Crimson/Silver
Disclaimer: Yada yada don't sue me. Thank you kindly.
Green Fields and Red Tigers
Friday Evening, Alan came out of his house, wearing his usual black jacket and jeans. He wore a red T-shirt, however, thinking a bit of school colour might do good. He got on his BMX and rode off to the school football field, where the game was to go down.
The streets greeted him with waves as his mind once again twisted reality. He enjoyed seeing the world like this. It allowed him to escape reality and have fun without doing anything significant or attention seeking.
Skidding to a halt at the Berry parking lot, he locked his bike up, and walked to the field, his combat boots clicking on the concrete. The bleachers were packed with people as he looked around to find his group, his eyes settling on Skye as she sat with the others looking bored out of her mind, and he slowly made his way to them.
"Fancy seeing you here." He said from behind Skye, who turned around in surprise.
"Oh, hey." She said simply, although she looked a little relieved. The thought pleased Alan, although he didn't even try to question why. This was all new for him. He'd have laughed if someone told him a month ago that he'd be at a football game with friends a couple weeks ago.
"Hello Alan!" Erin greeted. She was always enthusiastic about everyone, especially weird ones like himself. "A red t-shirt? For the school? Aww."
"I'm already regretting it." Alan said, shaking his head with a small laugh.
"Hey guys." Alan turned to see Alex follow Ajay into the group. Alex was a full white and red jacket.
"Alex! Welcome!" Erin said.
"Should've known you'd be decked out in school colours." Ajay said, giving Alex a look over.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Alex asked.
"It's a very you thing to do." Ajay asked, getting awkward. "Look I meant it as a compliment, okay? You look good." He finished.
"Okay. Thanks." Alex smiled.
"It's your first game, isn't it, Alex?" Rory asked, coming up to Alex excitedly.
"Yeah. And I'm cheering my school!" Alex said, mirroring Rory's excitement.
"There's a lot of drama here this time around. A lot because of Hearst went here last summer because of the fire, and also because," Rory trailed off, looking for someone, pointing and speaking again, "that guy."
Alan followed her finger to a redheaded muscular boy in the green Hearst uniform.
"Brian Crandall." Rory finished.
"He's the guy that threw a baseball at a girl because she wouldn't go to prom with him, right?" Alex asked.
"Among other crimes against human decency." Erin replied.
"So they let him play here again?" Alex asked.
"Well, apparently he went to some kind of special camp over the summer and now he's turned over a new leaf." Clint said.
"Well that's exceedingly convenient." Alan said.
"Yep. That's how it is with star athletes. Especially rich star athletes." Ajay sighed.
"At least the school board issued a no-contact order. Of he tries to talk to Myra, it's an automatic suspension." Erin said.
"You really think that's enough? He'll just find someone else to harass now." Skye said, anger on her face, as Alan noticed. The kind that said she's seen it first-hand. "I can't believe anyone is buying this 'I've changed' bull."
"Skye, are you okay?" Alex asked. Alan smiled at how innocent Alex can be sometimes.
"I'm fine. Just needed to say that. Go back to ignoring me now, please." Skye said in her usual monotone.
Alan went and sat beside Skye. Skye didn't object. They were both used to each other's company. Alan quietly offered her one of his earphones. "In case you're getting bored?"
Skye looked at it for a second, before taking it and putting it in her ear. "Thanks." She said simply, that small smile once again gracing her lips. Alan felt pleased, playing music as they watched the match.
"Alex, where's Annie? Wasn't she supposed to play?" Erin asked Alex.
"She said so, at least." Alex said, confused.
"Is that her? On the bench?" Danielle pointed out.
"That can't be right." Alex said. Alan looked to the bench to see a blonde girl in the Red Berry uniform, sulking as she watched the game wistfully.
"Gotcha!" Alan hears the receiver yell as he makes a spectacular catch. "Caleb! Caleb! Caleb!" the cheer squad yells out.
"It really is picking up, huh?" Alan said to Skye beside him, who simply hummed in agreement.
"I thought you said your sister was playing defense." Ajay said.
"I… thought she was!" Alex said, confusion on everyone's faces. "Something must be up."
Suddenly, the halftime whistle rang out. All players headed back to their team stands.
"I'm gonna go talk to her." Alex said, walking off. Alan felt bad. Alex must have been excited to see his sister play, plus it was his first football game.
Alan looked around. The crowd was as noisy as ever. The band started playing their halftime routine. He could feel his mind twist his vision again. The moon seemed to smile at him, the grass on the field rearranged themselves and greeted him with great words. The chatter of the crowd was being drowned out by his imagination as he smiled and nodded to his unbelievable friends.
