Dedicated to all of my lovely reviewers, and Iggy, who barely shows up in this chapter at all. =P Also, to The Seagull, who sent me a postcard! Yay! =P
I remembered what I forgot in the last chapter! Yay TMI! So I know how this is supposed to be all sparkly and normal high schoolers, but imma had a brilliant plot twist idea. Would any of you hate it if they got wings? And there was some angsty depressing scientist stuff? Cause I'm itching to follow through with that idea... I'm just a dark girl at heart. =P
And I'm curious about something else that's totally unrelated. How old do you guys think I am? Nine? Fifty two? Seventeen? Twenty-six? I'll give you a hint: I'm legal fanfiction age for an account, but below age sixty. Is that an interesting enough range? XD
OH! And I don't know if it'll show up, but I tried a new format on this chapter. PurpleTea88, if you're reading this, I've been working to find out why the format is so sketchy. If it works, do you guys like this better?
MPOV
I sighed, running a distracted hand through my messy hair. Ella and Nudge stopped their chatter from the other side of the locker room and glanced at me knowingly. "Max II's reply still bothering you?" Nudge guessed. I nodded, leaning down to open my PE locker. "What exactly happened?" she pried, sounding curious.
I halted my fingers on the combination lock, turning to face Nudge. "He got mad when I told him about soccer practice," I explained wearily, not wanting to relive our conversation. "Said something about me being selfish, rude, and uncommitted to my decisions. I got mad and spat something back at him. He left," I summarized shortly.
Ella winced. "That stinks," she told me gently, pulling her hair into a ponytail. I shook my head.
"No, it's okay. I'm just glad that he showed me how he really feels before I wasted too much time on him," I replied, tugging off my jeans and throwing them in my locker. I picked up my shorts and started putting them on before I continued. "I always knew that soccer is a better boyfriend than any guy. I should stick with my sport."
"What? No, Max!" Nudge protested, her shirt halfway on. Suddenly, her head popped out of the neck hole, and she glared at me fiercely. "You can't think like that! There are nice guys in the world! Max II just wasn't the right one!"
"You're just glad you didn't have to go to the dance!" Ella accused, looking scandalized. I smiled impishly and said nothing as I adjusted my shorts. "Maximum Riesra Ride! That is unacceptable!" she shrieked. I grinned in reply, slamming the door to my locker and whirling around on the bench.
"Ella Louise Martinez!" I teased, pulling on the rest of my equipment. Ella opened her mouth to retort something, but she was cut off by the door swinging open. We all watched as five girls entered together. A couple of them looked shy, but the majority were laughing and shoving each other as they came in. I didn't recognize anyone except Sadie Davis, who was in my algebra class. However, Ella and Nudge squealed greetings to everybody by name. I rolled my eyes, smiling slightly as I began to tie up my shoe laces.
To say that Max II had gone ballistic when I informed him about soccer practice would be an overstatement. However, to say that he had kindly accepted it and gone off to romp in a field of buttercups would be a complete understatement.
Thankfully, he hadn't been as angry as Ella was when I stole her signed copy of Harry Potter and accidentally smeared raspberry jam all over the majority of the book. But, Max II had definitely been pretty upset. I still clearly recalled the event from lunch earlier today, unfortunately.
We had gone outside somewhat awkwardly, and I stood there, staring him down and trying to think of a nice way to word this. Max II was happy enough to stare back, but after awhile he broke the silence. "Max?" he prompted. "You wanted to tell me something?"
"Umm, yeah," I agreed. "Well, you know how you asked me to the dance?"
"Yep," Max II replied, looking excited. "I can't wait!"
Oh great. Now I felt even worse than I did before about the whole thing. I really shouldn't agree to going to dances with guys. It never works our anyway. "I'm really sorry, but I can't go anymore," I said really quickly. Max II's smile froze, and it looked like he had gone into shock.
"What?" he managed to ask. I winced at the sound of his voice. He seemed to be struggling to speak.
"I can't go with you to the dance," I repeated, trying to be gentle. It was kind of difficult, actually. I'm not the gentlest person, to say the least. "I'm sorry."
"Why not?" Max II demanded, seeming to find his voice again.
