CHAPTER DEDICATION: italian_food

A/N: Author's Note space has officially been REDUCED! :D Enjoyy... And I've dedicated YET ANOTHER chapter to italian_food because she says she's "addicted" to my story (dunno if it's true or not, but I thank her for believing so) because it made me very heppy. <3 tankoo, poopface. :')

- PBJ

/// T E N ///

** UNEDITED **

*Zella's POV*

*soon after Zella regained consciousness*

"I feel sick," I groaned, an ice pack held to my head by Marcie who was sat next to me with a tired expression on her face.

"Go home."

"I want to die," I continued, ignoring her words.

"Go home."

"I want-"

"Just go home, then!" Marcie snapped, cutting my sentence short.

"Yeah, but the gaaaame," I whined in protest, barely paying attention as the girls passed the ball to each other and bellowed orders from one end of the court to the other.

I heard a thump as someone dumped themselves next to me on the bench. I looked over to see Scott wearing a smug grin on his face, pretending to find the situation perfectly normal.

"Why is he here?" I growled, directing the question at Marcie despite the fact that she probably didn't know the answer to it.

"Don't ask me," Marcie replied and I noticed a faint pink in her cheeks. Wow, she's blushing before he's even looked her way.

"I'm here to investigate!"

I gave him a cold glare, but didn't reply. Marcie seemed eager, however, and giggled at his statement before asking, "Investigate what?"

"The conditions of this, poor, helpless soul."

I whipped my head around to shoot him another glare, but unfortunately the movement made my head hurt even more so I had to divert my attention back to the ice pack on my head.

"How are you feeling, weak one?" Scott asked with a low, supposedly wise-sounding tone and wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

"Ugh, get off of me," I grumbled and shrugged his arm off. Awh, that felt nice...

Jeez, teenage hormones, calm down.

"Wow, she's so rude. How do you put up with it, Mar-Mar?"

I froze. 

Mar-Mar? Are you kidding me right now? So, you just give nicknames to every girl you see, huh? Psh, Mar-Mar... I'll show you, Mar-Mar!

"Oh, I don't know. It's a talent of mine, really," Marcie replied, her cheeks a brighter shade of pink than before.

We saw Jazz walk up to us just then, a smirk pinned onto her pretty face. "Coach wants to have a chat with you, Zella."

I groaned, knowing what was to come next. The coach was going to give me another lecture and probably stuff a detention or two somewhere in there. My, being a basketball player was a pain in the ass sometimes.

I got up and gave Marcie a 'save me' look before walking away. I heard Jazz behind me as she said, "Scott, what are you doing here?"

"He's investigating." I laughed at Marcie's reply and approached the coach who was seated on the precious chair reserved specifically for his highness.

"Are you feeling okay now, Glasses?" he asked, his eyes following the game while he talked to me.

I nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Good, good..." he said, scaring me a little with his calm tone and positive replies. Was a bomb about to go off? Was the world finally ending?

"Was there something you wanted to tell me, sir?" I questioned, fear rising in my chest.

"Mm, I'm putting you off of captainship for a while," Coach Su said nonchalantly, looking at me for a split-second before looking back at the game in front of him.

What?

"Wait, sir, what do you mean?" I asked, disappointment and shame welling inside me. This couldn't be happening. This is what I've been working towards for the past three years. This has been my goal for so long, how can I lose it so fast?

"Zella, have you seen yourself playing the role of a captain in the past few games? Your team seems to respect you just as much as I do, which I don't because obviously, I'm the coach. Do you see the problem here?"

"Yes, sir, but I've tried so hard, sir. Please, don't take me off of captainship," I begged helplessly, unaware of the wetness brimming in my eyes. I've never failed this badly before. I've never disappointed myself this much before, how is this real? I've tried so hard and yet, I get nowhere with this particular goal.

"I think you should take a break, Glasses. I can't let you back on the team until you get over this... naive behaviour you posses," he explained. His eyes were softer than I'd ever seen them and he was giving me a sympathetic look. I didn't like it. Not in the slightest.

