1. Follow nowhitesaviors on Instagram! They go into great detail about issues with white saviorism and the need for all people (but especially white people) to work on "decolonizing their mind" (e.g. getting rid of the idea the Africa is a continent full of "primitive" people that somehow "need saving" by white people, because that is far from the truth). I've learned so much on there that school has never taught me!
Confession time: I almost completely forgot about updating this weekend. Like it came very close to slipping my mind entirely. College starts in two weeks and I'll be working an office job on campus (which I have never done before so I am very, very nervous) so my brain has been elsewhere for most of the past few days lol!
Anyways - I hope you guys are all doing well, staying safe, wearing masks, and all that jazz! I'm still deep into my A:tLA obsession lmao, so I will undoubtedly be posting more A:tLA fics at some point if any of y'all are interested in that. This chapter is probably one of my favorites so far, and I hope you enjoy reading it as much I enjoyed writing it! :)
xXxXxXx
"Hey," Callum said, grabbing Rayla's hand to keep her from walking away. "Want a kiss for luck before the game?"
Rayla laughed. "Really? You didn't think to ask me until after I put my helmet on?" She pulled her hand out of his, shaking her head and grinning. "Nope. You'll have to wait until after we've won."
"Whoa, don't jinx us," Felix teased, elbowing her in the side as he walked past. "It would suck to have our winning streak broken by such a measly opponent all because of one offhand comment."
Rayla rolled her eyes. "So, you tell me not to jinx it, and then go and call them measly? How hypocritical of you."
Felix looked like he was tempted to defend himself, but Soren walked into the room before he could get a word out.
"Okay, guys," he said, clapping his hands together. "Time for all non-players to clear out."
'Non-players' meaning Callum and Claudia, because they were basically the only two people not on the team that Coach Zhou allowed in the locker room. Callum often wondered if that had anything to do with who his and Claudia's fathers were in relation to KSU, but for once, he was not complaining about the privilege.
They waved goodbye to the team, with Callum rolling his eyes at his girlfriend's overly-dramatic wink that he could barely see through the mask of her helmet, then both proceeded to make their way out of the locker room and into the bleachers of the stadium's student section.
"So, what have you been up to lately?" Claudia asked as they sat down together. "We haven't had a real conversation since, like, Ezran's birthday party!"
Callum blinked. She was right. It was weird for them to go so long without even texting. "I've mostly just been slammed by assignments this week," he answered honestly. "Midterms are around the corner and I guess my professors are trying to make sure they cover all the content we'll need to know for exams."
Claudia cringed. "Ugh. Midterms. Don't remind me." Then she nodded. "But yeah, my professors are all loading on the work, too. I think Soren is starting to lose his mind - you know, more than he already has - because he has major senioritis for everything. Except football, of course."
Callum shrugged. "Well, I can't blame him for wanting to graduate and get out of here."
Claudia stared at him incredulously. "Seriously?" She shook her head. "No way. Callum, you were completely unaffected by senioritis in high school. Everyone kept saying that you'd been vaccinated for it. Or so went the rumors I heard, at least."
Callum rolled his eyes, recalling the nonstop teasing. All in good fun, of course, but still mildly irritating. "Right. Thank you very much for the reminder."
"Sorry. But come on. You're the last person I'd expect to understand senioritis."
"I mean, I don't understand it, per se. But I can sympathize with his frustration to get out of here, if not empathize with it." Rayla had explained the difference between empathy and sympathy to him at their latest weekly homework session. It had truly been an enlightening conversation.
Claudia rolled her eyes at his response, but she was smiling. "Alright, Mr. Smartypants. Flexing your girlfriend's knowledge. I see you."
He wasn't sure whether to be offended by or to take pride in her comment. The result was a strange combination of both.
"Anyways," Claudia continued, silencing her phone when it started ringing in her pocket, "far more importantly for us to address - do you, by any chance, have a new sketch to show me?"
Callum was almost certain that his eyes had genuinely lit up at her question, but he was too excited to feel self-conscious about his eager reaction. "Actually, yes!"
Claudia beamed at him. "Sweet."
