Bloodsport

chapter 19

Coach was upset about Harry leaving in the middle of practice, but it was nothing in comparison to his fury when Louis didn’t even show up the following day. Harry received a text message from Louis that morning, telling him that he wasn’t intending to show. Harry replied with simple question marks because it was truly setting a precedent. Louis didn’t deem it worthy of a response.
“What is going on with you boys lately?” asked Coach Abrahams during practice, when the team was practicing zone defence during corners. He’d calmed down from his five minutes of swearing when the boys made it clear that Louis hadn’t even turned up to school that day.

Of course, it concerned Harry. He didn’t want to admit it, but he wondered if there was a chance that his own behaviour the day before was the reason. Part of him felt it was unlikely — he’d fought with Louis so many times he couldn’t count them, and it hadn’t ever resulted in Louis missing football. Rather the opposite, with Louis becoming a satanic dictator the next practice in order to punish him. Harry supposed it was the guilt that was tripping him up. He felt remorse for going ballistic, and frankly, it embarrassed him to be so easily triggered by Jasmine. She was winning, and by a landslide. He had to be stronger.

“What do you mean?” he asked, looking over at where Coach was crossing his arms, eyes firm under the edge of his red cap. The wind tugged at all of their clothes, and knowing December in England it would be raining soon. Harry was grateful for his thick training jacket and the long johns beneath his football shorts.

Coach’s arms fell open. “I thought you two were getting better! It looked like it. Louis even passes you the ball sometimes. But now I’ve had you pissing off in a rage yesterday, and Tommo’s not even showed up for the first time in his life!”

Harry shrugged. “What can I say? He’s unreasonable.”

He squinted at him. “Don’t you care, Harry?”

“Why would I care about him?”

“About the team then.”

“I do care about the team!” His voice was higher than expected, and he felt some of his teammates’ glances at him. He stepped aside, a few yards off from where the boys were going through the drills. He drew a breath, crossing his arms in front of Coach Abrahams. “I care. I’ve been planning these trainings for half the year now. Even when Tomlinson is trying to undermine me during my own practices, I’m doing everything I can to help. It’s not my fault that he is unable to co-operate.”

“I know you are trying, and so is he. But you are trying separately. If we’re meant to win the championship next term you need to work together.”

Harry shook his head. It was most of the time easy to convince Louis to do what he wanted when it came to sex. When it came to football it was as if talking to a wall.

“Tell it to him,” he said.

“I have, plenty.”

“Then maybe he is the issue.”

Coach wasn’t having that. “Styles. Once you realise that it’s both of you that need to improve, we will be greatly ahead of where we are now.”

Harry stared at the rest of the team where they were all huddled around one of the goals. Ed made a corner kick and Liam easily shot up from the ground and caught the ball in the air before Jonah could reach it with his forehead. Easy. They tossed the ball back to Ed for another try.

“Fine,” Harry muttered. “I will try to improve.” Even though the problem was clearly Louis.

Coach Abrahams seemed happy with that response and let him get back to training. Although his head was elsewhere, his body knew exactly what to do out there on the pitch. Everything was easy. His feet knew how to magically move the ball from left to right without a hint of hesitation, and his eyes saw clearly and precisely the pitch as though through an x-ray. It was so simple, but somehow it felt wrong. Louis wasn’t screaming at him and wasn’t complaining about his actions. Maybe the rest of the team felt it, too. Harry would have thought it’d be nice not to have to deal with him, but it just felt odd.