2 chapters so that you don't hate me at the end of this. Not saying more—

Enjoy~

Chapter 8

Told ya, not to go. That it wouldn't be worth it. Never listen to me.

Oh, shut up. The damage is already done, I chided myself.

No, everything hasn't been ruined.

Not yet.

You can still leave with your sanity intact before—

"Who is excited for the first match of the season?" the commentator's voice boomed across the stadium which was followed by loud applause and cheers.

"Calling the players of both the teams forward to shake hands and begin the match—"

Players ran out to the applause of the audience. There were more than thirty people on the ground now but my eyes were trained on him. It was weird how even if we were miles away from the ground, there was no doubt in my mind that I would have still spotted him.

He looked out in the crowd and for a moment, I thought that he was searching for Sarah but his eyes fell on us. A smirk played across his features.

"That's my boy!" Jeremy screamed from somewhere to my left.

"I swear my brother is gay," I chimed in.

"He looks extremely confident for playing his first match," Arnav commented.

"Thats the bastard I know," Sid said, chuckling. "I'd be worried if he looked nervous."

Before you see him. But damn me!

His gaze then fell on me, his eyes glinting with a challenge and my lips lifted at their own accord.

"Soham!"

He broke his gaze with me and looked at Sarah. He gave her a full-blown smile which oozed charm and confidence. It wasn't even directed to me but my breath was knocked off, nevertheless.

Fucking shame on you, Jennifer!

I hung my head and counted slowly till ten.

By the time I was done, the whistle blew signalling the start of the match.

A random player of the opposite team owned the ball and he was doing pretty well at keeping it to himself. Dodging players to his left and right while running forward towards our goal post. I kept my eyes trained on him with an unknown intensity.

Anything to stop myself from searching for him.

A burly defender from the Mumbai FC took the ball easily from the opposite forward and passed it quickly to one of his teammates. Jersey no. 04 took the pass easily, ran forward and as a well practiced move, kicked it to jersey no. 7 who dribbled the ball easily while moving towards the opposite goalpost.

Two opposing defenders came along his way and he cleverly passed the ball to jersey no. 12.

12.

Soham.

He ran forward with it, without wasting a minute, dodged two opposing players at the same time and with a quick kick, the ball went soaring past the goalkeeper and hit the net.

The stadium rose with applause as Soham, the cocky bastard that he was, ran around the ground, fist bumping the air right before his teammates surrounded him.

"And that ladies and gentlemen was the first goal of the season scored by Soham Ashar, forward of Mumbai FC and what a spectacular goal that was—"

My ears would turn deaf by the screaming that Trisha, Tanya and Shreya were doing right beside me along with the other girls surrounding me, no doubt already fangirling over jersey no. 12.

"Wow, he's better than what I remember him," Sid commented, with pride on his tone.

"Coach didn't make him our captain for nothing," Arnav added.

Twelve more minutes went by with neither of the team giving any lead to each other. Both the teams had strengthened their defence and offence.

It was half-time in another instant which was filled with praise for the hero of the match.

"Did you see the guy? Jersey no. 12 is so hot."

"And he knows the game."

"But I heard he has a girlfriend—"

"Yeah, there she is, wearing his jersey—"

"She's gorgeous. I bet they are the perfect couple—"

"Woah, the lucky son. He's got everything going great for him."

I clenched my jaw and did my best to not listen to the titbits of conversation that drifted around us.

Ten minutes of the halftime flew by as I sang a random song in my head, anything to keep myself distracted.

"You've gotta admit he is pretty impressive," Tanya whispered at me.

I shrugged my shoulders as I replied, "Never said he wasn't impressive."

I kept my gaze straight ahead as the players retook their positions, a joyous expression already on the faces of the Mumbai FC team. The smuggest expression held by none other than the victor of the match, Soham.

"But he is still a douchebag."

Tanya shook her head at me, "I don't know what to tell you both."

I didn't reply.

Another goal was scored by the Mumbai FC and the team started celebrating even though the match hadn't ended yet. But the players knew and so did the crowd. This match was in our bag, already.

The last minutes went in a blur as the final whistle blew.

"We won!" Trisha screamed as all of us celebrated. There was a smile on my face too as we laughed while discussing about the great match and the easy win.

Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea, I thought as the happiness around me pulled me into it.

As soon as the thought hit me, there were hoots and claps coming from the ground. Trisha, Tanya and Shreya froze as they looked towards the chaos.

I followed their gaze and the grin fell off my face.

There Soham was, in the centre of the hooting crowd.

And with him was Sarah.

His arms wrapped around her tiny waist, her arms around his neck, his lips on hers as they kissed—

Not caring about the audience that they gathered.

I looked away instantly, blinking away the damned tears. I felt three pairs of eyes looking at me in concern.

We won. The Mumbai team won.

Yet, I felt like I lost.

Lost yet again, to him.

~*~

(Notice valid till 15th August, 2020: Hi, help me out?

I have participated in a contest which requires maximum likes to win, so please hit the like button in the link on my message board (will take two seconds, you dont even have to watch it) and share it with as many people as you can and ask them to hit the like button too, its super important for me, so thank you so much in advance and hope you have or had a great day xo)

Why, Soham, why??

Why do you have to keep breaking her heart?

I listened to 'I hate you, I love you' like six times to get the above scene right and now damn the feels.

For all the unrequited lovers out there.

Damn.

But buckle in guys, the story has just begun *cue in evil laugh* and it sure hell is gonna be a ride, a fun ride and this was just the start.

Love you guys, so much xo

Please keep voting, commenting and spreading the word of this book because I know I've lost readers when I went hiatus.

Until next time,

Also please don't hate me—

I am a nice person.

Really.

*gagged prisoners struggle to deny behind me*

Who? No one.

Bye!