What I Wish You Knew | ꪜ

Chapter Five

To Landon,

05. I wish you knew how much I was truly hurting.

Hayley's POV

I dived out of the way as the ball sliced right past my head at a speed not even I could throw. I know I said that this would be an opportunity to whack someone with a ball to release pent-up anger but why was I the one on the receiving end of this!? I feel as if I'm being targeted for the sole purpose of committing homicide.

Despite my annoyance, I acted fast, not wanting to give the opposing team the upper hand. I grabbed a ball nearest to me and blindly threw it across the court, hoping it would hit someone. To my utter surprise, it landed flat in someone's face, knocking him off his feet and onto the ground.

Without batting an eye in his direction, I focused my gaze on Landon and Vanessa, the last two remaining members of his team, 'coincidentally'. Left on my team was not so surprisingly Parker Nguyen, some other guy who I won't bother to acquaint myself with and then there's me. Jenna got hit the second the game began.

I braced myself, waiting patiently for one of them to strike. Vanessa weighed the ball in her hand, her venomous glare piercing through my head. Then without hesitation, she threw it across the court, aiming directly at me.

My reflexes, however, were far more superior than her aiming skills as I dodged it effortlessly. There's a reason I'm still standing, Vanessa. Get with the program. The ball which was aimed at me connected with - guy whose name I have yet to know- stomach. He doubled over, groaning in pain as his wobbly legs carried him off the court.

Now it was Parker and I left standing.

"Here, I told you don't make us lose right? You think you can hit one of them?" Parker's husky voice said down my neck as he handed me a ball. Arching a brow, I gave him a 'what do you think?' look to which he cocked his head sideways, a huff leaving his lips, possibly due to some form of amazement.

He grabbed two balls off the court and with a shared look of determination we snapped our gaze towards Vanessa and Landon who were braced in a stance as if they were preparing for war. This wasn't the battlefield, but if they wanted it to be that way I surely can. "COME ON!" Vanessa squealed in an animalistic growl.

I tightened my grip on the ball, letting all the anger and frustration for the she-devil before me take control as I pulled my hand back behind my head, using as much strength to send the ball careening towards her. "Shut the hell up!" The words tumbled out of my mouth unintentionally just as the ball connected with her stomach.

A look of astonishment flickered across her face as she watched the ball fall to her feet, distracted by his princess, Landon bent over to assess her, giving Parker the perfect opportunity to strike. With both balls braced in his hand, he hurled them across the court, one slamming into Landon's head, the other his back.

The gym erupted in cheers, pulling me out of my brief state of concern after seeing Landon get hit. I tore my gaze away from them, momentarily turning towards Parker who was already staring down at me, a smile that touched both his eyes playing on his face.

But because I was trapped in a never-ending whirlpool of shameless teenage love, I found myself turning back towards Landon to see if he was okay.

However, the moment I did so I didn't anticipate what would come next. A ball. . .to my face. A splitting pain erupted against my flesh as the two made contact. I lost my balance by the sudden attack and went flying onto the ground, crying out in pain when my head slammed into the hard surface.