"Well, I-" I began. Max II cut me off, looking angry now.
"Did Fang ask you, and you prefer him over me? Is that it?" Max II accused. I could feel my eyes widen, and I hastened to explain.
"No, Fang didn't ask me out!" I assured him. "He's just my friend."
"Then why can't you go with me?" Max II shot back, looking strangely triumphant. I bit back a snappy retort, trying to calm down. Max II had every right to be upset. I should respect that.
"I have soccer practice from five to nine," I explained, gritting my teeth. I was itching to yell out, 'None of your business! I'm not going to a stupid dance!' Luckily, I refrained.
Max II's eyes hardened. "Oh, I see. So you're still going to be gadding about with Fang," he snapped. "You just like him better."
"I have no idea why you think I'm secretly in love with Fang," I hissed, trying to keep my voice down. It was oddly difficult to say those words, but I didn't have time to ponder why. I focused instead on the immediate situation. "We're not going to be 'gadding about', we're going to be playing soccer! And it's not just us! It's everyone on the team!"
Max II's eyes flashed, and I felt a tiny bit bad. I knew he was still upset about not making the team. I shouldn't have said that.
"Well you should tell the coach that you have a previous commitment and you can't make that practice," Max II retorted. "You promised you'd go to the dance with me!"
"I never promised anything," I snapped, suddenly very angry. "Don't make things up! And I'm going to practice, not that stupid dance. Sorry if I hurt your little feelings." I turned to go back in the cafeteria. I was done with being nice.
"You like soccer more than you like me!" Max II yelled, his voice echoing in the empty hallway. I whirled around, my hand still on the handle to the cafeteria doors.
"Yeah, I definitely do," I replied, my voice much calmer than I felt. Max II looked slightly shocked, and I felt an unholy glee rise up inside of me at the expression on his face.
"Alright girls, everyone ready?" Anne's crisp call echoed in the locker room, snapping me out of the memory, and was answered by eight affirmative shouts. "Let's go out then," she continued.
There was an immediate stampede for the door as we all jumped up and ran, excited to start practicing. The cool air hit my face as soon as we exited the locker room, a nice change from the warm, sweaty sugar cookie-scented air we had previously been breathing. That locker room air can't possibly be healthy.
The boys of the soccer team were waiting for us outside, pushing and shoving each other roughly around. I rolled my eyes at their antics, glad to see that none of the girls were giggling over the idiots.
Anne directed us over to the center of the soccer field, and we trooped over, our cleats clicking on the concrete walkways. When we hit the turf, the noise was immediately muffled, and the only sound was the cool breeze flitting around the field. "Sit in a circle here," Anne commanded, somehow managing to make the order sound completely serious and not something we'd been doing since preschool. We obeyed her wishes, scrambling to sit next to our friends. I found myself sandwiched between Gazzy and Fang, across the circle from my sister and Nudge. "Okay then," Anne continued once we were all situated. "Hello, Cromwell Lynxes. Congratulations on making the team!"
A few people cheered at this. I smiled when I spotted Nudge and Ella performing some intense, complicated handshake to celebrate.
"As you all know, you'll have to keep your grades up in order to keep playing on this team. You'll need at least a C average, with no Fs in any classes," Anne explained, her sharp eyes flitting around to include all of us in one look. "Any grade problems will result in suspension from the team until the problems are resolved. You need to be at school and participate in PE on game days in order to play in the game. Your play time in games will be based on your practices. Understood?"
Everyone nodded, all of our attention focused on Anne. She had a gift for keeping the focus on her without trying very hard. That must be useful as a coach.
Suddenly, Lucas raised his hand, and Anne's gaze switched to him. "Yes?" she asked swiftly.
Lucas looked a tiny bit nervous as everyone's attention turned to him. "Umm, so this week we have pretty long practices," he started quietly, looking at the grass. "I don't think I'll have enough time to finish all of my homework this week." I wasn't surprised that it was Lucas worrying about schoolwork. He was a really hardworking student, from what I knew about him.
