(nvc !

,
She was here
eople kepL slapplng me on Lhe shoulder as Lhey wenL by
congraLulaLlng me buL l couldn'L respond l was losL ln her presence
My legs were sLlff beneaLh me and would noL move even when l
lnLernally commanded Lhem She was sLlll sLarlng aL me as l her
Lven when her frlend sLarLed slapplng her on Lhe shoulder ln
exclLemenL she would noL look away l needed Lo reLurn Lo Lhe
maLch buL l would noL be Lhe flrsL Lo break eye conLacL
A sLeady blush began Lo colour her cheeks and she looked down
smlllng Lo herself whlch made me grln my overenLhuslasLlc grln My
Leam maLes conLlnued Lo walk pasL me congraLulaLlng me buL many
of Lhem probably Lhough l was nuLs seelng as Lhey spedup as Lhey
wenL pasL
l conLlnued Lo look aL her for a few more seconds unLll my Leam
called me over so Lhey could conLlnue wlLh Lhe klck l [ogged over Lo
[oln Lhem Lrylng Lo rld Lhe glrl from my head so l could focus buL l
was unsuccessful Parry made Lhe converslon klck and Lhe game
conLlnued
1hroughouL Lhe remalnder of Lhe maLch unLll halfLlme l could noL
geL Lhe glrl ouL of my head Powever LhaL dld noL make me a worse
player knowlng she was waLchlng only spurred on my enLhuslasm
and l was able Lo score Lwo more Lrles before Lhe whlsLle blew
l scanned Lhe crowd for Lucle and found her already gazlng aL me l
Lold 8en l'd be back whlch goL me a 'okay Lhen' look
l dldn'L wanL Lo run up Lhe sLands and Lhrough Lhe crowd because l
knew l would [usL geL mobbed LhaL's whaL happens aL Lhls school so
l've learned so l beckoned her down Lhe sLeps and polnLed Lo
behlnd Lhe sLands l don'L know whaL made me do lL l [usL had Lo see
her
AfLer flashlng a confused expresslon she goL up and made her way
down Lhe sLeps afLer Lelllng CaL she was golng Lo Lhe loo
She pracLlcally ran down Lhe sLalrs as l headed around Lhe corner
away from vlew of peerlng eyes As l Lurned around l saw her come
around Lhe corner and pause
nelLher of us knew whaL Lo do nexL
l LhoughL Lhen LhaL maybe she had also [usL wanLed Lo see me and
also dldn'L know why buL whaL do l know
She slowly walked Lo be 2 feeL away and sLarLed Lo shlfL from fooL Lo
fooL
l couldn'L wasLe Llme llke Lhls We only had a Len mlnuLe break and
half of LhaL was gone already l needed Lo hear her volce
how do you Lhlnk l dld?"
such a sLupld quesLlon Couldn'L you Lhlnk of anyLhlng else? now
you're [usL golng Lo sound sLuckup
oh you were amazlng ouL Lhere l mean your even beLLer Lhan 8en
and LhaL's saylng someLhlng"
1he smlle she was wearlng Lurned lnLo a look of frusLraLlon almosL
llke she found her words lnadequaLe
8uL lL was noL whaL she sald LhaL lnLeresLed me noL LhaL l dldn'L
hang onLo her every word lL was her sweeL sweeL volce LhaL made
you plcLure melLlng honey l was whole as soon as she spoke buL
knew l needed Lo carry on Lhe conversaLlon Lo hear more
1hank you mevrouw lL was good Lo see you ln Lhe sLands Are you
feellng beLLer?"
l bope l wos oot mlsjoJqloq bet ottltoJe ooJ tbot sbe wosot octoolly
stlll lll becoose beloq ootslJe woolJ ooly moke lt wotse
l'm okay now Lhank you l Lhlnk belng ouLslde has perked me up! So
uh are you golng Lo answer my quesLlon now?"
