"Why do you seem to hold such a grudge against the other team? I've heard of rivalry but yours seem somewhat personal."
"It seems like it because it is." I told him simply with a scornful tone.
"Am I going to have to ask a question each time just to get one sentence out or do you want to talk about it?" he asked and his tone was a mixture of seriousness and playfulness.
"I'm alright about telling the story but you have to make sure you don't mention it to anyone on my team, especially not Tyce."
"Tyce as in the second striker?"
"Yeah, him. He doesn't seem it, but that's guy's actually really sensitive and he's also bi but more on the gay side than straight."
"That guy's gay?" Drew's eyes widened in surprise. "I never would've guessed."
"Precisely my point. Tyce is really sensitive about it and he won't talk about it to anyone but me because of something that happened to him at his previous school which also happens to be the one that we're playing against tomorrow." I sighed. "Tyce used to be on their soccer team, but a year and a half ago, his sexuality got found out and they practically bullied him out of the school. He was suffering and he was also kicked off of the team at that school because the coach didn't want a gay guy to be in it. Their coach is just as narrow minded as the rest of the team and that school has the worst reputation for their advantage taking guys."
"Advantage taking?"
"Arrogant, obnoxious, impossible to stand and just total dicks in general." I grumbled. "We'd played their school for practice matches on several occasions and during one game, I noticed that Tyce wasn't there anymore. So I asked their players where he was. They told me that they kicked him off of a team while they were laughing. Once I'd found out why they kicked him off of the team, I was furious and I punched their coach."
"That sounds just like something you'd do," he chuckled.
"Shut up." I huffed in embarrassment. "Anyway, I got suspended for a few days and during that time, I sought out Tyce and persuaded him to join our school and team instead. He was a good player and I knew that he had a passion for soccer. Our coach knew it as well so he backed me up and recruited Tyce. Our team took a couple of days to accept Tyce but they never dared to bully him about it because of me being around. Soon enough they just let it slide because Tyce is a great guy and a great contribution to the team. It didn't matter that he liked guys, he wasn't sneaky about it and it wasn't like he checked any of the guys out or anything in a gross way. We've gotten to the point where there'd be times when we'd occasionally joke about it but it was a friendly banter type of way. Our team is pretty accepting."
"They'd have to be considering they have a girl as their captain."
"You have a point there." I grinned wryly.
"That must have been an awful time for him, being kicked out because of his sexuality I mean."
"Yeah, Tyce took it pretty hard and he got into a few fights outside of school as well." I sighed. "Now, whenever we play against Carlton High, they always make snide comments to try and get our tempers flaring. And not to brag, but our school also have the most attractive bunch of girls on our cheer squad."
"Well I have to agree on that I think."
"Any of them catch your eye?"
"No, it just surprised me, that's all," he shrugged nonchalantly.
"So yeah, even you agree that they're gorgeous, and that brought a lot of male attention from all soccer teams but the guys from Carlton High are the only ones who've put their filthy hands on our girls. I might have said that they'd be glad to offer themselves, but even they have their limits and they all know that Carlton High is bad news."
"So all in all, they're a disgraceful school."
"They also rarely play by the rules. They pay people and the referees to guarantee their wins. That soccer team is the most corrupt I've ever encountered and they play really rough. No one ever has any hope of playing a clean game if they're involved." I sighed and took another mouthful of coke. "They also hate and look down on the fact that there is a school that has a female soccer captain. They think that it's a joke."
"What about other schools?"
"Other schools thought so too, until they played a game against us." I smirked proudly.
"Ah, so we've hit the pride," he laughed.
"I love my soccer team and I'm not going to let Carlton High bring them down with their filthy tactics. We're going to wipe their smirks off their faces for sure and make them regret everything they've done against our school." I declared. "I need to put the faith back into my team before I leave again. Thanks to the combination of my sudden departure and the cancellation of the game, their spirits have plummeted."
"You'll win the game."
"What?" I blinked at him in surprise.
"You'll win that game tomorrow," he told me seriously. "Because that's just how you are. If they have you as their captain, there's no way they'll lose no matter what dirty tricks the other school tries to use. And don't forget, you have one heck of a group of supporters behind you."
I blinked at him for a few moments before a soft smile spread across my face. I stood up from my chair and walked towards him. I leaned down, tucked my hair behind my ear with one hand and kissed him gently on the cheek. "Thank you for your trust." I whispered into his ear before straightening up and patting his shoulder. "I'm going to get some sleep or else I'll pass out on the field. Now that would be bad." I smirked.