"Why are you smiling?" Skye asked, breaking Alan out of his stupor.
"Oh, um, nothing. Weird stuff." Alan said, awkwardly.
"Have you seen me?" Skye smirked.
"Fair. Well… I have a very active imagination. Whenever I sit blank, the world around twists and turns and morphs into impossible shapes and sizes, sometimes into beings that greet me. I was smiling at them." Alan explained.
"Oh, okay. Wow." Skye smiled a bit.
"You're the first person I've told this." Alan said, looking down.
"Oh. Thanks." Alan looked up to see Skye smiling just a little bit wider than usual. "And for the record, I think it's really cool."
"Wow. Um, thank you." Alan said with a nervous chuckle.
"Halftime is almost over. Might wanna say goodbye to your friends." Skye said, pointing to the field where the players were gathering again.
"No need. They already know." Alan said, smiling.
Alex came back with a sulk.
"Annie's still benched?" Ajay asked.
"For now. Although there's some good news. Annie's girlfriend, Amber invited us to her house for the party after the game." Alex said, a small smile forming on his face.
"Amber Hutchinson, the cheerleader? We've got to go." Clint immediately said.
"Wow, I never expected you to have the hots for a cheerleader." Erin snorted.
"It's not like that! You know how my mom's in the real estate business? They sold Amber's family a mansion." Clint said.
"Does it have a pool?" Natalie asked excitedly.
"Two pools and a pond." Clint answered.
"I'm in." Natalie said.
"I must admit, it sounds intriguing." Ajay said.
"I'm happy to go to any party, mansion or not." Rory said.
"Same here." Erin said.
"All right, if everyone's going, I guess I'm in too. Now shut up, everyone. The game's about to start again." Danielle said from her seat.
Everybody quietened down to watch the game, as Alan saw the ball go back and forth. Eventually, he sees the ball in the hands of the linebacker, Frank. He was yelling to his teammates, "Hey, I got the-" when suddenly, Brian snatched the ball, elbowing Frank hard in the stomach. Frank stumbled to the ground, gasping for air.
The referee immediately whistles to stop the game. One of the Berry players walks up to Brian and Frank angrily, others joining him. "Come on, dude. You know you can't elbow people like that."
"It was an accident, I swear!" Brian frantically tried to explain. The whole crowd is roaring. It was quite noisy, or it would have been if it weren't for his earphones. He could see the players still arguing.
"You really think anyone believes that?" Caleb, the Berry receiver yelled. Suddenly, as if on cue, the referee signalled from the side that the play was okay.
"Looks like the ref does, and that's all that matters." Brian said with a smirk.
In front of Alan, Erin suddenly stood up, throwing her hands up in frustration. "Come on, ref! That was deliberate and we all know it!"
"Was it? I wasn't watching closely enough." Rory said, squinting, clearly confused.
"Oh it was totally deliberate." Alex said, frowning. "There's no way his elbow just 'happened' to move that way. Not surprising if Brian is as bad as you all say."
"I'm surprised you're not happy, Alex. Isn't your sister Frank's sub?" Danielle said.
"That doesn't make what Brian did okay, Danielle." Alex said, his voice a bit stern, much to Alan's surprise.
Good job, Alan thought to himself.
"Agreed. Frank could've been seriously hurt." Ajay said.
"I'm not defending Brian. I'm just saying, we were all wishing that Annie would get to play." Danielle said, shrugging.
"I just hope she can make the most of the opportunity." Alex said worriedly.
On the field, Annie gets into formation, opposite Brian.
"Aww look! Berry's put in a freshman. Too bad football doesn't award points for cuteness." Brian spoke, wasting no time.
"Brian didn't waste any time. Poor Annie!" Alex said as everyone looked at a down Annie, the jitters along with the belittling getting to her.
"So let's cheer her up!" Rory said excitedly.
"Good Plan." Alex smiled. "On three let's go. Ready?"
Everyone nodded. Even Skye put away Alan's earphone.
"One… Two… Three…" Alex counted down, and then Rory picked up, "Two Four Six Eight!"
"Who do we appreciate?!" Alex continued.
"Annie!" everyone shouted. Even Skye had joined in.
On the field, Annie looked towards the group with a big smile, before focusing on the game. Alan looked at Alex, who was intently watching his sister play. "You got this, sis!" Alex yelled. Alan chuckled at the normally awkward boy who was now jumping and yelling. Beside him, Skye smirked.
