Part 14

Background color
Font
Font size
Line height

A few soccer references ahead so I put a picture up to help if you need it.


(Also I really don't like calling football soccer but I've done so from the beginning so now I feel like I have to keep it up. So if it pains you every time you read "soccer" just remember that it pains me just as much!)


14. Seth


As soon as Amber shuts the door to Arya's room, I feel like strong fingers wrap around my heart to crush it. Whilst my body somehow manages to carry me from the building, my mind has gone numb. I can feel my fingers shaking by my sides and my lungs struggling to take in oxygen as I stride across campus. I can't go back to my own room right now. I somehow need to get rid of this awful feeling of being crushed.


Once I find myself at the soccer field, I locate a stray soccer ball and jog towards it. I attempt to take a deep breath before touching my foot to the ball. Although the sun is already setting, the floodlights are lighting up the whole field. Closing my eyes, I try to block out what has just happened. I need to block her out.


When I open my eyes, I see nothing but the ball at my foot and the field ahead of me. I start jogging lightly towards the goal, dribbling the ball in front of me. As I reach the penalty arch, I gather all of my strength and kick the ball as hard as I can. With a hiss the ball charges towards the goal. A loud bang echoes from the bleachers when the ball hits one of the goalposts and bounces back. Instead of watching the ball roll away, I run towards it. As soon as I reach it, I kick it once more. Now the ball goes straight into the goal, hitting the net powerfully.


Again I run towards the ball at full speed, stopping immediately when I reach it, turn and run to the goal on the opposite side, dribbling the ball skilfully. Instead of stopping at the penalty arch, I run to the corner arc. My lungs now burning with excitement, I position the ball properly, take a couple steps back and shoot the ball in a curve. Once again it hits the net.


Retrieving the ball and shooting it at the goal again, I hear someone running up behind me. Instead of turning to check who it is, I continue shooting the ball until the person reaches me. I recognize Jackson even as he speeds past me, stealing the ball from my feet. To mock me he starts doing tricks, spinning around, kicking the ball high up into the air and catching it with his chest before letting it drop back down to his feet.


"Think you can catch me?" He challenges loudly, his voice booming.


To answer his question, I start running towards him as fast as my feet will carry me. Jackson laughs loudly and just before I reach him, he sprints into the opposite direction, blowing past me. For a second I am dumbfounded but quickly force myself to start running again.


I almost catch him when he stops running at the centre spot, the ball stirring lazily in front of his feet.


"Come and get it then!" Jackson laughs.


Taking a few steps forward, I already know what's going to happen. Just when I'm about to take the ball from Jackson, he will jump forward and take it from me. The smug look on his face proves this. So instead of giving him the satisfaction, I decide on another tactic.


"Shit..." I mutter, focusing on something behind Jackson, clenching my fists. "Not again! Fucking hell!"


"What?" Jackson asks confused, turning his head to look at what's behind him.


Before he can realize that I've tricked him, I take the ball from him.


"If that's how you want to play...!" Jackson shouts after me as I charge towards the goal. Instead of letting him catch up to me, I kick the leather ball into the goal once more.


Jackson and I chase each other across the field for a good thirty minutes before he drops to the ground, panting and laughing. My whole body is throbbing with adrenaline as I throw my head back, taking a deep breath in through my nose. I'm dripping wet from sweat and my skin feels like its on fire. Occasionally a fresh breeze sends shivers down my spine.


Jackson pushes himself off the ground.


"So are you okay then?" He asks, raising an eyebrow. "That shit earlier was not fun to watch."


"I'm fine." I say shortly, trying not to go to that place.


"Sure you are... but if there's one piece of advice I can give it's that you shouldn't sweat it. I know that sounds a bit pompous but for real, there are so many girls on campus; don't worry about this one. It didn't work out... So what?! Whose high-school romance ever works out anyway?" Jackson muses but I'm only half listening.


"I'm going to go take a shower." I say, completely ignoring his 'advice' and walking off.


"Hey! Wait!" Once again Jackson runs up behind me, putting his hand on my shoulder. "Can you just for once second forget your fucking anger against me and listen to what I have to say?"


"What is it then?" I question, raising an eyebrow sceptically.


"Well..." He smirks. "In my humble opinion the best way to get over one girl is to find another. A

'rebound' as they say."


"What's your point exactly?" I ask impatiently.


"There's this party..."



An hour later Jackson has somehow managed to convince me to meet him at one of the dorm buildings. Admittedly drowning myself in loud music and alcohol does sound like just the right kind of medicine. Freshly showered and dressed in my soccer jersey and a pair of dark jeans (the only clean clothes left in the 'clean clothes'-pile), I meet Jackson outside the dorm building. It is quite late now but the party seems to be in full go.


"Damn! You're actually here!" Jackson shouts, one arm wrapped tightly around the waist of a girl I have never seen before. "Hey babe, go be an angel and get my friend here a beer, will you?"


"That's alright!" I say putting my hand up. "I'll go get it myself. You two don't worry about me."


"There you go! He's a grown man after all!" Jackson laughs, making his girl giggle and cuddle into his side. As I pass him, he slaps my back, a large grin on his smug face.


I stride through the building, peering into different rooms, trying to ignore pretty much everyone around me until I find the keg. Quickly grabbing a clean-looking plastic cup, I pour myself a beer. Within seconds I gulp it down shuddering at the warm bitterness. Once the last drop is gone, I pour myself another and look around the room. The tiny square room is packed with people. Most of them either high or drunk. You can barely see as thick smoke fills every last room. The music is so loud that people have to shout into each others ears in order to communicate... although there's not much of that happening anyway. For a second I wonder how a party like this could even be tolerated but don't waste much thought on it. Instead I take another big gulp of beer and weave my way through a crowd of people.


