Song for chapter eighteen: I Think He Knows by Taylor Swift

|Skyler|

I pulled the sleeves of my thick hoodie over my hands and wrapped my arms around myself. Even though it was only nearing October, it was already beginning to get cold. Not that it was unbearable, but the wind was really adding to it.

Josie's teeth chattered next to me and I couldn't help but wonder how she would ever survive the winters if she went to Canada with me. Josie was invited by Ryan, which resulted in an ear splitting squeal when she told me over the phone last night.

We were at the first soccer game of the season, against a school —who's name I forgot — Josie said was one of our biggest rivals. One of them. So there must be way more to watch out for this season. Our school was the one hosting this game so it would be embarrassing if we lost.

From the cheers and groans that sounded from the students from Cypress High, I could tell the opposing school was quite the rival. Maybe I was still too new to this school, but I didn't feel compelled to see the opposing team crushed like Josie was. It would be nice to have Aden win, that was all.

The stands were also split into two sides, our side and the other side which sat students from the other school.

To be honest, I had no clue what was even going on. I'd never watched soccer before, so all I knew was that we just had to score points in the opposite team's net. Aden had mentioned that he was an attacking midfielder, which was all sort of just jiberish to me. I think he scored the goals though.

Which would make sense cause the bruise on my cheek stayed there for a week or two after the hit in gym class.

"So you guys kissed again but aren't dating yet?" Josie repeated what I told her about last night at Aden's house, her eyes trained on the field, darting around to spot Ryan. "And he even asked you to come to the game?"

Truthfully the kiss was even better than the first time at the masquerade ball, but I didn't even think to ask Aden what it meant about us and what we were, mostly because I didn't want to ruin such a beautiful moment.

"Yeah," I grimaced at her reiteration. "Is that bad?"

She shrugged, "I mean, not necessarily."

"What if he likes someone else?" I frowned, staring at the game. For some reason they were having a timeout, and I could hear faintly the coach from the rival team shouting at his students. So far the score was 2-1 for our school.

"Trust me, he doesn't," Josie told me, with her eyes on Ryan. "I haven't seen him look at anyone like you looks at you, and I went to the same junior high as him. And he invited you over to his house like twice!"

"But he still hasn't asked me to wear his sweatshirt for the last game."

"I'm sure he's just waiting for the right time. I mean, he can't just blurt it out randomly," Josie said knowingly. There was a good chance she was right, I was just scared that he'd blurt it out at random to Ava or another girl who was way prettier than me.

I didn't know why it disturbed me so much that Ava liked him. I'd never been one to doubt myself before, but now that I actually felt as though I liked Aden, I wanted to be good enough for him.

The rival team dispersed again and a whistle blew. I watched as both teams entered their formations again on the field.

"Look, just don't worry about it. I'm sure he's just taking it slow," Josie said, turning her attention back to me. "Taking it slow is a good thing most of the time. So you're not rushing into things."

I looked at her. "Yeah, you're right. I'm just scared I'm not good enough for him," I added quietly.

Josie sighed, turning to me, "My mom always told me this: it doesn't matter if you think you're not good enough for a person. Because a relationship is all about meeting the one person who's way out of your league or someone you admire, but you build yourself up to be good enough to deserve them. That's how you grow as a person."

"How are you so good at this?" I blinked at her, shaking my head incredulously. My mouth was agape.

Josie smirked, "Esther was like a serial dater back in freshman year. She went through like three boyfriends in two months. Paige sucked at relationship advice so, she came to me for help."

"Oh wow. Go Esther," I laughed.

Imagine actually having a boyfriend, let alone three. Couldn't relate.

"How's Ryan by the way?" I teased.

Josie's face grew redder than a tomato within in a second. "He's such a gentlemen honestly. I mean like, he holds the doors open for me, and he even pays for my food. We haven't like kissed or anything though, I'm not sure if he likes me like that," she sighed at the last part.

"I'm sure he does. I'm gonna watch for any signs when you're with him," I told her, even though I was confident Ryan felt the same.

"Thanks."

I didn't really know Ryan well enough, but I was sure I could get some information from Aden. I was snapped out of my thoughts when a series of groans erupted from the people around me. My eyes flew back up at the scoreboard to see that the scores were now tied.

"Uh oh, that's not good," I heard Josie say next to me, her eyebrows furrowed in worry.

