It's not only Coach Williams that watches me with expectations as the football tryout goes, but also the upperclassmen. Tyler Gates, the current captain, eyes me with interest, while Coach looks for the proper technique I should demonstrate during position-related drills.

First, my speed is assessed. Coach asks me to make a 40-yard dash as a basic indicator of my speed. I break into a full sprint while Coach times me -- he wants to know how fast I can run and my muscular endurance over such a distance.

I think that he's happy by how he gives me a nod of approval while looking at his timer.

Then he puts me to a battery of drills that include throwing and taking a snapped ball from under center. A smirk touches my lips as Coach watches me throwing a ball with a spiral a short distance.

Then he calls me to receive passes from himself and another run through obstacle courses with tires.

My skills are evaluated further by attempting field goals from different distances and by punting the ball as far as I can. I also have to perform hitting and blocking drills on a padded blocking sled.

Fuck. I fucking love football.

By the end of the tryout, Coach grabs my shoulder firmly, a big grin on his face, before he walks off to talk with the other tryout attendees. Good. I think that I just nailed it.

I can't wait to join the team and play football.

Tyler Gates strides to me and gives me a fist bump. "Welcome to the team. Glad to have you with us, Max."

I return his smirk. "Coach hasn't said anything."

"He'll let you in, and by how happy he looked just now, he won't be able to wait until tomorrow to let you know that you're in," Tyler says. "Expect the result later this evening."

My chest is filled up with excitement. Later this evening? I can wait for that.

While doing so, I will be occupied with my weird classmate, Luna, doing our goddam English assignment.

Speaking of that, I should go to the locker room to clean myself, because I'm more than sure that she wouldn't appreciate the fact that I'm soaked with sweat.

Just in time, I spot the said girl sitting on the bleacher, a book on her lap. Her eyes are glued on the pages of whatever it is she's reading, while she's shutting away all of the other things around her.

Yeah, right. Luna Klein and her own world. I bet that many guys want to be her books.

My eyes follow her as the breeze blows through her hair and she tucks a strand of her hair behind her ear, her eyes still locked on her book as she wets her lips.

Goddammit, it doesn't have to be slow motion. That girl annoys me even from such a distance.

"What the hell is she doing here?"  Tyler's voice snaps me out of my trance.

When I look at him, I notice that his jaw tightens, his lips forming into a thin line as he stares at Luna. Something burns in his eyes, something more than an irritation. It's something close to anger.

He walks away with long strides in the direction opposite Luna.

His friend, my other potential football teammate, yells at Luna, "Hey, Lunatic! What do you think you're doing there? Get lost." With that said, he follows Tyler, who's heading toward the locker room.

I don't have any time to comprehend what I just heard, because I didn't expect that to come from his mouth.

And I also didn't expect that Luna would come here to wait for me.

I jog toward them. Both Tyler and the guy, whose name I forgot, turn their heads when I stop them.

"She's waiting for me. We have a group assignment to finish after school." I pant.

Tyler rolls his eyes and throws me an indifferent look, as if he doesn't give a fuck about my explanation. I watch as he steps back into the building, clenching his fists at his sides. He looks bloody annoyed.

The other guy, who just called Luna a lunatic, faces me, letting out a long sigh. I feel something flick inside me. Something triggering.

Even though it's not my business, no one deserves to be insulted based on their name. And he clearly wasn't joking by the way he talked to her and put so much hate into it.

"I guess I have to inform you since you're new here," he says. "But if I were you, I would be careful to not bring her anywhere within Tyler's sight. And don't talk about her either."

I frown, not understanding why it's such a big deal. If Tyler doesn't like her, he can just ignore her. It's not like I have a tracker on her, and who am I to tell her where to go and not?

The guy heads back to the locker room, leaving me standing here, dumbfounded.

I turn my head toward Luna, who's still waiting patiently for me, sitting alone on the bleacher. But her eyes aren't glued on her book anymore -- they are on me. I rush to her.

"Hey," I call, and she closes her book.

When I stare at her expression, I'm surprised to find that she seems not affected by what happened just now, like she's used to it.

"I just have to get back to the locker room and get ready first, and then we're good to go." I don't know how long she's been waiting for me -- I was too caught up with the tryout.

She nods. "Okay."

Once I finish taking a shower and change my clothes -- and after bumping into Coach, who tells me again how I nailed the tryout --  I walk back toward the field, my black jacket slung across my shoulder.

My eyes scan Luna, who's still sitting at the same spot.

A sigh escapes from my lips. I'm glad that she doesn't wait for me in the hallway outside the locker room, because she may encounter Tyler again.

I shoot her a look that makes her stand up and follow me without saying anything. We head to the parking lot.

I stop when we reach my motorbike. When I turn around to face her, she startles. She looks somehow stunned -- you know it when someone is staring at your face, and she's doing it to me now.

Her eyes land on my hair -- I don't know what she finds interesting there, since my hair is probably messy now, still wet from the shower.

"Are you okay with motorbikes?" I ask.

"Huh?" she blurts out, snapped from her thoughts.

I scoff. Who am I kidding? She might not have tried it at all. She's used to being picked up by limos -- how could I forget that?

Rich, spoiled brat.

Without waiting for her answer, I hop onto my motorbike, slip into my jacket and start the engine. I've thought about lending my jacket to her, since the wind will sip into her skin, but she already looks comfortable in her blazer.

"Are you just gonna stand there?" I remind her, while she still looks surprised from realizing that she's going to ride the motorbike with me. "Jesus, Luna, the world won't wait for you forever."

That's a shitty thing to say after knowing that she has just waited for me for hours, and I silently curse at myself.

Luna swallows, reluctantly hopping onto my motorbike, and when she just sits still, I fight the urge to roll my eyes.

"Are you going to get yourself killed or what?" I ask.

And she gets what I mean. Slowly, she grabs the sides of my jacket, but that's not safe enough. With the way she touches me, she thinks that I would burn her.

Fucking fine. I just have to ride this thing really slow.