Tumbling Hearts {Alan Bosley x Reader}

~Chapter Five~

The next morning, everyone woke up around 6 am to do some training.

I made my way onto the field, finding a spot on the ground to watch the boys as they did their drills. Sheryl, standing next to me, starts yelling at the boys.

As I watched the boys, I realised that I would be at cheerleading training if it weren't for the camp. The thought prompted me to start stretching, moving into the splits and leaning forward until my stomach touched the grass.

Meanwhile, the boys continued their training. The field resonated with the thud of feet hitting the ground and shouting. 

Once training ended for the boys, I decided to wrap up too. I make my way into the cafeteria, grabbing a tray and making my way to Alan. 

Plopping my tray down next to him, I took a seat. "Hi Alan," I greeted, turning to look at him. I couldn't help but notice he was still sweaty from training. "You're all sweaty," I remark, playfully shifting away.

"Oh, no you don't," he responded, reaching for my hips and pulling me back to sit next to him. I laughed and swatted his hands away. Just as we settled down, Ray made a snarky comment about the two of us, making me roll my eyes at him.

Gerry plots his tray down next to mine and takes a seat. He says hi to Alan and me before he and Ray start a conversation. 

Just then, Coach Boone's voice stood out among the rest, "Lastik!" He shouts and walks over to the middle of the room. Louie gets up from his seat, joining Coach Boone.

"I want you to tell me something about one of your black teammates." Coach Boone says to Louie but more so to the rest of the team.

"Sir, yes, sir! I'm rooming with Blue, sir, and I noticed he wears those leopard-spotted underwears, bikini-style, sir!" Louie says, making people laugh a little.

"Okay, maybe somebody who's not your roommate."

"Sir, I eat lunch with Rev. Thats Jerry Harris, sir! People call him Rev 'cause he's always praying, and he won't abide a foul tongue, sir!"

"And what is the Rev gonna do after high school?"

"I don't know. Go to college and all that, I guess"

"What about you? You gonna go to college?"

"Oh, not me, Coach. I ain't a brainiac like Rev," Louie says, smiling a little. I feel a bit bad for him.

"Think you got a future in football?"

"Heck, no. I just figure if I got to be in school I might as well hit some people while I'm at it." Louie says, making me eye Alan to see his reaction and he's listening intensively. 

"All right, I like that. A self-aware man, I like that" Coach says out loud but moves closer to talk to Louie one-on-one. Making everyone talk to each other for a bit.

"So, what kind of music does the Rev like?" Coach asks

"Me and Rev both dig on The Temptations" Louie starts and then starts singing the lyrics to 'Ain't Too Proud To Beg' by The Temptations–making Alan start to dance in his chair and Gerry laugh.

"Okay, all right. Stop begging. Anybody else?" Coach Boone says to the rest of the team.

"No volunteers? Campbell? Bertier? No, huh? Each one of you will spend time every day with a teammate of a different race. You will learn about them and their family, their likes, their dislikes. You will report back to me until you meet every one of your teammates. Until that time, we go to 3-a-day practices. If you continue to ignore each other, we'll go to 4-a-day practices. Now is there any part of this you don't understand?" Coach Boone announces much to people's protests. 

I turn to Alan and give him a look before eating.

-----

It was now after lunch and everyone had changed into their casual clothes. Even though I wasn't a part of the team, Coach still made me talk to the team.

I was approached by one of them, "hey girl, what's up" he said, looking me up and down. He had really big eyes and made me a little nervous but I looked past that feeling.

"Hey, nothing really." I say awkwardly, "what's your name" I add, trying to make conversation.

He smiles warmly, "I'm Petey Jones" he extends his hand out to me. I shook it reluctantly and introduced myself, "I'm Y/N Montgomery, Coach Yoast's niece."

Petey's curiosity sparked, "Coach Yoast's niece, huh? How come you're with him?" he asked.

I took a moment before answer, "Well, my mum's very sick. She couldn't look after me anymore, so she gave me to my uncle," I explained

Petey nods, "I'm sorry to hear that Y/N"

Despite starting with a personal note, our conversation shifted to lighter topics. Talking about our likes, dislikes, and shared stories about our families. before I knew it, we became close friends.

After a while, Petey excused himself, saying that he wanted to go talk to some other people. I wave him goodbye and walk off to do my own thing.

-----

I was about to walk into my room until I heard Blue's voice coming from down the hall, "Does the term ' cruel and unusual punishment' mean anything to you?" 

I got curious about what was happening so I decided to follow the tunes that spilled from the room. 

From hearing the song 'Act Naturally.' I could tell it was Alan because it was one of his favourite songs. I peep my head into the room and I see Blue with his head in his hands and Alan dancing.

Blue, noticing me standing at the door, got up and whispered a 'thank you' into my ear. I walked into the room and flopped onto Alan's bed, propping myself up on my elbows.

Alan grins and turns down the music, joining me on the bed. Softly mumbling the lyrics and grooving in his seat while looking at me. I laugh and move to the beat with him.

The song ends and plays again. Look outside and notice that it's becoming dark out. I turn to look back at Alan, "I'm gonna go on a walk... care to join me?" I stand up and face him.

"Sure, lemme grab my jacket," He says, grabbing his jacket and turning off the record player. He joins me at the door and we make our way outside.

The brisk fresh air fills my lungs as we walk further. We continue our walk around the college in a comfortable silence. The campus looks different when it gets dark, with the lamps along the path casting a warm glow that creates a peaceful atmosphere.

A cool breeze swept through the campus, causing a slight shiver to run down my spine. Suddenly, I felt the weight of something being placed on my shoulders. "Here," Alan said.

Looking up at him, I fiddle with the zipper of the jacket. "Thank you," I say quietly but loud enough for him to hear, my cheeks growing warm.

As we continue our walk, the distant call for dinner echoes through the college. I take off Alan's jacket and hand it out to him, "Thanks for letting me borrow it." I say, a smile playing on my lips

Alan grins and pushes it back towards me, "Nah, you can keep it. It looks better on you anyway."

A warm smile spreads across my face as I drape the jacket back on my shoulders. Together, we head to the hall for dinner.