"As much as I hate to say it, you have to put school before soccer," Anne sighed, her eyes twinkling. "If you need to, skip part of practice and finish your homework. Just know that it will reflect on your game time. Any more questions?" Nobody raised their hand. "Alrighty then! Let's get introductions over with!" Anne declared, a sudden smile breaking over her face. She pointed at a blonde girl sitting to her left. "You can start. Name, position, and favorite color."
The girl blinked, and I stifled a laugh. She looked more like the type of person who would rather be reading a book than telling a crowd of people about herself. "Umm, hi," she began, twirling her dark ponytail around a few fingers as she spoke. "I'm Elizabeth Marguerite Valencia," she started, a small smile twisting her lips slightly. "But I go by Liz. I play left midfield, and my favorite color is green."
Sadie was sitting next to Liz, and she introduced herself next, not cracking a smile the entire time. "I'm Sadie, wing midfield, silver."
"I'm Juliann, I play mid too, and I like purple."
"I'm Matt, defense, blue."
"I'm Lucas, wing defense, umm, red."
"Ford, goalie, green."
"Jack, wing defense, green."
"Ella, stopper, neon purple!"
"ZOMG I'm Nudge, I play sweeper and stopper, and I love bright colors in general!"
The circle went on around, slightly monotonously, until we got to the second goalie. She had dark blonde hair in a long ponytail, and a wide grin. "Lauri's the name, soccer's my game! I play goalie, and I kick butt at it! The best color ever is neon green, as you all see." Lauri stuck her feet up in the air and wiggled them around to show us her bright green cleats.
"Well said, Laurs," Juliann snickered.
And then the circle continued on its monotonous way.
"Rosanna, forward, pink and gold."
"Devon, sweeper, blue."
"Danny, mostly left midfield, yellow."
"Fang, forward, purple and red."
Well, that was a surprise. I always assumed Fang's favorite color was black, since that, dark green, and navy were the only colors he ever really wore. Even now, he was wearing black shorts, a black shirt, and black socks with his plain black cleats. In school, all of his binders were black, and according to Nudge, his underwear too
Erase thoughts about Fang's boxers! Immediately! Agh!
"Max!" Someone nudged me, and I snapped to attention.
"What?" I asked stupidly, prompting a laugh from several of my new teammates. "Oh, whoops. Sorry," I muttered, slightly embarrassed.
"Continue," Anne commanded.
I smiled slightly as I restarted, trying not to make a fool out of myself again. "I'm Max, I play center midfield, and my favorite colors are purple, gold, and green.
"I'm Gazzy, I play forward, and the color orange pwns face," Gazzy chirped, rocking back and forth on his heels in his crouched position. He looked almost too energetic to be allowed.
"Alright, now you all know each other. Break off into pairs and pass," Anne ordered, walking off towards the sideline. We all had brought our own soccer balls with us, so we all began to look for partners. Ella and Nudge paired off immediately, and Gazzy and Fang high fived over my head. I rolled my eyes at them and stood up to look for a partner.
"Yo, Max, right?" someone asked from behind me. I turned around and saw the sophomore goalie, Ford, looking at me.
I smiled and nodded. "Yep. You're Ford?"
"Yeah," Ford confirmed, smiling back. "You wanna pass?"
"Sure." Without another word, we spread out and began passing with Ford's soccer ball. The first time I passed him the ball, he paused in surprise. I raised an eyebrow at Ford, waiting for him to kick the ball back to me.
"You're right-footed?" he asked, sounding surprised. I nodded, and his forehead furrowed in thought as he finally passed back to me. I trapped the ball and passed back before responding.
"Technically, I'm naturally left-footed," I explained. "But when I was little, all my coaches taught me how to play right-footed, so I learned that way. It wasn't until I was eight when my new coach finally told me I was left-footed, and I didn't believe him." I paused to pass the ball back to Ford again. "Then, I scored a goal left-footed, and I was convinced."
"So you're a lefty, but you can use your right foot?" Ford clarified, his forehead clearing as he understood.
"Yeah. My left foot is usually better than my right foot, but my right is pretty good too," I replied. Ford nodded, and we passed in silence for a few minutes. "Why'd you ask? You seemed perplexed," I teased.
Ford grinned bashfully. "Well, I remember you shooting on me at tryouts, and you kicked left-footed then."
