Vignette Two – Practice Part 1

Author's Note: I swear there's fluff. I just like a nice build up to it.

"Riles, I'm telling you gotta go to one of Huckleberry's soccer practices. You're going to freak out," Maya pleads with her best friend after school.

Riley scrunches her eyebrows together in confusion. What could she possibly gain from attending? "I don't know, Maya, I really have to study for math. We have a quiz tomorrow!"

Maya stops her friend and clutches both her shoulders before saying, "Honey, geometry is a snooze fest for you. You will ace that quiz even if you don't study in the next three hours. But you need to go to this practice."

Still not fully understanding, Riley replies, "Peaches, I'm going to see him after practice! He always meets me at the library so we could go to mom's café together." She grins toothily and adds, "He likes it when we walk together after practice, says it's the best part of his day." Secretly, she thinks about how he also likes to kiss her on the way.

"Yes, yes I know, you two ride off into the sunset on a white horse and all the bunnies and woodland creature throw flowers at you!" When Riley looks away dreamily imagining what she described, Maya shakes her, "Riley, I'm telling you that you won't regret it! I was there yesterday so that I can take pictures for the school paper. I couldn't believe what I saw!"

Rolling her eyes, Riley relents, "OK, peaches, I'll go. I was hoping to wait till the first game to see Lucas play but let's be honest, how did I get this far without sneaking a peak?! I wanted to be surprised! But if you insist, I'll go." With that, the two friends head off to the pitch.

As they get closer to the stands, it becomes clear to Riley that watching the soccer team practice at Abigail Adams High School must be some sort of religion. Based on the nearly filled bleachers, one would think that there's an actual game going on.

"Wow, Maya, our classmates take soccer really seriously," she whispers as her blonde friend leads them to the back of the bleachers.

Maya responds, "Oh, honey, you have no idea." She leads them to a seat behind a group of four sophomore girls.

Riley grows increasingly more curious and wants to ask a million questions, but trusts that Maya has a purpose for bringing her there so she remains silent. Instead, she opts for looking for Lucas among the sea of jerseys. She quickly picks him out and raises her hand to say hello but stops waving when she realizes that he couldn't see her.

The team continues to do their stretches when it finally dawns on Riley that most of the supporters in the stands are female. Turning to Maya with wide eyes, she says, "Wow, our FEMALE classmates take soccer really seriously."

"Uh-huh. That's part of what I wanted you to see," Maya replies cryptically.

Riley tips her head to the side and looks at Maya as if she is a confusing math problem that needed to be solved. "Maya! What do you want me to see?"

Maya smiles mischievously and says, "Just wait and see. And listen."

Riley wants to say more but practice finally starts. Her attention quickly turns towards her boyfriend on the field.

Her first observation is that he's incredibly fast. He shuffles the ball between his feet and passes it to his teammates with ease. She also notices how much chemistry he and his teammates have. Riley can't wait to talk to him about it after practice.

And judging by the conversation in front of her, she is not the only one who notices.

"Friar is beyond gorgeous. He's incredible! I still can't believe he's a freshman! Sally, are you sure?" One girl says which launches the group into a loud conversation about the freshman phenom named Friar.

Riley isn't one to eavesdrop but any mention of Lucas and her ears become satellite dishes. She turns to Maya who has a knowing look on her face that silently tells her, 'Yes, THAT is what I needed you to see.'

Riley's mouth hangs open in genuine shock. Now, she's not blind to how handsome her boyfriend is but she just didn't realize until that moment that he has a following! They both are so stuck into their love bubble and microcosm of friends that the outside world didn't seem to matter.

Oh, now it's starting to matter!

"On his profile, it says that he's in a complicated relationship. But that was months ago and he hasn't been active since then. Those complicated relationships are so friggin' weird. I bet it's nothing. I tried searching for him on Twitter and Instagram, but it's like he doesn't exist anywhere but right here! Like where does he even hang out during lunch?!" This frustrated little cyber stalker makes a show of tapping away at her phone as if she's currently looking for him.

Seeing that Riley is about to confront Lucas' fan club, Maya covers Riley's mouth with her hand. She whispers, "You will not talk to them!" When Riley's eyes widen in protest, she adds, "We are not ending our freshman year by getting involved in drama with other girls! We've made it this far unscathed! I just wanted to show you that Ranger Rick has fans."

Riley pulls Maya's hand down and whispers back, "If you don't want me to say anything, then why show me this?!"

Maya slowly smiles and shrugs, "I don't know, I'm bored and Josh hasn't texted me back in ten minutes."

"PEACHES! If I can't say anything, then we're going!" Riley stands up and marches down the bleachers. Maya follows behind her laughing because she's never really seen her friend jealous.

Riley's mind is racing. Should she talk to him about it? He hasn't done anything wrong… But she couldn't help feeling mad. Did she really mind that other girls noticed him? Was she jealous? Is this a big deal?!

AND WHY HADN'T HE UPDATED HIS PROFILE SAYING THAT HE WAS IN A RELATIONSHIP? WITH HER?!

Halfway down the bleachers, they see a familiar face in the crowd: Smackle. Riley goes up to her, saying, "Oh no, please tell me you are not here to ogle at this man meat circus too! You're with Farkle!"

