Chapter 2

The afternoon slowly came closer. Most of the students were not able to pay any attention to the last classes of the day. They were all too excited about the upcoming basketball game, or more likely the finals, which was in the very same afternoon. The basketball players had been allowed to skip the last few classes of the day, to get psyched and ready for the big final - it was the second year they had the chance to win the high school championship and this year the finals were played on their own school.

Finally people were let inside the gym, all the seats getting taken quickly by large groups of youngsters, all of them trying to position themselves, so they could get as good a view as possible. It didn't take long before every single seat was taken and all the students were packed inside the gym - Nevaeh included.

She really didn't want to be in there, but she was currently heavily guarded by Mrs. Long, who kept her eyes strictly on the young girl, who just sat on the edge of the auditorium with her eyes glued on the empty field in front of her. She wasn't interested in basketball at all, although she had to admit that she was more into it than football.

Emma sat beside Tiffany on the middle row. They were sitting just a few rows behind Jay. Emma sighed as she laid her head on Tiff's shoulder.

"I would pay to watch Jay all day long," Emma said in a dreaming way. Tiffany just shook her head.

"Come on, this is the finals and you're not even paying for it. Enjoy it while it's free."

"Oh, I am enjoying it… Every second of it."

"The match is not even started yet?"

"Whatever," Emma sighed and sat straight again. Music started playing and in came the black and red cheerleading squad.

"Look, there's Gail!" Tiff yelled, waving down at one of the cheerleaders, who waved back: "I bet she'll become head cheerleader next year, she's so talented!" Tiff was really excited about the game, but she still had time and energy to cheer for her friend. Emma started waving towards Gail the minute she spotted her, but Gail had already started on their routine, so she didn't wave back.

"Of course she will. She's so energetic, lithe and small. She would make a great head cheerleader!" Emma knew it would make Tiff happy, if she talked about someone else than Jay. So she did. Even though her eyes and mind were back at Jay already.

The basketball players from both teams began to invade the gym. All the students started cheering. Both teams gathered up around their own coach.

"Okay boys, you all know the impotency of this match, right?" the black and red coach asked his team.

"Yes coach!" they all yelled at the same time.

"This rivalry has been going on for too long and now it's time for it to stop and it's up to us. We have to win to show these bastards which the better team is!"

"Yes coach!"

"Now boys, who's the best?" the coach screamed as loud as his lungs allowed him.

"Rabies is!"

"Who?"

"Rabies!" they all jumped up and down in a circle to get fired up. The coach was so hyped that his red cap fell off and exposed the lack of short, grey hair.

Everyone got ready and took their positions, except for Mike. The coach pulled him back as he was about to follow his teammates.

"Captain, I'm counting on you. Don't fuck this up," the coach said, looking dead serious. Mike knew this match meant everything to his coach, but saying something like that right before the match started was just inappropriate. He would be even more nervous now, because of all the expectations. He was the captain of the team, he had to lead his team towards the victory.

"I won't coach," Mike said and nodded, before taking his place in the middle of the gym.

Mike looked right into the eyes of the captain of the other team. Both of them were smirking confidently.

"Trophy's staying here" Mike whispered loud enough for his opponent to hear.

"Forget it, I'm taking home the gold," the other captain replied.

"Are you ready?" the referee asked, looking from one to another. They both nodded. The referee blew his whistle, to signal that the match was about to start. He threw the ball in the air and both captains jumped to hit the ball in the direction of their own team. Mike got lucky and the whole school started cheering.

Nevaeh took a better look at the captain of her school's team.

"Oh God, not him," she muttered as she realized it was the guy with the stupid hat from earlier. She was about to get up from her chair, when her eyes locked with Mrs. Long's. She sat back down and crossed her arms: "Stupid game," she whispered to herself.

Nevaeh sat beside an old woman. She had short, white, curly hair and glasses. Her clothes were basically pale pink. She looked like a normal elderly, but something didn't fit her age though. She was hyped up, practically jumping up and down her seat. She threw her arms in the air and started screaming: "Go Mikey, you can do it! Show those brats how it's done!"

Nevaeh chuckled inside of herself, an old lady acting like that wasn't exactly an everyday experience.

Suddenly she stood up from her seat and started jumping and yelling even higher. Nevaeh turned her attention back at the game, just to discover that the guy with the stupid hat had scored.

