Priscilla

  Priscilla’s heart skipped a beat when he sat beside her. The smell of citrus and cinnamon filled her nostrils.

  She often looked over her shoulder to the snickering of Phil and Janet, much to the oblivion of Peter and Daniel, Phil’s boyfriend.

  The match was starting.

  “Are those guys any good?” she said, referring to the rival team.

  “They are the current best team in the league,” Peter said.

  “We’ve always beaten them in the past. They were the bum of the league. That seems to have changed this year. They’ve gotten really good.”

  “Probably because they changed their coach and the new player they recruited. I heard he is extraordinarily good. He is called Zico,” Phil said.

  The match started out very fiercely. Their school conceded a goal early in to the match.

  Priscilla’s didn’t care much about football but her heart throbbed at the sinking expression on Peter’s face. The rival player who scored was doing a gloaty dance in front of their bleacher wing as a celebration much to the anger of the home crowd.

  The match resumed. There wasn’t any other goal till the match ended for the first half.

  “They are tearing us apart,” Phil said. “I hope the coach can find a way to turn this around.”

  “They can turn this around. The midfield needs to work harder and cover for the defense,” Daniel said.

  That was the most she had heard from him since she got there. He seemed not the chatty type.

  Peter added to the conversation and analysis with his solemn voice. She tried to keep track of their analysis but was lost soon enough in the conversation with their use of jargon. She didn’t want to bother them for an explanation, so she gave up.

  The match was restarting. It started out fiercely like the first half. She could tell by the animated figures of Peter and Phil that they were playing better relative to the first half performance. Half an hour into the second half they had yelped out in delight. The score was now tied and the match was getting more intense.

  Priscilla watched one of their school’s players get hacked down in the box. Peter, Phil, and most of the home crowd screamed for a penalty. The referee obliged.

  Ralph stepped up for the spot kick. She saw Peter saying a silent prayer. The whole stadium was at a standstill as Ralph did a run-up and kicked the ball very hard. The goalkeeper dove after it and punched it out. The whole stadium let out a gasp.

  The ball landed back at the feet of Ralph, who quickly kicked it past the out-rushing goalkeeper, sending the crowd into absolute pandemonium. She watched Peter scream and celebrate at the top of his voice before turning to hug her.

  Peter

  Peter felt the awkwardness immediately he released her from his arms. He could see her face turn pink. She looked starstruck. He heaved a huge sigh of relief when he realized her friends were too caught up in the moment to notice what just happened. He decided to play it cool but was conscious of keeping his hands to himself as the match progressed, no matter what happened.

  The match finally came to an end. They all jumped up cheering and screaming, Peter was a bit more subtle than the others but really happy nonetheless.

  They were still standing in front of the bleachers as some of the crowd dispersed. Most still sat at the bleachers, reeling in the aftereffects of a good game while talking among each other.

  Half an hour later, Phil stretched and checked his phone.

  "Alright guys, I think it's time to head out," he said.

  "Yeah, we should get going," Janet agreed, standing up.

  Peter glanced at Priscilla, then at the dispersing crowd.

  "How are you all getting home?" he asked.

  "I'm driving," Phil said. "I'll drop Janet and Daniel off first."

  Priscilla's face fell slightly. "And me?"

  Phil winced. "Your place is kind of... way off route. After dropping these two, it would take me almost an hour out of my way."

  "Oh." Priscilla's voice was quiet. "I can take a cab or something."

  "At this hour?" Janet frowned. "That's not safe."

  "I can take you home," Peter offered.

  All eyes turned to him.

  "Your house is on the same route as mine, right?" he continued. "It's no trouble."

  Priscilla hesitated, her eyes narrowing as she glanced at Phil and Janet. "I don't want to be a burden."

  "You're not," Peter said firmly. "Besides, it's not the first time I've taken you home.

  "Are you sure?" she asked.

  "Completely. But we’d have to wait a bit for Ralph, if you are fine with that."

  Priscilla nodded. “It’s fine.”

  Phil grinned. "Well, that settles it then."

  Priscilla shot him a scornful frown, which he ignored entirely.

  "Thanks, Peter," Janet said. "We appreciate it."