Ob oo sbes stlll wooJetloq oboot tbot? l tbooqbt sbe woolJ bove
fotqotteo by oow lt oppeots sbe ls mote stobboto tbot sbe seems
8ot l coot tell bet wby sbell tblok lm stolkloq bet wblcb lm NO1!
whaL quesLlon would LhaL be?"
l gave her my overenLhuslasLlc grln whlch she rewarded me wlLh by
blushlng and smlllng aL Lhe floor buL Lhen she remembered Lhe
lnformaLlon she wanLed and Lurned Lo defenslve mode
why were you ln Lhe nurse's room earller?"
uomo lt tblok AJom tblok
l goL ln[ured durlng rugby pracLlse so l was senL Lo Mrs Wllllams"
wbete oo eottb boJ tbot come ftom
oh uh whaL dld you do?"
5be boJ to qo ooJ osk me tbot
l was klcklng dlrL on Lhe floor Lrylng Lo look embarrassed abouL
hurLlng myself whllsL ln my head l was Lrylng Lo Lhlnk of a valld male
ln[ury LhaL would make me end up ln Lhe nurses room She seemed
Lo be Laklng my cover and blushed ln embarrassmenL herself
sorry l'm belng nosy aren'L l" 8less her ln my aLLempL Lo cover my
Lracks she had puL Lhe responslblllLy of Lhe conversaLlon on her
no no lL's [usL you know lL was a uh male ln[ury"
Well aL leasL lL Look some of Lhe welghL of her shoulders 8uL now
l'm golng Lo sound llke a compleLe loser
oh"
lf lL was posslble she had become redder Lhan before buL sLlll she
dld noL leave me
l guess l should go"
yeL
no please sLay l [usL wondered uh"
l couldn'L leL her leave l needed Lo speak Lo her for a few more
momenLs Per beauLy was enLranclng and l found myself sLood
sLarlng lnLo her eyes
She sLared sLralghL back en[oylng Lhe momenL as l was l began Lo
feel vlbraLlons wlLhln my body buL sLlll l could noL sLop looklng aL
her !usL as Lhe vlbraLlons moved Lo a new level she collecLed herself
and reLurned Lhe conversaLlon
?es?"
l shook myself sllghLly and found now LhaL l wasn'L looklng lnLo her
eyes Lhe vlbraLlons had Lurned lnLo a sllghL hummlng ln my sLomach
uhhh l was wonderlng lf l could slL wlLh you aL lunch Lomorrow l
don'L know LhaL many people buL l would llke Lo know you"
wbete JlJ tbot lost blt come ftom?
l may have 'oversLayed my welcome' by asklng her Lhls buL looklng
aL her faclal expresslon she seemed Lo be dellberaLlng lL l Lrled Lo
walL paLlenLly hoplng and praylng LhaL Lhe answer Lo my unexpecLed
quesLlon would be a poslLlve one
l knew for a facL l was noL meanL Lo be ln Lhls deep lL would be
dangerous noL [usL for her buL me Loo l dld noL know how my hearL
was handllng Lhe amounL of love l held for her already and by geLLlng
Lo know her more l felL my hearL would overflll
l bllnked back Lo reallLy [usL ln Llme Lo hear her answer
1haL would be greaL l'd llke Lo geL Lo know you beLLer Loo"
My hearL dld a back fllp aL her words and l couldn'L help buL grln aL
her
1he bell for Lhe second half rang
See you laLer Adam"
She hurrled along back Lo Lhe sLands whllsL l sLood moLlonless sLarlng
afLer her l Look a few breaLhs and walked ouL onLo Lhe plLch
l dldn'L care LhaL l hadn'L had a drlnk or sLreLched or even seen Mr
8unLerour coach l was on floaLlng away on cloud nlne fllled wlLh
energy and exclLemenL
l walked ouL onLo Lhe plLch my head held hlgh
[usL as lL began Lo raln