Trust Falls

Meet Me At The Bleachers

A/N: Here's the other chapter I promised. This is the second update this week, so if you haven't read the update from yesterday, you missed a chappie! ^_^ Sorry again for the delay. 

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"Hey."

I closed my locker and turned around, seeing Yousuf standing on the other end.

"'Sup?"

He shrugged. "Not much." He leaned against the locker beside mine. "You?"

I shook my head. "I'm just going to class."

"Which one?"

I wrinkled my nose. "English."

"Language Arts is easy."

"Meh. I know. But I'd rather do math."

Yousuf chuckled. "You're an odd one, you know that?"

"You're a dork. You know that?"

He watched me close my notebook and shift my books into my other arm.

"Need help?"

I shook my head. "No thanks. I got it."

He clicked his tongue and took my books from me, pushing himself off the lockers. I raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Are you actually being nice today?"

He was silent, following me to my next class. I slowed down. "You okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."

"....Okay then." We arrived at the door and I turned to him. "Don't you have a class to go to?"

He smiled. "Yep."

"...Are you going to go, then?"

"Huh? Yeah, I'm gonna go."

I stood there, waiting for him to give me my books. He didn't move. I rolled my eyes and picked them from his hands. "Dork. Go to class."

I turned. "Bye Yousuf."

"Hey wait."

I stopped short and turned around. "Yeah?"

"Are you going to the soccer game tomorrow?"

I thought about it. "Tomorrow's Friday, right?"

He nodded.

I shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe if Taylor wants to go, I'll come along." I studied his face. "Do you want me to come?"

He looked away. "Eh. Do what you want. But having you there would be cool."

I took this in slowly. "Okay then. I'll come. Good luck out there."

He grinned. "Thanks."

I smiled at him, turning back towards the doorway. The hallway was emptying out really quickly.

"You'd better get going. See you later."

"Later." He headed off towards his classroom. It was on the other end of the building. I shook my head. He really needed to put his priorities in order. He's going to be late again.

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I cheered as our team won, grinning as I high fived Taylor.

"Aye. Look, Yousuf won." Taylor pointedly looked at me.
I nodded as I scanned the soccer field in the bright lights. Taylor giggled, waving to someone on the other side. I smirked. "Go find your boyfriend, Taylor."

"Oh shut up, Iqra. It's just a regular friend."

"Sure. Ew." I laughed. "Go ahead. I'll be by the gates when you're ready to go. My older brother's on the way."

She nodded, waving as she left. "I'll be back in a sec."

"Sure you will."

I watched her disappear into the crowd before pocketing my phone and making my way down the bleachers. I watched my feet to make sure I didn't fall. People rushed past me and I gritted my teeth, trying to stay balanced. I let out a breath as my feet touched the ground. Finally. Safe.

"You came."

I looked up to see Yousuf looking at me, a soccer ball under his arm. He was drenched in sweat, his red hair dark and damp with water. His temples and neck glistened in the bright light, and his jersey stuck to his body. I made a face. "You're so sweaty, holy crap."

He shook his head, spraying droplets from his hair. I shrieked and jumped backwards. "Yeesh. Don't do that."
He laughed, watching me. "How was the game?"
I pursed my lips, tugging on the ends of my new headscarf. I wasn't used to it quite yet, and had taken to fingering the ends. "It was good. You won." I smiled.

"Yeah."

He returned my smile and I leaned against the chainlink fence, trying to find something to say.

Someone called Yousuf's name and he glanced backwards, shouting something about being right there. Then he turned back to me. I puffed up my cheeks, watching him.

"Well. They're calling you." I gestured towards the field. "You better go."

"Yeah." He shifted the soccer ball to his other arm. "Are you going home?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Dawud bhaiyya's in the car."

His eyes widened. "You're not staying after the game?"

"What're you doing afterwards? Going home, right?"

He shook his head. "We usually go out and celebrate when there's a win."

"Well, that's a soccer team thing. I can't stay for that, Yousuf."

He smiled softly. "Naw, we have it in the gym. Everyone's usually there."

I shook my head. "I can't stay any longer."

My phone buzzed, and I pulled it out, reading the text.

"Well, I'd better go find Taylor. I gotta go."

He pursed his lips into a smile, wiping his forehead with his forearm. "Okay then, I'll see you later."There was a small silence before I turned around and started walking. "Bye Yousuf."

"...Bye."

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And that wraps up this week's updates. Phew. I'll see you Tuesday, when hopefully the plot will slowly start to pick up! :) Cheers! 

~October