Having a concussion sucks balls.

The first few days were the absolute worst. The doctors told me I couldn't do anything that required too much concentration because it could trigger my symptoms. That meant very limited TV, books, and friends, which was literally all my entertainment.

Then the days after that I was told to ease back into a regular routine. But every time I had a headache, I had to pull back from what was I doing. When I went back to school my teachers knew that I needed continuous breaks from lessons. It was an extremely frustrating process, but it did its job.

My friends insisted that one of them (if not all) were to be practically glued at my side during school days. I didn't really see the point since Jeremey was gone, but I didn't argue it. I didn't want to be alone anyway.

Things had calmed down at school with all the gossip that surrounded me and the article. Some people still thought it was me, some people believed that I was being framed, and some people thankfully moved on.

I still don't know who wrote the article, but I hadn't exactly had much free time to investigate. Declan had shared his suspicion of it being Brooke who did it, which made complete sense. But if I was going to have anyone confronted, I wanted to do it myself. So, I told my friends not to interfere for the time being. They very reluctantly agreed.

A week and a half went by and I could actually do normal things without worrying about a splitting headache coming after. Just in time for the championship game and prom at the end of the week.

Natalie was nominated as prom queen along with Brooke and Lillian. Declan, Adam, and Duncan were nominated for prom king.

Declan dropped me off to physics class where I sat with my chin in my hand and waited for class to start.

Duncan came in and sat in his usual chair beside me. We hadn't spoken a single word to each other since I had been back. It was just this awkward strain of not knowing how he felt about his best friend being shipped to another country. It could have also just been the fact that Duncan never really talks to me anyway.

Then he takes me by surprise when he throws a bag on my desk. It was a small paper pouch with the pink and orange letters of the donut shop I would tease him about.

"You got me... a donut?" I asked him suspiciously.

"He was an asshole," Duncan shrugged. "And I'm not really good with words so," He motioned to the donut on my desk.

This Duncan donut was his form of apology. I tried to suppress the smile on my face and failed miserably. It was cute that thought he needed to apologize for someone else's actions.

"Don't get all mushy about it, it's not a big deal," He practically growled. I could tell this exchange was now either making him embarrassed or uncomfortable, either way, I was relishing in this moment forever.

"Sure thing bestie. No big deal, none at all," I responded.

"Shut up already and eat your donut."

-------

"Come on, Row, the game is about to start!" Natalie dragged me back to the bleachers. We had gone back to the car to grab some snacks we left behind.

Valley View High students were sitting on the other side of the field. The boys were finally playing against Austin and his goons.

They were wrapping up some warm ups and Coach was yelling at Adam. He was currently flirting with some blonde girl on the side of the Valley View bleachers. He snapped his head up at the sound of Coaches' voice, said some parting that left her blushing, and ran back to the team.

All the boys were positioned on the field and the referee was speaking to the coaches. Which meant no one on the field was paying attention to the tension between the teams.

I was too far to hear what they were saying, but Austin was the first to speak. He was talking to Declan, whatever he was saying made the latter look amused. He responded to something to him that got Austin pissed.

He shrugged it off after a second with a smirk. He was talking to Declan but all of a sudden he was staring right at me as he finished his words and send me a kiss through the air.

I could see Declan's face drop and he charges forward for him. Adam reaches out before he can get to him and holds him back. He says something low in his ear while Declan's face is tight with anger and glaring ahead.

Austin looked impressed with himself as he watches Declan's reaction. Adam finishes what he says to Declan and when Austin says something else, Adam is the one to charge forward to sock him in the face.

As per usual, all hell broke loose.

Cyrus pushed a player back from helping Austin, who was now on the ground in a tumble with Adam.

I think the player that Cyrus had pushed back was Jackson, one of the friends that showed up at the mall that one day. Jackson started a heated argument about whatever Cyrus had said to him. Jackson got closer, clearly about to throw a punch. Then out of nowhere Duncan showed up and shoved Jackson back so hard that he fell to the ground.

If I wasn't so completely thrown off at the moment, I would have laughed at the irony of how Duncan was defending Cyrus. Considering what happened when they first met, this was something I would have never imagined.

"Heeey I know that bro!" That would be Chris who shouted. I can't believe I almost forgot about him. He was watching his friend get his ass beat with the biggest smile on his face because he found Adam.

Then the coaches were in the picture and the referee was helping pull some boys off of each other.

Adam immediately received a red card for being the one to throw the first punch. He was out of the game before it even started. However, Austin wasn't allowed to play until he stopped bleeding.

Instead of going towards the player's bench, Adam practically skips over to me and Natalie with how giddy he is. "Right where I needed to be," he says as he settles between the both of us, slings his right arm over my shoulder and his left around Natalie's, and gives the two of us one smooch on the top of our heads.

"What the hell just happened out there?" I asked him.

Adam rolls his eyes. "He said something raunchy about you. I told Declan to let me handle it since we actually need him on the field and I've been benched for half the season anyway."

I gave him a playful shove in the jaw with my fist. Natalie was frowning. "What an A-hole. If you don't hold me back, I'll go after him myself." That made Adam and I both smile. Imagining Natalie get violent would definitely be the damn day. "Ugh, I always miss the drama," she grumbles.

