Same Day, Dismissal, 1st Floor, 2:50 P.M..
"So, any update on Kofi, Ettore?" Shane asked.
"He's recovering well. Just got out of the hospital like two days ago. He should probably be back in school in about two weeks, three at the most. He's definitely not playing football again for the rest of the year. No friggin way. I'm worried that his parents aren't going to let him play ever again. He got messed up pretty badly." Ettore answered.
School had just ended, and Big E and Shane were discussing the future of their fallen teammate. Sure, Shane was the new starter, but no one had forgotten about Kofi. He was the best receiver on the team. Shane had the daunting task of filling his shoes, but he was holding his own up to this point. Doing the best he could.
"You think he's gonna take the starting spot back when he recovers?"
"It depends on what you do, Cash. If you wanna keep your spot, you gotta keep working hard. Are you still training with Seth?"
"Yeah. He's putting me through hell, but I know it's for the best. Lately I've been preoccupied with... stuff."
"Well, don't let that stuff make you lose focus, whatever it is. The next few games are gonna be really tough. We need everyone on point all season." Big E said with a serious look on his face.
"Yeah, I understand. You can count on me." Shane responded confidently.
"Good. Now, come on. We've got to get to the locker room. Practice starts in 20 minutes. We're lifting weights inside today."
"Oh, man. I know you're excited about that, E. Speaking of, did you ever find out who sent Strowman after you?"
"No, and it's pissing me off. That damn strongman competition I agreed to is in two friggin weeks, and I've been forced to train even harder than usual! I need to make that bastard pay! I'm gonna find him. I swear!"
Shane laughed.
"I think you'll find him. Don't worry."
2nd Floor...
"So, it's official then. You and Xavier Woods are a thing now?" Sasha asked.
"Yup!" Emma beamed. "He's such a sweetheart! You should've seen the look on his face when he asked me out. He was so nervous and unsure. It was adorable! Little cutie! He was so shocked when I said yes."
"I bet. Xavier's barely had any friends, let alone a girlfriend. I'm glad you and him hit it off."
Alexa chimed in.
"Yeah, me too. I'm tired of seeing the kid all lost and miserable everyday."
Emma glared at her.
"Oh, is that so? Because I seem to remember not so long ago when you showed absolutely no sympathy for him when Kofi got hurt. You called him an ugly nerd."
"Yes, yes I did. And... I regret it. It was wrong of me to say something like that about him. He's never done anything to me so I had no right to be so cold hearted. I'm sorry, Emma."
"You're- you're serious?" She asked surprised.
"Yup. I was in the wrong, no doubt."
"Um, okay. I accept your apology."
Sasha couldn't believe what just happened.
"Alright, I'm starting to think Seth was right. Were you abducted by aliens and replaced with a clone?! Because I'm not recognizing you at all right now. This is weird."
Alexa just shrugged her shoulders in response.
"I'm still Alexa. I don't understand how I'm acting weird. Now if you excuse me, I need to get ready for practice. You should too." She then turned around and headed to the girl's locker room.
"How long has she been... like that?" Emma asked mildly concerned.
"Since Tuesday, and I don't think I'm gonna get used to it anytime soon." Sasha answered.
"You think something's wrong?"
"Emma, I have no idea. At all."
2 Hours Later...
"Thank God coach decided to end practice early." Emma said.
"You said it, sister." Sasha added.
For the cheerleaders, practice normally ended around 6:30, but since they were doing so well, the coach decided to reward them by letting them out an hour earlier. Suffice to say, the girls were pretty happy about that.
"So, what do you guys wanna do? I don't have anything to do, and I'm not ready to go home yet." Alexa chimed in.
"Well, a bunch of the girls were talking about watching the boys practice. But, we don't have to if you don't want to. We know how much you don't like... A particular member of the team." Sasha responded.
"Alright, let's go."
"Wait, what?" The two said at the same time.
"Do you not want to?"
"We do, it's just, we weren't expecting you to just go along with it." Emma explained.
Alexa rolled her eyes.
"Just come on."
The three girls, along with a few other members of the Varsity Cheer Squad made their way to the bleachers, so they could watch the football team do their thing.
Alexa, Emma, and Sasha all sat at the top, so they could view everything. Currently, they were having a short break. The boys had their helmets off, drinking water and talking to each other. Alexa spotted Shane sitting by himself with a look on his face as if he was thinking about something.
"I wonder what he's thinking about." She thought.
"Aw man. What am I gonna do? Alexa's gonna kill me when I get home! After what happened this morning, I'm gonna have to find away to get their before she does. Damn it, why was I so stupid? Of course you don't barge into a girl's room without knocking first! The fuck was I thinking?! Stupid! Stupid!" Shane contemplated.