I nodded. "Right. I tend to shoot with my left, 'cause in my opinion it's better than my right. Plus, it's flashy to kick well with your left foot at tryouts. Coaches like having a few leftys on their teams," I admitted, a grin sidling onto my lips.
"Very logical," Ford observed in a lazy drawl. I rolled my eyes. The next pass I gave him, I popped the ball up in the air so it flew towards his head. Ford's eyes widened, and he immediately grabbed the ball out of the air before it hit his face.
I pouted playfully, crossing my arms. "That was supposed to knock some sense into your noggin," I complained.
Ford grinned, dropping the ball to his feet. "Goalie reflexes," he reminded me, chipping the ball up in the air towards me. I chest-trapped it, sending the ball straight to my feet. Ford looked surprised at my amazing, awesome ball control, and I grinned cheekily at him.
"Middie reflexes," I retorted, passing him the ball again. Ford flipped me the bird, and I rolled my eyes in return. Boys are so juvenile- goalies in particular.
We passed quietly for a few more minutes until Anne came back. "Okay everyone, take one lap around the field and then we'll get into real practice mode!" Anne cracked her knuckles ominously, and more than a few people gulped in apprehension. Gazzy just looked excited. I rolled my eyes, following him as he started to rocket around the field. In my opinion, it would be best to conserve our energy. I had no idea what Anne's coaching style would be, and therefore thought it best to take things slow.
At the end of our lap, we met up with Anne, who was smiling wickedly, bouncing a soccer ball against the turf. I was distracted by the spray of little black pellets bouncing up from the synthetic turf, and almost didn't catch her first words. "Let's get going now, shall we? Let the games begin."
That first practice was total and utter hell.
It was grueling on the legs, it was painful on the lungs, and I could barely keep standing at some points. To make matters worse, I was slightly out of shape, since I hadn't played on a soccer team for five or six weeks. I wasn't fat or anything- I just wasn't used to the rigorous workout Anne was putting us through.
Anne showed us her standard warm ups at the beginning, which were simple enough. The lap around the field started them off, and they were followed by a series of stretches and lunges. After that, we formed four lines and began to pass to one another, switching lines every time we touched the ball. About five minutes later, Anne signaled for us to switch to practicing throw-ins. Gazzy was standing at the front of the line opposite me, and he picked the ball up from the turf. Grinning at me, he launched the ball into the air, and I trapped it with my thigh, bringing the ball back down to the turf and dribbling it across to the other line. "These are standard warm ups," Anne announced, coming over to us with a soccer ball in hand. "You will do these at the beginning of every practice and every game."
"Goody," Devon muttered, in line behind me. I ignored him.
The rest of the practice went by in a flurry of passing drills, shooting, and attempts to catch our breath. Anne was a brutal coach, but she gave us water breaks every half hour, so we were still mostly alive. At one such water break, I listened and sipped my water as I listened to Nudge rant. "ZOMG I can't believe we still have another hour of this torture! I can't feel my feet anymore, they went numb like an hour ago. It feels all weird every time I strike the ball, and I hope we don't do any more wind sprints. I don't think my heart could take it," Nudge proclaimed dramatically, swigging from her water bottle. I rolled my eyes at her.
"You'll survive," Fang assured her, his dark eyes sparking with mischief. I pushed him away when he tried to sit next to me- he was all sweaty and gross!- but he just flashed me a stunning grin and took my temporary paralysis as an opportunity to sit down.
"You don't play fair. You know it's startling when you suddenly smile like that," I muttered, elbowing him in the ribs.
Fang elbowed me back. "It's not my fault I'm ruggedly handsome."
"Ruggedly handsome my a-" I was cut off mid-sentence by Anne, who was yelling for us to get off our butts and start practicing. With some difficulty, everyone staggered to their feet and jogged over to where our coach was standing by the goal.
"Half an hour of shooting, Lauri and Ford switch off goalie every time someone scores on you. Then take a quick water break and we'll end the practice with my favorite drill," Anne told us, an ominous smile on her face. I tried to shrug off the feeling she was going to try to murder us with soccer, grabbing a ball and going to stand in the shooting line. Lauri stood in the goal, the stadium lights glinting on her neon green cleats. She smiled wickedly at Rosanna, who was the first shooter in line, and crouched into position.
