Anderperry Oneshots Collection

Rivals

Welton pride was a mighty thing, a sense of community so strong it rang thick in the air and you could smell it on the furniture. And Game Day was notorious for feeding into school spirit.

Welton was going up against its biggest rival: Balincrest. And rumors floated through the halls like smoke.

"I heard their captain joined the team this year," Charlie said at breakfast. Neil piled another scoop of scrambled eggs onto his plate. "Apparently he's a great forward, might even give me a challenge."

"Emphasis on the might," Neil joked, reaching across the table to ruffle Charlie's hair. Charlie shoved his hand away and took a menacing bite of toast. 

"Yeah, well let's just hope Knox isn't too busy watching the cheerleaders to play a solid defense." Charlie raised his voice comically. "Isn't that right, Knox?"

Knox pretended to snap out of a trance. "What was that?" he joked. 

Neil rolled his eyes playfully. Really, he wasn't worried. For three years in a row, he had led the team to victory, contributing to three shiny trophies in the trophy case. 

So what, Balincrest had a new captain? How good could he really be?

If the school spirit before had been at a ten, actually gathering on the field cranked it up to a solid eleven. 

The soccer game was one of the few things it was optional to attend, but the Welton boys, who had so little to root for, found it a good opportunity to shed the pretentious voices trained into them, and adopt a more childish attitude. 

Even the Henley Hall cheerleaders seemed to be twice as loud and twice as erratic as usual.

Everyone yelled as Welton took the field, led by the legend himself, Neil Perry. They were to meet Balincrest in the middle, shake hands all sportsman-like, and then the real fun could begin.

Neil could see them now, in their garish orange uniforms. He tried to pick out the Captain, and his eyes landed on a particularly nervous blond boy. 

Neil smirked, thinking of how easy this win was going to come. He made his way down the line, recognizing a few faces as he went until he got to the boy. 

"Perry," the boy nodded politely. He looked like the act of making eye contact was something deeply unnatural for him, though Neil found the tense look on his face bemusing and a little cute. 

Neil smirked knowingly and winked at the boy. This was going to be easier than he thought. He didn't want to be mean, but c'mon. Their team captain was shaking like a leaf.

The referee blew the whistle and the game was on. 

Neil had the ball immediately. He dribbled it up the field, swerving around the Balincrest players, and passed it to Knox. 

Knox was particularly good at fancy footwork, faking out Balincrest as he ran it toward the net just to turn at the last second, as if reconsidering. 

However, Knox wasn't being unsure, he was being a distraction. Almost all the players were on his side of the field by the time he passed it back to Neil. 

These amateurs, Neil thought as he wound up to score the first goal of the game on a wide-open shot.

Just as his foot was about to collide with the ball, his shot was out from under him, and before he knew it the Balincrest Captain was crossing the field with his ball.

Neil hadn't even seen him coming. 

Charlie managed to block the goal, but it was a close call.

"Alright," Neil muttered. "Maybe not so easy."