Callum had finally finished his fusion of the Roman Colosseum and KSU's stadium. He'd labored on it for what - a month, a month and a half? Regardless, he was quite pleased with the finished product. He was especially proud of how he'd shaded the crumbling pieces of the Colosseum half. He'd shown it to his dad and Ezran a few days earlier, both of whom had sung his praises. And while he knew they'd done so just to be funny and overly theatrical, it had admittedly served as a pretty flattering ego-boost, thus he was not going to complain.
He'd hoped to show the completed piece to Rayla earlier that day, as he promised her she'd be one of the first to see, but the thought had slipped his mind. Still, he saw no harm in showing it to Claudia. She'd been his closest friend besides Ezran and now Rayla since - well, since forever.
"I've been working on this for a while," he said as he pulled his sketchbook out of his satchel, "and I'm pretty pleased with the end result. Which you know is a rarity for me, because I'm always too hard on myself."
Claudia snorted. "Yep, that you are." Then she wiggled her eyebrows. "But it's a long-term Callum original, you say? Too many millennia have passed since I've been privy to one of those!"
It was true - Callum often sketched only things that momentarily caught his attention, saving the energy required for long-term projects to be used on what he was assigned in his various art classes. Not that he didn't like or wasn't interested in what he did for class, because he definitely was, but still. It wasn't quite the same.
He'd sprayed the picture with a fixative to keep the charcoal from smearing, although he was aware that he needed to stop carrying it in his sketchbook if he wanted to submit it to KSU's art showcase in pristine condition. "Ta-da!" he said, carefully pulling out the picture. "I would tell you the title, but I have no clue what to call it yet, so for now it's Unnamed Work Number 4,732."
"Wow," Claudia said in awe as she stared at the drawing. "Callum, this is incredible!" She laughed. "I literally would never have realized it if you hadn't drawn this, but KSU's stadium really is weirdly similar to the Roman Colosseum. That's wild."
"Thank you," he said proudly as he tucked the picture back into his sketchbook. "And hey - awesome architecture is one of the more positive aspects of Rome's legacy."
"True that." Claudia checked her phone as it buzzed, rolling her eyes in exasperation as she dismissed the notification. "Ugh. Dad won't leave me alone." She shook her head. "Whatever. Moving on." She tucked her hair behind her ear. "So, what exactly inspired this rare long-term project for you? I'm assuming you did this independent of class, right?"
"To the second question, yes. And to the first… I was actually going to ask you about that."
"Cool. Hit me."
Callum took a breath, knowing full well that there was no reason for him to be as nervous as he was. Not that he was having any success in reassuring himself, though. "Do… Do you think I should submit this for the fall art showcase?"
Claudia gasped, then grinned at him. "Duh! Of course you should! I've been telling you that you need to submit something for ages now! And this drawing is perfect. It's beautiful, it's original, and it's very neat. There's no reason not to submit it."
"Do keep in mind that you telling me 24/7 to submit something was unnecessary on your part because there's only one showcase per semester and this is my first semester at KSU," he pointed out. "But… are you sure? You think this is good enough to be accepted?" Harrow and Ezran had assured him it was, but he wanted to hear it from… well, at least from another student, because Claudia was probably biased in his favor, too. He loved art more than anything, yes, but he was only a freshman, and he didn't really look forward to the sting of pain that would come with being rejected. He couldn't get his hopes up.
Claudia stared at him for a moment. Then she gave him a gentle smile. "Callum, you are an incredibly gifted artist. This sketch is beyond 'good enough' to submit." She lightly punched his arm. "You, sir, need to be more confident in yourself and in your abilities."
Callum could feel himself blushing at her compliment. "Aw. Thanks, Claudia."
"I mean it," she insisted. "You're so good. It's unfair to every other art student at this school how good you are. But no matter what, it is ultimately up to you whether or not you want to submit the sketch." She winked at him. "That said, and make sure this is on the record, I do think you should."
Callum nodded, feeling a surge of confidence rush through him. "Yeah," he agreed, sitting up straighter. "Yeah, I will submit it! The worst that can happen is I don't get in, so if that's the case, I'll just try again next semester." Art was about growth and learning from adversity - the universe was basically demanding that he submit the picture.
"Woo! There's my best friend!" Claudia cheered, giving him a high five. "It's going to be great, I promise you."
