Sorry for the wait. I started this a week ago, but stuff came up and I had a test today. I have one more before finals and then finals in two weeks, so I might not get a lot of down time. Sorry about that.

And I am really sorry. I completely forgot to mention this story is AU/AH. It didn't even occur to me that I'd forgotten.

This chapter is dedicated to MonkeyAssassin for reminding me of the above information. Thanks for that.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Darkest Powers

"Football," I mumbled to myself, "Football."

I leaned down to get a better look at the next row down of books and skimmed the titles, my fingers lightly sliding over the bindings as I went. When I pulled them away, I noticed a greasy layer of dust coating my fingertips. I wasn't surprised. Being in the sports section of the school library, I hadn't seen a single person ever come down this aisle until the end of the year and now I know why. That's when all of Ms. Davis's English students rushed to do their projects. I normally would do exactly that, but I needed information on football so I could formulate questions for my interviews. If I went in blindly, I'd make a fool of myself and the entire thing would be a joke. I wasn't looking for anything excessive, but I at least needed to know the positions so I knew who I was talking to. So far, however, I was coming up with nothing. There were some books on football, but it was mostly statistics and biographies of some of the more well-known players, not that I recognized any of the names.

I pulled back and sighed. I guess I was going to have to take Sam's older brother's offer for coaching. He played football at some college out west, I can never remember which one. Sam said he was going to be back in town this weekend and he offered to answer a few questions. I appreciated the offer, I really did, but Ben was a little hard to handle sometimes. He could be rather enthusiastic when it came to football and having him answer a few questions would be a little overwhelming. He did know what he was talking about, though. He played football here when he was a senior and almost took the team to state. He got hurt in the game before by some behemoth on the other team and we lost.

"Oh well," I sighed. "Guess I have my weekend plans."

I lifted my bag onto my shoulder and headed for the other end of the aisle towards the science books. I had a lab report to write for chemistry and beefing it up with some boring facts wouldn't hurt, especially after what happened. Mr. Thomas told me not to worry about it, but he did have to call my father. Dad didn't say anything about it, but I got a concerned lecture from Aunt Lauren. She was afraid that chemistry was too difficult for me and that maybe I should talk to my guidance counselor about a lower level science class. After getting over being insulted, I was determined to get a good grade in this class so she'll finally stop treating me like a little girl. I know her heart was in the right place, but her constant worrying was beginning to rub me the wrong way.

I came out into the middle aisle and read the words on the ends to find the chemistry books. I was disappointed to see that they were organized by title and not by subject. It was like they jammed all the science-y books into one pile. They could have at least provided shovels.

I started with the closest one and had to skim every title. I wasn't even sure what I was looking for. I didn't want something too complicated. I at least wanted to sound like I knew what I was talking about. I made it to the end of the aisle and was about to turned around and try the next row down when I heard soft laughter coming from the aisle next to mine. I ignored it and started looking again when a low rumble answered the laughter and I stopped. I knew that rumble. I eased the books in front of me apart and peeked through to see Derek's back as he perused the books. Standing next to him with her back also to me was Liz. I watched him pull down a book and hand it to her. She looked down at it and said something too low for me to hear. He looked down at her and she laughed again. Maybe they are dating. They looked pretty good together.

'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun' started blaring at full blast out of my jeans pocket. Horrified, I started tearing at my pocket to pull out my phone, but it was lodged under my belt. When I finally got it out I answered it as fast as I could. I could hear snickering coming from a few aisles behind me. Grimacing, I put the phone to my ear.

"Hello?" I said.

"Banana nut or white chocolate cranberry?" Mila asked.

"What?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

"What kind of muffin do you want?" she asked. "And make it fast. They're going like crazy."

"Banana," I said, "Mila, I really have to go. I'm not really in a phone area at the moment."

"Fine," she said. "I'll see you in few."

I hung up and held the phone to my chest, my eyes clenched tight. I could feel the blood rushing to my face and I let out a shaky breath. I opened my eyes and looked around. No peeping eyes around the corners. Forgetting about the chemistry book, I rushed out of the library to meet up with Mila. I had arrived early today so I could go to the library. It had been a waste of time, apparently.

I met Mila at the front doors and she shoved a small paper bag at me.

"One's yours," she said. "The other is Sam's. I ate mine on the way here."

"Thanks," I said, trailing behind her to her locker. "I think it's time to change your ring tone."

"Why?" she asked. "That's our song."

"Something a little more sophisticated maybe," I said.

"Barbie Girl?" she asked, looking back at me.

"Something that won't get weird stares?"

"But that's the point," she said. "If you don't have to pull it out to stop the embarrassing music, then how will I know that you'll answer it when I call?"

"Trust?" I asked.

"Oh please," she said. "I'll trust you and when I get stranded on the side of the road with a flat tire and call you for help, you'll be too busy playing tonsil hockey with the quarterback and will totally ignore my sophisticated ring tone."

