and she looked around, hoping somehow Thomas was still there.

But he wasn't.

She found it funny as she reminisced the days after the masquerade ball and how much her feelings had changed in that time.

By noon, Libby had convinced herself that yesterday was just a strange dream that she had imagined to full fill her loneliness.

But when Libby arrived at training an hour later, she realized it wasn't a dream but an undeniable reality. Thomas grinned and hugged her, and Erik stood to the side and furrowed his eyebrows, making an excuse to set out the cones for practice.

She didn't want Erik to be like this. Why couldn't everyone just be happy?

At least Bastian and Hope were openly hugging and being absolutely infatuated with each other in front of everyone, Philipp not seeming to care.

The fact that Philipp didn't care any for what Hope did, but what Libby did, made her furious. It didn't matter how many times Philipp would tell her that he cared for her and that was why, or that Hope was much more likely to be able to take the hate rather than Libby be thrown around by the press.

It just wasn't fair. She could make her own decisions and control her own life, and it wasn't up to anyone whether or not she liked Thomas.

"Run two laps, everyone!" Philipp yelled, finishing the stretches. Manuel started running, and everyone jogging behind him. 

It also made Libby mad how Hope had been so obsessed with Bastian and her own life, that Libby might as well have killed herself and Hope wouldn't have noticed.

Erik ran farthest away from Libby, which she did in fact notice, but she just continued to focus in front of her and block out the world.

Soon enough, they were training again and Manuel was helping her penalties improve. It was strange getting help from the goalie, but it seemed genius because he was giving the perspective of the "enemy".

"Goalie always see your opposite foot, so trick by shuffling left then right, to shoot," Manuel motioned, running back to the goal and stretching and bending down, just as Hope did.

Libby nodded and watched him, backing up and counting her steps.

She had never been good at penalties, but when Libby did exactly what Manuel told her to, Manuel dove to the other side and it shot straight into the goal.

Manuel cheered, patting her on the back. She practiced a few more times, improving with each shot.

"Time to play match!" Philipp jogged over, everyone else meeting in the middle,"me and Basti are team captains." 

Bastian scanned us and obviously chose Hope.

"What a surprise!" Manuel shouted, feigning hurt.

"Manu!" Philipp pointed at him. Everyone laughed, seeing the irony in the situation.

Bastian ended up with Hope, Erik, and Thomas, while Philipp's team was Mesut, Libby, Manuel.

Thomas happily high fived Erik, who looked very angry, not meeting eyes with Libby, but playing along with Thomas and laughing.

Oh, how fun this was going to be...

______________

It had been around thirty minutes of playing, and Libby was drenched in sweat, as she usually found herself during a match. Her high ponytail had let loose and it was flopping around, with hairs sticking to her forehead and in every direction possible.