"Goodnight Valentine," he told me with a smile.
I threw the empty can into the recycling bin before taking a quick shower to get the mud and dirt off my skin before getting into bed. I could vaguely hear the soft voices emitting from the TV and that was what I fell asleep to.
The next morning my alarm rang and I sat up dozily whilst rubbing my eye with one hand and ruffling my hair with the other. I yawned and stared at the time for a moment before putting on the radio. Eventually I got up and headed for the shower. After that, I got changed into my kit except for the team shirt which was with the coach. When I heard no movement coming from Drew's room, I knocked on the door loudly and I heard the slight rustling of bed sheets.
"Oi Ozera, if you're not up and ready and out of the room within twenty minutes, I'm leaving without you." I called out and headed into the kitchen to make something to eat. Thankfully, because I'd told Ana and Louise that I would be back for the weekend, they made sure to have food in my fridge. I fried some eggs, bacon, sausages, mushrooms and tomatoes as my breakfast and fifteen minutes later, Drew stumbled into the kitchen looking a little grumpy and his hair was still dripping slightly from the shower that he just had. Despite looking so tired, I noticed with amusement that his clothes were still impeccable and somewhat neat. "Do you want something to eat?"
"I'll just have coffee," he shook his head and headed to the counter to make it. He didn't sit down and seemed to settle for leaning against the counter instead while he waited.
"Did you sleep well?"
"That bed was much better than the school ones. But I guess that it's to be expected considering how rich you must be," he yawned.
"I'm not that rich… probably…" I drifted off lamely.
"That was a terrible attempt to lie," he chuckled and ran a hand through his hair. "How did you sleep? You didn't have a nightmare did you?"
"No, I didn't. Thanks for asking." I smiled appreciatively. I quickly washed everything that was used and left it out to dry. "You ready to see a brutal game of 'who's the best'?" I asked cheekily as I picked up my keys.
"It'll be interesting to watch I reckon," he nodded and he followed me out of the flat. I made sure to lock up and I drove with record speed without breaking any rules to the stadium where our game was being held. I made sure that Drew was picked up by a Guardian before heading off to my team.
"Well if it isn't the chick of Rokfurd High?" a voice sneered as both teams walked through the corridor which was separated by a short barrier.
"If it isn't the dickless tools of Carlton High?" I retorted with an equally nasty voice.
"Why you -!" he raised his fist and I caught it firmly in my palm before he could hit me.
"I'd be careful Pete, one hit is all it'll take for this game to be cancelled permanently which would certainly be a shame. I'm looking forward to humiliating you guys once and for all."
He yanked his fist back and shot me a dirty look before his entire team stormed out of the corridor onto the playing field.
"Well, this is it guys. It's time to kick their asses." I told my team with a determined voice. "Let's show everyone just who's better."
"We'll show them who has the last laugh in the end." Tyce nodded in agreement with scorn in his eyes.
"They're going to regret everything they've done." I whispered to him as I clamped my hand on his shoulder.
"I know they will Kai, thanks for always having my back."
"My pleasure." I smiled softly and when the doors opened once again, we took that as our cue to go out onto the field. The cheers and screams that filled the stadium was almost deafening and we started off with our warm ups which included running, stretches and passing the ball around before moving on to more complicated drills.
Ten minutes later, the real game began and just as we'd all anticipated, Carlton High definitely was not playing by the rules. Not fully. And from the biased way that the referee was judging, it was clear that Carlton High had once again paid them to ignore their rule breaking. Of course, our school was better trained and despite the rough way the opposition played, we still had the upper hand. By half time we were at a draw of 3-3. And by half time, we were also down by two players because of injuries.
"Kai, are you okay?" Tyce asked worriedly as he inspected my arm which was nearly snapped had I not managed to avoid the worst of the blow.
"I'm fine, it's just a scratch." I reassured him.
"But -"
"Tyce, keep your mind on the game and not on my injuries. I'm fine." I told him sternly. "Those bastards have no hope of bringing me down."
"Be safe Kai, I don't want anything to happen to you," he told me seriously and took my face gently in his hands.
"I've told you Tyce, I'm one heck of a toughie." I smiled and tugged his head down to kiss his lips gently in reassurance. I wasn't sure how nor why, but Tyce and I had somehow reached some kind of a friendship that included kisses on occasion like this. It was our way of seeking comfort during difficult times and Tyce certainly needed to know that I was fine. Although I said that, I knew that I would have to take it easy with my arm once I returned to the Academy. Anything strenuous would definitely cause my arm to fracture and that would not be a good idea.