Smackle puts her hand over her chest and replies, "Noooo… I'm, um, here for scientific purposes!"

Riley squints her eyes at Smackle and folds her arms, "Oh yeah, what are you studying?"

"Um, well, um, the velocity with which the, um, average male soccer player kicks the ball to see if the, um…" Smackle trails off.

"You're here for the man meat circus," Maya says flatly.

Having been caught, Smackle puts her hands together as though she is about to recite romantic poetry, "Oh! Yes! And it's not just Lucas! Have you seen the other soccer players? Look how they run across that pitch with such finesse! Look at the way they shake the sweat from their brows like Greek gods! I love my Farkle but I am a woman with eyes, you know!"

"But where's Farkle? Does he know you're here?" Riley asks.

"Yes, of course! We don't keep anything from each other. When I'm here, he just goes to the school lab and experiments. We see each other after then we meet with all of you at the café," Smackle explains unrepentantly.

"Unbelievable! Is everyone here for the man meat circus?!" Riley exclaims and the crowd of teenage girls says in unison, 'YEAH!'

Riley's eyes and mouth widen in shock. Maya just shrugs and simply says, "Hormones. High school."

Riley folds her arms and announces, "Well, I, for one am NOT going to be a slave to my hormones! I am a strong independent woman who is not going to spend her day drooling over these boys! I have better things to do than sit around and watch these athletes like they're pieces of meat!" Due to her righteous tirade, she doesn't notice that the players have taken a break.

"You ladies should be ashamed of yourselves! Have some dignity!"

She also fails to notice that Maya is texting.

"Think of all the great feminists in history! They would be outraged that instead of studying and bettering our minds, we're out here being mindless drones worshipping the male physique!"

She also fails to notice a certain sweaty soccer player making his way towards her.

"Furthermore, do you think these boys appreciate the fact that they are being objectified? How would you all feel if people were just hanging around watching you like this?!"

She doesn't see that all the girls in the bleachers weren't listening and instead have their attention focused on said player.

"I am not going to let these boys affect me! Oh no, I'm a strong independent woman who's above all of this! I, for one," she says but is cut off when someone says her name.

She turns towards the voice and sees Lucas Friar in all his sweaty glory. "Riley! You're here! I thought you'd be at the library." He quickly greets Maya and Smackle and looks back at Riley. He smiles brightly at her and her mind goes to mush. All her feminist indignation is instantly sapped from her body. "If you stick around for a bit longer, I'll be done. We just have a few more drills to practice for our first game this week," he says but she's barely listening.

Riley is fixated on his body. She's fascinated by the way his thin white jersey clings to his chiseled chest and abs. She gulps and looks at his face.

"We're all really excited about the game. The coach says that he thinks we have a real chance at making state. I think so too. We have a great team," he says then pauses to takes a swig from the water bottle he brought and with that act everything seems to slow down in Riley's mind. She watches as his Adam's apple bobs when he swallows. Her eyes are trained on his strong neck covered in small droplets of sweat.

"Anyway, I'll tell you more about it after practice. Are you going to stick around?" he asks as he gently reaches for her hand. He gives her his trademark half smile. Still stunned by his masculine beauty, she nods. "What about you, Maya?" he asks.

"Sorry, Huckleberry. It's after school and I still don't have a chimichanga. Mama gotta eat," Maya responds. She's amused that her friend finally understands raging teenage hormones. Riley looks at her with fear in her eyes. Maya gives her an impish smile and shrugs, silently saying, 'You're on your own, kid.' With that Maya heads down the bleachers feeling pleased at the uproar she is causing among these adoring sports fans by bringing Riley to practice. She plans on rewarding herself with extra cheese on her chimichanga.

"All right, we'll see you later," Lucas tells Maya. Looking back at Riley, he says, "I'm glad you're here but now I'm a little nervous. I don't want to look like a fool in front of you!"

"Uh, you won't?" is all that Riley manages to get out.

"Oh Lucas! You're great out there! Superb! Amazing! Keep up the good work!" Smackle suddenly chimes in. "By the way, will you guys be doing shirts versus skins today?" All the girls around Smackle lean in closer to hear the verdict.

Lucas scrunches his eyebrows and answers, "No, not today. We're focusing on making plays. Why do you ask?"

Smackle lets out a nervous chuckle, "Just wondering. I, uh, was just curious."

"Ookayyy," he says slowly. Shaking his head and returning his attention to Riley, "Well, I have to head back to the pitch. We have a shorter practice today, so I'll come get you after I hit the showers. I wish I could hug you but I'd hate for you to be covered in my sweat." He leans over and pecks her on the cheek. There's an audible gasp from the soccer fans because of this action. "I'll see you later," he whispers with a wink.

When Lucas leaves, a bemused Riley takes a seat next to Smackle, who smirks at her, "Sorry, what were you saying about being a strong independent woman again?"

Riley slowly raises her fist and weakly replies, "Go soccer?"

For the rest of practice, all the broken hearted soccer fans whisper frantically to each other about the mysterious Lucas Friar and the random brunette who seems to have captured his heart.

To be continued