Alright, so here's another not very plot-heavy chapter, but just kind of fun.
NOTE: I don't play football. I don't really even watch it. So some of the stuff may be wrong. And some of it is just for fun, even though I know it's not allowed.
Thanks to Alia Mehra, HestiaAbnegation11, and 4Love4Love for being totally awesome reviewers! You guys are completely totally awesome!
Summer's POV
Once they'd gotten inside, Noah went up to change his suit, because his was covered in water from the watering can she'd thrown on him. He also had to recruit his team, since it was going to be girls vs. boys. She went back into the party to see if she could recruit any of the girls to play football. She saw most of the girls sitting in one big group. They all looked up as she approached.
"What'd you guys do?" One of them asked.
"We just walked around the gardens a little bit and talked." She said.
"Actually, I was wondering if anyone wants to play football." She said. A few of the girls looked at her like she was crazy, while a few looked interested.
"I'll play." Said Grace, shrugging.
"I will too, if it's okay." Said Imogen quietly.
"Yeah, sure." Said Summer.
In the end, it ended up being her, Grace, Imogen, Sally, and Anastasia. Many of the girls decided to come watch them for fun. Queen America drifted over.
"What are you girls planning on doing?" She asked them.
"Football with Noah." Said Grace. She smiled, her blue eyes lighting up.
"Sounds a lot more fun than my Selection. Can I come watch?" She asked them. They all nodded. She drifted back over to King Maxon, said something, and he laughed, then dashed out of the room. The girls who were going to play football all followed to change into better clothes.
"Wait, what are you doing?" Her maids asked her when she got up to her room.
"Football." She said. They burst out laughing, and rummaged through her closet until they found athletic clothes, and handed them to her. She changed into them, carefully took out the pins from her hair, and put it up in a ponytail. Then she wiped the makeup off her face.
"Is it just for the Selected girls?" Natalie asked her quietly.
"No, of course you can play!" Summer said.
"Is it all right if I do?" She asked, smiling.
"Yes!" Summer exclaimed. Natalie looked at Opal, who nodded, and left, a few minutes later returning with sports clothes on. Summer finished lacing up her shoes.
"Let's go." She said.
On the landing, she found Sally already ready. The other girls soon appeared.
"Guys, this is Natalie, my maid, and she'll be on our team as well." She said. The other girls introduced themselves as they descended the stairs and headed back to the party. There, they found Noah with several large guards, dressed in shorts and t-shirts, as well as many of the girls, as well as Queen America, King Maxon, and Princess Emmaline waiting for them. They walked over to Noah.
"This is my team." He said, smiling, once they were near him, gesturing to the guards around him. They all smiled at the girls.
"So where are you guys going to play?" One of the girls asked.
"There's plenty of grass we could play on." Replied one of the guards, who was holding a football.
"I forgot to introduce you guys. This is Kile, Henry, Adam, Ben, and Cameron." He said, introducing them, pointing at them. Summer looked around.
"Let's go!" She said.
They walked for about five minutes before coming to a large field. Lines had somehow already been sprayed on, and makeshift goal posts erected. The girls stood near the edge of the field, along with a few of the media photographers. One of the older guards was refereeing, and Queen America and King Maxon were chatting with him. The guys team was in a huddle, so the girls did the same.
"Who's played football before?" Asked Grace.
All of them raised their hands.
"Could the Captains of each team come over please." Said the referee. The girls all looked at Summer, and pushed her towards him. Unsurprisingly, Noah was the other captain. Both of them walked over. The man looked at Noah.
"Are you taller?" He asked him, smiling. Noah shrugged, smiling. He looked at Summer, tiny compared to both of them, who were quite tall.
"I'm Aspen Leger, by the way." He said.
"Hi." She said. They shook hands.
"Alright, so I'm going to flip a coin. You'll call it in the air, and if you're right, you'll start with the ball." He said. She nodded. he drew a coin out of his pocket, and flipped it.
"Tails." She said. It landed, and they all crouched down. It was tails. He looked at Noah.
"Tell your team you'll kick to them first." He said. He nodded, and both of them went back to their respective teams-his composed of large guards, and hers of smaller girls. The ball was given to the guys team for them to kick, and it started.
Imogen caught the ball, and took off. The guards bore down on them, towering over them. She avoided one, but then got taken down in the midst of them, but managed to cling to the ball.
Once they hiked it, Imogen threw it upfield to Grace, but it was intercepted by a guard simply because Grace was at least a foot shorter than the guard. She grabbed his foot, dragging behind him, until another guard pried her off, letting him run. he ran around all the girls until only Sally, the smallest girl, remained. He ran straight at her, as she was in the most direct path to the end zone, and she was tiny.