Lauri and Ford were both seriously annoying me by the time I had taken four shots, and had all of them blocked by one of the duo. They were both too tall for me to chip it over their hands, and Ford was an expert at blocking low corner shots. It was really irksome. Finally fed up with both of them, I positioned the ball and glared at Lauri, who smiled and waved at me cheekily from the goal. I didn't even glance up as I drove my foot into the ball, praying for a goal.
To my extreme pleasure, the next thing I saw was Lauri diving for my shot, missing, and the ball tumbling into the net with that beautiful swishing sound. I smiled as I trotted over to retrieve the ball from the back of the net. Lauri pouted at me, but I simply flashed her a grin and ran back to the line.
My calf muscles were burning in white hot flames by 8:30. Then. our wonderful Coach Anne had us finish up our first practice with an assigned ten rounds of what she affectionately called 'Death Defiers'.
They were very accurately named.
I had thought my legs were burning before. Now I could barely concentrate on breathing and running, because my legs had almost gone numb with the exercise.
However, as tired as I was, a lot of the team seemed worse off. Sadie, who was almost as quiet as Fang, was pale and sweaty, and hadn't said a word for three hours. Matt looked close to collapsing, and Lucas actually had collapsed.
In fact, the only people who were still wholeheartedly running the Death Defiers were Ford, Gazzy, and Fang. There was no way I would let any of them best me. Clenching my teeth, I put on a burst of speed and raced past all three of them. My muscles screamed at me to slow down, but I ignored them and continued to speed up. Pain is nothing but a message, Max. Ignore the message. Everything will be fine. You probably won't die. Probably.
Suddenly, a breeze sprang up, washing over me and cooling down my overheated body. I reached up to wipe some sweat off my forehead, and suddenly, I was rejuvenated. The burning in my legs faded, and my breathing lightened. A smile broke across my face as I sped up even more. "SECOND WIND!" I yelled happily, flying by Anne on my seventh round of Death Defiers. I caught a satisfied smile on her face before I was off again, overtaking the other three guys still running. Gazzy shouted something at me as I sprinted past, and Ford just wheezed, but Fang sped up to catch up to me. I glanced at him in surprise, startled that he could keep up with my swift pace.
"Tag, you're it," Fang muttered, brushing my shoulder with his fingers. Then, impossibly, he slowly overtook me, sprinting right past my left side. I'm pretty sure my jaw hit the ground. No one, and I mean no one, is faster than me. It's simply never happened before.
Gritting my teeth, I pushed my speed limits, and found that I could go even faster. I kept my eyes on Fang's back, watching as it came closer and closer. I bumped him with my shoulder as I sprinted past, and I gasped out with my little extra oxygen, "Tag, no tag backs," in his ear. Fang rolled his eyes, but I continued to speed up until I felt like I was flying. My legs carried me around the Death Defier course at lightning speed, feeling strangely light. I smiled at the feeling. It was awesome.
"Stop!" Anne ordered, her voice ringing across the field. I halted immediately, almost falling down as I stopped. My heart was pounding, and I could see my vision throbbing with each pump of that life-giving organ. "Very nice," Anne complimented us, walking around the exhausted team. "Who finished all ten rounds of Death Defiers?"
Fang, Gazzy and I raised our hands. I'm pretty sure Ford had also finished all ten DDs, but he was busy sprinting over to the side of the field. I watched in interest as he hit the cement and fell to his knees, but had to look away when he started retching. Poor kid.
Anne tsked, looking disapprovingly at the rest of the team. They were all sweaty and pallid, collapsed in various places along the DD course. "How many did you all do?"
"Four," Ella croaked.
"Seven," Nudge gasped out.
"Five."
"Two and a half?"
"Five."
"Three."
"Ungh..."
The majority of the team had done five or less DDs, and the ones who had done more than others were even more exhausted than the rest. Anne shook her head at us, and placed her hands on her hips. "You wimps will have to shape up," she scolded. "I'll see you all tomorrow! You are dismissed."