He found himself internally agreeing with her. It would be great. He couldn't wait to talk to Rayla about it! He still wished he'd shown her the picture earlier, maybe even on Wednesday during their homework session, but the onslaught of assignments they'd both received because of midterms had meant they'd been consumed by work the full two hours they were together. It was almost frightening how easily something could slip from his mind when he was stressed about school.
But he'd do it. He'd show her as soon as possible. Maybe she could even help him come up with a title?
Not long after they'd finished discussing the art showcase and his plans to submit a piece for it, the game started. Callum noticed that the crowd was much sparser than usual. Apparently KSU really was playing a lesser team. Although, it was also a midday game, so that probably deterred some fans, too.
Claudia seemed to pick up on his thoughts. "You should have seen the crowds last year. Or the lack thereof. Our o-line was awful, so Soren had to throw the football within, like, two seconds if he didn't want to be sacked, right?" She shook her head. "Ugh. It was terrible. The stadium was never more than halfway full - even at homecoming."
Oh, damn. That was really bad. And he didn't even know that much about football.
Callum felt his phone buzz in his pocket, which was surprising, because the three main people he talked to - excluding Ezran - were either at the game with him or playing in it.
Sonya: Are we still on to meet at Sadaf Café this afternoon to work on the renhist project?
Oh, right. He and Rayla had exchanged numbers with Sonya during the class when she'd joined their midterm group, afterwards making plans to get together outside of school to work on their presentation. They'd both been okay with Sonya picking the restaurant since she knew way more about what places served halal food than he or Rayla did. Wow. He couldn't believe it was already the day they'd agreed to meet up.
Eh. Time was an illusion.
Callum: sure! Rayla's playing in the game rn, but I'll remind her afterwards if she doesn't see this message lol
Sonya: cool
Sonya: what game?
Callum: football. she's a wide receiver
Sonya: nice. good for her
And Callum took that as the end of their conversation. Sonya wasn't incredibly talkative, though he suspected the more they got to know each other, the more she'd open up. Or so he hoped, at least.
Hm. Sonya was a sophomore, wasn't she?
"Hey," Callum said, catching Claudia's attention as he put his phone away. "Do you know a girl named Sonya?"
Claudia tore her attention away from the game, which spoke wonders about how uneventful it had to be if she was able to stop watching when it wasn't a timeout or a commercial break. "Hmm?"
"Sonya Jarboun? She's about my height, with kind of a punk aesthetic thing going on."
Claudia frowned. "Sonya. Sonya…" She snapped her fingers. "Ooh! Bright pink hijab? Wears a black ring?"
"Yes! That's her." He was pretty sure she wore a black ring. But the pink hijab was definitely a mark of her signature style.
"Mm… I mean, I kind of know her?" Claudia made a so-so gesture with her hand. "She's in my theatre class, but she kind of keeps to herself. The quiet type. Comes across as a little intimidating to people who've never interacted with her before." She glanced at him. "Why? How do you know her?"
"Rayla and I have Renaissance History with her," he explained, addressing her second question first. "And… er, no reason in particular, to be honest? She just kind of - kind of abruptly joined our group for the big midterm project? Not that I'm complaining, because she's been really cool so far and has actually pulled her weight in the assignment, which some people don't bother to do for group projects. It was just…" He struggled to articulate his point. "A little strange, I guess," was what he decided on. "Mostly because we didn't know her and had never talked to her until that day, when the project was assigned."
"I get the impression she just tends to do her own thing and doesn't put up with crap from anyone," Claudia mused. "It's kind of cool, actually. I might try to talk to her the next time I see her in class. I love making friends." She gave Callum a mischievous grin. "Is she single, by any chance?"
Callum stared at her. "What?"
Claudia rolled her eyes. "Callum, we have been over this. I experience romantic and sexual attraction to -"
"Oh my God, Claudia, no, that's not what I meant," he protested, his face growing red. "I'm not that stupid. But - But you barely know her? Who dates people they don't know?"
"90% of people with a half-decent internet connection," she pointed out. Which was… very accurate. Her phone then buzzed, and she glanced at the notification before rolling her eyes and ignoring whoever it was. Maybe Viren again. "Also, literally you. Everyone knows you fell for Rayla the moment you saw her!"