  "No problem."

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  "Alright then," Phil said, clapping his hands together. "We'll see you guys later."

  They bid each other goodbye as Phil, Janet, and Daniel headed toward the parking lot.

  The silence afterwards was a bit awkward and uncomfortable in contrast to their previous comfortable moments of silence. Peter knew it was because of what happened earlier. He was kicking himself but said nothing. He brought his phone from his back pocket and tried to find some random stuff to do on it. A notification popped up. It was a message from Ralph asking about his whereabouts. The coach was done with the post-match addressing of the players and he was ready to go. Peter texted where he was and continued surfing through the internet while stealing a peek at what she was doing every few minutes.

  “Peter.”

  He raised his head to see Ralph jogging toward them.

  “Sorry for keeping you so long,” Ralph said. “You know how long the coach takes for the post-match pep talk.”

  “Yeah, I understand,” he said with a nod.

  “Congratulations on the win though. It was truly a hard-fought victory. ”

  He noticed the sudden change of Ralph’s expression. He knew Ralph just noticed Priscilla’s presence.

  “This is Priscilla,” he said. “She’s my friend.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Ralph said, stretching his hand.

  “Nice to meet you too,” she replied with a low voice, shaking his outstretched hand.

  “It’s quite late already,” Peter said.

  “Let’s go.”

  They walked towards the school parking lot.

  “I could have sworn I’ve seen her before,” Ralph said to him quietly.

  “We go to the same school, Einstein,” Peter replied.

  They got to the parking lot eventually, with Ralph slowing down to greet some ecstatic fans. Ralph called for the rear seat. Apparently he had to stretch his leg. Priscilla had to ride shotgun with Peter. They entered and he drove off.

  A few minutes into their ride, Ralph exclaimed, “I remember now. She’s the girl in the framed picture on your dresser.

  “I asked who she was that day but you changed the topic almost immediately. I knew something was fishy and now I’ve found out.”

  “Way to go, Sherlock Holmes,” Peter said sarcastically.

  “You look even more beautiful in person,” Ralph said, sitting up and turning to her to get a better view. Peter could see him grinning in the rearview mirror.

  “Thanks,” she replied quietly with an awkward smile.

  He could see her cheeks turning pink from the corner of his eyes. Her facial expressions were easier to read than an open book.

  “I will ask the obvious question then,” Ralph said.

  He was still turned towards her.

  “What are you doing with stone cold? Are you dating?”

  She was speechless as her cheeks reddened.

  “Shut up, Ralph,” Peter said.

  “Sorryyyy,” Ralph said, holding up his hands to claim innocence.

  “First a picture together and why else would you be taking her home this late? It can’t be a coincidence.”

  “Shut up, Ralph.”

  This time he did. He rested his back and crossed his leg on the seat.

  The car remained till Peter brought the car to a halt.

  “This is my stop,” Ralph said.

  “Are you coming over tomorrow?” Peter asked.

  “I’m not sure yet,” he replied. “I will call you if I am.”

  “Goodnight then,” Peter said.

  “Goodnight.”

  “Goodnight, Priscilla.”

  “Goodnight,” she replied.

  “It was nice to meet you.”

  “Likewise,” she replied.

  He alighted the car and waved to them as Peter drove off.

  Ralph’s house was completely out of the way and quite far from Peter’s house or hers. It would be a long drive back home. He knew a silent ride would be really awkward.

  He cleared his throat.

  “Don’t mind him. He can be really crazy when he is hyperactive. He is a completely different person when he is not,” he said with a smile.

  “He seems like a really cool guy,” she replied.

  “Yeah.”

  “He really is.”

  “You seem to understand each other so well.”

  “Yeah, we do.”

  “We’ve been friends ever since the seventh grade. We became friends after having a fight.”

  “A fight?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Tell me about it,” she said, giggling.

  “I dribbles during training and taunted him about it.”

  “So, what happened next?”

  “He slide-tackled me and almost broke my ankle. So I pounced on him before he got up. But we were separated before we could inflict any significant damage on each other. We were given a timeout and asked to run twenty laps around the field unless we made up with each other before then.

