Score •• louis a.u.

chapter 13

“Woah, what the hell happened, Trey?” Angel breathes, reaching out to touch my face before thinking better of it. I manage to give him a grimace and wince at the immediate pain. I woke up this morning with a black, swollen right side of my face.

“Just a little fight. No big deal,” I say through gritted teeth, trying to minimize the movement of my jaw. My forehead isn’t much better; the gash is really deep and Louis wanted me to get stitches.

“’No big deal’ my ass! You look terrible! No offense.”

I shake my head at him and he laughs a little. I’m glad neither he nor the other guys question me further about it.

“Damn, Trey. Are you alright?” John walks over to me and I fumble with the bottom of my jersey.

I nod wordlessly and twitch at the pain.

“Why don’t you sit it out today?” He asks cautiously, leading me over to a bench.

“No!” I shout, freezing. My voice echoes around the stadium causing twenty-two pairs of eyes to look directly at me. I shrink behind John and he gives me a disapproving stare.

“C’mon, don’t be stupid. You’re in pain; you shouldn’t have come today.”

“But I needed to,” I mumble. John gives me a stern glare and I have no choice but to oblige. “Fine, whatever.”

I roughly sit down on the bench and pout, crossing my arms over my chest. My face is throbbing and I’m feeling dizzy but I refuse to give in.

Louis hasn’t looked at me since I walked into the stadium. I try not to let it get to me and I force myself to think in a professional manner and that shuts down my feelings.

“Trey, you sure you’re alright, babe?” Angel calls from midfield. I wave my hand and he looks at me a little longer before turning toward John. The throbbing in my face picks up speed and I wouldn’t be surprised if someone actually sees my face move.

I can barely hear John’s voice from center field and sigh, leaning back against the bench. I attempt to close my eyes to relieve some of my dizziness but jerk them awake when I hear John blow the whistle. The boys start their warm ups, sprints, stretches and partner up. I notice Louis, Angel and Scott are a team of three and I shake my head. I can’t believe those two hang out with Scott.

They play keeps-up amongst themselves and I watch in amusement as they gradually pass the ball to each other faster and faster. Not once have they dropped the ball. Impressed, I lean back and close my eyes again. I hate sitting bench. Just as I’m on the brink of unconsciousness, I hear a sharp yell. Before I have time to fully open my eyes, a football comes hurtling straight at my face. I manage to throw myself to the side just as the football passes through the space my face was. My right cheek slams into the cold, hard, metal bench and I gasp in pain, but I just saved myself from having a broken nose.

“TREY!” Angel screams, dashing over to me. I groan as I roll off the bench and onto the turf, cradling my cheek.

“I’m alright,” I say with effort, my jaw stiff beyond belief.

“You don’t look ok! That football could have broken your nose!” He comments, reaching a hand down to help me up. I don’t take it for a few seconds; I just lay here trying to push away the dizziness. Eventually, I grab his hand and he hauls me to my feet, inspecting me to make sure I didn’t get injured further.

“I’m fine,” I spit out, pushing him away. He is shocked and, frankly, so am I. He’s just trying to look after you, Trey. You don’t have to be an ass about it.