To Kriti,
who's super sweet and said
my work 'slaps hard'.
Check out her work 'cause I'm hyped!!!

Malachi's voice boomed through the classroom, so loud that he could have rivaled an auctioneer. The aforementioned boy sauntered into the classroom, the cheeky smile on his face growing the instant his eyes landed on me. 

Lachlan leaned over towards me. "Just me or does he look like he's about to fuck some shit up?"

"Definitely about to fuck some shit up," I answered, leaning back into my chair, balancing it on its back two legs.

Malachi dropped his bag at the desk in front of us and sat down. Ruby, the fourth member of our friend group followed and perched into the chair next to him.

"New glasses?" Lachlan asked, and I followed his gaze to Ruby. Rather than her usual square frames, circular glasses sat on her nose.

Ruby clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth, her eyebrows rising with the action. "They look more chic right?"

Lachlan hesitated before nodding. I highly doubted that he knew exactly what chic meant.

Ruby Summers had grown up as Malachi's neighbour, and as Lachlan and I became friends with Malachi, Ruby had joined our 'circle'.  Despite being able to mould into the image of a stereotypical girl, Ruby seemed be one of her kind and somehow managed to fit perfectly into what used to be our trio.

"Thoughts on me dying my hair red?" she asked, and naturally my eyes ran over her hair. Today, Ruby's blonde hair was tied up in a complicated hair style that probably had Poppy Carter seething in a corner.  I tried picturing her with red hair, but the only change I could visualise was her porcelain skin becoming even more pale.

Malachi cleared his thought. "I think they're going to find my new hair cut idea more interesting." When Malachi was certain that he held our attention, he continued, "I'm going to go bald."

I straightened up, the chair now standing on all four legs. "Are you serious?"

The troublesome smirk on Malachi's face grew. "As serious as a mother fucking heart attack."

I tried to imagine Malachi without his Afro, and the image I conjured had me stifling a laugh.

"I can't wait to see this," Lachlan said, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. "When are you doing this?"

"You'll see," Malachi replied, wiggling his eyebrows. Now, I was definitely worried. I wouldn't be surprised if he interrupted an assembly just to shave his head in front of the entire school.

The door opened again, but this time laughter flowed through. Scarlet Bridge strode in, side by side with her partner in crime, Ji-hye. Lachlan's eyes followed Ji-hye like she was a glass of milk and he, lactose intolerant. I resisted the need to snicker, fully aware of Lachlan's dream of raising cute Korean babies together.

Scarlet shot Malachi a smile as she walked down the row. I awaited the day that Scarlet Bridge chose to smile at me rather than address me with a glare.

The pair took their usual seat in the row next to us, and everyone in the classroom watched Scarlet Bridge's movements with a hawk-like concentration. I wondered if she knew the effect she had on others, or if she simply had the ability to command a room without trying.

Scarlet was pretty – that being an understatement. Her brown hair looked soft and I could bet that every guy in the rugby team wanted to run their hands through it.  She had blue eyes like mountain water. Just as breath-taking and frosty.

"Scarlet." The volume of my voice rose a notch and her head jerked towards me. Scarlet's ponytail swung as she coolly raised an eyebrow at me. "Planning on coming to the game tonight?"

"Planning on losing?"

From the corner of my eye, I watched Ruby cover her mouth with a hand while Malachi lacked tact and simply chortled like a twat.

"Sweetheart, I never lose."

Her fingers that were previously resting calmly on her desk twitched and I knew she was irritated by the nickname. Mission accomplished.

Before she had the chance to snap back, the statistics teacher walked in with a much brighter smile than one should have so early in the morning.

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Seventy-five minutes into the game and I was sure that my bruises had bruises. The other team seemed more intent on expressing their pent-up sexual frustration than actually playing the game. I doubted that I had ever played a game where so many players ended up in the sin bin.

Despite the foul playing, we were in the lead at 27-21. It wasn't a reassuring score, especially since we had five minutes left.

Connor passed the ball backwards. My hand gripped it tightly, holding it against my chest. I ran up the field, dodging the tackles. In the back of my mind, I could hear Tori and Isaiah cheering along with the rest of the school, but I focused solely on the pitch.

Half way down the field, another player in orange reached towards me. My brows furrowed I leaned into the tackle but maintained my momentum forward. With a quick change of my direction, he fell behind along with another player that was catching up.

The cheering got louder.

I ran faster.

The line got closer.

I jumped and planted the ball against the line.

After a successful conversion, the game ended. The next few minutes flew by, exchanging pleasantries.

I stood next to the coach, while he ran over pointers for the next game.

"Great job, Levi," the principal said, walking up to me. Dressed in a suit, the man looked more out of place than paper in a party for scissors. "That last try was incredible."

I could feel my ears heat with the compliment. "Thank you, Sir."

I peeked behind the principal, shooting Malachi and Ruby a smile. Lachlan stood next to them, more occupied with a conversation with Ji-hye. Next to Ji-hye stood Scarlet, still dressed in her immaculate blazer. Instead of looking at me, she spoke to Tori. My eyebrows rose. Tori was the last person I'd expect Scarlet to talk to.

As the staff members dispersed, I made my way towards the group. The closer I got, the more words floated towards me. My ears pricked up, eavesdropping into Scarlet and Tori's conversation. Were they seriously talking about boys?

"Hope the game didn't disappoint, Bridge."

She turned to face me, her eyes skimming over my muddied figure. If she was disgusted by the dirt, she hid it well. "No broken bones, consider me disappointed."

Tori giggled but I didn't spare her a glance, keeping my eyes locked on the snarky girl before me. "There's always next week."

I'm very open to criticism btw. I'm far from a good writer, so anything to grow.
Feel free to point out typos, plot holes or anything that you just don't vibe with.

I also changed the headers cause I thought the last ones were wack. Thoughts?

Updating twice a week now since I've reached I'm currently
working on Chapter 21 and that's enough stock I think???