The prone Cromwell Lynxes all stumbled to their feet, groaning and gritting their teeth. Ella staggered over to me, looking pale under her tan. She latched onto my shoulder, almost making me fall with the sudden weight addition. "Ells!" I yelped, "Get off me!"
"But I can't breathe," Ella wheezed dramatically. "My poor legs won't support my body."
"Aww, poor Ellies," I crooned, using the nickname she had hated when we were little. As I predicted, she shoved me away with a huff and stomped off towards the locker rooms.
"Nice tactics," Fang remarked from behind me. I turned to flash him a grin.
"It works every time," I replied airily, brushing my hair away from my face. The majority of my ponytail had escaped its hair tie sometime during my fourth DD. How annoying. I took the tie out and started redoing the ponytail as we started towards the locker rooms together.
"So this happens often?" Fang guessed, watching Ella disappear into the locker rooms ahead of us. I nodded sagely, bending down to grab my soccer ball before we left the field. Fang was dribbling his own with his feet while we walked, each touch perfectly controlled.
I was soooo jealous. Fang had amazing ball control. It was like his feet were magnetic to the ball or something- it never seemed to get away from him.
Fang and I parted without another word, me going into the girls' locker room and he entering the boys'. I was instantly greeted by the warm, sweaty sugar cookie air, and I groaned. Flopping down on a bench in front of my locker, I started to unlace my cleats. Suddenly, I sensed someone standing behind me, and turned to look at them. It was Rosanna and Juliann, and they were both looking down at me sternly. "Umm, can I help you?" I asked, slightly confused. I had been expecting Nudge or Ella. Neither of these girls had spoken to me ever before, so I couldn't think of anything they might want to say to me.
"We're onto you," Rosanna told me, her eyes narrowed. I blinked in surprise, but they weren't done.
"Yeah, we know exactly what you are," Juliann chimed in, her dark eyes mildly threatening.
"Umm, I have no idea-" I began.
Rosanna cut me off. "Don't try to be all innocent, Max. We're not stupid."
Okay, I was utterly lost now. My bewilderment must have shown on my face, because Juliann decided to cut to the chase.
"We know that you're an alien mutant!" Juliann declared dramatically.
I stared at her. "Did I just hear you right?" I asked slowly, wondering if these girls were crazy.
"Yeah, you did," Rosanna replied seriously. "You're obviously an alien. No human could out run Gazzy Richards, Ford Weston, and Fang Rianild, and complete all ten Death Defiers before them without collapsing!"
"See, our logic is perfectly sound!" Juliann flipped her hair confidently. I looked at them again, finally seeing their hidden smiles, the laughter they were struggling to hold back.
I grinned at them, holding my hands in the air. "Dang it, you got me," I sighed in faux defeat. Rosanna and Juliann nodded in a superior manner, stifling their own smiles. "The gig is up. I'm actually an alien."
"I knew it!" Ella's voice crowed from the entrance to the locker room. "I always knew there was something wrong with you, Max!"
"Hey, don't hate on the alien, or I'll call for reinforcements," I threatened. Juliann gulped, looking worriedly at Rosanna.
"Rosie, we've got a problem," she yelped, running back towards her own locker. I smirked at Juliann, cowering behind a bank of lockers.
"That's right. Fear me," I intoned in a deep voice. Rosanna giggled, walking over to her own locker.
"But seriously, Max," Rosanna continued, twirling the dial on her combination lock. "How do you have the stamina to keep doing those things? Death Defiers are a very fitting name for them."
The locker room rang with the sounds of agreement from the others, making me smile. "I'm a good runner," I replied simply, stripping off my shin guards as I spoke. "I once had a soccer coach who made my team run five sets of wind sprints, two laps around the field, and five laps up and down the bleachers every practice. And if we misbehaved during practice, there would be more added on."
Juliann shuddered. "I hope Anne isn't that into running."
"I wouldn't survive," Liz agreed, flopping down on the floor. "I feel rather faint right now," she yawned, closing her eyes.
"Don't go into the light, Liz!" Rosanna shrieked, pouncing on the prone girl. "I know you're tired, but this was only the first practice! You have things to live for!"
