Ignite

Chapter 9

"Can you believe that?" Emmy asks. "The poor girl's parents have gone crazy. They're threatening to disown her."

I squint over at Emmy, shading my eyes from the sun. It's Thursday and my incident with Lewis and Jake has officially become old news. A girl in the year above has stolen my notoriety by admitting she got pregnant over summer break. I wasn't sure if I wanted to thank or pity her.

"That's terrible," I say.

"Awful," Aleisha agrees. "It'd be best if we didn't make it worse by gossiping about it all P.E. class."

Emmy manages to look sufficiently scolded before the soccer ball gets booted in our direction and she squeaks and jumps out of the way.

"Emmy Chang!" Coach Zion yells. "If you don't kick the ball at least once during this class, I will have to fail you!"

"That's not fair, Miss! I kicked the ball last week!"

Coach Zion remains unmoved, and Emmy groans.

"I'll be back in a minute."

With unprecedented speed, she runs up the field, tackles one of our own teammates and kicks the ball out.

Aleisha and I stay where we are as she gives Coach Zion a smug smile and runs back in our direction on the defensive line.

"She's definitely getting an F now," I mutter, and Aleisha giggles.

This is only the second P.E. class I've had here, but I already know I'm going to enjoy it. Coach Zion seems to have a slight obsession with soccer and Aleisha is on the same line as us, so our classes often combine.

"Anyway," Emmy says, jogging back over to us. "I wasn't planning to gossip about it all class. I just like to keep you guys in the loop, you know? It's important to be up to date on school happenings."

"Of course," Aleisha says. "It's very kind of you."

Emmy frowns, and I can tell she's about to snap back with another humanitarian excuse for what, quite simply, is just a love of gossip, when Aleisha makes a noise in the back of her throat.

Emmy and I glance at her and follow her gaze over the fence to the boy's school. There's a class walking out onto their oval, rugby balls in hand, and at first, I'm unsure what Aleisha is staring at, but then one of the boys splits off from the group and starts walking toward us.

He's tall and slim, hair cut short against his scalp and white shirt stark against dark skin. And just from the way he walks, I understand Aleisha's reaction.

Emmy makes a panicked noise and turns away again.

"Quick, let's switch to midfield. If we're out of range, he might not—"

"Hey, Emmy!" he calls out. "Who's your new friend?"

The guy stops and leans against the fence, about ten meters away, and I'm not entirely sure how to react when he grins at me. It's one of those grins that reminds you of lazy afternoons lying in the sun, of drowsy touches and arms draped around one another.

Emmy hovers, poised to run away, but then she thinks better of it, and arches an eyebrow.

"That's Claudia Cairns. She's the one who messed up your buddy's nose on Monday."

The guy raises an eyebrow, and he squints at me with genuine interest now.

"Huh."

Emmy scoffs and I turn to Aleisha, my cheeks flushing red.

"Who is that?" I mutter out of the corner of my mouth.

"Harper Jones. Him and Emmy have a complicated relationship."

"Get lost, Harper," Emmy snaps. "You're distracting us from the game."

Harper shifts so he's facing Emmy again, his grin like honey.

"Come on, Em, we both know you hate sports."

"I disagree. You know nothing about what I like."

"Why don't we change that and you finally let me take you out? We can get dinner, have some drinks. How's that sound?"

"Terrible," Emmy says, and then she sprints back down the field, belting away.

Harper watches her go. He's still leaning against the fence, his arms crossed against his chest and a small smile on his face.

"She'll never fall for it, Harp," Aleisha says, her soft tone adding kindness to words that would sound harsh from most mouths. "Give it up already."

Harper glances at her and shrugs. "I don't mind a challenge."

"Emmy's going to be more than a—" Aleisha cuts off, shaking her head. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

And then she runs off too, leaving me as the sole defender for our team.

I'm somewhat mortified by this, because Harper is still standing by the fence, watching our game.

The ball comes flying down to our end with Cathy Coniglio hot on its heels. Grateful for the distraction, I peel away from Harper and cut her off, sneaking the ball out from beneath her feet and booting it back up to our midfield before dropping back.

"You're pretty good, hey?"

I turn to find Harper still standing there.

"Yeah, I suppose."

"Cathy's one of your best forwards. She's been the top striker for years."

"Okay."

I expect him to leave then, but he continues to hover, and after another painfully awkward minute, I turn back to him.

"Aren't you supposed to be playing rugby or something?"

Harper scoffs and rolls his eyes, though he doesn't seem bothered by my obvious discomfort.

"You Cairns twins sure are prickly," he says, and then he walks away.

I stand there for a moment, watching him go. But then I notice who he's moving towards.

Lewis Kozak doesn't look much better today than he did on Monday. His nose is still swollen, the skin around it red and bruised, and once again, he's staring at me.

I glance away, my cheeks flushing red, and return to the game, trying to ignore the burn I can feel on my back from Lewis's gaze for the rest of the class. 

...

What do you all think of Harper? Is Emmy right to be running away? 

Don't forget to vote and comment if you enjoyed the chapter 😊

 - Skylar xx