•˖* ℘
【 𝘾𝙊𝙉𝙎𝙏𝙐𝙇𝙏 】
— ⚡︎ ℘ heartstopper
•˖* ℘

——         𝕾kylar was filled with nerves. Her rounders game was today and she still wasn't sure if Nick was going to show up. Currently, she had just tied her hair back into a plaited ponytail and was applying a small amount of concealer to her under-eyes, trying to mask the redness of crying.

Luke was sat in her room, watching her get ready whilst sporting a top that said TEAM HIGGS (you got this Skylar!) It was incredibly cringy and Skylar had begged him not to wear it but, since when does Luke listen to anyone? He was on a rant about how he felt like Charlie was ignoring him.

"Luke." Skylar sighed, spinning around in her chair to face him. "Did you take the quiz?"

"No, because I'm not gay." Luke denied, fiddling with his thumbs.

But he had taken the quiz. He had answered the questions honestly and was given a result that made him cry. His whole life was changing and he was having a massive identity crisis over one boy. One boy. Words couldn't even begin to express how confused Luke felt, Confused and uncomfortable. How would everyone else react to him being attracted to boys? How would his friends react? Well, they couldn't if they didn't know. That night, when the answer to all of his questions was given, he refused to believe it. And if he refused to believe it, it would go away — right?

"But I have invited him to come over to my house." Luke told, perking Skylar's interest. "On, like, Wednesday."

"Wednesday?!" Skylar exclaimed, cracking her back with the speed in which she turned around in her seat. "That's literally in two days!"

"Yeah, I know..." Luke nodded, trying to find something else to change the topic of conversation. "Is Nick coming today?"

"He said he would." Skylar shrugged, sighing while blending out her concealer. "But after yesterday, I really have no idea."

Subconsciously, she glanced down at her phone and switched it on. Unsurprised but disappointed at the result of an empty lock screen.

"Have you texted him about it?" Luke asked, lying back on her bed. "You're a stubborn little bitch so I'm gonna take a wild guess and say no."

"Rude." Skylar rolled her eyes and then sighed. "I don't know. Usually he's the first one to speak after an argument but this one feels different."

"Maybe that's your problem!" Luke groaned, running his hands over his face. "He always apologises first and now he wants to see if you will, because, I didn't lie. You're a stubborn little bitch. Text him! It doesn't have to be an apology, just say something."

nick❤️‍🩹.

are you coming today? x
read 10:46am

do you want me to?

yeah, please.
delivered 10:50am

——   𝕬 little bit of Skylar knew that Nick wasn't going to show up, but there was one strand of hope, pointlessly holding on and refusing to let go. The game was beginning soon and there was still now sign of the ginger boy. However, she did notice her other friends in the crowd. Harry, Luke, Christian, Otis, Nicole and Imogen were sat on the bleachers. From where she was standing, it seemed like they were all mocking Luke's choice of shirt.

Skylar shook her head and laughed while she stretched, casually making conversation with some of teammates. The referees were going to announce the start of the game soon and it felt like someone was missing. That was until, Darcy ran through the gates, breathing erratically.

"I'm so sorry I'm late!" She apologised, trying to catch her breath while also reasoning her excuses. "My mum was being awkward and I just— I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Skylar smiled and nodded, noticing some of the other team laughing at hers. Sending them a nasty look, she brought her team into huddle. "Let's show them that Higgs is the best at this game. We're a rounders school, not a stuck-up, nerdy grammar. We all know that Saint Ives are completely full of themselves, so lets give them a run for their money. Everyone you know where to go. No one on first and third, I want fielders and focus on the second and last post. So, Darcy and Michelle you're not on your posts, but stay near. Alright, let's go!"

The captain from Saint Ives walked up to Skylar and smirked, holding out a penny. "We're tails." Maintaining eye-contact, the girl flipped the coin and it landed on heads.

"Higgs, fielding first!" Skylar announced, making the opposing team groan.

The captain made her way into the centre box, picking up the small ball and rolling her wrist around. Nick still wasn't here. Skylar liked to consider Nick as her good luck token. She had never lost a game when he was watching. Her friends were cheering her on, throwing out words of encouragement.

Without thinking, she stepped back and then forwards, throwing the ball towards the other team. Thank God it was a good bowl. The girl from St Ives smacked the ball far and started running. Until Sahar announced that she had caught the ball, eliminating their first batter.

