Kissing Pact With The Bad Boy

Chapter 6 - Oblivious

Sky is your limit. Spread your wings. Fly far, far away!

~

Chapter 6 - Oblivious

Another morning. Sky couldn't believe she hadn't talked properly with Hunter for two days. They had never gone without talking for more than an hour.

I hate this, she thought as she got ready, dressed and went to wait for Holden.

Holden teased her as he did every morning, Hunter begged with his eyes and Melissa gloated without saying a singlem word. It was her new reality now. Melissa was a part of this terrible reality. She should learn to live with it.

The day passed in a blur... and it was finally time for soccer practice. For two days, Coach Harrison wasn't feeling well, and so they didn't have any practice.

Sky was literally buzzing as she opened her locker.

She picked up her Jersey with a smile. Number 16. It was her lucky number. She had had the same number since the sophomore year when she had first joined the soccer team.

Coach Harrison wasn't very eager to let her try-out for the boys' team, but there was no girls' soccer team at Everett high and so Sky had to convince Coach to give her a chance to prove herself.

Actually, she had to stalk him for a week. She followed him to practice everyday, she threw water bottles to guys during the break, and she went a little insane when she followed him in his grocery run, and he finally gave in, just so that he could have a moment of peace from the crazy girl. Sky was exhilarated as she walked to the green pitch and touched the ball. She finally felt like she belonged. There with the ball and the guys, she belonged, more than she ever did anywhere else.

Coach had let out a shrill whistle and everyone started running, defending, kicking, dribbling. At first the guys were trying to go easy on her, because they must have pitied her, until she scored her first goal with a perfect kick and they weren't so lenient anymore. And the real game had started then with the second whistle from Coach Harrison and the game was a draw, until Sky had intercepted the ball from a senior guy at the last minute and she had successfully dribbled it past the bulky guys attempting to stop her. She never hesitated.

She had sent the ball sailing through the air to Hunter, who was standing near the goal post and he had scored the goal.

They had hugged and high-fived and dance as Coach Harrison had smiled at he indulgently and told her she belonged in the team.

And she did, she really did. The guys had all been welcoming, too, they had even called her their lucky charm when they won the first match of that season against Ludville high—the team that had always been undefeated until then. Sky had become a part of the gang after that.

Sky smiled at the memory of that.

Since then, she had scored so many goals. She had also been a bench warmer, but no matter what, soccer was her thing. It was where she felt the most welcomed and it was also... her way of sharing her life with Ben...

Sky wore a T-shirt and then wore the jersey over her T-shirt, and stared at herself in the mirror with a sigh. She wondered if she would ever grow boobs or she would forever be flat. It was kinda sad that she was still wearing a sports bra, mostly, only a few sizes bigger than the ones she wore when she was thirteen. She was seventeen and she knew she was almost fully developed, but... she still couldn't help wondering.

She was tired of being one of the guys. Always. Of course, she loved the guys, but she didn't want to be a guy. She was fine being a girl. She liked being a girl. Thank you.

She was pulled out of her daydream when a bunch of girls walked inside, chattering and giggling about, of course, Holden. Who else, but the devil!

"Sigh. Holden is so hot and I wonder if he is from inside the oven." One of the cheerleaders said with dreamy eyes. Sky rolled her eyes and frowned, as she stared at the mirror. She pulled her hair back with a headband so that her bangs would stay in place as the girls continued to talk about Holden.

"Yes. Those lips... Oh, I would pay a lot to just get a kiss." Lena Williams said. Lena was the captain of the cheer squad and every guy wanted her. She was that beautiful and she was also that kind and it was very irritating to listen to her talk about Holden like that. Holden was gorgeous, of course, but look wasn't everything, people.

Like you haven't drooled over his looks! Ms. Freak said with a huff.

"Maybe we should convince him to start a kissing booth." Rebecca Walter said as she grabbed her pompoms and did a half piroutte.

"Oh, he would glare at us with those mysterious eyes and then walk away."

He would, too. He wasn't made for normal conversations, at least, not with other girls. With her, it was whole another matter.

"Ew. Guys," Sky said with a frown and they laughed and shook their heads. "He is a devil in disguise. He is so- ugh, he is just so irritating."

Sky now talked with cheerleaders, and she even liked some of them.