However, he did not get what he bargained for. A moment before collision, she bent her knees and threw herself forwards, and with the strength acquired from gymnastics, threw him over one shoulder, and started walking down the field. The other guys looked at Aspen expectantly for a call, but he was laughing too hard to actually make a call. When he'd recovered, he yelled 'no!', and Sally kept walking down the field.
Imogen walked behind her, and when the guard dropped the ball, she picked it up and ran down the field, sliding under the legs of one of the girls to make a touchdown. The girls all high-fived her, and despite her past bitchiness, at least for the moment, she was part of the group.
As the game continued, the cheating became more egregious. Noah and the guards attempted to use their ponytails as leashes, while Sally continued picking up guards, and Imogen did once too. Tackle piles became throwing dirt, and soon they were all covered in dirt. At one point, Grace even tied Noah's shoelaces together, which ended hilariously. Summer herself at a few points clung to the legs of the guards like a monkey toddler to slow them down. It worked, and made them waddle hilariously.
By the end of the game, everyone was laughing. The girls had won, with many justified cries of "Cheater!" from the other team. Noah walked up to Summer, panting.
"That's football?" He asked, eyes wide. She nodded.
"Is it always like that?" He asked.
"When I play with my friends, yes. And in a lot of for fun games, I think." She said. The other girls nodded in affirmation.
"It's kinda ruthless." He said, starting to catch his breath. She smiled evilly.
"Wait until you play killer croquet." She said, smirking.
All of the girls who'd played football decided to join in the killer croquet as well. Natalie went back to get washed up, as did many of the guards. Elodie joined them, along with Jasey and Riley. The course was perfect. There was a stream that split, running through the middle and edge of the course. A lot of them looked at Summer.
"So, killer croquet. It's pretty much the same as regular croquet, except for you can hit the ball with any part of your mallet." She said.
"Then why is it called killer croquet?" Jasey asked her. Summer smiled.
"Well, it's not so much about trying to win, as who you don't want to win." She said. The girls looked at each other. Anastasia looked at Elodie, grinning.
"Revenge!" She said. Elodie laughed.
"For what?" Asked Sally.
"Stealing a pastry from me at breakfast." She said, smiling. Sally laughed. Summer walked over to Noah.
"It's on." He said. She laughed.
It started nicely enough-Jasey, Noah, and Elodie all put their first shots through the first two wickets. Then it got interesting.
Anastasia practiced her swing a few times. Then she wound up and hit the ball hard. It went through the wickets, into the balls that were there. It hit them hard, and sent them scattering. They all groaned, while Anastasia giggled innocently.
"Oopsies." She said, not sounding remorseful at all.
Riley's ball went through, narrowly missing Anastasia's. Then went Sally's, the remaining guard, Kile, and then Imogen, who sent Kile's ball into the stream along with Elodie's. The came Summer. She looked at the balls, and decided to go for Sally's. She wound up and hit it, sending her ball rolling away, nudging Riley's to the side. All of them looked at their balls, strewn across the croquet lawn.
It continued. It became so that if there was a ball near you, you hit it, rather than going for a wicket. There was a funny moment where Imogen got her ball out of the stream, and then practically jumped three feet because of a small water snake.
By the end, nobody had won, but everyone was getting hungry. Everyone tromped back to the castle, and they all had a very casual dinner-the cooks had made spaghetti with meatballs, and nobody got changed out of what they were wearing into fancy dinner clothes. For dessert, they brought in more cake, Summer struggling to blow out all the candles on hers.
When she got to her room, she took a shower, washing all the dirt and sweat off, and changed into pajamas. Before she got into bed, she remembered the package Noah had given her. She opened it, and found a beautiful four leaf clover pendant, the four leaves of different gems-Aquamarine, Sapphire, Emerald, and Diamond, with a silvery-gold chain. Then she found another necklace, this one a nest of silver wire with three small yellow pearls clustered inside, with a silver chain. The last one she found was a bracelet, made of pearl, ruby, peridot, and sapphire. If described out loud to her, she probably wouldn't have though it would be pretty, but it was beautiful. This one had a note.
Summer-
The four birthstones representing Summer are
Pear, Ruby, Peridot, and Sapphire, so I couldn't
help but think this was perfect for you
-Noah
She smiled. He'd also included several bars of chocolate. She took a little bite out of one, savoring its flavor. Then she brushed her teeth, and went to sleep.
Well, that chapter didn't really have anything important in it, but it was fun to write. So yeah.
4Love4Love-Thanks! Here's football and killer croquet...a little less cute. Europe was awesome, and music and drama are awesome. All arts, really.
HestiaAbnegation11-Drama is awesome! I like it, but I'm super shy, so for me, it's not the best. And maybe she will be...And maybe she won't...
Fangirling is Life-Yeah, it does depend. They're all pretty great. Europe was super cool.
Alia Mehra-Thanks! The trip was awesome.
RQOTD-Would you rather eat a bar of soap or bottle of vinegar?
Vinegar. Soap is nasty.
