^^^Listen While Reading^^^
I swear I be changing favorite songs every chapter.
Anyway, enjoy <3
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We kissed a few more times before Hazel pulled away. Her cheeks were flushed, and she said that someone was knocking. Indeed, someone was knocking. It was Leah and Emilia. They were talking over each other, one saying we were leaving in a few minutes and the other saying something else entirely. But I have a feeling they knew exactly what was happening behind the door.
I closed the door on their dumb faces and grabbed my suit jacket from the carpet, and Hazel and I agreed that it would probably be best to leave.
~~~
"Here!" I yell. My cleats pound against the ground as I put all my energy into getting open for Maddie. As soon as two opposing players start to crowd her, she passes it hard, and it flies past multiple players before landing with a bounce a few feet in front of me. Quickly receiving, I turn and the other team's defender is right on my neck. I grit my teeth and run faster, trying to keep the ball mostly on my right side and away from the defender.
I attempt to score, but the girl steals the ball. She's about to pass it to her teammate, but I step around her and take it from her other side, immediately passing it to Leah. Leah scores and I give her a double high-five before jogging back to my position.
Their goalie is good. We're already in the second half and only scored one goal.
But luckily for us, our goalie, Taylor, is better. But she's just been standing there in the cold, getting zero goalie action because the ball has never made it to our side. Which is a good thing.
At this point, it's honestly just a game of keep-away. We're trying to keep the ball away from the other team so they can't score.
But I spoke too soon. Two girls get replaced on the pitch after their coach calls for substitutes, and the team becomes more aggressive as they realize time is running out for them to score. The refs are clearly biased; they're almost completely ignoring all the other team's obvious fouls.
The new girls are defenders, big and strong, but I quickly realize their lack of technical skill. I suspect they were placed there to intimidate Leah and me.
They should honestly be rugby players, because they're violent, too. When there's a goal kick, Taylor punts the ball halfway across the field and Leah receives it. Turning quickly, I can see she's about to pass it to me, but one of the new defender girls "steps strategically" in front of her so that Leah is thrown to the ground.
Leah sits up after a few seconds, the wind knocked out of her, but before people can go and ask if she's okay, she stands up and brushes the grass off her jersey shorts.
The ref doesn't even call a foul. Across the field, Emilia throws her hands up in frustration. Glancing at Leah, I see that she's glaring. She still has some grass on the back of her shirt and shorts, and some in her hair.
The girls end up messing with us enough for them to score two goals. And I'm so miffed that I don't even want to talk to anyone.
After a series of half-hearted "good game"'s, I storm off the pitch and sit on the grass next to the bench where our bags lay. Leah doesn't even say anything. She merely glances at me, looking just as understandably pissed, and trudges over to her bag. Unzipping my bag, I pull out a pair of slides, then I pull off my cleats and shinguards and put them in the bag. I step into my slides and put both backpacks on, one in front and the other in the back. I pack up slowly because Grandma won't be home today and I have nothing to be excited about.
I'm the last one left when I finally go, except for one man I'm pretty sure is a janitor. Passing the bleachers, I approach the fence. But when I get there, a shadow moves.
"Hey."
I whirl around at the voice.
"Oh, hi, Hazel," I say. "Why are you still here?"
She's wearing a light-colored hoodie and jeans, but I can't tell what color they are because of how dark it is. "I came to watch your game. Did you think I was just going to leave?"
"I didn't think anyone would stick around after how bad it was," I say, shrugging.
She looks confused. "It wasn't bad. Everyone loses sometimes."
I shake my head. "You don't get it. That team wasn't good at all. I don't even know how they made it into this division," I say, then I sigh. "And we lost to them."
Hazel falls silent, watching me. After a few seconds of her studying me, she answers. "It didn't seem like they were playing very fair."
"It doesn't matter," I say. "We probably won't even make it to playoffs, at the rate we're going."
"Casey," she says gently. "It'll be fine. All great teams have their rough patches. But I think we can all see that you guys are better than a lot of other teams out there. I don't know why you're so worried."
We leave the stadium and are now by the outer fence. I run a hand through my hair, sighing again. "Sorry. I justâit feels like I'm getting worse. Like I'm letting the team down."
Hazel frowns. "I'm sure you're not."
"We lost by one goal that I could have prevented. And I could have tried harder and actually scored this game."
Hazel stops walking and turns to me, hands on her hips. "Casey, be realistic. How would you have stopped the goal? You're not a defender."
I look at her. "Okay . . . But I still didn't even score."
"You made an awesome assist to Leah," she says. "It resulted in a goal. And, from what I could see, you put a lot of effort into it."
I sigh for a third time. "I guess . . ." I say. "Maybe I'm over-analyzing it."
Hazel nods. "Possibly. You tend to do that a lot."
