Glass Wall

Chapter 8

I wake up the next morning slightly scared from the night before. I get ready for school as fast as I can and walk outside to meet Bryelle in my driveway.

"Bryelle... do you know anything about Harry?" I ask her after a few minutes trying not to make her too suspicious. She eyes me carefully for a few moments and then turns back to the road.

"I know he's a player. He hooked up with every single girl at our school.. well except for a few obviously. They basically throw themselves at him. When the girls don't-" She pauses to turn the corner.

"Give in. Well... they give in at some point. He gets what he wants somehow. I'm not sure if it's because he's scary as hell or because the girls want to." She finishes eyeing me once again.

"Why?" She asks curiously.

"Well I don't know. He's in my Gym and Bio class and I was just wondering."

"Bullshit." She says. "I know you're lying Jules just tell me."

"Well um.." I trail off as we pull into the parking lot. I try to avoid the question by getting out but she automatically locks the doors and grabs my arm.

"No. You're telling me everything." She says.

"Ok well, the night of the party.. well he stopped me from going in the closet with Jace remember?" She nods slowly taking in every word I say.

"Well... I um he brought me outside and yelled at me. So I yelled at him and then I backed away into the pool. Harry jumped in after me and brought me out. He was mad because I wasn't being careful and I got him all wet so he told me I owed him. The first thing that came to his mind as a reward was that I had to go out with him."

"Wow typical." She whispers. I continue my story ignoring her comment.

"So he drove me home and then yesterday he showed up at my house to finish our Bio assignment. It was all normal and I was starting to think everything was okay until we finished. He told me he'd pick me up today at 6:30. He was basically forcing me. When I told him no he got mad and threatened to drag me out if I didn't go." I finish turning to look at Bryelle.

She shakes her head.

"What?" I ask

"Jules, you shouldn't have said no. It's like a game to him if you keep denying. The more you deny the more insistent he becomes. He doesn't like being rejected."

"Well someone has to teach him he can't have everything. I'm not going to give in." I say frustrated with the situation.

"Jules you don't understand. He gets what he wants... all the time. No one can ever say no. Just go with him, give him the date he wants and then he won't bother you afterwards." She says with a serious face.

"If you want I'll have my phone with me all night and if something happens you can text me." She says looking at me in the eyes sympathetically.

"Okay.. thanks Bryelle."

"No problem." She says unlocking the door and jumping out.

******

I have a soccer game after school so I gather my things and head over to Bryelle's locker.

"Hey you ready?" I say smiling at her.

"Of course. Ready to kick some ass." She says smirking at me and closing her locker.

We get ready in the locker rooms and warm up on the field. It's the first game of the season and I notice quite a few people in the stands. A lot of guys are sitting there pointing at the girls on the field. I ignore them because I hate the attention.

Before the game starts the coach gives us our line up. Fortunately both Bryelle and me are starting the game. The other team starts with the ball. I hear the loud whistle blow from the ref to my right. Instinctively I begin jogging forward. The worries, the stress and the problems all wash away as I focus only on the game.

The girl on the other team passes the ball backwards to another one of her teammates. I run forward clearly scaring her because she begins to trip over her feet. I steal the ball from her foot and automatically turn back towards my net and pass the ball to Bryelle. Bryelle starts dribbling forward provoking one of the defenders to approach her. I quickly run towards the outside, opening my body so she can easily pass me the ball. I glance over at the net to make sure I'm positioning myself correctly. That's when I notice someone standing a few feet behind the net sitting on the ground sprawled out. At first I pay no attention to the person until I realize who it is... Harry.

I nearly miss the ball when Bryelle passes it to me. I take two long strides and stop it before it rolls out. I glance over my shoulder and see some girl sprinting my way. I turn back around keeping Harry out of my mind and dribbling fast towards the net. One girl steps in my way too fast and I easily push the ball past her and continue running down the field. I notice another girl coming from beside me as I near the goal keeper box. I stop the ball to allow her in front of me. I look up into her eyes and notice the hesitation. I glance back down towards her feet. Her right foot is slightly ahead of the other. I step over the ball pretending to cut towards the middle of the field. The girl tries to cut me off by taking a step in that direction but I quickly push the ball past her. I sprint towards the net as I near the keeper dribbling directly at her.

I notice behind the net Harry is still staring at me.

I glance back at the keeper in time to realize I have to shoot the ball. I lean left and push the ball right, kicking it in the corner. The keeper leans the wrong way and then realizes I've kicked the ball the other way. I watch the ball roll into the net. I don't celebrate because I hate showing off. I swiftly turn around not daring to look at Harry. Bryelle is running at me screaming as she engulfs me into a hug. The rest of the team gathers around me and they all give me high fives.

The game continues and the other team begins to get a little dirty. They're beginning to kick us hard not aiming for the ball.

By the end of the game we're in the lead by a couple of goals. I ended up scoring 3 and Bryelle scored 1. The other team only scored 1 goal.

After the game, we shake the other team's hand and go directly to our bench getting changed. The coach tells us how great we played and then leaves to get home to his family. The girls on the soccer team leave a few minutes after the coach. The last two behind are once again Bryelle and me. The other girls don't take off their equipment. Personally I find that gross so I take the extra time at the end of the game to take them off. I tell Bryelle she doesn't have to wait for me because I want to walk home today... to plan for tonight.

When Bryelle leaves, I'm taking off my last shoe and shoving them in my bag when I notice a figure walking towards me. I look up to find none other than Harry.

"You can play." Is all he says. I look at him carefully making sure I say the right thing.

"Mhm." Is all I can think to say without leading the conversation in a bad direction.

"You warmed up enough for our date?" He says with a smirk clearly trying to provoke me. I look up at him with a straight face.

"Mhm." I answer again figuring I can piss him off this way. His rude comment really got me aggravated. Harry's face goes from a smirk to a confused expression. As quick as the confused expression appeared, the faster it disappears. I was starting to think I imagined him being confused for my own entertainment.

"Mhm? Is that all you're going to say?" He says with another smirk on his face. It takes a lot out of me not to stand up and slap him. It would probably lead to me being trapped in another one of his grips. Instead of answering I get up, give him a fake smile and start to walk home. Harry takes a couple of long strides and is already walking next to me.

"You better not give me this much attitude on our date angel." He says and stops abruptly turning the other way and walking towards the parking lot.