Oh How Times Have Changed

XIV

The next two weeks were a blur. If I wasn't sitting an exam that day, I was in my room studying. I was really grinding for those grades, working hard every night to ensure I did well. I even opted to stay at Mum's house over the weekend, rather than going to Daxx's. I would rather not revive a certain unwelcome visitor to my balcony right now. 

I felt pretty confident coming out my exams, in a non-cocky way- I had definitely smashed them. They were only mocks, but if they were any indication of how the real thing would go, I would be fine. That gave me hope, an end to the torture of school in sight.

I took a long look at myself in the mirror, my school football team uniform on. It felt odd to be back in it after five weeks of not playing. I had decided to join again, purely just for the scholarship money. Plus, Mum and mama Daxx didn't raise no bitch. I wasn't going to stunt my own personal growth just to avoid facing the idiots on the team. Sure, I'd avoid them before and after the games, but I wanted to play football and so I will.

I left the bathrooms and headed to the playing fields, spotting the team already out doing drills with coach. Against my own will, my eyes zeroed in on Jimmy. He had a sheen of sweat on his forehead already, glistening in the sun. I noticed he had changed his hair- it was in slim, neat braids now. It was very different from his usual hairstyle, but I really liked it on him. His stubble suited him too. I sighed, shaking those thoughts out of my head. Stop it.

I jogged over to the group and coach gave me a nod, silently watching me join in the drills. My presence rewarded me with several groans and glares from my teammates, but I ignored them. I was more than ready to work my body hard after my five week hiatus. At first, I felt stiff; it was hard to keep up. My ribs had recovered, but lounging around for so long meant I was quickly out of breath. Coach noticed this and sent me to run laps while the other practiced. Stamina was just as important as skill. If you get tired, you get sloppy.

It felt good to push my body, my lungs aching as I ran. I could sense eyes trained on me, but I didn't bother looking- it would be a bad thing either way. Either it was one of the guys glaring, or it was Jimmy watching me. I didn't know which one was worse. I didn't hate Jimmy anymore- don't get me wrong- I just don't want to get caught up in emotions, just to be hurt when he withdraws. He clearly has a lot going on and he needs to work through that before I get myself involved. 

Coach blew his whistle and I ran up to him- alongside the other guys- as he set up a game of five a side. He chose Jimmy as one team captain and a meathead as another. Obviously I was chosen last, being put on the meathead's team. I didn't even look at Jimmy, but I knew he felt bad about it. Clearly he didn't want anyone to suspect anything. That's fine. I didn't expect anything from him, anyway.

We all got into position and I did some quick stretches, ready to kick ass. They didn't want me here, but I was going to prove to them that I could play better than all of them combined. I deserve to be here more than any of them.

 The whistle blew and I ran towards the ball, receiving it from the meat head. I dribbled past the other team and sprinted to the other end of the pitch, passing it to my team mate as I ran through their defence. He passed it back to me and I continued running, dodging around players. Somebody tried to tackle me, but I stepped aside, letting my foot swing back and pelting the ball towards the goal.

I looked up and Jimmy jumped to stop the ball from going into the goal, his hands outstretched desperately. He missed it by an inch and the ball flew into the back of the net, making my team cheer. They were cheering for the guy who passed it to me, however, not for me. They were acting as if he scored the goal. I shrugged it off. Sore losers. I ran towards the goal to collect the ball and Jimmy made eye contact with me, a million emotions passing through his eyes as I took the ball from him.