A few people around my age playing spin the bottle catch my attention. I enter the room but stand back, casually looking around and sipping my beer, careful not to be noticed by anyone.


A bubbly girl spins the bottle and it lands on a guy who seems to be high out of his mind. He barely notices that the bottle lands on him, his head turning from left to right. His body sways as his eyes try to focus on the bottle in front of him. Once more the girl spins the bottle. It lands on a guy, holding a bottle of Jägermeister.


"Fuck no! I'm out!" He jells, taking a large gulp of liquor before holding his hands up in protest.


"Come on! That's the rules, Peter." Bubbly girl shouts, pushing him towards the high dude.


I shake my head, smiling and emptying my cup. Next to me, I find a half empty bottle of vodka. Trying not to think about what bodily fluids might be in there along with the liquor, I pour myself a double shot.


"I won't kiss another dude. That's just—" But before 'Peter' can finish his sentence, the high dude pushes himself up and stumbles towards him. Half falling and half lowering himself down, he presses his lips to the other boy's. The bottle of Jägermeister drops down, dark alcohol spilling all over the floor.


"Oh my god, Jake!" The girl shrieks at the high dude, clapping her hands and laughing hysterically. Everyone else joins in laughing as the two guys start making out heavily. Some even whistle and some start filming with their phones.


Chuckling, I shake my head and down my drink. I've had enough of this, I decide. Now drunk, I stumble through the room, towards the door. Just when I'm about to reach it, a couple stumbles past me.


"Peter! I didn't know you were warm-blooded!" A male voice exclaims.


Peter finally pushes the high dude off him. Without acknowledging anyone, he jumps up and storms out of the room, cheeks bright red.


A familiar giggle has my blood freezing. Just now I recognize Arya. I squint, trying to recognize the guy by her side but can't. Together they sit with the group and I know that I should just leave them be. Instead I make my way to the very back of the room, where they surely couldn't see me and watch them interact.


Even through the smoke, I can tell that Arya is drunk. She is too playful with this stranger, letting him touch her as they say things to each other that I cannot hear over the loud music. Arya laughs loudly as the stranger whispers something into her ear and I can feel anger flare up inside me.


Calm down!


"Ok! Let's go for one more round!" Bubbly girl shouts, picking up the (now Jägermeister-drenched) bottle and spinning it. The bottle lands on the stranger. I only see his back so I don't see his reaction to this but Arya shakes her head slightly, smiling drunkenly. The bottle gets spun again and before it can land on anyone, bubbly girl stops it just as it points to Arya. "Oops! Look at that!" She laughs.


The stranger's back tenses and Arya's smiling face turns into a glum one.


"Oh what is this? A funeral? Wipe those glum looks off your faces and get to it. I never knew you were such a prude, Kevin." The girl shouts, laughing and egging them on.


"I don't think so." Kevin shakes his head and turns to face Arya. She nervously bites down on her bottom lip and all I want to do is walk up to her and get her out of here. That wouldn't end well, though. She'd probably find a way to make me look awful once more.


"Kiss. Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" The girl shouts and everyone else starts shouting along with her.


Arya giggles awkwardly, hiding her face in her hands.


"No, guys, really." Kevin begs awkwardly but the crowd won't have it.


"Kiss! KISS! KISS! KISS!" They chant over and over again.


No, this is enough. I can't watch this.


With my back to the wall, I slowly walk from the room. I can now feel the room spinning as the alcohol curses through my veins. As my foot catches on something, I feel myself falling forward. I crash to the floor, my hands breaking the fall. Still my head painfully smashes into something hard and wooden. Something sharp cuts into my palms and I realize that it's shattered glass. I curse loudly, blood dripping from my hands. I don't look up as I can already feel everyone's eyes on me and don't need to see their disturbed faces.


Storming out of the room, I try to ignore the stinging in my palms and the throbbing pain coming from my temples. Just as soon as I escape the building, I take a few more steps forward, my stomach twisting. I reach a patch of grass and fall to my knees. I retch as the contents of my stomach rise in my throat and I puke all over the grass.


"Hey, you alright, dude?" Someone asks behind me when I'm done puking. I just nod, waving them off.


Sitting back, I pull up my jersey to wipe my mouth. Just then I realize that not only my palms are bleeding but blood is also rushing from my nose.


"Fuck this." I swear, tilting my head back and dabbing at the blood with my jersey. Everything is still spinning, so I decide to lay back for a while.


A few minutes pass and the throbbing in my head drowns out the loud noise from the party. A trickle of blood drips down my cheek so I just take off my jersey, ball it up and push it to my face. The large doors to the dorm building bang shut behind me.


"No! It's fine. Don't worry about it. I just want to go back to my dorm!" Arya's voice reaches me and I hear her walking past me quickly. When I turn my head, I see Kevin chasing after her.


"Hey. Come on, just stay to talk for a second. I shouldn't have done that. That was wrong." He apologizes and Arya turns to face him. As she looks at him, her eyes suddenly lock with mine and go wide. I shake my head, balled up jersey still pressed to my bleeding nose.


Kevin, now realizing that he doesn't have Arya's attention anymore, turns to look at me. He furrows his brow at me, seemingly recognizing me. He steps closer to Arya, shielding her view. Leaning close to her, he says something I can't hear. After a few seconds, they both start walking again but Arya turns to look at me once more.


With the last bit of strength I have inside me, I push myself up and walk into the opposite direction, leaving them be.



**************

Is the Karya ship taking off???? hmmmm....

Please comment and vote ;)










You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net