Not very long after the second half started, one of the Hearst players tossed the ball to Brian, but Annie caught it and was running, when Brian crashed into her, before grappling onto her to restrict her completely.
"No! Brian's got her!" Erin yelled in worry.
"Just watch." Alex assured. Alan was a bit surprised at how calm Alex was, given his sister was facing off against arguably the most unlikeable guy in the school's history, per what he's heard so far. But as he watched Brian belittle her, Annie suddenly slipped out from his grip and snapped the ball to Caleb quickly.
"Nice pass!" Caleb called out.
"Thanks, now run!" Annie yelled back.
Everyone roared as Caleb ran into Hearst's end zone with the ball.
"How did your sister do that?" Clint asked, eyes wide.
"I don't know how, but it's her superpower." Alex smirked.
"It's like she's made of soap." Erin said, a awe struck look on her face.
With Annie as linebacker, Berry dominates the second half. Alan hears a very shrill voice from the cheerleader stands, "Woooooo! That's my girlfriend!". Alan assumed that was Amber. Even Ajay was getting worked up, as he jumped up and yelled, "Eat that! There's no getting past Annie!". Alan has to chuckle at how hyped everyone is. The crowd jumped up as the final whistle blew, signalling the end of the game. The scoreboard showed Berry winning by a landslide.
Alex ran into the field to give his sister a hug, and a few seconds later, everyone else rushed in. Alan looked around and noticed Skye had disappeared. He considered going to look for her, but figured she was socially tired out. Come to think of it, he was too. He took a little walk out of the field, heading to the parking lot.
Once he got there, he looked up into the sky. The stars were having fun amongst themselves, their game of 'Catch me if you Can' going on perpetually. The Moon always followed everyone who looked at it, so Alan always greeted it.
Presently, he thought he'd walk back, Skye probably needed an earphone with all the crowd, when suddenly he overheard Brian's voice. It was coming from behind several rows of vehicles, which is why visibility, both ways wasn't well.
"Cut the crap, sis. You ditched mom and dad and you know it." He said, practically snarling.
Who wouldn't want to ditch you, Alan thought, and was about to walk away, when he heard a voice he was absolutely not expecting to hear there.
"I'm sorry, Brian! I'm really, really, really sorry!" she said. It was Skye. It was completely unexpected for Alan. Skye? And Brian just called her 'sis'?
Shocking twist of events, that's for sure, he thought to himself. He quickly got behind a car and peeked through the windows, positioning himself so he wouldn't be very visible.
"You're not sorry and we know it. We saw you on Berry's side of the field. That wasn't an accident." This was an older man, probably their father.
Skye flinched. It was the first time he'd seen her react so deeply to anything, the first time he'd seen her vulnerable, and she was incredibly vulnerable. He wanted to jump in and tell them off, but something told him it'd only mess things up further.
"Dad, I am sorry… I swear!" Skye pleaded. It pained him to see one of the few people he was close with like this.
"Just like you were 'sorry' you claimed we weren't related after the baseball game?" Brian snapped, and it hit Skye like a truck. She stared at Brian, her eyes wide. "Brian…" she tried, but couldn't continue, and she just buried her head in her hands. "Can we just drive home?" she tried.
"We are going home. You can find your own way." This time a stern older woman, evidently their mother, spoke.
"Mom, you wouldn't." Skye exclaimed, shocked.
"You didn't want to spend time with us earlier, now you got your wish." Her mother said, harshly. It was taking a lot of patience to not get out there and give them a piece of his mind.
Skye was trying to speak, but she couldn't.
"Later, sis!" Brian said, rubbing it in full in her face as the three drove off, leaving her standing there, tears slowly forming in her eyes. She walked to the curb to sit, and started crying. Alan decided it was probably safe.
"… Skye?" he softly called out.
Skye whipped her head around at him, her eyes wide with surprise as she stared at him. Her expression suddenly turned angry. "Were you eavesdropping?"
"I wasn't trying to. I came out here to get some air, get away from the crowds, overheard Brian, didn't care, was about to head back, when I heard you. And with everything-" Alan was interrupted when Skye slapped her hands on her face, rubbing mascara all over it. "Congratu-freaking-lations! You figured out my deep dark secret. I'm the sister of the most hated guy in the school." She said, throwing her hands up.
"Not by choice, I'm sure." Alan began weakly.
"Don't. Don't even try to make this better. There's nothing you can say. Nothing." Skye said, frustration dripping from her voice.