"Ball 2." The ref called, marking down points (or the lack of) on her sheet of paper.

God seemed to be on her side today because these bowls were absolutely amazing. The game had gotten to Ball 10, and St Ives currently had 7 rounders, with one player out. Skylar inhaled and exhaled as she went to bowl, they were halfway done and then they could bat. But one question still rung in her mind — where the hell was Nick?

The moment the ball left her hands she regretted it. Instead of aiming perfectly in the middle like the rest of her bowls, this one was too low and off-centred.

"No ball, low." The referre said, again making some notes. "Ball 11 again."

Again, no ball. This time it was too high. Skylar could feel the disappointment radiating off of her teammates and it was only making her feel worse. "Come on, Skylar you've got this." Some of players called out, trying to enhance her confidence.

"Ball 11, if this misses St Ives automatically score half a rounder."

The hope was practically pooling out of the other team, and some of their hands were clasped together, quietly praying on her screwing up.

The ball unravelled from her fingertips, and the fielders got ready. The bowl was good, it was really good. Until the batter shuffled slightly in her step, causing the ball to smack into her chest.

"No ball, body." The ref sighed, marking it down and ignoring the shouts of defiance and disbelief from the opposing team. "Half a rounder scored."

"Are you kidding?" Tara Jones exclaimed, her voice more quiet and polite compared to the other rounds of abuse being thrown around.

"Miss, she moved!" Nicole shrieked from her place on the bleachers, standing up and pointing at the St Ives student, who was standing on first base with a smug smile. "Cheeky slag!"

"Absolute pisstake!" Harry yelled, also pointing in the same direction as Nicole. "Look at her with that ugly smile on her face! Bullshit, this game is!"

"If you keep verbally abusing the players, I'm going to have to ask you to leave." The referee shouted, placing her hands on her hips before returning her attention to the game. "Ball 12."

"Come on, Skylar!" Imogen cheered, cupping her mouth in hopes to project her voice.

Skylar rubbed the back of her neck and looked up at the sky, silently praying that her future bowls were to be good. That was humiliating. Being the Captain of your team, being given three chances to bowl good and not doing well in any of them? Instead of beating herself up about it, she focused on the task at hand. Bowl. And make it good, make it count.

        "Come on, Sky." Katie smiled from her place as backstop. "Into my hands." She placed her hands in a cup shape just below her stomach, giving the bowler a place to aim for.

When the batter ended up hitting the ball, Skylar noiselessly celebrated, pumping her fist in the air slightly and watched St Ives groan in disappointment as their teammate got out on second base.

By the end of that round, Skylar was officially ready to go home. St Ives had scored 13 and a half rounders. One and a half had been given away by shitty bowls and the rest were just them being really good. Sometime throughout the last bat of that round, snow began to fall and the girls felt cold, carrying on their game nonetheless.

        Finally, it was Higgs' time to bat and they were more than nervous. They had to beat 13 and a half rounders. That's going to be hard. But it seemed like St Ives were more of a batting team than a fielding, so hopefully they could win.

        The first batter was Katie, and she hit it far. She probably could've walked the whole way but she still decided to run. The second was Darcy, and Darcy was good at batting. Her running was a good pace but she wasn't a sprinter.

        Eventually, it got around to Skylar's turn. She stood in the box, facing the bowler. She bent her knees and crouched slightly, getting ready to swing as hard as she could. The moment the bowler let go of the ball, Skylar swung her arm back and then celebrated in her mind when the ball smacked off the bat.

        Without giving it a second thought, she legged it. Skylar was not a sprinter, she was a long distance runner so she found it difficult but she moved her legs as fast as she could and pumped her arms to give herself more momentum. She was so focused on scoring the rounder that she hadn't even heard the ref shout 'no ball'.

        The Higgs team cheered for Skylar when she made it around the whole field. "You just got us a free rounder!" Sahar grinned, placing a hand on her shoulder as she bent over trying to catch her breath.

        "What?" Skylar panted, finally standing up straight.

        "It was a no ball. Miss said it was too high." Sahar explained, making her captain smile proudly.

        Skylar looked over to the bleachers, seeing her friends cheering and yelling in happiness and pride. What she also saw made her face fall.

        Nick had finally arrived.

