Up In Smoke → Liam Dunbar [1]

Chapter Fifteen

The first half of the game was over, and they were already losing three to one. Stiles' great 'improvement' wasn't great at all, and frankly, he still sucked quite badly. Addy was getting frustrated. Every time she would get the ball, not even two seconds later someone knocked her to the ground.

Stiles had left to go call Scott again. He still hadn't answered, and it was time to go see if they were okay. Addy's hand wouldn't stop shaking from nerves and anger. The whole time she wasn't moving around on the field, she was moving in the spot. Sure, a few people looked at her weirdly, but she couldn't stay still.

The whistle blew, and the ball came towards her. Addy caught it with ease, and before she could get tackled to the ground, she ran. She cradled the ball in the netting of her lacrosse stick, dodging through the several defenders. Addy was just about to make the shot when one particular player from Devenford rammed into her side with more force than necessary.

Addy flew to the ground, her head painfully connecting with the ground. She sat up and swiped her helmet off her head. "What the fuck?" she exclaimed, furious that Brett knocked her down. She was playing great and there had to be more of a reason for him to do it than just the game. 

Brett kneeled down to her level, his helmet off as well. "You need to calm down. I can hear how fast your heart rate is, okay? Think of Liam." Brett stood up and put his hand out for her to grab. Looking around, she spotted Liam standing beside the two refs. He had heard the whole thing, and was confused as to why Brett told Addy to think of him. Why would she think of Liam?

"Are you good?"

"No, actually," Brett piped in. "I hit her pretty hard. She should probably sit out for a while."

Addy glared at the tall boy. "I'm fine, actually."

Brayden was on the bench. He was itching to jump off his seat and see if his sister was okay. It was a hard hit, and from the looks of it, she could have easily got a concussion. Addy was forced to sit out for the rest of the game. In case she had some brain damage, they didn't want to make it worse. She insisted she was perfectly fine, and she was. Whatever happened had already healed.

Liam was taken off for the rest of the game. He didn't try to stop the defensemen when they ran by. It was like he was frozen in the spot. Addy knew it was the berserkers. He saw them again; he saw the on the field, in the bleachers behind Addy. Brett noticed too.

He pushed Liam to the ground, similarly to how he pushed Addy, and they talked. She couldn't hear anything – again, stupid not having super hearing – but she was sure it was something about how scared he was.

They lost the game. Badly. It was embarrassing, actually. After Coach yelled at them and then yelled about Scott, everyone changed back to their regular clothes. The locker room was empty besides Addy and Liam. She told Brayden that she would meet him in the car.

"You okay?" Brett Talbot leaned against the lockers. He looked down at the couple and their interlocked fingers.

"We lost," Liam grumbled. He was none too excited that the first game was terrible. He wanted to prove to everyone on the team that a freshman could be good too. He and Addy: they needed to stick together. It wasn't too often that they saw a couple like the two of them, but when they did it was something that they knew was going to be great.

"But you're okay, right?"

"Why'd you do that? Why'd you help me?" Liam asked. Brett hated him, but he still helped. Liam understood why he helped Addy, but why him? 

"Because of Scott, and Addy too. They saved me. They saved all of us." Addy blushed. She hadn't really done much, or that's what she thought. She saved Brett – and the others – without even realizing it. There were so many assassins there, and she helped with many of them. "Do you know how lucky you are?"