"Hey sorry I'm- excuse me what are our friends doing?" Rachael interrupted herself as she walked into the commons of their school in the morning. Dylan, Aggie, Simon, Tobi, and Josh were all doing high knees and running around the couches their other friends were sitting on. Rachael raised an eyebrow at them and then sat down on the couch next to Veronica who happened to be asleep. "This one, too?" Rachael asked and gestured towards Veronica.
"Those five are overly obsessed with being in shape for the final football game against Gold River," Liz waved a hand towards them.
"And Veronica?" Rachael asked as Veronica slumped over on her arm.
"Simon kept her up all night doing drills," Harry told her.
"Hey!" Simon said as he kept running back and forth. "She chose to help me!"
Suddenly Josh tripped and ran into Simon who ran into Tobi and soon all three of them were collapsed on the ground groaning in pain. "God," Dylan mumbled and stopped her running to stare down at her teammates. "We're so screwed."
"Let's hope Gold River sucks more than we do," Aggie said and patted Dylan on the back as she, too, stared down at the three boys in disappointment.
"Ha!" Vik burst out, "tough luck. Have you seen their team play?"
"Your pessimism is not appreciated!" Tobi yelled from the ground. The bell then rang and they shot up off the ground and gathered their stuff. Rachael just let Veronica fall on the couch still asleep as her and Lexi scurried off to class. "Yes! I can run to class!" Tobi yelled excitedly and bolted down the hallway.
"Tobi! Wait up! Let's race!" Josh said and ran after him. The rest of the group had left Simon and Vik with the unconscious Veronica.
"Can I do the honors?" Vik asked and Simon just nodded out of breath as he opened his water bottle and resisted the urge to just pour it all over himself. Vik crept around and leant over Veronica, and then without warning screamed, "gET THE FUCK UP!" in her face.
"I'm up!" She yelled drowsily and looked around as she tried to comprehend what just happened. Simon put his water bottle away and crouched in front of her.
"Get on, princess, I'll carry you to class," He said and Veronica rubbed her eyes.
"You know I hate getting called that," She said and slung her backpack over her shoulder.
"Hurry up!" Simon yelled and she frantically got on his back. He stood up straight and nodded his head towards Vik so they could start their walk to class.
"We're going to lose, we are GOING to lose, we're gonna lose," Aggie repeated over and over as she met up with her friends after school. Her, Dylan, and the three boys were going to have some extra practice since Aggie didn't have work, and the others decided to hang out at the field to support them.
"She's been saying that for the past three hours," Lachlan mumbled with exhaustion as soon as they were in earshot of the rest of the group.
"This is what we call, pre-final game stress," Nadeen said and grabbed her friend by the shoulders and sat her down on the bottom set of bleachers. "There is no cure."
"Death could be a cure," Anusha suddenly said and got the attention of the rest of the group.
"Aren't you just a ray of sunshine?" Ethan asked and Anusha just shrugged.
"Okay, come on guys," Veronica said and walked out to the front of the group. "Gold River can't be THAT good. We got this in the bag, okay? No stress." She told Aggie, but Aggie began ranting about how they were going to lose again anyways. "Jesus, just go practice."