"Like Caleb Simmons," Sadie murmured quietly, a smirk sidling onto her face. Liz squeaked with protest, flinging Rosanna off of her and jumping at Sadie. Nudge and Ella had to forcibly hold Liz back so she wouldn't harm her friend.
"Caleb Simmons, eh? That hot sophomore?" Juliann teased, slipping her sweatshirt over her head. "So you like the tall, dark and handsome type, Lizzie?"
Liz muttered something indecipherable and menacing under her breath, stomping over to her locker. Juliann grinned at me, and I smiled back. I was liking all the girls on the team so far.
"Tall, dark and handsome?" Lauri's voice echoed in the locker room as she entered, her long ponytail swishing jauntily. "How 'bout Fang, Lizziefuls? He fits that description pretty well."
I felt my hands stiffen up, and quickly relaxed them, forcing a smile on my face as the other girls laughed. I realized I was getting this reaction quite often when my female friends giggled over Fang. I didn't like them talking about my new bestie like that.
"Oh no," Liz denied emphatically, her eyes sparkling impishly. "Caleb is all I could ever want. I wouldn't be able to talk to Fang; he's too quiet and I'm too quiet."
"The only girl he ever says more than ten words to is Max," Ella declared loudly, smiling at me. I scowled at her in response, ducking my head into my locker in a feigned search for something. I absolutely hated it when she put me on the spot about Fang. Why can't anyone accept that we're just friends?
"He talks to Nudge too," I protested weakly, not liking where this conversation was going.
Nudge snorted, instantly shooting down my defense. "Yeah, it only took him like five years of friendship to warm up to me," she scoffed. "And still I'm usually just talking at him instead of him actually holding a conversation. I was convinced he didn't actually speak English and was just faking it for most of sixth grade."
"So Ella's right," Lauri realized, her smile growing. "What's your secret, Max?"
"I don't flirt with him every ten seconds," I muttered, feeling oddly warm. It must have been from all those DDs earlier.
Lauri laughed, her face genuinely friendly. I relaxed, thankful that she wouldn't be an idiot about Fang. "That usually helps with guys," Lauri agreed. "I had the biggest crush on Gazzy forever," she admitted. "But I was an idiot around him, and he was obviously uncomfortable. I never really had a chance with Gaz- he never really encourages any girls flirting with him. Thankfully, I'm over it now," she sighed. "Guys are too much work."
"I agree," Sadie muttered, shutting her locker. She straightened, giving us a small smile before heading out the door. "Bye."
"Bye Sadie!" we chorused after her. Liz hurried to follow her.
"Sadie, wait up!" Liz yelped, stuffing her feet into her sneakers and running out the door. "Bye guys! See you later!"
Slowly, the female half of the new Cromwell soccer team drained out of the locker room. Soon the only ones left in the room were me, Nudge, and Ella. "I like the team," I remarked to no one in particular as I stuffed my cleats into my soccer bag.
"ZOMG I know, right? They're all so amazing and awesome! Lauri is such a spaz and she's always hyper like me I feel so connected with her! And Sadie and Liz are both so quiet, except Liz has a temper and she talks more than Sadie does; actually, Sadie is kinda like a female Fang, except she wears normal clothing, thank the lord. Rosanna and Juliann always hang out together, it's like they're sisters or something. They're so funny though, with the whole alien thing about you Max!" Nudge gushed happily about the team as we picked up our bags and headed out of the locker room. I was glad I had put on sweatpants and a jacket; it was windy and cool, not to mention 9:30 at night. Mom hadn't been happy when she heard how late practice would run the first week.
"What about the guys on the team, Nudge?" Ella asked, clearly amused.
"They're cool too," Nudge replied dismissively. "Matt, Lucas, Gaz and Fang are awesome, and Jack seems nice for a junior, and Devon is cool even though he's kind of obnoxious, and Danny was really nice when I was passing with him, even though he's a senior and I'm only a freshman- and Ford," Nudge paused, smirking a little. "Ford is h-a-w-t!"
"Hawt?" I repeated, wrinkling my nose. "Why did you spell it like that?"
