Match

42: Scarred Field

"Mom, I told you, I'm perfectly fine."

"So it's just the field that got hurt?"

"Uh... yes. I wasn't there, okay? I was fast asleep."

From behind, Cole can hear the front door open and close. He glances out at the driveway to see another car drive off, assuming it was someone dropping off Hayden. Rose lets out a relieving sigh on the line, pulling him back to the call.

"I'm just happy to hear you're safe, dear," she says. "Other than that, soccer is fine, right?"

Cole plops down on his bed. "It's alright... I mean, at first I wanted to try it out just for the summer. I might stick to it."

"Really?" He can almost hear Rose smiling wide with her voice. "Maybe try joining the university team."

"Oh? No, not that," he scratches his arm. "I'm not that good."

"I think you're undermining your talent to learn fast, Cole."

"...okay! Hayden is home and I'm gonna go eat dinner with him," he glances at him, who's showing a high-raised eyebrow.

"Coooole, I know you just want to hang up."

"Yup! Love you mom."

She laughs. "Love you too, honey. Have a good night. And remember to buy aloe vera gel if you get sunburns-"

He immediately hangs up after that. Hayden raises his mouth to a cunning smirk.

"'Love you too, honey'!" He says in a high, feminine pitch.

Cole rolls his eyes. "She's loud on the phone, huh."

"Believe me, my mom is equally loud," he places a large bag onto his bed.

Cole gives a half-focused nod while looking down at his phone. It's dimly lit, with the screen landed on past texts from Jonah.

Jonah:

Idk cos nobody on my team was around when it happened

But yeah. you're gonna have to share your field with me now ;P just a heads up

The crinkling of moving bags takes his gaze away from the phone. As soon as he turns around to see, he catches Hayden pulling something red out of one of the bags and taking a big bite of it. A strawberry.

"No way," he says. "Did you pick those today?"

"Yeah, there was a lot left over so the boss made us take some home. Try 'em, they're friggin' ripe as hell."

Hayden tosses a strawberry his way, to which he catches it in the air. He glances down and is met with the strawberry's fruity scent and rich red sheen. He takes a bite of it, and instinct makes his head shake. Hayden laughs.

"Don't like it?"

"It's good," he says, smacking the roof of his mouth a couple times. "The flavour just really hits you."

Hayden chuckles, popping a couple small ones in his mouth. "I'm gonna deliver some to Natalie since she loves strawberries."

"Natalie," Cole says. "How come I just met her that night?"

"What night?"

"The night you were plastered as hell and I had to drive your ass home."

"Oh, wait, you haven't?" He says, completely ignoring the rest of what he said. "She came along with me and a couple other friends on my Japan trip."