"And who was the blondie, Mr. Flirts?" I ask. I know for a fact that he's lost count of how many girls he's made a move on.

His eyes lit up. "That absolute ray of sunshine you mean? She's in the year below us at Valley View. Her name's Briar Maddox."

"Well?" Natalie urged. "Did you get her number?"

He shakes his head, "Nah, you know me. You can't tie this down," he says, taking his arm from around me to give his hard chest a few pats with his fist.

Natalie rolls her eyes in disappointment and pushes his arm off her, and I give a snort in response. Then Adam is distracted and uses his hands to cup his mouth as he shouts, "OH MY GOD, ITS MY BOY CHRIS!"

Chris snaps his head in our direction as the whistle blows to start the game and sees Adam. "AYYYY!" he shouts from across the field and points to Adam. Adam mirrors his reaction and then someone on Chris's team yells at him to focus.

And just like that, the game begins. Declan, Cyrus, and Duncan have been the highlight trio for almost the entire season. Tonight, however, Nico brought some extra skill to the table making the first goal of the game.

As the crowd goes wild, I can't help but think about how much I'm going to miss this after senior year. My high school memories are soon to come to an end. All we had left was prom and graduation.

My friends and I were staying relatively close. We had been talking about college applications, scholarships, and acceptances over the past few weeks. Adam was accepted into the same college where Natalie and I received academic scholarships. Cyrus and Declan had accepted athletic scholarships for a college two hours away from ours. As far as long distance went, that wasn't the worst situation for the five of us. We were going to make it work, especially for me and Declan.

I snapped out of my thoughts when Adam shoved into me. He and Natalie were caught up in the excitement of the game.

A few minutes later I was caught up in that same excitement. It was the most engrossing game we had all season. Every time we were up by a point, Valley View would tie us up by scoring another.

Then they were in the lead, 3-2. Austin was back in the game in the last quarter, his nose finally stopped running.

Cyrus assisted the ball to Declan who slammed the laces of his shoes into the ball and sent it flying into the net. We were now tied once again.

So in the last few moments of the game, we were all at the edge of our seats. Valley View was way too close to our side of the field and Austin was pumping his legs to get the ball closer to his goal. So when Duncan intercepted the ball right when he was about to score, I knew he was fuming with anger.

Duncan passed the ball down the field and Cyrus easily caught it before it hit the sidelines. He looks around the field to find someone who's open.

Declan waves his attention over and Cyrus doesn't hesitate to pass it over to him. Declan catches the ball with his foot and strides forward with it towards the goal. He's so close, he's so close and I can barely hear my own thoughts as everyone on the bleachers is screaming and cheering, me included.

And then Jackson runs up on him. I see the fucker kick his foot out but it doesn't hit the ball, Jackson deliberately kicks Declan only just below his knee and he goes down.

"That was fucking foul," I yell to Adam.

"Yeah that definitely was, he's going to have to call that! It was in the box too!" He yells.

"What does that mean?" Natalie asks over the shouting of everyone around us.

"It means we get a penalty kick!" I smile. I knew for a fact that this was Declan's specialty. We now had this game in our pocket.

Declan is up and shaking off his knee after the ref calls the foul. All the other players line up behind him and their goalie readies himself.

I climb down from the bleachers and I don't know if Adam and Natalie follow after. The anticipation was too much for me to sit still. The crowd goes quiet on our side, just waiting.

Declan looks ready to kick, only he pauses. Then he looks up and seeks me out in the crowd.

"Oh, that cocky motherfucker," I say, but I couldn't help the smile already on my face. Because I knew exactly what he was about to do. He had done it to me before.

I had moved up in the front, so it didn't take him long. He smiles when he finds me and throws me a quick wink.

And then that son of a bitch, as if the goalie wasn't even there, strikes the ball and it hits the net with a resonating whoosh.

Everybody went batshit crazy. And then Declan comes to me running and I'm already laughing when he lifts me in the air and runs across the field with me thrown over his shoulder.

I slip through his grip when slows down, dragging my body down and latching my legs onto his hips so he's holding me in a piggyback instead.

And then he panics for a moment when he remembers my head but I tell him I'm okay. My healing time has been over. After he's convinced, Declan sees Austin before I do and when Declan holds his middle finger out to him, I mirror the expression.

I don't pay him any more attention as I climb off Declan's back and Declan doesn't either when I come around him and wrap my arms around the back of his neck.

"Congratulations," I smile.

"Don't congratulate me, baby girl. You're my lucky charm," He says and I shut him up with a kiss on those beautifully sculpted lips.

A/N: CORNYYY SHIIIIIIT MUHAHAHAHAA

As you can tell I am wrapping this story up. I plan for two more chapters maaaybe three left?

Two things,

One: NEW COVER WOOHOO! I was really sad to let the other one go but this one won the vote and I also thought it was time for a change!

Two: remember the name Briar Maddox, I've been planning a new story. I already have the character aesthetics ready ;)
(& no she will not be Adams love interest. This will be an entirely different story line)

thanks for reading ❤️