× Mercury

Friday.

I had made it through the first two days of class and I was nearly finished with the third. I was running late for Environmental Science and it didn't help that I was also lost. On Wednesday after Psychology I went around the building to find my other science class so I wouldn't be lost on Friday.

Something happened between then and now because I didn't know how long I have been wondering the science building trying to find room fourteen. It was a little after two in the afternoon and class had been going on for five minutes now. I was already joining the class late; I really didn't want to miss any more time.

Sighing, about to give up and just go back to the dorm, I turned the corner and ran into someone.

"I'm sorry," I said, grabbing onto my books before they fell from my hands.

"You should be," they said, and I looked up to see blue eyes staring back at me. I almost laughed; of course it would be Niall of all people.

Stepping away from him, I looked him up and down with a playful grin on my lips. "Oh my god, you're a science geek."

He was wearing an unbuttoned long, white collared coat with the sleeves rolled up, revealing a black shirt underneath. Safety glasses were placed on top of his blonde hair and pens stuck out of the pocked of his lab coat. The whole outfit looked really good on him, actually. It was kind of hot.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, ignoring my observation. "I thought you had a class."

"I do," I said a little sheepishly. I disregard the fact that he had memorized my schedule. "I just..."

Niall grinned at me, almost mockingly. "You're lost, yeah?"

"I'm supposed to be in Environmental Science. Room fourteen."

"I'll show you," he said and turned around in the direction I was going in before he rudely interrupted me. "That room is hidden, it's not where it should be located if you were going by the room numbers. It's an old building and the setup of the place is shitty."

I knew that, of course. I already found the room on Wednesday, but just couldn't today. The building was old. The outside was brick, but the walls on the inside were white with some cracks here and there. The floor was marble and the ceilings were arched high above our heads. It looked almost like a cathedral.

Following Niall, I watched as the lab coat flew behind him. Was he in Chemistry? I took that in High School and hated it. I was supposed to memorize the periodic table; the teacher even had a song and funny little rhyming words to help, but it did nothing for me. I ended up failing that test. I was amazed I even passed the class.

"Out of curiosity," Niall suddenly said, looking over his shoulder at me. "Are you by any chance related to Freddie Mercury?"

"Yeah, he was my uncle," I told him.

Niall stopped in his tracks and spun on his heels, looking at me with wide eyes. "Really?"

"No!" I explained loudly. "If I had a penny every time someone asked that question, I'd be able to buy Freddie Mercury... If, you know, the AIDS didn't happen."

"It's a reasonable inquiry to wonder if you're related," Niall defended. "And if you happen to have been, I might be able to tolerate you. But since you're not, that's off the table."

"Oh, shut up and keep walking, nerd."

Niall laughed and I hated to admit this to myself, but it was an alluring and contagious sound. I found myself grinning as I followed after him.

"It's down that hall," Niall pointed as he stopped in front of a dark hallway that I instantly recognized from Wednesday.

He was being... nice. He wasn't yelling or giving me snarky comments. He was even helping me. I looked at him suspiciously.

There had to be a motive behind his behavior. Maybe he had something ruthless planned for practice that evening, or maybe he was setting me up for something traumatizing that was at the end of this darkened hall.

Reluctantly, I slowly made my way down the hall. When I found room number 14 and made sure I was clear from anything jumping out at me, I turned to thank Niall. But when I looked to where I had left him, he was already gone.

No one gave me a second look when I entered except for the professor who just nodded at me and continued his lecture on urban life and how it was and wasn't destroying our ecosystem. I took the first empty seat I saw and slipped out my notebook, not wanting to miss anything the instructor said.

× × ×

The UCLA team in California has a game tomorrow and it would be the first game I wouldn't be attending; the first game where I wouldn't be playing with my girls. I wanted to go out there and watch and cheer them on, but it was impossible. I needed to stay in London until I had a solid routine and knew my way around campus without asking someone for help.

Practice was wearing me thin. Coach Mathews was stretching the time and working us to the bone before our game in a week. My legs were sore and it was a relief every time I fell into bed at night just to get off my feet. I understood completely and tried to keep my complaints to a minimum, but it was really hard.

The real problem was Niall and I.

Two days ago during practice, we scrimmaged with the whole team. Coach put the two of us on the same team and it was horrible. Niall refused to acknowledge me in the game and abstain to pass me the ball. He was working 110% which only made me work 120%

"I'm open!" I shouted, trying desperately to get Niall's attention from across the field.

He quickly looked at me but kept running, the ball between his feet as he went. I knew it was a lost cause, but I still kept up his pace as we made our way down the turf. He ended up passing to the center middle player but before he could get to it, someone from the other team snatched it up.

I let out a loud, frustrated groan. I didn't care how much we disliked each other, but during a game you had to do what you could to win. He wasn't doing that and it was pissing me off. I passed him the ball whenever I needed to get rid of it, so what was up his butt that he couldn't do the same with me?

I had hoped that Niall would have been one of the better ones, someone who didn't judge me because I was a girl. Being a soccer player had brought upon a lot of dirty jokes and sick innuendos from boys that didn't deserve anyone's time, and I thought maybe being on a men's team might change the typical outlook on woman and sports. But looking at Niall now and seeing how he was reacting to me being on his team proved that I was wrong. I didn't think there would ever be a way to break the barrier between man and woman.