Mike ran past the captain of the other team, making a 1-0 sign with his fingers. The purple team's blond captain just snorted and looked the other way, muttering to his teammates that the next score was going to be theirs, while glaring toward Mike from the corner of his eye.

Mike's teammate, Sheamus, ran over to him and patted his shoulder.

"Well done, Miz," he grinned. Mike just sent him a self-satisfied smile.

"Wow, Mike is indeed a good captain," Tiffany said, elbowing Emma, who looked at her right away. Tiff sent her a blaming look: "You're not listening to what I'm saying, are you?"

"Sorry," Emma apologized in a low tone, while her face turned red.

"Are you even watching the game?" Tiff asked blaming, crossing her arms over her chest. Almost automatically Emma's eyes turned toward the basketball field, before once again hitting on Jay, who was carefully watching the game just a few rows in front of them.

"I really want to, but it's hard when someone like Jay is sitting almost right in front of you," Tiff just rolled her eyes at Emma.

Mike jumped and was about to score again, when somebody suddenly grabbed his shirt and tugged him down, ruining his shot. He turned to see who it was, immediately meeting the smirk of the other captain as he sent him a vicious wink and he ran past him. Mike took a quick look at his surroundings, the other team was blocking the referee's vision, so he probably didn't see it.

"Hey referee, open your fucking eyes! This moron just ruined my shot on purpose!" Mike shouted, pointing at the purple team's captain.

"Watch your mouth or you're out of here!" the referee warned him and sent him a glare.

"Mizanin, stop whining and start playing!" The Rabies coach shouted.

Sheamus ran up to Mike again.

"Fuck him, Miz, we'll get back at him later," Sheamus assured Mike, receiving a slow nod from him. They got back to their positions and continued playing.

Captain Goldilocks kept cheating throughout the rest of the first-half. Mike and Sheamus went to their coach during half-time.

"Coach, they are fucking cheating! Do something about it!" Mike complained loudly.

"Yeah, they are constantly slowing us down, by tugging our shirts or pulling our arms!" Sheamus complained as well.

"The referee can't see it, I can't see, are you sure that you're not making this up? You can't just win the easy way. Now go out there and suck it up!" the coach demanded in a hard tone.

"Coach I can't take it anymore, I'm gonna punch that motherfucker the next time he…" Miek started, but the coach cut him off.

"Mike… If you wanna be the captain of the team and if you don't wanna spend the rest of the match sitting next to me, then go out and play, stop whining like a little girl! This is a man's sport. Now go out there and win!" Both Sheamus and Mike rolled their eyes as soon as they had turned their backs towards their coach.

They ran beside each other towards the rest of the team.

"I swear, if he as much as brushes me again, I'll rip his head off!" Mike whispered to Sheamus, before getting into position.

Second-half began. At first everything went fine, but when Mike was about to jump, someone grabbed his shirt and pulled him back. Mike immediately turned around and threw the ball as hard as he could right in the face of captain Goldilocks. It hit him right on the nose and it started bleeding.

"That's it, I'm gonna kill you!" Mike screamed, striking Goldilocks as hard as he could on the side of his head.

Both teams stood in a circle around them, so it was hard for the coaches and the referee to see what was going on or more importantly, to get in and stop them.

One of the boys from the other team grabbed Mike's arm and was about to pull him away from his own captain, when Sheamus grabbed the boy and pushed him away.

"I'm going to make sure that you'll never play again!" Mike kicked Goldilocks with all of his power right between the legs. He immediately fell to the ground crying. Mike put on a smirk and looked around at the other players. No one dared to get involved, but luckily for Goldilocks, the coaches and the referee finally got to them. Mike was just about to kick the captain again, when his coach grabbed him and hold him from behind.

"Let go of me!" Mike screamed, desperately trying to wrench his way out. The referee and the other team's coach checked up on Goldilocks. They got him up on his feet and the referee got him out of the gym.

The other coach got toe to toe with Mike. Mike's coach was still holding him.

"You sick son of a bitch, what the hell is wrong with you?" the black and purple coach yelled Mike right into his face.

"Your team was cheating!" Mike replied, still trying to get out of his coach's firm grip.

The other coach continued yelling at Mike.

