Chapter 2
I woke up, thinking of Lion, the way he touched my hand, the way he promised me, it felt too perfect. Today, I got dressed in a green tank top with blue athletic shorts. I put my silky silver hair in my normal low ponytail with my bangs in my face.
I went down for breakfast, but only Mom was there, my sisters were still getting ready. They finally came down, Honey was in a light orange skirt with a matching flowy tank top. She wore black see through leggings under her skirt, with matching black flats. Her golden hair was down and behind a black headband.
Poppy was the last to come down. She had her red orange hair up in a high ponytail with a little black flower clip on it. She wore a light pink summer dress with white high top sneakers.
"Today is the cheerleading practice, and I'm trying out." She smiled and had her breakfast.
"That's nice dear, now hurry up all of you, or you're going to be late for school."
I quickly ate my oatmeal and then Mom pushed us all out of the house and into the car.
When we got to school, several teenagers were already here and at the front of the school. I stepped out of the car and I immediately recognized one of the teens, Heather.
I tried not to scowl, but it was hard not to. Poppy went towards the school and then Heather and her group of snobby girls blocked her way.
"Out of the way," my sister tried to say nicely, but I could tell she wasn't doing such a good job.
"Yeah right, try me," Heather shot back. I rolled my eyes and pushed her out of the way, and through the front doors.
There, I saw Coach Bramble talking with Principal Fire. Coach stopped me, "Miss Cinder, you got a moment?"
"Yeah, what's up?"
"It's just, we haven't had a girl on the football team for quite a while now, and we were wondering if you are up for being one of the wide receivers."
I stared at him quizzically, "Why would I quit now?"
"We were just wondering, off to class now." I raised my eyebrow, but went to my locker anyway.
As I opened my locker, I felt someone tap my shoulder. I turned around and saw Berry, what's he doing here?
"Hey Cinder, can I talk to you for a moment?"
"Sure, I guess."
He reached in his pocket and pulled out a note. "Can you give this to your sister. Honey?" I took the note from him.
"Sure."
He smiled and nodded, then headed off to his group of friends. Honey's locker was next to mine, so I slid it into the cracks. I put my stuff away, but as I did, I found a note in my own locker. I read it.
See you at football practice!
- Lion
I felt my cheeks heat up. The smile on my face spread faster than the story of arm wrestling. This had to be a dream, because if it isn't, I'm a princess.
The five minute bell rang. I quickly got my binder for science and rushed to the classroom.
Mr. Bracken was starting class. "Okay, class today, we are learning about Darwin's theory about origins."
"And for homework, work on your algebra equations." The bell rang for the end of the day. I exited math feeling the weight of homework on my shoulders.
I grabbed my black Nike backpack and headed to the gym. Lion and some of his friends were there. Holly and Jay were also here, so I went up to them and said hi.
"Mr. Dust gave us so much homework, and it's only the second day of school." She groaned. Instead, she put away her math homework and took out her book. I saw the cover, and I recognized it as the fifth book of Game of Thrones: A Dance with Dragons.
I was about to comment on it when Half Moon appeared holding a bulky camera. She waved at Holly and Mr and went towards us. "Half Moon! What are you doing here?"
"I'm in the Yearbook Club, so I figured I'd come here and take some pictures." She smiled.
Coach Bramble called for everyone to meet in front of him. He had a pile of jerseys that were blue and white. "Today you will get your uniforms. As I call your name, go to the gym lockers and change into your gear. Bumble. Number 37." and so on.
Berry got the number 19, Fox got 51, Mouse got 43, and Lion got 4.
"Cinder," he called out, "Number 25." He handed me my jersey and i went to the locker rooms to put my gear on. I put on everything except my mouthguard and my helmet, but I brought them with me. When I went to the gym, mostly everyone was dressed in their football uniforms. I had to be honest, but I felt a lot of people staring at me. I put my silver bangs back in my face, trying not to be looked at.
Coach called everyone to the field for a quick scrimmage, so he can see what we're good at, and what were not so good at. I put on my mouthguard and helmet and headed out with the rest of my team.
I got into my position as wide receiver, with Breeze across for me. The whistle blew and Lion yelled hike. Beetle passed him the ball. As they were doing that, I got an advantage and faked out Breeze with a quick move to the left, and then twisting on the opposite side. I ran for an open pass, and the ball came flying at me. I caught it swiftly and ran as fast as I can, but my defender was fast and was catching up. Then I suddenly sprinted like I never have, and soon, I was in the end zone.
Holly and Half Moon cheered. Coach Bramble smiled and wrote down some notes on his clipboard. I smiled, feeling like this is where I belonged.
When he was done writing notes, Coach went up to me. "That was amazing, Cinder, keep it up."
I didn't think it was possible, but I smiled so wide, I felt like my cheeked would brake off.
"Okay everyone, break time, and then will do another scrimmage." I was tired, my muscles were tight in every way, even my hand muscles hurt. I took off my helmet and mouthguard and took a sip of my gardorade. Holly and Half Moon went up to me.
"You were great, Cinder! I never seen a girl play as well as you in any sport," Holly commented.
