[2022 update: I was pretty pushy about those reviews...and also, looks like middle-school me got grounded...LOL]
[original below]
Ok, looks like I made in another chapter! I'm trying to tell myself this is the last chapter before Christmas, but it's just so hard not to keep writing! Oh well, at least I can keep my reviewers happy by doing it. My teacher called home yesterday, so I can't be on the computer for more than 2 hours each night. It might take a while for my chapters to come out because of it, just to let you guys know. Sorry, I'm running out of time, so I can't reply to the reviews, but I will next chapter, I promise!
Ok, for the story-
Life and Soccer
Just playing
The day after the tryouts Yumi awoke sore and bruised from the hard night. Aelita was already up and dressed, combing through her pink hair.
"Good morning, soccer princess!"
"Haha, good morning to you too. Ouch, I hurt..I think I broke my butt when Ulrich pushed me down.." Yumi complained, realizing that one of the first things she had said today was Ulrich. Wow, you really need to drop this boy already...
"I'm sure he's in pain too, from that little kick you gave him," Aelita answered, turning to her with a crazy grin. Yumi had been getting ready during the conversation and was now wearing a light blue shirt that ended before her belly button and a semi-short black skirt, with blue skater shoes. I've never worn a skirt before..Well, not to school anyways. Even though the skirt was a change, she still wore black, her favorite color. The blue shirt hadn't ever been worn either, what is making me wear these things?
"Wow Yumi, you look pretty good in a skirt! You should wear them more often!" Aelita complimented, sensing Yumi wasn't exactly comfortable in her clothes.
"Hm..Yeah, let's go down to breakfast, I'm starving. By the way, they're having a little scrimmage against another school tonight, just to see if the soccer team is good. You gonna come watch me?" Yumi asked her friend. "It's okay if you can't!"
"That depends... Is there gonna be some action between you and Ulrich tonight? I want to bring a tape and send it to a boxer or something, he could get a lot better by watching you two fight it out!"
Yumi glared at her, as they walked down to the cafeteria.
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"Hey Yumi, come sit over here and we can talk about tonight's little game!" Ulrich called sneakly. He had pushed Odd out of the seat next to him to make room for Yumi, and had made sure Jeremy left a space for Aelita.
Aelita looked at Yumi and shrugged, walking over and sitting in the empty seat next to Jeremy. The boy gulped as he saw the girl in the pink halter and faded jeans sit next to him. Yumi glared daggers at Aelita, who just grinned devilishly back. Yumi made her way to the table, sitting down next to Ulrich and sliding to the corner of the seat, to get as far away as possible. Ulrich hid a gasp as he saw her in the skirt and top, looking at Aelita and smiling his thank you to her.
"So, you ready to play hard tonight? I know it's just a scrimmage, but we have to show them what we've got." Ulrich said, trying to start a conversation with the beauty next to him.
"Mhm, sho eh um." Yumi answered, stuffing her mouth with food so nothing stupid could escape from it, except as the sounds escaped she realized it sounded even more stupid. Her face went hot. She had seen the tall boy in an unbuttoned light pink shirt over a baby blue shirt and jeans just as she had sat down, and it made her want to kiss him right there on the spot. What the hell is going on with me? I've never had these insane thoughts before...Just because he looks amazing doesn't mean I should want to KISS him! Trying to look anywhere but to her right, Yumi flicked her eyes towards Jeremy, who was now a big red balloon, and Aelita smiling slightly in his direction. Aww, they're so cute together! I need to tell Aelita to ask him out once I get away from this table.
She looked to her right accidentally and caught Ulrich staring at her with his bright, light brown eyes. His mouth curved into a small smile, but he continued to stare as he slowly reached out his hand and started to rub her fingers gently under the table. No one could see what was happening, but everyone could see Yumi turn a shade darker than Jeremy and then some.
"What's wrong Yu-" questioned the younger girl across from her as Yumi jumped up and threw her food away.
"Sorry guys, I gotta run." Aelita said, following her friend out the door.
"Dude, Yumi's got some issues, I think... First the kick in the balls, now this? You got some weird interests, Ulrich." Odd piped in, smirking as he saw his friend's dumbfounded face. Ulrich shot a look at Odd, as he got up and left the table.
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The day slowly progressed, Yumi still feeling the warmth of Ulrich's hand on hers. I don't know what to do. I get mad at myself when I pull away from his advances, but I know he'll just end up breaking my heart.. Yumi continued to fight with herself all the way down to the soccer field, where the soccer team was meeting up to start the scrimmage. Much to her pleasure and displeasure, the only other person there was Ulrich, stretching with his back to her. I should turn around and go back. At least until other people show up.. Maybe I'll go get Emily or Aelita to come down here.. Oh, that's right, Aelita can't come, she has that project due tomorrow..
Apparently, she had taken too long to decide on what to do, because Ulrich had stopped stretching and walked up behind her, slipping his arms around her waist.
"You know, if you wanted to watch me, you could have come closer. Trust me, I would've been happy to have you there." He said, his breath tickling the side of her neck. Although this was all rather sudden and she should push him away, Yumi did not dislike the touch.
"Oh, is that so? And why are you here so early?" Yumi answered back, forgetting herself and putting a hand on his, which were now hugging around her stomach and clasped together in the front.
He smiled in victory, "I knew you'd come here early to practice." He pulled her closer, knowing that she hadn't meant to allow him to get this close to her.