Tiffany and Emma were curiously watching what was going on. Emma took a quick look at Jay, to see his expression. He wasn't standing like the rest of the audience. He was sitting on his chair with his arms crossed over his chest and a small pout crossing his lips. He was shaking his head, looking disappointed.

"I'm going to make sure tha…" he stopped in the middle of his sentence, when Mike suddenly spit him right in the face. Everybody gasped loudly. The other coach stood for a second, not saying anything. He was even more shocked than Mike's own coach. Mike glared towards the purple coach, as his own began to drag him back to the changing room.

Nevaeh figured it was now or never. Mrs. Long was looking the other way, to watch what was going on in the middle of the gym, so now she had an opportunity to escape. She got up and made her way through the crowd. The only ways out were pass Mrs. Long or through the boys changing room. Of couse she chose the second.

As Nevaeh tiptoed her way through the corridor towards the changing room, she heard someone yelling really loudly, but she couldn't hear exactly what the person was saying. She sneaked closer and peeked from behind a wall, to see what was going on inside the changing room. Her eyes widened as she saw the school's basketball coach slap Mike right across the face. Mike's body didn't move an inch, only his head turned to the side. He slowly turned it back to its original position and continued glaring at the coach.

"I'm disappointed in you… Really disappointed," the coach said, shaking his head, before exiting the room.

Mike cursed and took off his shirt. Nevaeh cocked her head a little, to take a better look at his bare upper body. His arms were pretty big and his chest was wide. He was pretty lean and his 6 pack abs was completely symmetrical. All in all he was actually pretty good looking.

Nevaeh looked behind her, to see if anybody was close. No one in sight. She peeked inside the changing room once again, seeing something she hadn't expected. She nodded her head in approval, thinking he would fit great as Mr. Long.

Mike went inside the shower and Nevaeh ran through the changing room quickly, not to be seen.

The next day

Mike sat at the table at home, eating his breakfast. He ate it as slow as he could, enjoying every second of the time he had at home. He didn't want to go back to school, everybody hated him after yesterday's incident, because of him they had lost the trophy by disqualification. Well, actually he was used to being hated, but everybody hated him even more now. He just couldn't deal with it at the moment. He knew if he went to school and somebody got in his face, he would hit them and then he would get expelled and he didn't want that, not after all the trouble his grandmother had went through the day before. She had talked to the principle for hours, just to convince him to let Mike stay. She won at last, but Mike ended up getting kicked off of the basketball team and he had to go to some sick summer camp to improve his grades and to make up for his behavior. And last but not least, he had to visit the school psychologist at least one hour per week, after the summer vacation. It was his last chance.

"Do you want more pancakes, Mikey?" Mike's grandmother, Elaina, asked.

"No thanks grandma, I think I'm good with this," he said in a calm tone, sending her a smile.

"Oh, my little angel," she kissed him on the top of his head and gave him a hug.

"I love you grandma," he whispered, closing his eyes and nuzzling the side of his head against her shoulder.

"I love you too, Mikey," she let go of him and messed her hand gently around in his hair: "Are you ready for school?" Mike looked uncomfortable getting that question. Grandma Elaina knew what was wrong. She wanted to let him stay at home, but she knew he had to go or else he would get kicked out.

"I…" he sighed and got up from his chair: "Guess I am." Elaina sent him a cheering smile.

"Why don't you go to bed and sleep for another hour? I'll call the principle and tell him that you're at the dentist and will be back right after."

"You don't have to do that, I can just…"

"Go to bed. I'll see you in an hour or two, okay?"

"Okay," Mike nodded and smiled. He gave his grandmother a hug, before he went upstairs to his room.

He threw himself on his bed and closed his eyes. He was lucky to have such a sweet grandma, she would do anything for him, even though she knew how he was like in school.

His parents had died in a car crash, when he was just a little boy, so he didn't really know them. He had lived with his grandma for as long as he could remember.