"Kai?" I turned my head to see Quinn stare at me with wide eyes. "Sorry, am I interrupting something?"
"Don't worry about it, Tyce was just being a worry wart." I teased my teammate and he blushed. "Tyce, meet Quinn, he's alright."
"We'll see you back on the field." Tyce nodded and gave Quinn a grin in greeting before heading out.
"Are you two… um… involved?" Quinn asked awkwardly.
"Me and Tyce? Nah."
"But you just kissed, or are you one of those girls?"
"No Quinn, I'm not a slut." I rolled my eyes. "Tyce is a different and complicated case. It was a kiss of reassurance, nothing more, nothing less." I shrugged. "So what's up? Shouldn't you be up in the stands?"
"I thought I'd come to offer some help. We all saw that attack on you which definitely should've been a foul."
"It can't be helped. Carlton High is full of cheaters." I shrugged again.
"Well, this should make the injury ache a little less," he said and knelt down in front of me as he held his hands over my arm. I felt something wet along my skin and I noticed that he was using magic to sooth the injury.
"Quinn!" I pulled my arm back in surprise.
"It's fine, the Guardians approved of it," he smiled and took my arm again. A few moments later, I could barely feel the pain.
"Thanks." I smiled gratefully as I flexed my shoulders. "I have to go."
"Be careful out there."
"The game is just starting Quinn, everything is down to the second half and the final quarter." I winked and dashed out onto the field again.
As I'd predicted, the game really did pick up. The violence spiralled up another level and yet neither of the two referees called any of it. Another member of our team had to be sent off of the pitch because of an injury and we only had one reserve left who would be remotely good enough to play against Carlton High. Just as we were down to the last twenty minutes there was another injury and we were stumped. I finally realised their plan and I cursed under my breath several times. They were trying to knock down our numbers to the point that there had to be a forfeit.
I warned everyone that they had to avoid heavy injuries no matter what, even if it meant losing the ball to the other team. By the final fifteen minutes I made an instinctive move and saved Tyce before they could snap his leg. I made the decision of tackling my own teammate and I got into the middle of the crash. I cried out in pain as I felt the impact of the soccer boots colliding into my calf.
"Kai!" Tyce shouted and this time the referee had no choice but to call it as my coach instantly ran onto the field towards me as did a couple of the Guardians.
"Kai!" Ali called out and inspected my leg.
"Get off of the pitch!" I shouted at him and shoved him away.
"Kai, you need to get to the doctors."
"Didn't you hear me the first time? Get off of the freakin' pitch!" I growled at him and for the moment it didn't matter to me that he was my childhood friend. What mattered the most right now was the game and I didn't care for anything else. I was taken to the side of the field where people fawned over my injury. "Coach, give me a bottle of disinfectant and some bandages!"
"Here," he handed them over to me efficiently. I rolled down my sock and without another thought poured the disinfectant over the injury. It was a horrible gash but because of my dhampir heritage, I was tougher than an ordinary human and that saved my leg.
"You see, this is why girls shouldn't be allowed to play soccer, you should just quit while you're ahead little Kylie." Pete sneered down at me and roughly grabbed my chin with his hand.
"Don't you dare touch her!" Tyce growled and shoved him away roughly.
"Wow, to think that the faggot has turned straight, you must be good in bed Kylie. Shame you don't go to our school." Pete said loud enough for his team to hear and they all laughed with him.
"You -!"
"Tyce!" I commanded and he froze before he could hit Pete. "Don't let him win again." I stared at him levelly. The coach helped me wrap the bandage tightly around my leg and I forced myself to stand.
"Kai, you should sit out, we'll forfeit this," the coach whispered.
"No." I hissed through gritted teeth. "We'll win this, we got this far, we'll definitely win this." I told him.
"I'm quitting this game; you have to go to the nurse Kai!" Tyce growled and tried to pick me up but I smacked his hands away.
"Are you just going to run away?" I shouted at him. "You're just going to crawl back into that pathetic hole of yours?"
"Kai, your wellbeing is more important than -"
"There is a time when a man should swallow their pride and just concede but this isn't one of them." I glared at him. "You walk away right now and you'll just be showing them how weak you are. Show them that you're no longer the same person Tyce. We didn't accept you onto our team for being a loser who'd turn his back on us at the last moment. We let you onto the team because of your skills and your determination to kick their ass. So get that ass of yours back here and let's continue with the game!"
Tyce watched me with pained eyes for a moment and I simply glared at him. Both of us refused to back down for a moment before his passion for the game set back into his eyes and he let out a heavy sigh. "You are so troublesome," he groaned and ran a hand through his hair.