"Maybe. Maybe not. But I can, at the very least, listen." Alan said, keeping his voice as soft as he could.
"You don't wanna listen to this." Skye said, looking down.
"I'd say I'll see about that, but before that…" he walked a little closer to her, " do you want to talk about it?" he asked, looking into her eyes. Her deep blue eyes.
Weird.
Skye sighed, seeming to relent. She wiped her face with her hands, before speaking, "Might as well. It's not like things can get any worse."
"I'll say. Your parents abandoned you in the middle of the night. That's pretty bad." Alan said.
"Yeah. Can we find a bathroom, though, before we keep talking? I… need to wash my face." Skye said, tears dried now.
"Okay, come on." Alan said, leading Skye to the school building. He deftly led past the regular washrooms, eliciting some confusion from her, before bringing her to a gender-neutral bathroom. Skye rolled her eyes as she entered and splashed water on her face multiple times. She took some time to reapply her makeup, while Alan merely leaned against the bathroom counter.
"You realize that when I asked to find a bathroom, I didn't mean you needed to find a gender-neutral one so you could follow me in here, right?" Skye asked.
"Would you believe me if I told you I wanted to see you without makeup?" Alan smirked.
"No." Skye instantly replied, although not without cracking a small smile.
"Honestly, I'm not very trustful of your mental condition right now." Alan said. "Besides, I thought girls always went to bathrooms with their friends." He said with mock surprise.
"You say that like I have friends to go with." Skye replied.
"Listen, I'm here to listen, if you wanna talk, whatever it is. And obviously I won't out you to anyone." Alan said, standing up straight, his worry showing.
Skye sighed, closing her eyes for a second, before speaking, "Alright, I guess… I guess there's a reason I've been pushing everyone away."
"Why? Just because you're Brian's sister?" Alan asked.
"Exactly. His name's better known in this school than Ben's, and that's saying something." Skye said. "Only his reputation is the polar opposite of Ben's, you know that."
"And you're worried people will hold that against you." Alan said. "Except not everyone will. Sure, most people will go that route, and I've been on my own long enough to know people are dumb, panicky dangerous animals, but that's not always the case. Sometimes, someone will do the right thing, look past your last name and care about what's inside you rather than what's around you." He said with a smile.
"I don't know…" Skye said, looking unsure. "Even with everything, even in the best case scenario, I'll still be labelled as Brian's sister. It may be Brian's nice sister, but…" she sighed, I don't wanna be Brian's sister, I wanna be Skye. I want to be a normal nobody freshman."
"Hey, like the cool kids say, Normal's a setting on the dryer." Alan shrugged.
"Yeah yeah, I've heard that line a thousand times before." Skye said. "But I'm a few standard deviations away from it on the bell curve than most."
"I'm sorry, have you met me? I'm not even sure if I'm on the same integral surface as most people." Alan said. He felt better when that got a chuckle out of Skye.
She's adorable when she's smiling. Wow, creepy much? Was what was happening inside Alan's head.
"Alan, you're sweet, really, but the best thing you can do is not tell anyone about any of this." Skye said.
"What's that going to achieve?" Alan asked.
"I can go back to avoiding everyone and keeping my head down until graduation." Skye said.
"Okay, first, the logical sense. People will find out about it eventually. It took me one random night." Alan said, crossing his hands.
Skye sighed in frustration. "You're right…"
"But more importantly," Alan continued, his voice softer, "you're going to get lonely."
"I've been doing fine so far!" Skye tried to retort.
"You were crying." Alan said.
"Yes, but I'd have been fine. Walked home by myself." Skye said, her face down.
"Maybe, but could you take four continuous years of that?" Alan asked, his eyebrows raised.
"I don't know…" Skye said, her voice softening again. "What do I do?"
"Be straight upfront with people. Own who you are. You got dealt a bad hand, sure, but you don't have to be what people think you are." Alan said, smiling.
"But what if people don't accept me?" Skye asked.
"It's not your responsibility to he accepted by everyone. Carry on with your path and the right people will join you." Alan said.
"Well, how do I do this? Grab a cheer microphone and yell, 'Hey, know that guy you all hate? I'm his sister.'?" Skye asked.
"That's a bit far. Maybe start with your friends at the theatre?" Alan suggested.
"I don't have friends." Skye said.
"I'm not gonna argue, and say they're the people you see the most." Alan shrugged.
"Uhh, fine. Good place to start." Skye said.
"Cool, let's go." Alan said.
"Wait, now?" Skye said, nervous. "I was thinking of telling them tomorrow…"
"You wanna pull slowly at the band-aid? Rip it off." Alan shrugged.