"I got a couple of great leaping shots of you with the ball. This will be a great picture for the Yearbook." She showed me a leaping catch I made after the warm up.
I took another sip of gatorade, when Lion came over. Holly smirked at me, and Half Moon dragged her over back to the bleachers. His forehead was sweaty from practice, his eyes were kind, and he looked like a superhero. "Hi," he put his hand on his neck, "You're a pretty good catcher," he looked down, "Sorry about Heather, I tried to make her go away, but she just won't."
I looked up at the bleachers and Heather and some of her friends were shooting daggers at me.
"She made me be her boyfriend/toy. Middle school was the worse."
"Holly told me."
He looked up and blushed. "She did?"
"It's okay, it's not your fault, it was her's. No one likes being used." I relaxed and smiled, he did the same.
Heather suddenly stomped down and pushed me to the ground. I coughed up dust, and stumbled to my feet. Holly and Half Moon came down and helped me get my balance right. Jay also came down to check if I had any injuries. His clouded blue eyes looked straight at Heather.
"You idiot," he growled, I was surprised that he yelled at a girl, "Why would you even think of doing that?! Lion doesn't even like you, you moron."
She rolled her sharp blue eyes, "Like you care, blindy, you only care about yourself, so why would you waste your time with her?" She pointed her long painted nail at me, then went over to Lion and grabbed his arm, but he jerked it away.
"You really are clueless," he told her, and then, she pushed me again and again, dust got in my lungs. Lion helped me up, and went toward Coach Bramble, and told him what happened.
"They didn't believe him," Lion told me the next day. I cursed under my breath. She deserved to get punished, very brutally. How did the teachers not see it?
I went to lunch very gloomy, sad that Heather didn't get punished. Holly came over to our table, where she looked over my shoulder and didn't see Heather. "Where is she?"
I shrugged. Half Moon came over, looking very happy.
"What are you so excited about?" I asked.
She just smiled, "It's just that we won't be seeing Heather for the rest of the week." She pulled out something from under the table, it was the bulky camera she carried yesterday at practice.
At practice.
My eyes went wide. I suddenly understood.
"I took pictures of her pushing you, and showed Principal Fire who showed Principal One. Heather got an in school suspension for the rest of the week." She winked and started to eat her lunch.
"Damn, Half Moon, you're a lifesaver." I had a great day after that, and the rest of the week. Holly invited me and Half Moon for a sleepover at her house on Saturday.
I went up to her front house, which was the color light yellow with a dark green door. I knocked on it and my art teacher came to the front door. A short woman with short bright red, where the front was longer than the back hair where a strand was white. She wore bright green yoga pants with a orange crop top. "Hello, Cinder."
"Hi, Mrs. Squirrel! Is Holly here?"
"Yes dear, she and Half Moon are in her room. Take a right, and it's the second on the left. Can't miss it."
"Thank you!" I followed and found a white door that said no boys allowed. I opened it and Holly and Half Moon were just chatting on her fluffy white rug. When I came in, they waved and we immediately went to the basement to watch the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Jay came down and complained to turn down the sound. He eventually gave up and went to his room and locked his door. Lion also came down and Holly already had enough with him and kicked him out. I was a little disappointed, but I didn't let it bother me and continued to watch the movie.
I woke up on the couch the next morning, the TV was still on. I checked my phone, 7:30. I sighed. I went upstairs to use the bathroom. The light was already on, but I went in anyway. When I went out, Lion walked by, and looked at me blushing. I waved awkwardly and walked back downstairs to the couch where Half Moon awoke, looking amused.
"Soooo, did you guys make out?"
I blushed bright velvet. "No! We're not even dating!" It seemed she was distracted. "Do, you like someone?"
She blushed a light pink. "So what if I do."
I finally got it. "You like Jay, don't you?"
She turned a darker pink. "Shut up." She put her head in her hands. "It's just, the real reason we moved here was not because my mom got a job, but because she's dying." Tears formed in her green eyes. "She has cancer, and no one from my country knows a treatment, so we moved here to get a better treatment."
"What about your dad?"
"He divorced my mother as soon as he found out she had cancer. He went on a married a rich model, all because we can't afford it." Tears started to form in my eyes, remembering my brother, Mole, he died of cancer.
I ran up and hugged her. "Half Moon, I'm so sorry. I had a brother, he died of it, but that's not why we moved."
"Why was it then?"
"I had a boyfriend in middle school." I shuddered. "I realized it too late that he was just a big bully, not the sweet guy that I remembered." Tears started to form in my eyes. "His name was Bird, and he treated me like I was a queen. He gave me stuffed animals for Valentine's Day, expensive jewelry from Kay Jewelers. One day, a new boy came I quickly became friends with. His name was Fallen Leaves, and he treated me like an actual person, not a queen. Bird saw it in a whole different light, and thought that Fallen Leaves was flirting with me, but back then, we were only friends. When he had enough, he picked up a fire extinguisher and threw it right at him. I stepped in front of him and the fire extinguisher hit my leg and broke it for several months. My mom had enough of him and we moved schools."
Half Moon was speechless. "Wow, Cinder. Even I knew, Fallen Leaves."
That struck me. "You did?"