"It sounds better," Nudge answered airily. I opened my mouth to argue that her point didn't even make sense when she continued to speak. "He has that luscious brown hair, and those gorgeous hazel eyes, and he's so damn tall it makes him even hotter!"
"He's a goalie, Nudge," I reminded her, walking ahead of her and my sister as we walked out to the parking lot. "Ford should be freakishly tall." I didn't really put much thought into Nudge's babbling about Ford- I was learning that she preferred gushing about how hot a guy was rather than actually pursuing a relationship with one.
"Like Iggy," Nudge piped up slyly, nudging Ella in a completely un-subtle way. I rolled my eyes as my sister squealed in protest.
"Iggy is not freakishly tall!" Ella defended our blind, freakishly tall friend. I smirked at the thought. "Max, tell our delusional friend that Iggy is not freakishly tall!"
"Sorry Ells, I'm gonna have to agree with Nudgekins on this one," I sighed in mock regret. "Dear old Iggy is indeed very freakishly tall."
"I think his height is perfect," she replied haughtily. I whistled at her in reply, and she shoved me. "What?" she demanded defensively.
"Ella's got a crush on the Iggster!" I crowed, laughing at the expression on my sister's face. Ella clapped a hand over my mouth, her cheeks burning red.
"Shut up you twit, someone might hear you," she hissed, glancing around. Nudge giggled, skipping in circles around Ella.
"Iggy and Ella sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Nudge sang. Ella kicked her, and Nudge yelped in pain. I snickered at her plight, only to get whacked painfully in the hip.
"Ow," I whined, clutching my hip. "That hurt!"
"Good! It was supposed to hurt!" Nudge shot back, hopping on one foot. Ella glared disdainfully at us, stalking off and jumping into the front seat of Mom's waiting car. I rolled my eyes, opening the back door and letting Nudge hop in before I followed. We were giving our dear, strange friend a ride home every day this week, because her parents didn't want her walking this late at night.
In seconds Nudge and Ella were no longer at odds, and were gushing at Mom about how painful practice had been with Anne. Mom smiled at us in her rearview mirror and concentrated on the road. "I did more than my fair share of DDs in my sports career," Mom admitted, turning down a street I hadn't been down before. I looked out the window at the dark streets, trying to see our surroundings.
"They're awful," Ella summarized emphatically, slumping back in her seat. "My legs are still burning!"
"Me too," Nudge agreed, wincing as she rubbed her quads. I touched a probing finger to my left calf, wincing as the muscle protested and started to ache dully. Sometimes, it's very easy to hate sports coaches.
"I still can't believe your coach is making you practice until nine o' clock," Mom sighed plaintively. "It's so dark out there!"
"Mom, there's stadium lights on the field," I reminded her, also for the hundredth time. "We're fine."
"Whatever you say, Max," Mom replied doubtfully.
Suddenly, the car stopped, and Nudge opened her door. "Thank you for the ride, Dr M!" she chirped, dragging her soccer bag outside and shutting the door.
"You're welcome, Nudge!" Mom replied cheerily, watching as Nudge ran up the walkway to her house. She waved at us briefly before disappearing inside the large white house. When Mom was sure Nudge was safely inside, she pulled away from the curb and headed for home.
I wasn't sure how I completed my homework that night; I kept yawning so loudly that I was sure my jaw was about to crack off. Ella obviously had the same problem, and she almost fell asleep over her history essay. Luckily, I was able to poke her awake, and she solved our sleepy problem by fixing two large cups of hot, caffeinated green tea. I smiled at her as she handed me the steaming cup. "Thanks Ells," I murmured, nursing the hot liquid. Ella nodded wordlessly, returning to her history assignments. We sat in companionable silence as we scribbled half-coherent answers on our homework.
I wouldn't be able to say whether I brushed my teeth that night. All I was focused on was getting to bed and falling asleep.
And that is exactly what I did.
YAY! I kept my chapter-update-every-week streak running! Just to let you know, that doesn't mean I'll update this story every week; it means I'll update one of my stories every week.
Don't forget! Tell me your views on adding wings later, views on the new format (if it shows up) and how old you think I am! My friends aren't allowed to guess. XP REVIEW!
~TMI~