"Yeah," I say, looking at the concrete sidewalk.
She looks at me. "This is . . . really important to you, isn't it?"
"Yeah," I repeat. "It is."
"I guess I'll never understand why."
We reach my car and I open the passenger door.
"What are you doing?" Hazel asks.
"Driving you home," I answer.
She looks at me for a moment, then sighs. "Okay."
"No complaint?" I ask, rounding the car and getting into the driver's seat.
"No," she says.
"Cool."
When we reach her house, no one's there. Hazel explains that her mother is in the rehab center and that Landon is at his father's house.
I guess the concern shows on my face because she assures me it's fine, that Landon's dad isn't bad. Though he did worsen her mother's problem, he's been getting better and really cares about his kid.
I follow her into her house, and we enter the living room. Despite my protests, she makes me a cup of hot chocolate and we sit on her living room couch.
I sip the hot chocolate. It's really good.
"Hey, I'm sorry about today," I say. "You took time out of your day to come support me, and I just . . . kind of ruined it by being all annoying." I put the mug down on the coffee table in front of me. "Sorry for wasting your night."
Hazel glances at me then speaks a beat later. "You didn't waste my night, but think what you want to think. I like spending time with you."
"That's something I'll never understand," I quip.
"And you're no longer in that little hole of self-depreciation that you'd probably still be in if I didn't come to your game."
"I . . ."
"But it's okay. I get it," Hazel says. I'm sure I look confused, and she explains. "Leah told me that since you were little, you'd always blame yourself when your mother wouldn't make time for you or try to understand you beyond basic childcare needs."
I watch her as she puts her mug on the table as well. "Is that true?" she asks.
"Well, I guess I just always wanted to know what I did wrong that made her dislike me. I wasn't planned, so now I kind of understand why she didn't want to be around me." I say. "She was pretty young when she had me and wanted to continue her life. I was just a setback." I shrug.
"Casey . . ."
"No, I don't want you to feel bad for me, or anything. That's just how it is. It's not her fault." I say.
"But . . ."
"But nothing," I say, turning to fully face her. "I'm fortunate enough as it is. I have Leah and her family, and my grandmother, and my friends."
It's true. I'm pretty independent now, and I think my mom knows it. Maybe she'll start to see me as less of a burden.
Hazel frowns. "Is that why you were so reluctant to believe I liked you?"
I look away. "Maybe."
She just looks at me. "Okay, well, I do. And I care about you, Casey."
I shake my head. "I care about you too. A lot."
"But?"
"I don't know. I guess, a part of me still doesn't believe this is real," I mutter.
Hazel is silent for a moment, and I look at her.
"I'm sorry. I'm being all--"
Hazel tucks a wispy strand behind my ear. My heart feels like it stops beating, and then she plants a gentle kiss on my lips. A rush of warmth spreads through me.
She pulls away, her hand still resting on my cheek. "Stop apologizing, Casey."
"Sorry," I mumble.
She just looks at me, raising her eyebrows in amusement. I don't care. The drawstrings of her hoodie dangle in front of me, and I grab both in my hand and tug her closer to me.
Hazel smirks, and my lips meet hers again.
Her other hand shifts to my abdomen, pushing me slowly backward on the couch. My abdomen is warm where her hand is, and she's basically on top of me. Her lips are gentle and warm, and I don't even care that I can barely breathe.
I can't get enough of her. I kiss her deeply. Her chest presses against mine when I feel her hand slip off my side and onto the couch next to me.
Then her tongue finds its way into my mouth and a faint whimper escapes me.
God.
Hazel breaks the kiss, pulling herself an inch or so off of me. "Sorry. I got carried away."
She smiles a little as she says this, her lips vibrantly colored from friction. I bring my hands to her sides, my fingertips grazing her upper back. She watches me intently, her lips slightly parted and her eyes dark.
I meet her eyes. "I thought you said no apologizing," I say.
Hazel stares at me, her wavy hair slowly coming loose from its bun. "Whatever," she pulls herself fully off of me, sitting up and fixing her hair. "It's getting late."
I sit up too, running a hand through my hair. "Yeah. I should probably go."
I get up and follow her to the door, which she opens. She then leans against it, folding her arms. "So . . ."
I look at her. "Yes?"
She has a second hair tie around her wrist that she begins to play with. "Nothing, never mind."
I squint a little, studying her before turning towards the night sky. "Alright. Thanks for the hot cocoa."
"Of course," she answers. "Thanks for driving me home."
I nod and walk out the door to my car. I get in and shut the door, and as I put on my seatbelt I glance out the window and see her still standing in the doorway, watching me. I offer her a small smile and a wave, and she gives me a little wave back, unsmiling.
I drive away.
A/N:
FINALS WEEK RAHHH
<3