"Not true," he protested. He would argue it was at least the second time he saw her - in their first Renaissance History class together. "But touché. That said, I don't see any way of me finding out Sonya's relationship status without sounding like a creep or causing a massive misunderstanding with Rayla."
Claudia laughed, nudging him with her shoulder. "I know. I'm just kidding, Callum. I'm a big girl. I'll get to know her as a friend first."
Well, that was a relief.
The game continued to pass without much fanfare. There were plenty of impressive plays, of course, but a major factor of that was because the opposing team had virtually no defense to stop those plays from occurring.
"If we keep stomping them like this, we may not see Soren at all in the second half," Claudia said, absentmindedly braiding her hair over her left shoulder. "Which might make the game even more dull, but sacrifices have to be made."
Callum frowned, confused by her comment. He still didn't know too much about football, even though he was trying to learn more for Rayla's sake. "What do you mean?"
"Coach Zhou won't want to risk Soren getting injured," she explained. "Quarterbacks are hard to replace, for one, but also because if we've already crushed the other team to where they have no chance of catching up, then a lot of first-string players will probably be pulled to ensure none of them get hurt from something stupid. It's basically a means of guaranteeing that the best players stay healthy for the next game while also allowing second- and third-strings to actually have some time out on the field."
Huh. He learned something new every game.
Halftime came around and Callum got out his phone to scroll through Instagram. Ezran was hanging out with Aanya, as there were several videos on his story of them trying to bake… something. Every now and then Harrow could be heard in the background, reminding them about where they could find the fire extinguisher if they needed it.
Callum noticed that a 'Sonya J.' was newly recommended for him to follow, presumably because Sonya had been added to his contacts recently. She had a private account. He hesitated, then sent her a follow request.
Returning to his feed didn't reveal much new. Apparently people weren't posting much at 1:24 pm on a Saturday. Except Ezran. Again. He'd added a picture to his story of Bait balanced atop his hair while Aanya facepalmed in the background, flour all over the front of both their aprons.
He screenshotted that one to laugh at again later.
Callum then got a notification that Sonya had sent him a follow request, though she had not accepted his own. Fair enough. He, too, often liked seeing people's accounts before he allowed them to follow him, so after brief deliberation he granted her request.
He clicked on her profile, because although he couldn't see any of her posts, basic information about her account was still available. It said she only had one post - valid - and her bio simply stated: we don't know as much as we think we do.
Hmm. A little creepy.
The girl was hard to read.
Halftime ended, and thus the game resumed, so he put his phone away. He could learn more about Sonya another time, and in a way that didn't involve him stalking her social media like some weirdo.
Although Callum really did try his best to pay attention to the football game occurring before him, he couldn't stop his mind from drifting to all of his upcoming midterms. Mostly physics. He kept reviewing formulas in his head.
Of course, he glanced down at the field just in time to see a KSU jersey with 16 on it get bulldozed by a massive defender. He hadn't even realized he'd leapt to his feet, a pained cry of "Rayla!" escaping his lips as he did so, until Claudia threw her arm out in front of him to stop him from charging out of the stands and onto the field.
"Easy, tiger," she said, gently pushing him backwards. "Give her a second to get up. Rayla's tough."
Callum wanted to argue, but no sound came out. His mouth had never felt so dry. He knew Claudia was right. Rayla was tough, and besides, he couldn't charge down onto the field every time Rayla was tackled in a particularly nasty fashion. But still… something about this guy seemed off. The massive screen at the end of the stadium zoomed in on him helping Rayla to her feet.
Callum didn't miss the way his girlfriend winced and then glared at the player as he yanked her up, the defender squeezing her hand tightly before letting go.
Rayla went off to the sidelines, cradling her left arm to her chest. Seconds later, she and one of the team's health personnels - for lack of a better description on Callum's part - disappeared into the locker room.
"That bastard hurt her!" Callum snapped, turning to face Claudia. "Did you see that? Did you see what he did to her?!"
Claudia bit her lip. "It definitely looked like he might have injured her. But -"
"But nothing!" he interrupted, anger bubbling in his chest. "You saw it. He obviously hurt her hand, Claudia!"
