It's a Love-Hate relationship

CHAPTER 57: I present to you the 100th edition of Cuckoo Caleb

I inhale a sharp breath as the exhaustion starts building up and I throw a puny kick to one of the players on my right.

"Kick it properly, Summer!" Jason shouts from a few feet away from me, hands on his hips, and throws me a glare as he positions some of the boys on the other side of the field.

"Don't be such an ass, big brother. Replacing the coach temporarily does not entail bossing around like a prick." I walk past, hitting his shoulder in the process. Caleb runs up to us, his hair sticking to his sweaty forehead, looking glorious as ever. He smiles at me and I look down at my cleats to hide my own grin.

"You wanna win the game or not?" Jason pushes and I turn towards him, sighing.

"All I'm saying is I'm tired. Actually, I speak for everyone when I say that. Keep this up and you'll see tired bodies dropping in seconds." I counter, crossing my arms as Caleb stands next to me in silence.

"I know." Jason sighs and runs a hand through his hair before looking at me vulnerably. "I just want to make this right. Without Coach here, without the necessary pointers we need, I don't know if I can lead this team to win the tournament."

"You have been the captain for long, Jason. I can think of nobody better than you to lead us to win." Caleb smiles and pats Jason's shoulder, leaving me in a state of bloody awe and surprise.

"Thanks, man." Jason blows the whistle around his neck and calls practice off. I sigh in relief but my exhaustion is at its peak and my rumbling tummy does not help calm my nerves at all. I glare at Caleb and he pouts childishly.

"Are you still upset with me?"

Jason laughs at us before wiping his forehead with his tee-shirt. "Man, you should have seeing her practically moaning while Aaron was having pizza yesterday."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Am I bothering you with my intolerable hunger and inability to eat anything delicious?" I scoff and cross my arms, marching away from the idiots as I spot Maddie waving frantically at me from the other side of the field. Caleb and Jason quickly catch up to me on either side.

"Trust me, were it not for him, you would not be able to practice for these many hours." Jason chimes in and grins at Caleb.

"I told you all before that dieting is so not my thing but no, no, no. It has become a mission for you to watch me starve."

"You don't starve, drama queen. You have a salad in your bag." Caleb points out, nodding at Jason.

What is this silent communication these two crack-brains are having?

"Yeah, well I am a human, not a damn cow," I mutter, vexatious at the game today and the little nagging feeling of potential incompetence I may achieve if I screw anything up. Maddie hands me my bag and a bottle of water before sitting on the nearby bleachers as if she owns them.

"People are buzzing with anticipation for the big game today. It's so- hey, are you blind?!" She suddenly screams at some kid who is trying to clean the bleachers, no doubt for the upcoming audience about to fill them for the 'big game', as Maddie put it. The knot in my stomach gets bigger but at this point, I wonder if it is the trepidation of the game settling in and growing by the minute, or the uncontrollable hunger. On top of that, today of all days is my birthday, where I finally turn eighteen.

Wow. This is the moment where I deliver the one-liner that life does indeed pass fast.

I got pissed at Aaron today morning for waking me up with a loud hooter and scaring me to the point where I fell off my bed, which triggered Jason's loud guffaw and he dropped the tray of nice breakfast which he was apparently bringing me.