THE JOCK JUST WANTS THE PREP [ 1 ]

25 - THIAGO, ARI, AND DAMIAN

|| NOAH ||

"Thanks for holding my hand out there," I said to Annabel with genuine appreciation. I could still feel my legs shaking with tension and my heart beating at a fast pace.

"No problem," Annabel said gently as she sat down next to me. I nodded and saw from the corners of my eye; Kate, Ethan, and Zack with his brother Davey sat on my left side, in that order. Taylor later returned to sit down next to Davey with a drink that he got from the school's food stands. I rotated around to look for Felix and James but couldn't find them. I tapped on Kate's shoulder and spoke, "are Felix and James gone already?" I said to her.

"Yep, they left," she nodded as she kept her gaze upon the game that was now beginning. I sighed and looked at Annabel who was also fixated on the game. My eyes wandered to Brad who was running across the field while others around him crashed, tackled, and wrestled for the ball. Then, my attention drifted over to the other bleachers across and skimmed through the many faces that contained TopStar high students. I had already recognized a few students, but two people stood out from my vision. There, in the very middle sat TopStar's prestigious prep, Thiago Rosario looking welled dressed as usual in a white polo. Then there's Ari, their school's extremely rich and prosperous girl. I felt a shiver run up my spine at the sight of them, but no one else could get me to shudder more other than Damian. I scanned through the field and tried identifying which one of the players is him. After a few seconds of searching, lo and behold, Damian with a number one on his uniform sprinting across. I squirmed inside my hoodie and wrapped myself. The cold night was beginning to be chilly and I wanted warmth. I felt a nudge on my left side to see Kate looking at me. She pointed out to a direction to which I looked to see Brad with the ball. I assumed that he scored a point because everyone on our side stood up and applauded with cheer. "Those football gears makes him look bigger and beefy, don't you think?" Kate teased me. I tried to avoid looking at him and relied on the cool temperature to moderate my warm cheeks. "I wonder, do you tempt James with guys like this?" I asked her.

"Nope, James takes his own actions and makes moves. You on the other hand don't even go for a handshake with Brad," Kate slanted her pout.

"Yeah... she doesn't talk about boys... Do you two gossip about guys all the time?" I looked at her with a contorted expression.

"He doesn't really have anyone else to talk about those feelings, so I join in with him. Plus you and Annabel don't talk about boys," she nodded. I looked momentarily before staring down at my lap.

-

The majority of the time, I wasn't exactly putting my full attention on the game. I had my eyes glued on my phone, checking emails and such. Later on, I received a text message from my parents saying that they have a meeting to make their presence at. That only meant that I would have the authority to make sure that my house wouldn't crumble to shambles.

The game had went on for a while, and by some miracle, we won by one point. Everyone screamed and celebrated at the tremendous game in happiness that I was somewhat startled by the outburst. I glanced around the field and immediately met Brad's eyes, looking at me with glee. He gave a great smile and took off his helmet so we could see each other better. I was happy for him, even though I wasn't paying much attention. But something else caught my notice; I saw Damian stomping away from the scene, obviously looking infuriated of his loss. He is a man full of pride and dignity, and losing is something that he loathed oh so much.

Back when I used to learn in TopStar, he always had his egotistical character. He viewed himself as the top of the social hierarchy, more significant than preps even. Anyone who dared to bring him down would get an absolute beating from him. His anger was something to fear and never ignite if you don't want to be targeted. It was almost like an integrated rule in our heads.

Watching him look so incredibly fuming with rage made me shrivel even though I was meters away and not have him direct his anger towards me. My group stood up from our seats and started making our way off of the bleachers. The moment I crossed paths with Brad, he ran up to me and practically gave me the tightest bear hug. He swung me around happily, my feet off the ground. "Awww..." I could hear Kate tease while the others chuckled and laugh. All I could think of were my clothes clinging onto his sweaty body.

Brad apologized for his sudden for his bone cracking embrace. Brad, Jackson, and Liam said that they would be back in a while after washing up. As we walked towards the parking lot, we had a little chat. Zack ran up to my side and spoke, "hey umm... Noah..." he began.

"Yes?" I replied.

Zack rubbed his neck shyly, "erm... is it okay if we brought some beer along?" He said nervously.

I looked at him with total shock, "beer? Are you a drinker?" Was the first thing the came out if my mouth.

"N-no!" He shook his head definitively, "Liam insisted that he brought a few cans even though I tried to tell him not to," he sighed.

I shuddered at the thought of alcohol. Ironically, I didn't exactly like it in general. It also terrifies me that some of us aren't exactly at the appropriate age of consuming it, "umm... just please don't go crazy, please," I said, practically praying and asking that they don't do anything regrettable.