Chapter Thirty-Nine: She's A Woman.

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Dedicated to @Rock-Aya for the cover at the top💞Love it!

I feel like I'm failing English and I'm a fraction away from having a breakdown at school but it's all okay :) I think.

Chapter Thirty-Nine: "She's A Woman."

"LEAVE SOCCER WITH me. You can get him back next time you visit." Charles said, Soccer running around his feet.

I picked Soccer up, holding his warm body close to mine. He was probably the only source of heat in the chilly weather. It was like I could feel the frost growing on my eyebrows. "You really think you can handle his energy?"

"Of course," He laughed, a big and hearty laugh that made me smile. "He would keep me on my toes."

"I hate to break it to you Grandfather, but I need something to scare Peter out of the house sometimes and," Sam took Soccer out of my arms. "This little guy does the job."

"Tell Peter I said hello."

"Of course." Sam put Soccer in the car along with the rest of our stuff. Sam tapped his hand against the hood of the car. "Time to go." 

I looked up at the castle in front of us before turning back at Sam's grandfather. "Bye Charles."

He smiled at me, giving me a hug. "Achieve your football dream or any other if you change your mind."

"I don't think I'll ever change my mind about that." I told him.

Charles nodded and i took notice of how his eyes flickered down to my camera. "That's the determination I am talking about Macy. And you?" He looked over at Sam. "Smile a little, would you?"

Sam put on a fake grin for his grandfather and Charles rolled his eyes. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding."

"Just put yourself on the big screen, okay?"

Sam walked towards his grandfather and there was a content look on his face. "You always say that."

"Only because I know it'll happen."  

"I'll see you soon." Sam and him exchanged a hug and I stepped back, my camera in my hands and taking a quick picture before any of them could see.

Sam glanced down at my camera and an idea sprung in my mind. "Wait, wait, can I take a picture of you two?" Like I hadn't already.

I didn't even care if I asked. I carefully brought myself to sit on trunk of the car and I could already hear Sam yelling. "What are you doing?"

"Can I at least sit so I can get a good angle from here? I would prefer to stand but-"

"You are not standing on that car, Hazel." He demanded.

"Really, now?" I got off the car and raised my foot up as if I was prepared to stand on the car. "Who's going to stop me?"

"I swear to God..." He didn't even finish his sentence because by then he was reaching to pull my foot away and I laughed, pushing his hand away.

I pushed my hair behind my shoulders. "Let me at least sit to get a picture of you two. I'm not going to stand. Don't worry."

"Fine." He didn't look happy about it even though it was clear that if I had a car this expensive I wouldn't let anyone sit on it either.

"Fine?" I teased, giving him a smile.

Sam rolled his eyes, a smile coming on his face as he stood next to his grandfather. "Just take the damn picture, Hazel."

Charles patted Sam on the shoulder. "That's the spirit." I laughed at his sarcasm, holding the camera up to my eye. And when we were driving off and away from the place Sam considered a home, I turned to the side where the cemetery was and looked at him as he focused on the road. I wondered if he was ever going to visit his sister there one day. If he would ever be ready to.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Then what happened?" Sam asked Anmol, taking a sip of his water.

Anmol looked up from her phone where I could see she was adding songs to her playlist. "Derek literally stopped the poor guy and started yelling at him."

Derek's eyebrows were pulling closer together. "I wasn't yelling at him and I wouldn't exactly call him a poor guy."

"You were yelling at him." Maddy confirmed, sipping on her milkshake.

We were at the pub, taking up a table in the center where my friends surrounded and our stuff was piled onto one extra chair. I could see Sam's eyes shift to what Matteo was going to say. They didn't talk much tonight but it was pretty clear that he was trying to get along with him.

Emphasis on trying.

"Derek was trying to tell the man how it was." Matteo said, taking a swig of his beer, putting his own phone in his pocket.

Anmol stared at Matteo. "This is what Derek said-sorry he actually yelled, "In case you haven't noticed she's my girlfriend. She's my woman. Respect her."

I almost spit out my own milkshake, looking at Derek. "She's my woman? Why would you say that?"

"It was in the heat of the moment." Derek defended.

"Respect her?"

"He was looking down her shirt half the time. Like I know you have eyes but that doesn't mean you should ogle at my girlfriend. There's a difference between looking and ogling. You're all lucky I didn't punch the prick."

Anmol rolled her eyes. "Shut up. You can't even punch anyone."

Derek slung an arm around her chair, leaning back with it. "Yes, I can."

Sam ran a hand over his jaw. "Come to think of it, you're a real softie."

"I'm 21," He lamely said. "I'm not a softie."

"You're 21 but you're like a teddy bear."  Anmol said.

"I'm a teddy bear?" Derek asked, looking offended.

"Yeah, you're a huge guy but you wouldn't hit someone unless it was absolutely necessary."

"What do you mean by absolutely necessary?"

"Like if a thief stole Anmol's purse and you would to chase after him and pounce. But if a guy out of nowhere started messing with you and wanted to fight you, you'd be the type to talk it out instead of fighting."