"How did you know I would?" She questioned, laying her head back onto his shoulder, still letting her feelings get the better of her.
"Because it's what I would do, and I think you and me are more alike than we know. So, you could say I know you pretty well, already."
Yumi suddenly awoke from the dream state, jumping out of his arms and walking towards the goals. "No, Ulrich, you don't know me. That's just it, you DO NOT know me! You just met me, and you're just trying to take advantage of me. Maybe it worked on other girls, and maybe it worked on me here, but it won't work on me now. So, quit playing your little game because I don't want to hear it!" She yelled angrily over her back, sitting down and stretching. I let him do it again. He got to me, and it's my fault. How does he do it all the time?
Ulrich walked over and sat in front of her, sitting crossed-legged as he watched the flexible girl strech. Her words had stung him, and he knew it was wrong to take advantage of her like that, but he couldn't help it. He'd never felt like this before, never had that strange, warm, bubble-feeling inside of him. It didn't matter that he'd only met her recently nor that he didn't know her well. It felt like this was real, like this was love at first sight. He wanted to be with her already, the amount of time he'd known her didn't matter.
She avoided his gaze, even if it meant looking at the ground, but he didn't talk, just watched as the girl continued to warm up. Finally, she got up and grabbed a ball, "Get in goal." He quickly obeyed her command and waited for her to shoot.
"Yumi, I'm really so-"
"Hey Yumi!" He was cut off by a high voice and saw Emily running towards them. Damn it, does she have to come now! The boy thought, and Emily smiled an icy grin at him.
"Hello, Ulrich. So nice to see you here. Sometimes I wish you weren't everywhere a girl was, one day I'll walk into the girl's bathroom and see you in there."
He only laughed in response, knowing Emily would just fight back if he answered.
The other team members showed up within two minutes, and the other team was waiting to get the game started. The head soccer coach announced the starting line-up, putting Yumi and Odd at forward, Ulrich in the middle, and Emily at defense. Yumi hadn't really paid attention to where anyone else had been put, as she had walked off as soon as her name was called, and she didn't know the other teammates that well yet.
As the game got started she passed it off to Odd, who passed it off the Ulrich as always, and Ulrich did a few moves and got past the front few people. Quickly he faked the pass to Odd and passed it off to Yumi, who juked the defenders and scored the first goal. She turned around, smiling as teammates crowded around her, slapping their hands and whatnot. She flicked her ponytail when Ulrich walked up and offered his hand in congratulations though, and completely ignored it other than that. Even if it had been his assist.
The game went like that the rest of the time, Yumi scoring the most goals, Ulrich getting it past the most people, Emily stealing it from the other team and passing it up to Ulrich, just to have it happen again. When the game was finally over, Kadic won 12-4, and Yumi had collapsed on the sideline completely exhausted.
Ulrich came over and laid down next to her. "Hey, you played great, Yumi. I just wanted to say I'm really sorry for what happened earlier, I don't know why I did it. Well, I do know why, but I know that I shouldn't have done it. I guess you make me want to do really crazy things when I see you."
"Yeah, well, you make me want to do something crazy like punch you when I see you playing your little games, so why don't you prepare your face next time, ok?" Yumi shot coldly back.
"They aren't games. I'm serious about it. Just like you said earlier, you don't know me that well. You only know what people say about me. I'm seriously interested in you and want you to give me a chance."
Yumi felt the blush rising up from her neck. Her mind went blank and she had no clue how to respond to that. It sounded sincere, but she really didn't know him well enough to say if it was true. He was hot, and there was no harm in giving him a shot...But I feel so embarrassed right now I could die! And most of our team is still around! I can't answer him here!
"Alright," is all she could manage to get out of her mouth. She stood up and started to walk away, but just as she reached the door into the school a hand grabbed her shoulder and twisted her around. She opened her mouth to argue, but was stopped by someone pressing their lips to hers. Her eyes went wide when she realized it was Ulrich, and then they closed, returning the kiss. He wrapped his arms around her waist once again, and her arms went up around his neck, and they had to have been there for a while because they were stopped by a whooping sound, which turned out to be Emily.
"So, Ulrich, looks like you've got yourself another girlfriend!" This comment slapped Yumi back to reality, as she thrust him away from her, glaring at him again.
"You did it! AGAIN! You said you were sorry, then you turn right around and do it again." Yumi said with anger in her voice. She grabbed Emily's hand and stormed away, leaving Ulrich standing by himself.
Why did I have to do that? What the hell is wrong with me? Ulrich walked away, turning back to watch Yumi climb the stairs talking 1,000 words a minute with Emily, as she glared back at him. But it felt like she really wanted to kiss me, at the beginning...
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Yumi, Yumi, Yumi, you need to learn! He's just getting worse and worse, and is going to turn you into a mess once he breaks your heart! One side of Yumi said, but in another part, way back in the corner of her mind, spoke up, Maybe if you gave him a chance, he wouldn't break your heart. His kiss sure didn't seem to be lust, it was love that compelled him to do it, I could just feel it... But the other part, which Yumi herself was in whole-hearted agreement with, answered back People who love you don't say they're sorry and do it to you again! And people don't fall in love so quick!
And with that argument done with (Yumi thinking the side of her that thought Ulrich was not right for her had won), she walked up to her dorm and fell into a not-so-deep slumber.
There you all go! Now come on people, I want reviews! Lets go! Write 'em up!
.StArRy.