Oh Boy! (BL)

5 - Worlds Collide (2/3)

Make yourself useful, in Coach Simpson's world, meant getting balls from the storage room, putting up cones, and filling up water bottles while the players were running laps on the track court as a pre-practice warm-up. Clay and his tall mates joined their team ten minutes late. Unharmed.

Thank goodness.

"Is there anything else I can do?" I asked the coach after putting the last water bottle on the grass next to the field.

He was busy making notes on a scribbly-drawn soccer field, and didn't bother looking up from his notepad when he replied: "No, do whatever you want."

What I wanted, was my peace.

What I did was — big surprise — reading. More precisely, I was reading Genesis X for the third time. In a row. Because it was fantastic.

That, and I texted Holland that I'd fulfilled part one of the deal.

Well, in a way, at least. Sitting next to the soccer field, personally invited by Clay...I guess one could mistake us for friends. I crossed my fingers and knocked on the wooden bench before I hit send.

"Kenji-boy!"

I lifted my eyes from my book.

Evans's sweaty blonde curls stuck to his head when he leaned forward to glance at my novel. "Whascha weadin?" * His words were muffled due to the water bottle hanging in the corner of his mouth. (* whatcha reading)

I raised the novel so he could take a look at the cover.

"Ha! No kidding! Yo, Cap!" Clay jogged towards us. Apparently, they were taking a cooling break because Clay, too, held a water bottle in his hand. One brow raised, he looked at Evans. "Cap! Kenji-boy's reading the book you read last week!"

Huh?

I clung tighter to the novel.

Curiously, Clay lifted the cover, and a small smile formed on his face. "True that. How far are you?"

I hesitated.

"C'mon, I already finished reading it. You can't spoil the book for me."

He...liked reading Starling? I lowered my eyes to avoid his far too friendly gaze.

"S...Silver has just shot Mason down," I murmured quietly.

"Whaaaaat?", exclaimed Evans and my head shot up. "Mason dies?"

I froze. He... "Sorry! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to..."

A strong hand landed on my shoulder.

Startled, I looked up at Clay who was shaking his head with an amused smirk on his face. "He's kidding."

Oh.

"You know..." Mischief flared up in his silver eyes. "Mr. Smarty-pants here can't read."

"Hey!", Evans protested. "Of course, I can read! Bob's menu for example!"

Clay's laughter was surprisingly tender. He seemed relaxed, happy even. And his hand was still on my shoulder. When he noticed my stare right before the coach called for him and Evans, he murmured "Sorry" and rejoined his team.

I tried focusing on the plot of Genesis X, but time and again I looked up to watch the team play; spellbound by the way they were working together. Coach Simpson might have been in charge of the practice and would raise his voice from time to time, but it was Clay, who was in control of the team.

I'd never been much into team sports, but I found that watching them was...fascinating. They were playing against one another in small teams. Clay's team was more organized, calmer, acting as a unit. But even though they were opponents at the moment, Clay was still motivating the other team's players and called them to order. Most of the time it was Evans, who got yelled at since he kept on acting out of line. Just like right now, when he was dancing around the ball until Clay told him to stop fooling around.

"He's incredible, isn't he?"

Coach Simpson was standing right next to my wooden bench, and I'd been so mesmerized by the practice match that I hadn't even noticed him approaching me. Just like myself, he was watching the team.

When I didn't react, he turned his gaze to me. The bushy mustache made his mouth look even grimmer. "You seem to be a good guy, kid. And Prescott is dead set on making up for what happened last Friday. But if you cause trouble for my star, I'll drop you like a hot potato, we clear?"

That was all he said. With words, that is.

The Don't you dare ruin his future lay unspoken in his ice-cold eyes.