"Really?" Derek asked in disbelief.

"Yes." Everyone at the table chorused.

Derek took a swig from his bottle. "Interesting." 

Maddy spoke up. "Are you all sure that you still don't want to come to the concert with me and Matteo?"

Anmol rolled her eyes before looking around the place that seemed to be getting more crowded as the night went on. "That band sucks."

"No they don't." 

"That's the first time I'm agreeing with Anmol." Sam muttered, looking down at his phone where he cracked a smile at something Caleb probably told him.

"Macy?"

"For the hundredth time, no."

"Derek?"

"What's so bad about just going with Matteo?" Derek asked.

"Because he's annoying. And he has puns. For everything."

"I haven't told you a pun all day." Matteo countered.

"It doesn't matter. Eventually you'll stop saying puns and start sending random pictures to me again."

Derek and Sam both looked up, glancing at Matteo curiously. "Pictures?" Sam asked with narrowed eyes.

"What kind of pictures?" Derek added, leaning in. "Those kind of pictures?"

Before Matteo could answer, Maddy huffed, rolling her eyes. "Not those kinds of pictures, you freaks."

Sam and Derek laughed and I hit Sam lightly in the shoulder for making that assumption. He put his arm around my chair, pulling it closer. He showed me a picture that Caleb sent him of Caleb making a weird face and I laughed, sending it to myself. 

"May I say that it is good to see you two together again?" Derek spoke up pointing his straw at me and Sam before putting it in his bottle. I don't know why he was using a straw to drink his beer but it was something along the lines of bacteria that I wasn't paying attention to.

"Agreed." Maddy said, leaning back in her chair.

"By the way Sam? Just reminding you, I never had feelings for Macy. Never going to. She's all yours man." Matteo added matter of factly.

Sam eyes glanced down at the table before he nodded. "I got it."

"Hey Matteo," Anmol spoke up, twirling her earphone around her finger. "Is it odd that I thought that was a slight possibility that you were gay?"

Matteo paused, quirking up an eyebrow but he didn't seem fazed. I fact, he leaned in, intrigued. "Why would you think I was gay? Did you get a vibe or something?"

"Kind of but Maddy kept telling me about that girl you were seeing-"

"I'm not seeing her anymore. That's over and done with." Matteo waved a hand, taking another sip of his drink.

"What happened?" I asked.

"You know, the usual. It just didn't work out. There wasn't much interest anyway," Matteo took a sip of his water before putting it on the table calmly. "But to clear things up, I'm not gay."

"We got that."

"I'm pansexual."

All eyes turned to Matteo and he shrugged, taking another sip of his water, looking at each of us over the rim.

Derek put a hand up in confusion like he was in class breaking the silence. "Am I the only one that doesn't know what that means?"

"It means that he isn't just open to having relationships with girls and boys but also those who are different in gender identity or expression or... in simpler terms he can be attracted to anyone," Anmol turned to Matteo. "Did I get that right?"

"You, my friend, are pretty much correct." Matteo nodded.

"Cool." Maddy said with a smile. "Have you ever dated a guy?"

Matteo nodded. "Yeah. I dated guys before I dated girls."

"What was your best relationship?"

Matteo leaned back, his cup against his bottom lip as he thought about it. "It was with Jordan."

"Jordan?"

"Jordan was transgender. Transgender guy. He was like my best friend." And there was that look in Matteo's eyes. The one that could tell all of us that what they had was great. Great but in the past. 

"Why did it end?"

Matteo sighed. "He died before we took our exams for our GCSE."

My heart sunk and I felt like there was a moment where everyone's breath was suddenly caught in their throat. "Oh my God." Maddy whispered.

"He went to sleep and never woke up. He was sick but he was definitely one of the toughest people I knew."

"I'm so sorry mate." Derek quietly said.

There was a moment of silence as Matteo collected himself but failed to do so. He let out a shaky breath and got up, throwing money on the table. "I'll, um, I'll see you guys later, okay?"

"Matteo-" Before I could say anything further he was already out of the place, making me sigh.

I glanced at Sam and his eyes were on the door Matteo had gone through. The look in his eyes were unreadable but I got the idea that he completely understood the courage Matteo had to just speak about someone who was important to him. And that even though it was for a little bit, it was still hard to do so. 

"Fuck, I didn't expect him to say that." Derek mumbled.

Maddy and I glanced at one another. Neither did we.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Can you believe school ends in a couple of weeks and they've been giving trials?" Anmol said one afternoon, her earphones in her ears and her fingers tapping to the beat of a song.

"Seriously?" I asked, fixing my duffle bag. "Like people are coming from various places to see games and stuff and getting recruited?"

"Yes," Sam stared at me out of the corner of his eye. "Hazel, you know there's a reason why we go to one of the best athletic universities in the world right? To get noticed by big clubs and-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," I hit him lightly on the chest, before putting my hands back in my pocket. "I know. I know. Stop making me feel dumb."