        Skylar wasn't sure whether she should be happy or annoyed, so she was both. The happy side of her wanted to run up to him and kiss him so badly but her annoyed side wanted to slap him and tell him to piss off. She had already been the bowler, that was when she needed him the most. Nick sat next to Luke, clapping along with the rest of her friends.

        The game continued and it was going really well so far. Grace, Mila and Priya had been out, but so far they were nearly drawing with St Ives. 13 rounders with two more batters to go.

        Freya was lined up, ready to bat. Her hit was decent but the team doubted whether she would get half a rounder.

        "Out at second!" The referee called, blowing her whistle. Higgs groaned and Skylar began to panic.

        The pressure was on. It was up to her to beat the opposing team and make hers proud. "You've got this, Sky!" Tara cheered, gathering up some snow and throwing it in the air like confetti.

        The bowler saw how concentrated Skylar looked and gulped nervously. Letting the ball free from her fingertips, all the control was in Higgs' Captains hands. Literally.

        The bat was good. The ball went far but it was around the same area as one of the far fielders, making Skylar nervous to run, but she did so anyway. There was no point in playing it safe when she was the last go.

        "Come on, Skylar!"
        "Run! Go!"
        "Throw to second! Throw to second!"

        The cacophony of shouting made it hard for Skylar to focus, but she tried her hardest. Manoeuvring around the fielders at their posts and trying not to crash into anyone.

        "No, go to fourth! Go!" St Ives' bowler screamed, making their far fielder launch the ball to the player at fourth post.

        Just as the fielder caught the ball, Skylar pushed herself further, accidentally slipping on the grass that had grown damp from the snow, yet it seemed to help her. She landed right in front of the post, so she smacked it with her bat and stood up, taking a moment to recover from what just happened.

        "Oh my God, are you okay?" Darcy gasped immediately going over to Skylar and helping her.

        "What the fuck just happened." Skylar laughed, slightly limping as she walked to join the rest of her team.

        "Higgs School for Girls are our winners!" The referee announced, blowing her whistle three short times.

        The team immediately erupted into a roar of cheers and celebratory applause. The friends who had came to watch joined in, sending hugs all around.

        "You were so amazing!" Nicole squealed, embracing her friend in a tight hug.

        "Yo, that move at the end was sick." Harry commented, bringing her into a side hug.

        "It's all because of my shirt!" Luke said, pinching the corners of it and flapping it out. "The shirt of luck, I call it."

        "The shirt of shit, you mean." Christian snorted, "Burn it."

        "Yeah, please never wear it again." Nicole shook her head, looking the boy up and down in disgust.

        "Hey." A familiar voice called, making the group stop their conversation. "Can we talk?"

        Skylar sent her friends a reassuring nod and they all dispersed into the crowd, praising the rest of the team. Nick and Skylar walked off to the side, an unimpressed look on the latters face.

        "I'm really sorry, Skylar." Nick started, exhaling deeply. "Last night I didn't mean anything I said and I'm sorry for getting so annoyed at you, you were just trying to tell me how you feel."

        "And?" Skylar pushed, raising her eyebrows as she expected another apology.

        Nick stared in confusion for a minute before realisation hit him. "Oh, and I'm sorry I missed half of your game."

        Skylar sighed, and threw her head back, her hands resting on her hips. A small part of her wanted to be really stubborn and not forgive him, but she knew she could never stay mad at him.

        Smiling, she reached onto her tip toes and brought him into a hug, wrapping her arms around his neck and holding him tightly. He reciprocated the action, instead encasing her waist with his muscular arms.

        Suddenly, Nick let out a yell and lifted her up, making her scream slightly and wrap her legs around his waist. "Nick stop!" She laughed as he spun her around.

        "Oh, I'm so proud of you for winning this game!" He praised, his hands resting on her lower back as they kissed quickly.

        "Yeah, well, I could've done with you being here for the first half." Skylar sighed, "My bowling was shit and I have away one and a half rounders. That's nine bad bowls."

        "I know, and I'm going to make it up to you." Nick nodded, putting her down. "At my house, tomorrow. Be there for two."

— 𝒋𝒂𝒔𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒔

how do we feel about nick
showing up half way through?
he was originally not gonna
show up at all but i wanted
them to have a short lived
redemption before harry's
party😬😬.

if anyone's confused about
the pointing system or the
rules in rounders lmk i do
play it so i can answer.