He remembered the first time he had got in a fight. He was in playschool. Everybody had picked on him back in kindergarten, because he didn't have any parents. Then one day in playschool, one of the other kids had teased him with not having any parents and he just snapped. He hit the kid as hard as he could and kicked him and threw stuff at him, right until a teacher appeared. The principle called Mike's grandmother and told her about how naughty Mike had been and that she had to pick him up, because the other kids were scared of him. He remembered his grandmother picking him up and taking him home. She sat down with him on her lap and started asking why he had hit the other boy. Mike had started crying insanely and he was inconsolable. Elaina had hugged him tightly and told him that it was okay and that everything was going to be fine. Then an hour later he had told her why he had done it and she told him she understood why he was upset and that she would talk with the other boy's mother and make sure it would never happen again. She did talk to the other boy's mother, but now that the other boy knew how to make Mike sad, he continued pushing him over the edge, because he thought it was fun. Every day was a battle for both Mike and Elaina. She had to pick him up from school almost every day and he would be crying and apologizing to her for not being a good boy. He told her he tried, but it was hard when the others picked on him all the time. The other mothers questioned Elaina's parental skills and told her to find another school and a foster family for Mike and a nursing home for herself. She got pissed off at them and told them to shut the fuck up. That was the only time Mike had ever heard his grandma swear.

After that, she found another school for Mike, but it was too late for him to change. He had become a bully himself. His grandmother was perfectly aware of the fact that Mike was a brat at school, but she also knew that he was the sweetest and most fantastic kid in the whole world. She loved him like he was her own child and he loved her like she was his own mother.

At some point Mike had fallen asleep, because he was roused by a loud knock on his door and his grandmother's voice calling from behind it. Sighing, he got up and packed his bag. Only seconds after that, he was standing in the doorway, giving Elaina a last hug. She kissed his cheek, before leaving him to himself. Mike reached for his hat, which lay on the shelf over the coat racket. He stopped and took a good look at the hat in his hands.

"You look ridiculous with that ugly-ass hat!" the voice of the black haired girl from yesterday suddenly appeared in his mind. Carefully Mike placed the hat on his head, taking a look at himself in the mirror hanging on the wall next to the racket. And while looking at his reflection staring back at him, the thought crossed Mike's mind for the first time - he actually looked pretty ridiculous with that thing on his head. Even though Sheamus always seemed to like it and was constantly telling him that it looked good on him… A guy like him could easily be wrong.

Mike ended up throwing it back on the shelf. With a small smile crossing his lips, he pressed down the door handle and pushed the door open.

When Mike finally arrived at the school's ground, he couldn't help himself from stopping at the gates, just to stare at the building in front of him. A few students were walking around the school yard, every single pair of eyes sending Mike either an annoyed or disappointed glare. He just glared right back at them.

Suddenly a hand landed on Mike's shoulder, making him jump. He turned and got face to face with a proudly grinning Sheamus.

"Hey fella," Sheamus said in a happy tone and started to direct Mike towards the school's front door.

"Hey Sheamus," Mike replied without showing any kind of emotion.

"You know what, Miz?"

"No?" Mike looked at Sheamus once again, raising his eyebrow.

"It was awesome what you did to captain sissy. The whole school is talking about it! He sure got what he deserved!" Sheamus laughed as they stood right in front of the door. Mike just gave him a grin, even though he didn't totally agree with him. Captain Goldilocks indeed got what he deserved, but still he wished that he could go back in time, to prevent himself from doing what he did.

A/N – LoveToTheCucumber: Sorry, I wanted to update this earlier, but things always got in my way xD Here is the 2nd chapter, hope you enjoyed it :) (-It's my entire fault, don't blame Pixi!)

Pixiella's A/N: For some reason I find it weird that this chapter didn't take as nearly as long as the first one and it's no as long either.. Or maybe it's just me, I have a bad habit of making things ridiculously long some times. XD

I really like this chapter, especially the part where the other teams captain get hit by the ball and attacked by Mike.. For various reasons I at the moment I first red this chapter through I imagined him looking like Zac Efron. And so hilarity ensued.. He should have been an Efron clone but a Goldilocks also works very well. He is a pretty boy, after all.

Anyway. Thank you to all who red and reviewed the first chapter, really appreciate your reviews and that you took time to read and review such a long chapter. Also huge thanks to everybody who alerted, favorited and subscribed the story, you guysgirls are awesome and rock our socks off~ XD

Now.. Since you got this far reading this chapter, you can as well press the Review button at the bottom and share your thoughts. Appreciate all kind of feedback. :DD Until we meet again (and honestly, I don't know when that is going to be, I'm busy as hell and the next chapter is all mine so it might AGAIN take some time..), love and peace out~ o/