R E J E C T S

CH.41: PLAYOFFS

*MONDAY*

"Get up, Cher! Today's your big day!" Luke shook me.

"I can't... my body's too sore." Rob and the others made me practice real hard yesterday and the day before like I was training to be a professional soccer player or something and it wasn't even fun.

"Don't make me carry you out the door." I heard him say.

"What's the point? I'm only going to lose anyway..." I whined.

"You're giving up now? Let me give you a boost of confidence then." He kissed my forehead all of a sudden.

"There's your good luck kiss now get up." He whispered lowly on my ear which made me shot up right away.

I'm not saying that his good luck kiss worked. It's just that I can't tolerate it when someone whispers so closely into my ear. Especially when it's Luke.

He's got that deep voice of his which sounds really seductive at times even when he doesn't mean to make it sound seductive.

"I'll be cheering you on by the bleachers!" Luke hollered as I was taking a quick shower to soothe my body aches for now.

He even insisted to give me a 'back rub' last night while I was in the shower but as if I'd let him!

******

"How come a lot of people are here?" I panicked a bit when I saw the bleachers full of people after classes were over.

"Didn't you know? Your soccer match with Louis is like the talk of the whole school. Everyone's here to watch you two play." Rob massaged my shoulders as I was getting ready.

"Just great. I don't get why we have to do a one on one match though... I prefer a team match so that I have you right by my side." I sighed.

"That's cute. You still have me by your side when you play although not physically. Just remember what I taught you." He flashed me his perfect smile and for a moment, I felt like everything was going to be okay.

"Hey, have you seen Harry around?" I suddenly remembered about what Styles said that he'd be lurking around me at all times.

"Uh, why would he be here?" Rob arched an eyebrow.

"Because he's bored and out of his mind? He loves to wear disguises and take candid photos of us. He could be anything right now!" I have to look out for inanimate objects that's carrying a camera.

"No way! I had no idea! Wait, are you sure or are you just being paranoid?" Rob stared at me skeptically.

"To be honest, I don't know what's real anymore..." I said in a daze.

"Okay, I want you to focus on kicking Tomlinson's ass and forget about Harry. Can you do that for me?" Rob placed both of his hands on either side of my shoulders.

"Okay."

"Now let's go kick some ass!" He yells.

******

"This is my game face right now." Louis said.

"No need to say that out loud." I eyed the black face paint markings on his face which resembled that of an indian.

"Just so you know, I won't go easy on you just because you're a girl." He said seriously.

"That's what I thought. Can we just start the game already? I just want this to be over so that I can go home." I said out loud.

"Let's shake on it then---"

I abruptly grabbed his hand in order to shake it.

"There. Now let's do this." I stated but he wouldn't let go of his grip just yet...