"Uhh, okay." Skye sighed. "Okay, let's tell them."
"That's it. Come on." Alan said with a warm smile, bowing and gesturing to the exit, and the two headed out, back to the field.
.
.
"We were wondering where you guys went." Ajay said as Alan and Skye came back to the field.
"Hey guys. Skye has something to say to you all." Alan said. "Skye?" he gestured her towards the group. Everyone watched in anticipation.
"Skye, are you alright?" Erin asked.
"I… I mean… let me just say it." Skye took a deep breath. "You know Brian from Hearst? He's my brother."
Everyone's quiet. Skye looks down at her feet, looking vulnerable once again. "This was a bad idea. Forget I said anything. I'll just-" she began hastily, but was interrupted.
"No wait, Skye. It doesn't change anything." Rory spoke.
"You say that, but…" Skye trailed off.
Finally, Ajay spoke. "If no one is going to say it, I will." He turned to Skye. "Skye we knew."
Skye whips her head up and looks at everyone, eyes wide in shock. "Wait, you did?"
Everyone looked at each other. "You're both redheads, you have the same last name… it was either siblings or cousins." Ajay shrugged.
"And then when you got mad when we were talking about him earlier, it clearly wasn't just coincidence." Erin chimed in.
Skye turned to Alan. "Wait, Alan, did you know too?"
"No I did not. I see it now, but I'd never even seen Brian until today, so…" Alan trailed off, shrugging.
"Me too, by the way." Alex said from one side, raising a hand.
"Yeah those two hadn't known Brian, but we all went to school with him, so we could figure it out." Rory said.
"Wait, if you all knew, why didn't you say anything?" Skye asked.
"You clearly didn't want to talk about it." Rory shrugged.
"So you've been talking about it behind my back, then?" Skye said, her face beginning to fall again.
"No no!" Natalie quickly began. "We just… didn't think about it."
"For real?" Skye asked, once again surprised. Alan could see the hope filling in her eyes. Her bright blue-
Creeeeeeep
Shut up, Alan scolded his mind.
"Sorry if that's tough to hear…." Erin said.
"Are you kidding? That's… way better than what I thought you'd say!" Skye said, cracking one of the biggest smiles Alan had ever seen on her. It made him feel… Floaty. She turned to him. "Alan, thank you. I'm not even being a little sarcastic right now. Really, thanks." She said. She looked so happy at the moment, it was infectious to him.
"You don't have to tell me that for me to know. And I'm happy for you. This all turned out to be a happy accident." Alan smiled back at her. "You should smile more often though, looks good on you."
Wait, what? Really?
"Huh, what?" Skye said, shocked.
"Nothing." Alan quickly said.
"So Skye, not sure if you heard, but Alex got us an invite to the afterparty at Amber Hutchinson's place." Rory said. "Want to come along?"
"Under one condition." Skye said.
"What is it?" Rory asked.
"I need a ride back home." Skye said. "Preferably someone with a license. I can't afford to get stuck in illegal offenses."
"Oh…" Rory trails off. "Well, I'd told a couple friends of mine I'll give them a ride. Maybe we'll manage one extra person. You're smaller anyway."
"I've got a ride too. And it does not require a license. If you don't mind the metal backseat of my bike…?" Alan asked.
"I don't." Skye said, smiling again.
Just then, a older couple come along to the group, Annie in tow.
"Alex come on. It's time to go." The woman spoke. Alan deduced these were Alex and Annie's parents.
"I've gotta change from my gear before the party." Annie said.
"So this is the sibling." Ajay said, coming forward.
"Yes. Everyone, meet Annie. Annie, meet… everyone." Alex introduced.
"Well played today Annie." Erin said.
"Thanks! See you all at the party!" Annie enthusiastically said to everyone. Alex walked over to join his family. "See you guys!" he said, waving.
Everyone waved back.
"Well, let's get going." Rory said.
"You wanna go in the car?" Alan asked Skye.
"Naah, your bike's fine. You know I'm not good with crowds anyway." Skye smirked.
"Cool. Let's get going." Alan smirked back.
!-!-!-!-!
Yeah this is what I'm spending my creative time on. Skye is my favorite love interest ever. I kid you not.
Again, changes were simply to nudge the story in my direction. Putting my OC with Skye, and the MC with Rory. Let's see how this goes. Here's to hoping my block doesn't hop back on my Train of Thought again.
As always, review to let me know your thoughts. I will see you all in the next one. Peace!