She nodded. "He went to my school before he moved to your Middle School. We were good friends until he moved, then we lost contact."
Holly woke up. "Who are you guys talking about?"
Half Moon and I looked at each other and just smiled. "No one."
I was super nervous today, the first football game of the season. Mr. Fire dismissed us early so we can get ready. The football game was after school on our field, so new people were coming to our school. I got change into my uniform and jersey. Coach Bramble gave us a little pep talk.
"Okay team, first game of the season. Win or lose, I will be proud of you. Remember the strategies we've been working on. Get yourselves ready and let's play."
Flame announced that he brought eyeshadow from his sister to put on marks. I grabbed some and put two lines under my eyes. I was ready.
The school bell rang and we were called to run up and break the sign after the other team was introduced.
"Okay everyone," I recognized that voice, that was Principal One on the loudspeaker, "Welcome to the first game of football. On the visiting side, we have TWR Academy give them a hand people! Welcome the quarterback, Crag!" People on the TWR.
Muscular men ran out and ripped down the paper that the cheerleaders were holding. At the lead was Crag, the most muscular of all of them.
"Now the home team,"
Here I go.
"Please give a hand for Warrior High!" Cheers roared from the crowd. "Welcome the quarterback, Lion!" Most of the girls cheered. We ripped the blue paper, with Lion in front with the wide receivers on either side of him, Fox and I. We ran a lap around the football field before they called the wide receivers up to toss the coin.
Lion put a hand on my shoulder. "Good luck." I nodded, blushing a little before Fox joined me. We fist bumped and joined the other wide receivers and the referee.
"Academy, what do you want?"
"Heads."
"That means, Warrior High, you get tails." He flicked it off with his thumb, the silver coin doing flips, as fast as it wants. It twirled on the grassy field, and then it plopped down. "Tails."
I did a fist bump with Fox, yes, we get to go first.
We ran back and told Coach Bramble the news. Okay, defenders, take your positions, offenders, get ready. I was ready, I think.
Bumble caught the ball, and drove it all the way to the 40 yard line. Good job, Bumble! I went out on the field and we huddled up.
"Okay team, they want yo get me, Cinder, Fox, get ready." We both nodded. We got into position and I was faced by a quick skinny boy. "Hike!"
Lion got possession of the ball, and I faked out my component like I did with Breeze and was now wide open. The ball came spinning towards me, and caught it swiftly, but my component was fast and tackled me.
I looked over at the side line. 1st down. I got this. We were now at the 30 yard line. Lion threw the ball toward Fox, but he was cornered. I sprinted like I never had and tackled the two guys that were cornering him. He caught the ball and made a touchdown.
Yes! I ran towards him and we did a body slam. We had to trade, and the rest of the game continued.
Their winning 24-21. It was our ball with less than 20 seconds left in the 4th inning. We had a pep talk. "We need a touchdown for the win. Tiger, Berry, cover me, Cinder, Fox, get ready." We all nodded. I wasn't really confident in myself, but I had to do this, for my team, for Lion.
"Hike!" I didn't even bother to juke him out, but I just kept running. The ball soared toward me, and I caught it and just kept running. 14 seconds. Fox's defender ran in front of me, I wasn't going to make it.
9 seconds. I still ran, not stopping, and than thought of the coin.
6 seconds. I had a plan, and I just kept running. Everyone was yelling me to turn back, but I didn't stop.
4 seconds. I sprung my legs as low as I can and used the only energy I had left to do this one thing.
2 seconds. I did a side flip over the six foot tall guy that was blocking me. Everything seemed it was like in slow motion.
The buzzer went off, and I found myself standing in the end zone with the football in my left hand, exhausted. I took off my helmet and mouthguard, so tired that I went down on my knees. A miracle just happened.
The side of Warrior High was on their feet, started to run down to the field. I didn't care, all I wanted was for my brother to see this. Coach Bramble lifted me up on his shoulder and everyone was clapping for me. I found Holly and Honey pushing everyone out of the way to get close to me. Half Moon was flashing her bulky camera at me. Poppy was flailing her pom poms trying to get my attention.
Coach finally put me down and Holly and Honey squeezed me so hard I felt like my eyes were gonna pop out. Then everyone scooched out of the way, making way for Lion, and everyone became silent. My friends and Coach stepped back.
Silence.
"Lion-"
But I didn't finish my sentence and his lips touched mine and dropped the football. Everyone cheered. Coach Bramble clapped his hands and looking satisfied. Confetti came out of nowhere and showered us in it. We finally let go, and Holly hugged me, Honey cheered, and Lion's friends, Berry, Fox, and Mouse noogied him happily.
He went up to me again and kissed me once more.
I didn't realize the time when I got home, 5:45. Sorrel looked a little worried about her daughter, why did she arrive so late? "Hi Sweetie, how was your game?"
I just nodded hello and went to my room and took out my phone. I gave Lion my number after the game and texted him.
Hi! I texted.
He texted back immediately. That was the nicest kiss I had. Heather will probably kill you tomorrow.
I don't care what happens, I want to kiss you anyway.
We texted forever, until 10:00, then I fell asleep, having the best night of my night.