My face heated up again and I looked around to make sure nobody heard that. "I think you're getting ahead of yourself. Or completely hallucinating."

"Whatever," she said. "You can change the ring tone, but I get to pick it."

"Please don't make it 'Barbie Girl'," I begged.

"I won't," she said, slamming her locker shut. "But I'm still going to have fun with it."

"I was afraid of that," I said, handing the cellular device over.

"You'll get this back after school," she said. "And no peeking when you do. I want you to be surprised."

The first bell echoed through the halls. She pocketed my phone and we headed to chemistry. We did our lab for the week yesterday, which meant the next four days would consist of longwinded lectures.

Algebra was the same as chemistry. A long lecture with no break to his monotone voice. I spent most of the hour looking out the window and staring at the black motorcycle parked at the other side of the lot like I did most days. I don't know why I found it so fascinating. Mila mentioned seeing it around town, and the more I thought about it, I realized that I'd seen it around town, too. Now, everywhere I go, I look for it. It was sort of like a game, like a scavenger hunt. The person who spots it in the most places wins. I still had no idea who it belonged to. Obviously it belonged to someone at this school, but that didn't limit it very much. Part of me wanted to know, but another part of me was enjoying the mystery.

…,,,…

"How was gym?" Mila asked as I sat down next to her.

"Stressful," I said. "Amber has yet to get back at me for stomping on her foot last week and I know that when she does it's going to be horrible."

"Then just ignore her," Mila said.

"Believe me, I've tried that," I said. "It doesn't really help. And I still have one more class with her today."

"But she won't have a basketball to aim at your face," Mila said. "Just don't sit near her and you'll be fine."

"So that's it?" I asked. "Spend the next eight and a half months avoiding her and looking over my shoulder?"

"She'll move on."

"Hopefully before I have a mental breakdown," I sighed, leaning my forehead on the desk.

"Well, the other option is giving her Derek," Mila said.

"He's not even mine to give her," I argued.

"But you're competition," she said.

"Competition?" I asked. "I've never even talked to him! And she's with him every day! How am I competition?"

"To her, everyone is competition," she said.

Ms. Davis came in and our conversation stopped. I leaned my chin on my folded hands and listened to her lecture for the first half of class. At the halfway mark, she stopped talking and handed out our vocabulary packet for the week. It was easy homework for the most part, but it was also almost ten pages long. I took mine and passed the rest back before pulling out my pencil and mindlessly going through it. I didn't want to do too much in class. I needed something to keep my attention in study hall.

The rest of the day was a blur as I impatiently waited for the final bell. Today was my first day watching the football team practice. Because I didn't really know anything about football, I wasn't even sure what I was supposed to be watching for. Fortunately, my camera was fully charged so I could watch without understanding and go back later and re-watch when I did understand.

"Now, I want you to stay far away from the guys," Mila said as she stood by my locker. "They're like horny mutts. They'll hump anything."

"Mila, I don't really need any safety advice," I said. "I'm not even going to be talking to them. I'll be in the stands and out of sight. Besides, it's not very likely that they'd charge."

She shrugged. "All teenage guys are the same. They'll be all worked up after they're practice and they'll be looking for a release."

"This advice is just unnecessary," I said, shutting my locker. "It's like getting the sex talk again from my aunt…except weirder."

"Fine, but when you end up on your back, expect an 'I told you so'."

"Alright," I said. "I have to go. I want to be out there before the guys get on the field."

We said our brief goodbyes and parted ways. I headed for the football field, stopping to make sure the coach knew where I was going to be before finding a seat in the stands. I chose a seat halfway up so I was close enough to get a good view but high enough to see the entire field. I pulled out my camera and turned it on. I spent a few minutes fiddling with the settings before the first player stepped out onto the field. Soon after, the entire team surfaced. Pushing record, I held up the camera and pointed it at towards the team.

I tried to give equal time to everyone in the two hours I sat in the stands, but after half an hour I forgot who I had already filmed. When the coach finally blew the whistle and ended practice, I was stiff and my back was aching. It was no wonder people brought cushions and blankets and the whole nine yards with them when they went to games. I stopped recording and shut off my camera. My arms were really stiff and I groaned as I lifted my backpack. I waited until the field was completely empty before leaving the stands.

Stepping from hard metal to grass with stiff legs caused me to falter for a second. A large, beefy arm wrapped around my waist and pulled roughly against a large, foul-smelling torso. I gasped and looked up to see one of the players was leering down at me. I couldn't remember his name, but his face wasn't nearly as forgettable. Greasy, blond hair fell almost to his shoulders. Sweat spilled down his face and ran down underneath his jersey. The look in his eyes sent chills down my spine.

"Need some help, cutie?" he asked, his voice oozing with false charm.

