Falling For You | Stydia in Reverse

Chapter Four

I rush home from lacrosse practice and dump my bag on the bedroom floor, hurrying to the large mirror that hangs on the back of my door. I sigh in frustration as I take notice of my frantic appearance. My forehead is dotted with spots of sweat from running from the bus stop to my house and my hair has knotted together. I look down at my phone to see that there is only fifteen minutes until I'm supposed to meet Allison, Scott and Stiles at the bowling ally. I change out of my current clothes and into a pair of pale skinny jeans and a white sweater, and then brush my hair quickly. "It'll have to do," I mumble to myself as I grab my handbag and head to the car.

I feel guilty as I take the short drive to the bowling alley. I hadn't have thought of inviting Jackson along to bowling until now. Tryouts of course didn't go quiet as Jackson had planned. Instead of wowing the coach with his impressive lacrosse skills, Jackson was barely on the field. And, when coach finally let him play, it was only to be the goal keeper, in which Jackson caught not one single ball. I should skip bowling, turn my car around right now and go to Jackson's house with a box of pizza and some crappy movies. But as I sit in the parking lot of the bowling alley and turn the engine off, the silence leaves me with nothing but my own thoughts of the other events that had occurred.

Malia had turned up to practice, which was a surprise as she never attended any of Stiles' lacrosse games. But there she was, sitting in the front row and screaming every time her boyfriend was on the field as if she was a cheerleader. This annoyed me; it felt as though she was trying to mark her territory, to warn me that Stiles was hers. I'm about to leave when there's a knock on the window of my vehicle; it's Allison. I put on my best 'I'm not nervous' smile and get out of the car.

Allison and Scott greet me warmly before I follow them into the bowling alley. Although the building is old it is filled with people of all ages, and blaring music blasts from the speakers as a retro looking disco ball shimmers in the middle of the lanes. Stiles is leaning over the counter and gives me a wave as I take in a deep breathe and walk over to him.

"Hey, ready to have some fun?" He shouts a little to be heard over the loud music.

"Yeah," I smile in return, feeling the butterflies in my stomach settle a little.

"Here, I guessed your size," he passes me a pair of bowling shoes before guiding me over to our lane. I put on the bowling shoes and slide my feet on the floor a little, suddenly remembering how slippery bowling shoes are. Stiles stands up first with ease and offers his hands out to me. I place my hands into his as he easily lifts me up. "You alright?"

"Yeah," I nod as I take a step forward confidently, before tripping and beginning to fall backwards. Stiles arms quickly wrap around my waist, gripping me tightly as I fall into him. I blush as I quickly stand up again, being more careful this time. "Thanks," I laugh nervously.

"Let's go kick Scott and Allison's asses then!" Stiles smiles excitedly.

***

Half way through the game and it turns out we weren't kicking any ass, in fact Stiles and I were the one's getting our butts kicked. Stiles was pretty good at bowling, but I, on the other hand, was a mess. I kept bowling the ball straight into the gutter; I was so tempted to ask one of the workers to put the children's bumper bars up! Scott and Allison had just come back from getting some food as I walked up to my lane, praying that the ball would at least hit one pin this time.

"Is everything okay?" Stiles steps up behind me and asks.

"Yeah, why?"

"It's just, well, you said you were good at bowling, and I can't help but notice you haven't hit a single pin so far," he scratches his head nervously, as if not wanting to offend me.