  “I was quite adamant not to make up with him, but after the tenth lap under the hot sun, it was clear I couldn’t continue. He jogged up to me and matched my stride. He told me we should feign making up. I was too tired to object and agreed immediately. We went to the coach and hugged it out in front of him before we were pardoned from completing the rest of the laps.

  “That was the beginning of our friandship and we got relatively closer every day till we became literally inseparable.”

  “Quite an interesting and crazy way to meet a friend,” she said with a laugh.

  “I know, right.”

  There was a moment of silence before he broke it again.

  “Who is the guy you keep harassing you? And why haven’t you reported him?” he asked.

  She kept quiet.

  “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” he said.

  “No, there is nothing not to talk about.”

  “He is my ex-boyfriend. We broke up months ago on dire terms. I guess he’s been having a hard time accepting we are no longer together.”

  “How did you get acquainted with such a person in the first place?”

  “I met him at Elf Tennis Court.”

  “He came over to talk to me after I defeated him at a game.”

  “You play tennis?” he asked, astounded.

  “Yeah. Just for recreation actually. Besides, it’s been quite a while since we last played. I’ve been busy recently.”

  “We?” he asked.

  “Yeah, I meant Janet and I.”

  “Your skinny friend.”

  “Yeah.”

  “I’m surprised, I had no idea you do sports.”

  “I get that a lot.”

  “Wow!” he said.

  “That unbelievable?” she asked.

  “Yeah, pretty much.”

  “I’d never pitched you as someone enthusiastic about athletics, not to talk of participating.”

  “Well, I am.”

  “Are you good at it?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  “But I pretty much often win than not.”

  “I guess that’s your humble way of saying you are very good at it. We can play together sometimes.”

  “You also play?” she asked.

  “Yeah, a bit,” he replied.

  He learned it on one of his summer holidays at Uncle Remington’s, his mother’s older brother. He often spent his summer holiday at his house till he relocated to Denmark. He was a prolific lawyer and an enthusiastic country club member. Peter learned how to play tennis mainly because there were many pretty girls he wanted to impress at the country club, which he did then.

  “And like you, it’s been so long since I last played, but I should get the hang of it after a few rounds.”

  “Football, piano, and now tennis. Can you fly too?” she asked mockingly.

  “Very funny,” he said.

  There was a moment of silence.

  “So you were telling me about how you met David.”

  “Yeah.”

  “I met him at Elf Tennis Court. He came over to compliment me after defeating him at a game.”

  “He was really nice then. It felt so natural becoming friends with him.”

  “But I guess dating him was probably one of the biggest mistakes I’ve ever made,” she said with apparent disdain.

  “Hey, don’t beat yourself up. We’ve all made mistakes. All that matters is learning from it.”

  He decided to change the topic. He drove the rest of the distance home telling her more about Ralph, how they met, their cool and funniest moments together. It all went by in a flash. He halted in front of her house soon enough.

  He looked at her. He had no idea what to say.

  He remembered what he regretted not doing the last time.

  “Can I have your phone?” he asked.

  She looked bewildered but handed it to him.

  He double-tapped its screen. It was unlocked. He showed her the unlocked screen.

  “You don’t have a lock to secure your phone.”

  “I don’t really have anything in it worth securing,” she replied with a laugh.

  “Touché.”

  He punched his number into the dialer and flashed his phone. He saved his number on her phone and handed it back to her.

  She looked bemused but said nothing. He proceeded to save hers too.

  “This way, we can keep in touch,” he said.

  “Yeah.”

  “I guess we will call it a night then,” he said.

  “Goodnight,” she replied.

  His stomach growled really loudly. He remembered he didn’t eat anything. He later didn’t get anything at the snack stand after standing up for Priscilla.

  Priscilla heard his stomach growl.

  “Do you want to come in for some coffee and cake?” she asked.

  He checked the time. It was quite late.

  “I would really love to, but not tonight. Perhaps next time,” he replied.

  “Call me when you are free. I will probably get a chance to take a peek at Max.”

  She nodded and alighted the car.

  “Goodnight,” he said again.

  “Night,” she replied.

  He watched her walk to her doorstep. She turned to wave at him, which he returned before driving off.