Game Theory × NH

050 | tin

× Mercury

Slinging my soccer bag over my shoulder, I exited the locker room and made my way down the hallway. The game had ended forty minutes ago so everyone who had suffered through the rain to watch us run around on the field had already taken off.

I knew having a shower would be fruitless since I'd be taking another one when I got back to my hall thanks to the rain, but I needed to get the mud out of my hair. The memory of slipping and nearly putting the team out of the BUSA was bad enough; I didn't need to be reminded by the mud on my body.

Subconsciously, I reached up and grabbed my father's wedding band around my neck.

It had always brought comfort to me whenever I was feeling unsure of myself. It reminded me of all the times my dad reassured me that I could do anything if I put my mind to it.

Before my shower, I had gone online and found some interesting posts about the game I just played. Some of them were accurate, saying I nearly lost the game because of my slip and was lucky James was there to take it. I didn't argue with that because, well, they were right. But when I kept digging deeper, I found some posts that were a little more rude and completely out of line.

Mercury may have fucked up today, but at least she looks good all wet and dirty, read a tweet that was posted shortly after the end of the game. And that was only one of the degrading tweets I found.

Down the hall, someone shouted my name. I spun around and saw Matt catching up to me.

"Can I ask you something personal?" he inquired a little shyly. We continued walking down the hall, our footsteps echoing against the walls. "I mean, not personal for you, but... your brother."

I looked at him questionably. "What do you want to know about my brother?"

"Is he gay?"

Stopping in my tracks, I looked at him oddly. "What?"

Matt muttered something I couldn't understand and looked away from me, his fingers running through his unruly, damp brown hair. Then he let out a sigh and looked at me in the eyes.

"Is your brother gay?" he asked again, this time his voice was firm and confident.

"Anders isn't gay," I assured him and continued walking.

Matt kept his pace beside me and continued to drill me with questions. "Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure. He would have told me if he was."

When we turned the corner, I saw my brother talking to Niall and Jace. He was drenched head to toe in rain water from standing outside watching the game, but he didn't seem bothered or uncomfortable in his coat. He was probably used to it; being rained on a lot while he was in training for the air force.

"Well, how about we go and ask him?" Matt questioned, taking the lead and striding over to the group.

"Matt!" I yelled and quickly caught up to him.

When we approached, all three heads turned in our direction.

"There she is!" Anders shouted and engulfed me into a wet hug. I wanted nothing more than to pull away and yell at him for getting me damp after I had dried off from the shower, but I knew I was limited on these hugs so I didn't utter a word. "You played a good game. I'm proud of you."

"I made a fool of myself," I mumbled as we pulled away. "I slipped on my ass right when I was about to make the winning goal. That's nothing to be proud of."