"Okay. Whether that's true or not - which it probably is, don't get me wrong - you know you can't go anywhere until the game ends," Claudia pointed out. "So sit down, take some deep breaths, and get ready to wait. You've got another half hour, max. Plus" - she held up her phone - "I already texted Soren. He just got pulled out of the game, and he is getting us an update on her condition as we speak. Okay?"
He was incredibly lucky that Claudia was here to help him rationalize the situation, wasn't he? Which he would have found hilarious if he hadn't been so wracked by anxiety, since it was usually the other way around. "Right." He sat down. "Sorry. I guess I was overreacting. I'm just… really worried."
"Oh, you don't need to apologize." Claudia's grip on her phone tightened, and Callum could have sworn he heard the plastic case crack. "If that jerk did hurt her, intentionally or not, I'm going to rip him limb from limb."
Ah, there was the violent Claudia he knew and loved.
"Ugh, and my dad still won't stop texting me, either!" she grumbled as her phone began to buzz, pinching the bridge of her nose in exasperation. "I love him, but sometimes he needs to understand that Soren and I don't function solely on his schedule."
Callum frowned. "Does he need something from you guys?"
Claudia sighed. "He just keeps asking where we are, since we always try to eat lunch with him at the house on Saturdays, but we told him ages ago that Soren had a game today so we wouldn't be there. Not to mention that by now he really should know the football schedule by heart, because it was released at the beginning of the semester and Soren and I are constantly talking about upcoming games, but…" She shook her head, sighing again. "He can be ridiculously forgetful sometimes. It's so annoying."
Callum briefly wondered how it was possible that Viren didn't know his son's football schedule even though it was virtually the same every week, unless he was for some reason deliberately refusing to learn it, but he was distracted by his own phone buzzing before he could contemplate the thought any further.
Sonya: turned on the tv just in time to see Rayla being taken off the field
Sonya: want to reschedule the renhist meetup?
Callum: if you're okay with it, that'd be great. we currently don't know how hurt she is
Sonya: of course. lmk how she's doing when you find out. and text me the next date that works for you whenever you can
He responded with a thumbs up emoji before tucking his phone into his satchel. He turned back to Claudia to ask her a question, but stopped when he noticed how intently she was staring at her phone.
"Okay," she said after a pause. "Soren told me that she's fine. Her left middle finger is lightly sprained, but she has no other injuries. They put ice on it immediately, which is keeping it from swelling too much. Apparently it should be fully healed within one or two weeks."
Callum found himself breathing a heavy sigh of relief. "Okay. That's good." Rayla was going to be fine. She wasn't hurt badly.
"He also said that Rayla doesn't think the defender meant to hurt her," Claudia continued. "Apparently her finger was already 'throbbing' because she caught the football at a strange angle." Then she snorted. "But Rayla did say that the guy was kind of a jerk, because apparently he'd been trying to trash-talk her the entire night on the line since she's the only girl out of both teams."
Callum scrunched his nose in disgust. "Ugh. Yeah, he sounds like a total douchebag."
"Agreed. I'll tell Soren you said so."
"You don't have to - okay. Fine." It wasn't like he could stop her.
Thankfully, the game ended without further incident. As soon as the play clock hit zero, Callum and Claudia began hastily making their way towards the locker room. Callum was silently grateful that the crowd had been so small, plus at least half had already left at the beginning of the fourth quarter because of KSU's massive lead.
Inside the locker room, Rayla was sitting on a plastic red chair, her left arm propped up as a dark-haired woman was wrapping her finger. Soren and Felix were already standing on her other side, and they both beckoned the two over as they entered. The woman finished taping Rayla's finger before nodding and taking her leave.
"So, how's the patient?" Claudia asked as they joined the group.
"Terrible," Rayla grumbled at the same time Soren and Felix cheerily announced, "Great!"
"Okay, I'm picking up a slight lack of consensus," Claudia said, amused. "Let's go to the source. Rayla? How are you feeling?"
"I'm pissed!" she shouted, waving her hand angrily on instinct before wincing. "One to two weeks to heal? We play Neolandia in two weeks! I can't miss that game!"
Callum had no clue who Neolandia was, though the name did sound vaguely familiar. Still, he found himself almost scared to ask.