"You're just as bad." I scoffed and held out my fist.
He stared at me for a moment before knocking his fist to mine and before we withdrew, the rest of our team knocked their fists into the middle and we all had stupid grins on our faces.
"We've got your back Kai so don't push yourself over the edge, captain," left wing Drake winked at me.
"Alright everyone, we can't afford to have any more injuries so you better all remain on field until the end!" I commanded.
"Yes captain!" they all hollered before running back onto the field. As I walked back to the centre of the field, I gestured at the cheer squad and they all turned their attention to me.
"Hey Cher!"
"How're you holding up Kai?" she called back.
"I'm good but hoping to go out with a bang. Do you remember what we talked about before?"
"You mean 'Countdown'?"
"Yeah, that!"
"Alright, but you better make sure you are able to go to the after party at the end of the game!"
"You can count on it." I smirked at her with a wink.
Cher proceeded to call on the necessary people required for tactic 'Countdown' which included Rokfurd High's prided cheer squad, instrumental band and singers. Tactic Countdown was something that helped us take awareness of the time we had left and there were three songs involved for this game: 3 by Britney Spears, Gives You Hell by the All-American Rejects and finally Express from Burlesque by Christina Aguilera.
As soon as my team saw and heard the beginning of the song, they all stared at me in shock before determined smirks covered each of their faces.
"You know Pete, you're so going down. You're going to wish that you never messed with us." I smirked at him. "If you thought that our school was hot before, you've got another thing coming."
As soon as the whistle blew for the start of the game, I passed the ball and before Pete could go forward, I blocked his way and a second later Tyce pressed up against my back which affectively sandwiched me between the two guys. In Pete's moment of shock, I slipped past him and dashed straight for the ball. Before the song was up, we scored two goals.
"That was dirty." Pete licked his lips with a leering smile as he watched the way my hips slide from side to side to distract him.
"Well, I just thought that it was about time we played on the same level." I winked with a mocking grin. "You'll love the next song."
By the end of the second song we got another goal and now we were winning by two goals. When 'Express' came on, the ball was back to the centre and I upped the game even more with my distraction by swaying even more to the song with its somewhat erotic tune and I even let my hair down. Instead of facing the opponent like I usually did, I faced my team and bent down sensually with my butt in the air and I clicked in time with the music to tell my team how many more goals we had to get. After clicking twice, I swiftly passed the ball and it took a moment for the other team to respond because a lot of them had been distracted by both our cheerleaders and myself in the centre of the field.
"That was some dirty swaying you had going there." Pete whispered gruffly into my ear as he grabbed my waist from behind. "Even so, you're still going down Kylie."
"Well now Pete, I think I'm going to agree with you for once." I smirked and shimmied down his body before stealthily spinning around him and running for the opposition's goal. I ignored the ball because I had faith in my team to get it there in time and I was right. Time was running out and there was one more goal to get. When the whistle rang through the pitch once more to signify the start of the two minutes extra time, I threw my top off knowing that those who weren't expecting it would most likely look. Of course, I was wearing a tank top version of our team shirt underneath and my team knew that. The reaction time of the opposition was reduced by nearly twenty seconds and that was what mattered. For this last move, every team member moved forward, including the keeper. The opposition's defence was always the strongest in the final moments and this game was no different.
I knew that Rokfurd High's team was more disciplined compared to the other team regardless of the number of people within a small area and we used that to our advantage. Carlton High was in total shambles by now and desperate to try and get at least one more goal in to make their defeat less humiliating. The final move was down to me as the striker, the opposition's keeper and Tyce. The ball was passed into the massive empty space between the keeper and I and the both of us instantly ran for it.
Instead of heading for the ball however, I headed for the keeper. At the last second before we collided, I turned my back on him and caught the ball first. His back was entirely defenceless and with my left foot I kicked the ball to the right corner of the goal. It wasn't going to go in and everyone knew that. The opposition simply laughed and the keeper did too. At least, that was until they finally noticed Tyce who chipped the ball with a slide tackle.
This move was one that required speed and above all, trust. I had to believe that Tyce would get there in time no matter what. Not to mention, it would've been easy enough for Tyce to accidently miss the ball if he was using a slide tackle as the final attack. Also, this attack required all attention to be drawn to me, in doing so, they would naturally miss the fact that there was another attacker heading to the goal. If they hadn't been completely fixated on me at first, the attack wouldn't have worked as well as it did. But we'd practiced this and we trusted each other's skills. And that was how we won.
8