"Wait, sir, you're taking me off the team?" I asked, shocked.

He sighed and corrected me, "No, you'll just be... benched for a while. You won't be playing as much as you usually do, however. Don't take it so personally, Zella, alright?"

I didn't know what to say. I was, unusually, speechless.

"Now, I've told the boys' team to help you out since the girls seem to detest you with a passion. You can ask George or Max for some help, but they'll be busy with practice themselves. I would advise you not to go to Scott, however he's the only one who has the time," Coach Su clarified with a thoughtful look. "And of course, I can't help out since I have several teams to coach from several schools. I don't deal with special cases."

"How come Scott's the only one who has the time?" I probed, annoyed that he was the only one with the time to help me out. It almost seemed like the pest himself had planned it all out for his own benefit and my irritation.

Oh, but you'd enjoy it. You'd enjoy it so much. In fact, you're secretly excited like a five-year-old getting on a roller-coaster ride.

You irritate me, sub-consciousness.

"You'll have to ask him," the coach said, a knowing smirk on his sharp features. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a team to coach. Why don't you go get something to eat or drink? You've been a real smartass starving yourself on the day of the big game, but I'll let you off for now since I'm feeling generous."

I hurried away, knowing how he could snap in a mere moment. There's no telling who would die when that happened, but I didn't want to be around when it did.

"What did he say, then?" Marcie asked when I walked over.

"I don't wanna talk about it," I replied sourly.

"Okay, well, I'm going to go get a snack. You should get one, too," she said and got up to walk away when I stopped her.

"Where's the ice-pack?" I questioned, looking for the thing. My head hurt not anymore because I was tired, but more because of the mere thought of having to get advice from a guy with a nut for a brain.

"I gave it back to the nurse," she said, her gaze falling to meet the ground in a show of guilt.

Great, now I can't numb the thought out of my head.

I sighed. "Fine, I'l l just come with you and get a snack then."

--- TIME SKIP ---

"Hey, sis," I said, walking into the living room.

"Hey," she said back, her eyes glued to the TV as usual. A bowl of popcorn mixed with crisps sat next to her, half-eaten.

I strode over, settling myself beside her on the couch, discreetly helping myself to a handful of the snack which caused her to shoot me a cold stare. The TV was switched onto a movie that she had been watching on repeat ever since dad brought it for her, called Brave. At first, I liked it, but after watching it with her a few times it got annoying.

"You really like this movie, huh?" I asked to swat away the silence between us.

"The animation is good and the character is unique, makes you want to watch it again just for the sake of it," she replied, stuffing her mouth with some popcorn and crisps.

"Where's mum?" I continued to drop random questions to keep up a conversation, but I was pretty sure her attention was much more focused on the movie instead of me.

"She had to go out with dad to some dinner," was her reply.

I raised my eyebrows, surprised they left her all alone at home. "So, you stayed home alone for how long?"

"Actually, no, I wasn't alone. Sam was here. He left when he got the call from Marcie's mum that you guys were almost home," she explained.

"Oh, I see. Well, I fainted today," I said, hoping to get a reaction out of her, but she seemed to be unaffected by the news.

"Really?"

"Yeah," I said in reply, wondering why she wasn't taken aback.

"Well, you didn't eat this morning, I guess it's expected," she told me, her attention still on the TV screen.

"You... realised?" I was the one surprised now.

"We live in the same house, we leave for school at the same time and we have breakfast at the same table. Of course I realised," she said as if it was simply a logical happening. Well, it wasn't for me since I always thought no one realised what I did during the day unless they were a part of it. 

Life's weird.

"Have fun with your movie, then," I said, getting up to leave.

Walking into my room, I wondered what was to happen from then on. I was no longer team captain and it would be weird to keep showing up to practice when I wasn't even that important anymore, so... What? Was I supposed to ask for lessons from a dipshit instead?

Yeah, no.

'I don't deal with special cases.'

Hmph. I was a special case now, was I?

----- END OF CHAPTER -----