"Neolandia is our biggest rival," Soren explained, and Callum had to wonder if both he and Claudia could somehow read minds. "We've lost the past eight games we've played with them, but this year we actually have a solid chance of winning."
"And Rayla is our best wide receiver," Felix added. "If she can't play, it's going to make pulling off a win way harder."
"Thus, I am pissed," Rayla concluded. "And it's all because I mistimed my step and had to reach out at the last second with a one-handed grab. Stupid. How could I have been so stupid?!"
Callum hated seeing his girlfriend beat herself up like this. "To be fair, it couldn't have helped that the defender practically crushed your hand when he was helping you up," he pointed out. "So you shouldn't only blame yourself. That's not fair to you."
Rayla looked like she wanted to argue, but then she evidently changed her mind and instead nodded stiffly. "Yeah. That didn't help."
"But you're going to be fine!" Soren insisted. "The… new doctor lady -"
"Michaelyn."
"- Michaelyn, thank you, Felix, said that if you don't overexert that hand, you'll be back to normal in a week at the most. So all you have to do is chill for seven days. Easy peasy. The only game you won't play in is the one against Evenere - no big deal."
"It is a big deal!" Rayla protested. "That's still an entire week of practice I'll be missing out on. Practice that could be invaluable for the game against Neolandia."
Both Soren and Felix started to argue with her further, but they were cut off when their coach stepped into the locker room.
"Soren. Felix." He sent them a look, then stepped back out.
Soren and Felix proceeded to exchange tired glances, then followed him out. Claudia, her eyes glinting in curiosity, not-so-subtly tagged along.
Callum shook his head, feeling rather awed. "How do they do that?"
Rayla frowned. "Do what?"
He sat down on the bench her chair had been pulled next to. "Communicate without words. I could never manage it. Either tell me stuff straight or accept that I won't understand."
Rayla blinked, then laughed. "I've actually been wondering about that unspoken language myself. It's probably some football thing, and I just haven't been on the team long enough to pick it up yet."
"Eh. You'll get it eventually." Callum's gaze fell to her injured hand, noticing that her middle finger had been taped to her ring finger.
Rayla must have seen him staring, because she held up her hand to give him a better look. "It's called buddy taping. This will keep me from bending my sprained finger as well as allow it to heal faster. And correctly, of course."
Callum nodded, intrigued. "That's really cool."
Rayla gave him a strained smile, her hand falling back down to her lap.
"Hey," he said gently, reaching out to push her hair out of her face. "You can talk to me, Rayla. What's going on?"
She sighed. "It's nothing."
"It's obviously not nothing. You can't lie to me." He hesitated, unsure of whether or not he was in any place to rightfully ask his next question, but… "Did that guy say something to you? When he was… 'helping' you up?"
Rayla grimaced. "Ah… he may have had a few choice words for me. About being a girl. And… well, you know. Being Xadian."
Callum felt his chest seize in anger. "That asshole!" He slammed his fist onto the bench. "Can - Can you report him for harassment, or hate speech, or something? Literally anything? He doesn't deserve to walk away from that without facing any consequences!"
Rayla shrugged. "It doesn't matter. He was a dick, and I don't really care what does or doesn't happen to him. I'm sure karma will eventually come around."
Callum wanted to argue. He wanted to insist that there was no way in hell he could stay silent and complicit while someone like that got away without due punishment, but he could see a certain… ache in Rayla's eyes, and he knew outrage was not what his girlfriend needed at that moment.
"Okay," he finally said. "Consider him gone, then." He reached out, gently turning her chin to have her face him directly. "So what's really going on in your head?"
Rayla stared at him for a moment, then chuckled. "Wow. I can't hide anything from you, can I?"
Callum shook his head, unable to keep a smile off his lips. "Nope. You might as well confess."
She sighed. "It's honestly nothing, I swear. I just…" She trailed off, taking a deep, slow breath before she continued. "I feel so… frustrated that there's a chance, even though it's a ridiculously small one, that I won't be able to play in the game against Neolandia. And that game is - it's so important for everyone on the team! I have to be there for them! And I know I'll probably be fine and everything will work out but… What if it doesn't?" She absentmindedly ran her uninjured hand over the tape on her fingers. "I just… don't want to disappoint anyone."