"I-I-I d-don't think so," I said.

I laid my palm against his chest and pushed back. He held on tighter and I gasped at the pain.

"Oh, come now," he said, "You don't want to be leaving so soon. We've got the field to ourselves. Let's have a little fun."

"No," I said, pushing back harder.

He let go long enough to spin me around and pin me against the wall. He leaned down until I could smell his rank breath. When he spoke, his words were low and sensuous.

"I saw you up there, watching. I hope you enjoyed the show."

I twisted and ducked. His large frame and gear made it hard for him to react as fast and I managed to break free. He looked confused for a second before turning on me.

I took a deep breath to steady my racing heart and backed away. He scowled, but didn't follow. He glanced over my shoulder at something and his scowl got darker. I didn't wait for him to snap out of it. Turning around, I fled. I didn't hear him following me, but I didn't stop until I was back inside the school. The players had outside access to the locker room, so there was no need for him to follow me inside. I glanced one more time at the door before starting toward the front of the school. Next time, I wouldn't wait for practice to be over before leaving.

I stopped by my locker once more to grab my geography homework. As I shut my locker, I could hear feminine laughter coming from down the hall and I turned to see some of the cheerleaders coming my way. They're practice must have just ended, too. Liz was leading the group and she looked at me. The others were too focused on their conversation to notice me. As she passed, she smiled and held out her hand. Confused, I reached out and took whatever it was that was in her hand. She pulled back and sent one more smile my way before leaving with the others. I looked down to see a whistle in my hand. Confused, I looked up, but she was already gone.

Stuffing it in my pocket, I settled my backpack on my shoulder and headed home.

…,,,…

School the next day was hell. I didn't get any sleep and even after showering twice in scorching water, I still felt disgusting. I didn't tell Mila or Sam what happened, especially not Mila. She'd probably key his car or something. I considered reporting him, but I didn't know his name or his number and unfortunately for me, fairness wasn't exactly our school motto. Social status wasn't just for us students. It was common knowledge that athletes got away with a lot. It's my word against his and anything to jeopardize our football team was unacceptable. So, I didn't bother.

I managed to make it to lunch before almost passing out with exhaustion. I wasn't sure how I was going to get through the rest of the day, not to mention practice. I'd skip today, but the only reason the coach was allowing me to watch them was because it was helping him and if I missed a day, that was one day of footage he wouldn't get. I still had to give him yesterday's footage, too. I was going to do it before school, but I had a bit of a late start and almost missed the first bell.

"I've some Coke in my locker if you want it," Mila said when I almost face-planted in my spaghetti.

A few of the guys from the table over turned to look and she flipped them off. "The soft drink, morons."

I shook my head. "Caffeine makes me jittery."

"I think jittery is better than snoring in class," she said. "Just slip it into your water bottle and the teachers will never know. Your water bottle isn't clear, right?"

I shook my head. "I'll be okay. It's just a couple more hours."

She shrugged. "Suit yourself. But, you know my combo if you change your mind."

…,,,…

I managed to slip out of my last class a few minutes early so I could catch the coach before he left for the field. I decided to miss today's practice after all and I didn't want to go all the way out to the field. I had to stop at my locker first, though, to grab my USB drive and by the time I got to the gym, the halls were packed with students and I crossed my fingers that the coach hadn't left already.

Entering the gym, I walked over to the door to the guys' locker room and hesitated. I couldn't go in. I didn't exactly qualify. I would have waited for him to come out, but they went out another door and that was outside. I sighed and backed up. My foot stepped on something and my back collided with something warm and hard. Yesterday flashed through my mind and I gasped. Jumping forward, I spun around and was instantly relieved when it wasn't the same guy. My relief was short-lived, however, when I saw Derek standing behind me. He looked at me blankly before stepping around me and pulling open the door.

I bit my lip and reached out. My fingers brushed against the back of his t-shirt and he stopped. Looking over his shoulder, he just looked at me.

"Could you give this to the coach?" I mumbled, holding out the USB drive and dropping my head to look at the floor. "I can't make it today."

I felt rough skin briefly against my hand. The door shut with a thud and I looked up. I glanced at my empty hand and realized that the rough skin was Derek's hand. He had taken the flash drive. The realization that I had actually managed to speak to Derek without sputtering like an idiot sent a blazing grin to my face.

"Yes!" I said, cheering myself.

I turned around and left the gym. I was in a better mood, but I was still too exhausted to sit through practice. As I stepped into the hall, I saw Liz standing with another cheerleader next to the door. She smiled at me as I passed.

"You're not watching practice today?" she asked, causing me to falter.

I looked back at her. "What?"

"For your project," she said. "You're not watching practice today."

I shook my head, confused as to how she even knew about it. "No, not today."

She nodded and turned back to the other girl. I turned and continued on. How did Liz know I was watching practice for a project?