Coach blew the whistle and the sound pierced through the stadium as everyone stopped what they were doing to look over at him.

"This obviously isn't working," his voice boomed. "We're going to be playing two-on-two until someone," he hinted, looking over at Niall who looked nonchalant about the whole thing, "can get the freaking stick out of their ass and learn some teamwork."

I let out a little laugh that was slightly louder then I attended and quickly covered my mouth with my hands. Thomas and William looked over at me with humorous grins.

"Lynn and Niall on one team, and Jace and Matt on the other," Coach shouted at us, pointing to one half of the field. "I want to see teamwork and communication. They need to be learned. Without them, this team will go to shit. James and Andrew on the other half along with Reese and William."

We all took our positions, Niall obviously upset, and the game began. I had the ball first and Jace was right there next to me. I passed it to Niall who weaved around Reese easily and shot the ball straight into the goal.

I smiled at Niall but he made it his job to ignore me.

The ball was quickly in play again and Reese went straight toward Niall who did something impressive with his feet and took it right out from under him. I spun and nudged Jace away from me until I was open. I shouted at Niall and he looked up. I could see the internal struggle, but he ended up passing me the ball nevertheless. It shot gracefully to me and I kicked it up and over Jace and booted it into the goal.

This time, I saw a small smile on Niall's face.

As our small game progressed on, it was quickly revealed that Niall and I were unstoppable together. The two of us were making goals constantly. It was 19-5 and all four of us were beat, but we kept going.

Coach was happy. Actually, from the look on his face, I'd say he was over the moon. I was, too, if I was being honest. I've been playing soccer since I was in middle school, and I've never worked so well with someone before. Once Niall got out of his slump and accepted me, it was like... it just felt like we were invincible. I couldn't explain it, but both of our skills just seemed to work. It was like magic, I suppose.

"We are so going to win next weekend," I heard Jace say from beside me. "You two together... You may hate each other, but you can't deny that you make a perfect couple on the field."

I laughed at his choice of words. "Maybe. Just don't tell him that."

"I don't have to," he told me as he kicked up the ball with his foot and caught it in his hands. "The look on his face tells me he already knows."

"Bring it in!" Coach shouted and we all walked over to him. I grabbed my water bottle from the ground and took a seat on the end of the bench next to Matt. "I think we can all agree that this has been the best decision for the team," he said, looking over at me with a smile. "And that we're going to be unbeatable from here on out."

The guys cheered around me and I saw Niall staring at me from across the circle we had created around Coach. When I caught him looking, he didn't look away to my surprise. We stared at each other as Coach Mathews continued to talk.

"I'm going to let you lads... and lass, leave early today for working hard. Good job," Coach finished. "Horan, Mercury, can you two stay back for a second?"

From the mention of my name, I finally looked away from Niall and down at my feet. I felt my cheeks flush, but it was probably because I was hot and sweaty.

I stood up and faced Coach. I felt Niall step up beside me, his arm brushing against my shoulder. He was standing close to me, probably closer than necessary, and a shiver ran up my spine.

"How do you feel?" Coach asked, looking at us in turn. "Niall?"

I looked over at him and saw his brows raised like he was trying to figure that out himself. "I'm not sure I understand what you mean."

"You need to do this at every game, at every practice, Niall. You need to pass and communicate with Lynn because other than James, she is the go-to person to save you. The way you two played today was incredible to watch. I can't explain it, but it just works. Keep doing whatever you two were doing. Do you understand?" We both nodded. "Good. You may leave now."

I spun on my heels and started making my way to the door to get changed and washed up.

"Lynn, wait," I stopped and looked over at Coach who threw something red and polyester at me. "I got a jersey for you; all brand new for the game on the tenth."

I held the jersey out in front of me, the lights of the stadium catching on the shiny maroon material. I smiled when I saw the large number thirteen with my name printed on the back. "Thanks, Coach."

He nodded and gathered his things and left.

"Why the number thirteen?" I heard Niall ask, who I just noticed was still standing by the bench. "You know that's an unlucky number, right? Some hotels don't even have a thirteenth floor. They've dedicated movies after it."

"It was my dad's number," I explained and threw the jersey over my shoulder. "And I wouldn't call it bad luck since it seems to be working well for me."

With that, I turned and started making my way to the locker room once again.

"Good game out there, Princess," I heard Niall say to my back, using the nickname he had given me back at the airport. The words tumbled slowly and cautiously out of his mouth, each one wrapped in a heavy voice. It was this speech, this heavy accent of his that immediately set him apart from everyone else.

I looked over my shoulder at him. "Uh, yeah. You, too, Ireland."

Niall gave me a weird look on my choice of nickname for him, but he didn't comment on it as he walked passed me and opened the door, not bothering to hold it open for me. I grinned to myself, knowing he would be going back to his jerk self again.

× × ×

Regarding my knowledge of soccer, I'd just like to say that my education on the sport only goes to elementary school. I've looked up some about soccer, but I just simply don't have the time to dig through ALL the rules. I'm sure in the future I'll take the time to understand it all, but for the time being I'm leaving it as it is. I know the basics so hopefully that should be enough.

-Jess