In rhythm to him saying stupid in his head, he smacked himself. Alexa was understandably confused at what she was seeing.
"What the hell? Why is Price hitting himself? That's my job to do when he's done with practice. I'm still mad at him for what he did earlier. Idiot. Although... I wonder if he... liked what he saw?"
She blushed at that thought.
"Alexa. Alexa? Alexa!"
The petite princess was snapped out of her thoughts by Sasha trying to get her attention.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Everything's fine."
"Why are you blushing?"
Sasha gasped.
"Did you see a boy you think is cute?"
Alexa said nothing in response, too stunned to answer.
"Oh my god, you did! Come on, tell me! Is it Dolph?"
"No, he has a girlfriend, remember?"
"What about one of The Uso Twins?"
"Jimmy's dating Naomi, and Jey's annoying."
"Cody?"
Alexa just stared blankly at her friend.
"Really? Did you seriously just ask me that?"
"Well then, who is it?! Spill!"
"It's no one! I wasn't staring at a boy!" She lied.
"Hmm. Okay. But I've got my eye on you." Sasha stated.
"Yeah, whatever. You're too busy undressing Big E with your eyes to do that."
"No I'm not!"
Now Sasha was the one blushing.
"Yeah, that's what I thought." Alexa said as she smirked.
Meanwhile, down on the field, Seth had come up to the lonesome Shane, who was still trying the think of ways to avoid Alexa on the way home.
"Shane? You alright man?"
He looked up.
"Uh yeah. Never been better."
Seth gave him a skeptical look but decided to continue on with what he had to say.
"Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that this week's game is pretty important to us, or well, me specifically. You see, the team we face's star player is a former student here. He's also my best friend, plus he was the third guy in our little clique along with Dean. He's their quarterback, and he's damn good. Last year, I was his backup. If he was still hear, I'd definitely still be riding the bench."
"Third guy in the clique, huh? So I'm his replacement I guess. What's his name?"
"Roman Reigns. He's tall, strong, and he's quick for his size. He can run as well as he can throw. Double trouble with him."
"Well, why's playing against him so important to you?"
"Because... I need to prove to myself that I'm as good as him. When me, Dean, and Seth walked down the halls together, Roman got the most attention. He was the man around here all last year. I wanna prove that I'm the man now. It's eating me alive, Shane. I can't bear to be in his shadow anymore. I can't do it, man."
"So, you're jealous?"
"What?! No! I'm just determined!"
Shane rolled his eyes.
"Okay, let's go with that. Anyway, don't worry. As the receiver, it's my job to make sure your efforts aren't in vain. You can count on me, and Dolph. Hell, even Cody. We've all got your back, so chill out. Go drink some water. You look dehydrated as fuck." He joked.
Seth playfully shoved him and headed to the cooler, once again leaving Shane alone with his thoughts as his mind drifted back to Alexa.
"God help me. I'm going to die tonight."
6:24 P.M...
Practice ended about an hour and a half later, per the usual, the boys were exhausted. Shane was in the same boat as his teammates, but he still changed as quick as possible. He left the school before any of his friends could even say goodbye to him. He was not trying to face Alexa today. Fuck that. He normally wasn't afraid of her, but after this morning, hell yeah he was. The boy practically sprinted to the train station. After practice, Shane was already heavily fatigued, so he decided to catch his breath before he went down the stairs.
"I- I made it. Thank God." He said, panting heavily.
"What's the rush?"
Shane froze.
"Oh, fuuuuuck me."
He looked up and saw a certain petite princess standing in front of him with a smirk on her face.
"Let's go, now." Alexa said, almost menacingly. She grabbed him by his ear and dragged him down the stairs.
"Wait, wait Alexa. My dad's home until like 8 o'clock. If I never come home, he'll be worried!"
She let him go when they got to the turnstile.
"Okay. So, you better be in my house by 8:45 tonight. If you're not... Well then. I wouldn't come to school tomorrow if I were you."
Shane gulped. The two teenagers passed the turnstile and waited until a train came. They say in silence the whole ride home. When they got there, Alexa said one more thing to Shane.
"Remember, be there. Or else."
Shane was kind of scared, but he still couldn't help himself.
"Got you. You know, you're still kinda cute when you get angry."
Alexa blushed, while Shane ran away immediately after he said that.
"PRICE! GET BACK HERE!" She yelled after him embarrassed.
"Not a chance, short stuff! See you later!" He said, flashing his trademark smile.
He went into his house, while Alexa stayed in the same spot, blushing hard.
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" She yelled, even though he was out of sight.
He heard her from inside his house, and started to chuckle.
"I just dug my grave even further. Eh, who cares? I had fun."