"It's fine, they can get it back right?" I glanced at her.

She pointed to the time next to the scoreboard, "If they can within less than a minute."

Austin, who was our goal keeper, and the team captain seemed to be having some sort of hissy fit. He chucked the ball back out onto the field, his face red with fury.

I watched as Austin went up to our defence players, and began shouting something inaudible to them. The defence-men just looked aggravated at him, but they didn't scream back. I had only seen one of them around school before, but I had no clue what his name was. The other was Ryan. I was suffering from second hand embarrassment for Austin at this point. He looked like a maniac and worse, like a sore loser.

My eyes perked up when I noticed the soccer coach — who's name I still didn't know — talk to Aden, pointing and waving at the field. They must've come to some sort of agreement because the coach gave Aden a hard pat on the back and went back to the stands.

Before Aden walked off however, he turned to face the stands, making direct eye contact with me. My heart sped up when his face broke out into a small smile that I returned. He seemed calm and collected, even though the opposing team had just scored on us, even going as far as to give our defence a pat on the pack before returning to his own position.

I wasn't going to lie, Aden looked hot in his soccer jersey, shorts and cleats. It wasn't like our school colours were amazing, or that the jersey looked great, but there was something about a guy you liked in one that made them all the more attractive. Granted, the jersey was tight enough over his body that it hinted at the toned stomach hidden underneath.

My face grew hot as I remembered how it felt to have my hands run all over his body that night at his house.

Oh gosh, snap out of your perverted thoughts.

I diverted my focus back onto the field, where the game had begun again.

Another teammate who I could recognize as Nate passed the ball smoothly over to Aden. Aden weaved past players from the opposite team easily, finessing the defence-men. He kicked the ball hard into the opposing team's net and I held my breath.

The students from our school groaned when the goalie dove to the side, catching the ball in the air before landing on his side on the grass, the ball in his arms. He booted the soccer ball back to the other side of the field.

I watched as Aden shook his head in disappointment before jogging back further down the field. I eyed the clock.

There was thirty seconds left.

I must've missed something in that short amount of time because Ryan kicked the ball to Aden, who swiftly took control of it and began making his way down the field again towards the opposing net. He dodged the defence players with no effort and approached the goal line.

Eight seconds left.

He gave the ball a hard kick and it flew towards the net.

Six seconds left.

The crowd watched in dead silence as the ball flew past the goalie, just centimetres away from his outstretched hand before it hit the back of the net.

Our half of the stands erupted in ballistic cheers and Josie and I did the same. A few girls around me squealed out and cheered Aden's name.

The game went on for the final five seconds, but as expected the opposing team did not make a goal. When the timer went off the kids from school cheered even louder than when Aden had scored. And this was just the first game, imagine the last one of the season, or the one before playoffs.

The Cypress High soccer team ran towards each other, excitement and a sense of achievement evident in their expressions as they clambered into each other with their 'bro hugs'. Aden was in the centre of it though, having scored the winning goal. Austin seemed quite content, much unlike how he had been a few minutes before.

Even though they were all screaming at each other and cheering, I could mostly just hear Ryan shouting at the top of his lungs. It must've been something about beating the rival team in their first game of the season that made it all the better.

Within the crowd, Aden turned, his eyes making contact with mine. My hands reacted before my brain and I gave him a small wave. His lips stretched out into a toothy grin.

The rival team was also grouped together on the other side of the field, except they were all grimacing at their coach, who screamed at them for playing poorly. I felt a smidge of sympathy for them, but that feeling disappeared as soon as it arrived from the thought that our school didn't completely embarrass themselves by losing a game they were hosting.

Our school team finally broke apart and dispersed.

My shoulders tensed slightly when I noticed Ava stalking over towards Aden. She was enthusiastic about their win I could tell, from the toothy smile she was giving him. My stomach boiled when I saw her hand brushing against his shoulder, and then his chest. But it wasn't just Ava who was there, there were girls who I hadn't seen before talking to him and laughing as if he was saying the funniest thing ever.

But when I caught sight of Aden's expression, I was relieved to see an emotionless look of disinterest on his face. He was looking everywhere but at Ava and the other girls when his gaze landed on me.

He lips stretched out into a smirk and he gave me a wink.

My cheeks immediately turned into a deep scarlet shade at that, and especially when I noticed the girls next to him who's heads turned to me when they caught the wink as well.

