Sidegirl (Reverse Harem)

12. Who doesn't like football!?

Gaming on Fridays soon became a habit. Ben bought a fifth controller, so no one had to be left out anymore. Yet, Ellie had resumed to chill on one of the guy's laps to play with her phone. We saw each other often. Sometimes, one of the guys even visited me at work in the ice-cream shop when they were nearby. Or they came together when they were shopping with Ellie.

To be honest, I kind of enjoyed it. The first time after we moved here, I felt like I had friends. Friends that cared for me and wanted to be around me.

It was ridiculous that I found all of this in people who forced me into being their friend. People who furthermore could be everyone's friend in the blink of an eye and chose my lame ass for some shady, maybe even sinister reasons. 

But I could do nothing about it and so, I just enjoyed it as what it seemed to be instead of being wary and reserved all the time. I got comfortable with them. Maybe a bit too comfortable.

"Hey, beautiful." Nate leaned against his locker right next to mine just as I was fishing for my chemistry book.

"Hey, uh, pretty boy," I tried to reply something astute.

Nate smiled his famous asymmetrical smile that had a flirty undertone and made his eyes sparkle.

I gulped.

"You think I'm pretty? Now I forgot what I wanted to tell you."

Dante appeared next to Nate, shot him an annoyed look, and then said to me: "We have a game next Saturday and you will be there."

"A football game?" I asked unexcitedly, letting show through how downbeat this idea sounded to me.

"Yes. 90 minutes of us kicking eleven mint-green asses from Wilburry School."

I sighed. I really hadn't any nerves to think about my most hated sport with the snake pit called chemistry class right ahead of me.

"I have better things to do than to watch a stupid football game," I murmured.

At that, the boys froze.

I bit my tongue. Retreat, retreat! I called silently to my words, but it was too late.

"Stupid football game?" Ben who stood next to Dante crossed his arms over his chest, piercing me with a strict gaze.

"That's bold of you to talk this lowly about our sport." Dante glared.

"I didn't mean it like that, okay?" I tried to do damage control. "It's just that I, personally, do not quite...enjoy...it."

"I think it would do her good to get to know this sport better, don't you think?" Nate asked his friends who agreed strongly.

Nate locked his golden gaze with mine.

"You're going to sit every Tuesday in our training from now on."

"What?" My eyes widened.

"At the end of the year, I'm sure you'll love football."

"I don't have time for that. There are already tons of girls watching the training. You get enough attention, don't you think?"

"Then take a good example in those girls." Dante smiled thin-lipped.

"I have work," I whined.

"Not on Tuesdays since they changed your schedule two weeks ago," Ben corrected me.

I threw him a bewildered gaze. How did he go from not knowing I lived in his garden for one year to knowing my schedule by heart?

➳➳➳

And as if my sentence to watch their training wasn't enough bad news today, I was summoned to the dean after chemistry class.

I ascended the grand stone-stairs and crossed multiple hallways and arcades. Finally, I reached the hallway that led to the dean's office. 

The walls were adorned with framed photos of Burmore's football teams from the first one in black-and-white to today. My eyes immediately found Ben, Nate and Dante in the last photo. They were a few years younger, standing between their team-mates with serious faces. A small smile darted across my lips, before I got serious again.

Clasping the strap of my backpack tightly, I turned towards the heavy door of the office. Breath-in, breath-out, breath-in, breath-out.

I knocked and entered.

"Mrs l/n." Mrs Reom looked up from her paperwork.

She looked elegant and flawless, her hair styled in a low bun, her smile professional and the look of her grey eyes scrutinizing. Everything about her demeanour demanded respect and my nervousness instantly spiked.

"Hello, Mrs Reom. Mr Willens said you wanted to talk to me."

"Yes, exactly. Please take a seat."

She cleared her throat and took off her glasses to give me a straight grey gaze. I tried not to squirm under her eyes. There was no doubt where Ben's intense looks were coming from.

"Your grades, Mrs. l/n. They're alarming."

She paused for a moment, so that her words could sink in before she continued.

"In chemistry, you are standing between D and E. You have one exam left in which you need to score above C to pass. Your grade in math is concerning, too. You have two exams left, but the one you've already taken had resulted in an E. Your PE teacher also contacted me, because you are not making any progress in this year's football-schedule. You are about to fail these classes if you don't change something."

I gnawed my lip anxiously under her gaze.

"This school advises the parents of students who struggle to ensure a high-quality private coaching in respective subjects. I know your situation and that your parents may not be able to provide such costly tutoring. Since I want to guarantee fair chances for everyone at this school, your parents can request subsidies for this purpose."

"My parents?"

"Yes. Here's the application form that they need to fill in."

She slid a sheet of paper towards me.

I skimmed over it. It asked for a lot of information about our financial situation and the subjects I was about to fail as well as the bad grades I've written. I felt my blood leave my face and gulped. My parents didn't know about these grades. They didn't know anything about this situation. They thought everything was fine at school.

"I highly recommend you to make use of this opportunity. I have high regards for your family and I really want you to graduate this year with a final grade as good as possible."

☆・*。