Callum took a moment to collect his thoughts. This was eerily similar to Big Feelings Time, like when he and Ez were little and Harrow was trying to get them to be honest with him. "First, I think you need to listen to yourself," he said gently. "Everything is more than likely going to be fine, right?"
"I mean, yeah, but -"
"And," he interrupted, "even if it's not fine, no one is going to blame you for anything that happens, Rayla. Players get injured all the time, usually a result of something that's completely outside of their control. What you need to do is focus on what you can control - getting healthy. Do your best to get your hand in tip-top shape for the big game. That's all."
Rayla hesitated, then smiled at him, her violet eyes glimmering with relief and affection as some of the tension left her shoulders. "Thanks, sweet prince." She placed a soft kiss on his cheek.
"And, if you want to basically guarantee that you'll be okay for the game against Neolandia," he continued, pretending he wasn't blushing, "I do have a suggestion."
Rayla gave him a wary look. "Alright… What are you thinking?"
"Don't take part in football practice for five days. Go to the game against Evenere to cheer on KSU, but don't play. You can go back to practice the Monday after."
Rayla's jaw dropped, as if she couldn't believe what he was suggesting. He thought it was pretty logical. "You're kidding, right?"
Callum shook his head. "Nope. I know it's not ideal, but it will guarantee that your finger is healed in time for the game against Neolandia."
Rayla groaned. "Sometimes I really hate how rational you are."
He laughed. "Come on. Promise me you'll give my proposal a try."
She sighed, though the reluctance in her voice was obvious. "Fine. Whatever."
"I'd like to hear the words 'I promise'."
Rayla rolled her eyes. "Alright, alright. I promise I'll give your proposal a try. Nothing more."
"And I will hold you to that promise, young lady." Callum pushed her hair out of her face again. Then a thought occurred to him. "You know, I just realized that this little injury of yours isn't all bad." He carefully lifted her left hand, gently intertwining his fingers around hers, as if she only had four because of the two that were taped together. "See?" He grinned at her. "A perfect fit."
Rayla snorted. "Wow. I don't know if that's cute or morbid."
"Cute, preferably."
"Mm, I think I was leaning towards morbid."
He laughed, slowly releasing her hand. "Fine. Maybe it's a little morbid." His smile shifted into a smirk as a thought occurred. "But you know what, Rayla? I think I figured out the real cause of your injury tonight. And it's not because you misstepped to catch the football."
Rayla's brow furrowed in confusion. "What are you going on about?"
"I'm pretty sure you got hurt because you rejected my good luck kiss before the game."
She groaned, but she was smiling. "Alas. The curse of practicality strikes again." Then her smile widened into a grin, and she tapped her chin with her uninjured hand. "But I do recall mentioning a kiss for after we won the game. And we did win."
"Okay, you're not wrong there," Callum admitted. "Do you think a kiss to your finger would make it feel better?"
Rayla shrugged. "The Ibuprofen has started to kick in for that. But I think a kiss would make my lips feel better for sure."
Callum frowned, feeling like he was walking into a joke but not entirely sure how. "Are your lips hurt, too?"
"Oh, they'll hurt if you kiss me hard enough."
Callum was fairly certain that comment caused his brain to short-circuit and completely shut down. Not fully certain, of course, because he couldn't remember a single thing that happened in the ten seconds that followed.
Yeah, he was pretty sure he just sat there, completely frozen, trying to process her words.
Rayla was clearly trying - and mostly failing - to hold back her laughter. "I'm so sorry, Callum. I didn't - I didn't mean to break you."
Normally, Callum would have been embarrassed by her teasing, but hearing her laugh somehow made it all better. Happiness was his favorite look on her, and he was glad to help her forget her worries, even if just for a short time. Although apparently at the expense of some of his dignity.
Ah, well. Sacrifices had to be made.
He proceeded to silence his girlfriend by capturing her lips in a brief kiss. "Remind me of that idea," he said, winking at her, "some other time."
Rayla turned red, but the excited sparkle in her eyes glittered bright as ever. "Will do."
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I know Sonya wasn't really in this chapter but I love writing her lmao. She's so fun. Anyways! Rayla is injured, hmm? Curious, curious... ;) I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and thank you for reading!