Josie gave me a small nudge, a smug smile plastered on her face, "Still think he doesn't like you?"

"Okay, maybe you're right. Just this time though," I smiled over my burning cheeks.

"What do you mean just this time?" Josie feigned an incredulous expression, "I'm right all the time."

"Not when Ms. Jones called on you during your hour long nap," I remarked.

"Okay fine. I'm right all the time except during math," she rolled her eyes. "Come on!" She pulled me out of my seat from the stands and towards the field.

"What are you doing?"

"You're going to see your boyfriend, he obviously wants you to go up there," Josie pulled me along as I stepped over someone's legs to avoid tripping over them. "Ooh, catch you later, Ryan's calling me!" Josie gave me one last shove towards where Aden was standing before running off in a different direction, towards Ryan.

My eyes widened as I stood near the edge of the field, awkward and alone.

I was so out of place. Being alone amplified the wind, and I shivered from as another blast of frosty air whipped through my hair.

Aden was alone now, standing by a bench as he stuffed his water bottle and cleats into a duffel bag. I glanced behind my back to search for Josie, but she and Ryan were wrapped in a tight embrace. She was telling him how amazing she thought he was today. Ryan's face was beet red from her compliment.

Okay yeah, he definitely likes her.

I gasped when I felt a pair of strong arms wrap around my waist. Immediately, it warmed me up.

"Hey Clumsy," I heard Aden say behind me.

I spun around, suppressing a laugh as I placed a hand on Aden's chest to push give myself some space. "Nice goal."

Aden leaned in closer, my hand sandwiched between his chest and mine. "Oh come on, don't I get a hug for that amazing and heroic goal I scored?" he smirked.

"Nope," I said.

Aden ignored me and wrapped his arms around me, squeezing my face into his chest. I immediately melted into his arms as I breathed in his scent. For some reason, he smelt really good even though he'd just been through a soccer game and his shirt was still damp from his sweat. But I'd never let him know that.

I pushed him away with as much strength as I could muster and he let me go. "No hugs, you smell horrible," I laughed, crinkling my nose. Lie.

"You don't mean that," he pouted teasingly. When I didn't respond right away, he wrapped his arms around me again, muffling my surprised cry. "Anyways, are you free tomorrow after school? We should do something and we can go the party."

My body tensed, "I can't tomorrow, I'm busy."

"Oh okay, that's cool," he let me go when I took a step back, my body stiff and unwelcoming. "What will you be doing?"

"It's nothing important, it's just something that I have to do," I told him, my shoulders taut. Truthfully, I'd choose to hang out with Aden any day, but if I didn't show up tomorrow Aunt Claire would have a fit.

Aden's eyebrows furrowed, noticing my change in demeanor, "Will you be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be alright. Don't worry," I managed a smile. A gust of wind blew, my hair blowing wildly with it, flying into my face. I shook slightly as shudder ran up my spine.

He scrutinized me with his dark eyes as he dropped his duffel bag onto the ground with a thud. He dug his hand in his bag pulling out a navy rain coat.

"You're cold, take this," Was all Aden said as he slipped the jacket over my shoulder.

My cheeks immediately burned like a flame as I trained my gaze onto the grass. My hair draped over my red cheeks, hiding them from him.

"Yo Aden we gotta go! Coach is waiting for us in the locker room," Ryan called out from where he was standing with Josie. I almost laughed when I saw Josie's lovestruck expression. It was as if I could see those heart eyes as she stared at him.

Aden turned back to me with a smile and my eyes widened slightly when he bent down and planted a quick kiss on my forehead. My legs turned to jelly. "I'll see you tomorrow in class."

He jogged over to Ryan and they both disappeared back into the school. I didn't miss Ava's annoyed expression on the stands. Josie ran towards me, beaming as she began rambling about her conversation with Ryan. I was happy for her and that she'd found someone she really liked, but my mind was elsewhere.

I was dreading tomorrow much worse than a cat dreading bath time. It was going to be my first therapy session in two months.

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Hope you all liked this chapter! Please do vote, comment and share if you did, it would truly make my day! Thanks for reading!! ❤️

This chapter gives you a lot more insight on Aden's character!! And ooh tomorrow is Skyler's therapy session, how will that go?

~SweetnessInTheSalt