I glared at Maddy before she could even reply my statement and she smiled, only shifting the strap of her duffle bag higher. 

"Have, um, have any of you talked to Matteo since?" Sam asked and with the way his eyes were looking at each of us intensely let me know he was wondering if Matteo was okay. 

"Maddy and I saw him yesterday but he kind of avoided us." Anmol said.

"I tried to texting him but he didn't reply." Maddy told us. 

Sam looked down, his hands in his pockets and we continued walking down the path in silence. I could hear the sound of people talking and a dog barking in the distance but between the four of us it was clear that what Matteo had told us that night left a turn in the air.

Maddy spoke up first as the path was at a crossroad, leading to two different buildings. "I'll see you guys later after practice."

"Bye Mads." Anmol and I chorused as she walked in the other direction.

We walked into the building and Anmol walked ahead towards the changeroom. Sam held my arm before I could step inside, pulling me to the side. "I need to tell you something."

"What is it?"

He licked his lips, taking off the hat on his head and shoving it into his pocket. "I know that we kind of hit a rough patch before last week and everything-"

"Sam, I know. It's all over. Stop worrying about it," A thought came to my head. "Are you okay, though?"

"Yeah," He looked confused. "Why are you asking?"

"When Matteo told us about Jordan, the look on your face was just..." I trailed off, not knowing how to explain it in one word.

Sam's face dropped again and he opened his mouth to speak when someone was heading our way. "Hi Sam." Tanya said with a curve of a smile on her lips.

Oh God. 

Sam furrowed his eyebrows, not even glancing at her. "Hi." He quipped.

"How was your day?"

Sam blinked, glancing at me before looking back at her. "It was fine."

Tanya's eyes drifted over to me. "Hi."

Bye.

I nodded in response. "See you on the field." And by my tone I let her know that our conversation was over.

But Tanya was Tanya and I'm certain there was never day in her life where she got the hint.

She rolled her eyes, flashing Sam another smile. "So you two are together again?"

Sam bit hit lip, glancing at me. "We didn't really break up." I mentioned. "Remember the difference between and a break and a break up? I think I told you."

Tanya frowned, starting to back into the changeroom. "I don't recall you telling me that."

"Try to remember okay? As I said, see you on the field." I gave her my fakest smile as she went inside the changeroom.

Sam chuckled and I exhaled loudly, turning back to him by holding onto his arm. "What was the news you wanted to tell me?"

He ducked his head before glancing at me. "I got a call from my coach and he said that there are two teams that are holding trials after first year of university ends and-"

No way. "They requested you?" 

"Maybe." A slow grin spread on Sam's face.

"Oh my God," I flung my arms around him and he laughed, holding me steady. "That's amazing, Sam."

"They're both six week trials where I get to play with their various levels of teams but I still have to pick between the two. That and there is also another case where I may get another one to choose from."

My hands cupped his face and he held his own over mine. I was shaking his head with excitement for him and he started laughing. "And these are club teams?"

"Really good and known club teams and many teams are apparently still watching me from when I was younger but couldn't request me when I moved. So according to Coach they're coming to more of the games and watching past tapes of me."

A hand came to my mouth. "I'm so proud of you."

He shrugged, holding his hands out and his eyes were squinted. "Thanks Hazel."

"I mean it," I took his hands in mine. "This is what you hoped for. You deserve this. You completely deserve this."

"Cahill," Coach yelled from down the hallway, walking towards us. "I believe the men's changeroom is on the other side of the building."

A sly smile crossed Sam's face when he turned his head to face him. "Don't worry. I know where it is."

"Then why are you still here?"

Sam lowered his head, making sure he couldn't see the roll of his eyes before Sam pressed a kiss to my lips. "I'll see you later." But he didn't move and he practically kept me there with the stare of his eyes.

"Let's get a move on Cahill." Coach said again, interrupting my thoughts and I pushed Sam away with a smile.

He fixed the strap of his duffle bag. "I'm going, I'm going." He shot me a wink and walked out of sight.

"I wanted to talk to you." Coach said and suddenly I was slightly nervous. Did I do something?

"What about?"

He held the clipboard out towards me and I looked down at paper shown in front of me. It was the layout of the field and I could see the regular formation with the main starting players in their spots. But then on the attacking side I could see a change.

My name. My name was on there.

Oh fudgenuggets.

Coach nodded at me. "Got it?"

I responded back with a nod, speechless even as he walked away, towards his office. I think I stood there for a god minute before walking into the changeroom where I could see what looked to be half the team close to the door.

Anmol gave me a smile. "What happened?"

"She's on the starting lineup, right?" Our captain, Veronica said, giving me a smile.

I got a round of high fives from most of the team and was silently happy that i had managed to get along with most of them for the season. And I had to admit that the beginning of school year, it was weird playing with women instead of the boys back home. But I had managed to adapt here since we all loved the sport.

I glanced at Tanya and she had a sour look on her face as she tied up her cleats.

Yup. I got along with most of the team.


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