Nolan

My body collides for the hundredth time into the dummy, the pads on my shoulders pressing harassing into my skin, a familiar and homely feeling. 

"Again!" Coach Rogers shouts again, blowing his whistle like a train conductor aggressively. I grind my teeth together, the thick sweat padding my forehead and plastering my hair to my head. I run back to the baseline, crouching into my starting position. 

Coach blows his whistle again and I charge at full force towards the dummy, the force of my impact slightly weaker than the last. I've been at this for nearly an hour. I guess I deserve it, after missing practice. 

But I knew Coach couldn't kick me off the team, or even bench me, not before the game on Friday versus Timberland High. Those bitches have been our rivals since the dawn of time. 

"You call that a block?" Coach shouts, and I turn to him, allowing my mouth guard to slip from my mouth. 

"Yes, sir." I shout back, trying to control my temper. I could tackle him instead of the dummy, but I don't think that would bode well with my scholarship opportunities. 

"This is what happens when you skip my practices boy!" He shouts, his normally pink face turning a dark shade of scarlet, like a piece of a grapefruit stuck on the body of a sumo wrestler. He told the team that when he was younger he was the king of Emerson High School, captain of the winning football team, the Panthers. But I can't imagine the more round than tall man being a stud. 

"It was for a good reason, Coach." I blurt back, pulling my helmet off my head and wiping my forehead with the back of my hand. He just grunts and rolls his eyes. 

"Let me guess, Melissa came calling?" He said sarcastically. Coach is a worse stalker than most girls, he actually knows who every player on the team is dating or semi-dating or even just hooking up with, even the bench warmers. 

"I'm disappointed Coach, you should know by now that we broke up." I smirk, picking up my water bottle and spraying a stream of the blissful drink into my mouth. 

Most other people on the team would get an earful if they talked that way to him, but he owed my father. I'm not quite sure what or why, but I'd always taken full advantage. 

"Poor little golden boy." He scoffs, placing his whistle back in his mouth. "Five laps, Howard. And don't lag or I'll add another one." 

~

Stumbling out of the locker room shower, I wince, the splints in my shins creeping higher up my leg. (*a shin splint is a pain that a lot of athletes get*). 

"Thanks a lot, Coach." I mumble to myself as I towel off, drying my hair as much as I could against the damp towel. Opening my gym bag, I pull on a "PANTHERS" t-shirt, and a pair of gray sweatpants. Slipping on my slides, I limp out of the school and towards my car. 

I pull my phone out of my pocket, checking for a text from Piper. Five new messages: one from dad, one from Mike, one from Will, and two from...Melissa. I groan audibly, deleting the messages from my lock screen. Once the notifications disappear, the picture on my lock screen appears again - a picture of Piper and I from last summer. We were at the beach with our families, and I'm raising her above my head like a child. She's laughing and her eyes are shut tight, her dark hair going in every direction with the wind. 

I smile slightly, remembering how annoyed she got when I threw sand in her hair. It didn't wash out for two weeks. 

Pulling out my keys, I open my car, listening to the familiar beep of it unlocking. 

I throw my bag in the back, settling into the driver's seat and turning the key in the ignition. 

Looking in the rear view mirror - I shout out in surprise. 

"Melissa, what the hell?!" I shout, twisting around to see a grinning Melissa sitting with her legs crossed in the back seat. 

"Hey, tiger." She purrs, moving closer to me, but I back up slightly.

"How the fuck did you get in my car?!" I scream, throwing my hands out in confusion.

"Oh, you always leave it unlocked, I had the sound of it unlocking on my phone."

I just stare at her. She has to be kidding. What the actual fuck, what, why?

"What the- Melissa- How - Why-" I stammer confusion and irritation flowing through me. This was really not a good time for her to come and annoy me. 

"Come on, baby. How many times do I have to apologize before you take me back?" She whines. 

"What?" I say sharply, scoffing violently. "Melissa, get the hell out of my car!"

"Come on!" She whines again, tears pricking in her eyes. 

Oh please...

"Get. Out." I hiss, biting into every word. 

She huffs, her hair bouncing annoyingly. 

"Fine, but at least I tried Nolan, don't come crying to me when your little skank rejects you." 

I don't get a chance to refute before she storms her way out of my jeep. I lock the doors, and exhale, resting my head against the steering wheel. 

Trust Melissa to go to that extreme. 

Piper. Holy crap, I completely forgot she had a study session with Mike. 

Frantically, I pull out of the parking lot and head towards my home, barely missing red lights. 

If he touched her I swear...

I finally pull up to my house, nearly ripping the keys from the ignition and swinging my back quickly over my shoulder. I race to the front door and, with shaking hands, I unlock the door, stepping inside. 

"Piper?" I call out hesitantly, my ears itching for a reply. 

No response. 

"Piper?" I call again, louder this time. I step forward, past the stairs and towards the kitchen. Where could she be...

"BOO!" I jump, letting out a little yelp as I whirl around to see a cackling Piper nearly rolling on the floor in a fit of laughter.

"Don't do that!" I shout, raking my hand through my still damp hair. She wipes imaginary tears from her eyes and sighs. 

"Nice manly scream there, ducky." She giggles, her cheeks slightly pink from all the laughing. 

"Remind me again why we're friends?" I say sarcastically, heading to the fridge and pulling out a carton of orange juice, drinking straight from the carton.

"Ugh, Nolan, you're going to give us all herpes." She scoffs, and I hear the squeak of chair legs against wood as she settles herself in a seat by the island. 

I wipe my mouth, replacing the carton in the fridge and I lean against the counter across from her. 

"So, how was studying?" I ask, trying to keep my voice as casual as humanly possible. 

A blush coats Piper's cheeks and she bites her lip slightly, looking down at the table. 

What...

"Piper.." I say, trying to control my tone. 

"It was fine." She squeaked. She has always been the worst liar, her voice goes up about three octaves.

"Piper..." I repeat, rounding the table. 

"I NEED TO PEE!" She shouts quickly, and with a dash, she disappears up the stairs. 

Crap. 

I pull out my phone, pulling up Mike's text from before:

"Mike: yo, thanks for letting us use the house today, I owe you man ;)" 

He "owes me"? For what? 

Whatever it is, I'm 100% sure I'm not going to like it.

I know I've been awful with updates lately, but summer is super close so updates are going to be more frequent! 

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