Her best friend Amber was also in the cheer team. Some of the girls had grown up since middle school. As life became bigger, taunting or tormenting Sky had stopped being so interesting to most of them. They had moved on and some of them had even become Sky's friends. But it was sad that Melissa and her posse were still stuck in middle school, and were refusing to grow up.

"Yes, he is a devil and that must be why he is hot as hell." Lena smirked and Sky winced at that.

"That is- I have no retort for that, Lena. You have officially shut me up." Sky said as she grabbed her new cleats she had bought in San Francisco.

It was a deep pink with gold on the sides and she fell in love the moment she laid her eyes on it. She had gone shopping with her half-sister and mother, and they had all walked around. When Sky had walked inside the shop and was paying for the cleats, her mother told her she would pay, but Sky refused and her mother had looked so sad, but her mom hadn't said anything.

Sky felt a small twitch at the memory of that. It had already been eight years and still the wound was so fresh and the awkwardness only grew and grew, along with guilt. Sky sighed. There was no use thinking about that right now.

Sky put the cleats on and looked at them in the mirror. It looked so cool. Girlish, but also practical. Cool. Just the way Sky liked.

"Sky, that looks so rad." Lena said as she pulled her sleek black hair in a ponytail.

"Thanks, Lena. Got it in SF." Sky answered.

"Bestie, how have you been? Do you still want to murder Hunter? I can ask the girls to help me with that! They will so do it, too." Amber said as she wrapped her arms around Sky's neck and put her chin on her shoulder as she looked at Sky in the mirror.

Sky shrugged as she looked at Amber in her cheer uniform. Amber looked gorgeous. Her dark skin was so smooth, shiny, her painted lips were full and smiling, and her curly black hair fell in waves behind her back. Amber was always gorgeous, even in a potato sack.

If Sky had half of Amber's beauty, and charm, maybe then she wouldn't be so invisible. Maybe then Hunter would look at her like he looked at Melissa.

It was so tiring! To wish for something that is not going to happen in this lifetime. But if she wished enough, maybe then God would take pity on her and she would be a woman—not a prepubescent boy—in the next lifetime. Or a salamander. Either would do!

"I am okay or at least I will be. He is still Hunter." Sky said as she grabbed her bag with a water bottle, face towel and extra clothes as she walked towards the field, a skip in her steps. Sky knew today would again mostly be jogging, warmups, sprints and drills, but she didn't mind. She was excited. She missed the air on her face when she ran. She missed yelling and swearing at the guys in the name of sports.

"Oh, psh. Hunter, schunter." Amber waved her hands elegantly and tched. "You should just forget that moron. Holden is available.

And Holden is the hottest one. Holden is gorgeous, dark, mysterious and he is the kind of person the girls want to have hot, steamy, s*x scenes with in one of those novels you read-" Amber went on and Sky closed her ears and screamed loudly to drown her voice out.

"Aaah. Amby, don't start with that right now, also I'm late for my practice. I am gonna go right now."

"Oh, coward, run, run, but Holden will catch you." Amber taunted as Sky walked out of the locker room with a giggle.

"Freckles?" Sky stopped.

Yeah. He already caught you!

Of course, it was him. Again. She sighed.

She didn't know why the devil was haunting her, but then again, he was always haunting her. He gave her a cool smirk as he walked towards her, his steps stealthy and quick. It was not a walk. It was a glide. Sky cursed him for how effortless he was, even without trying. It was very distracting.

"What the hell do you want now, Holden? Don't you have something else to do?" She snapped as she glowered at him.

"What is more important than doing you?" His words were drenched in double entendre and so were his eyes. He gave her a smile that made Sky's heart flutter and flip. She blushed and cursed Holden for making her blush.

"You are an idi0t."

He made her nervous. He made her feel things she wasn't supposed to feel. Confused. Excited. Intrigued. Freaking mad. It was entropy. The thoughts in her head now was made of random bursts of lightning and thunder and nothing made sense.

She knew she shouldn't feel anything for him, but she couldn't help it. Maybe it was because he looked almost like Hunter, or maybe it was because he looked at her the way Hunter never did. But something about him always, always made Sky feel like she was slowly losing her mind.

He was made of chaos, he was made to dance in the nights where sanity had no place in that plane. And sometimes... she just couldn't help it. Help the rush of feelings, when her walls weren't up high. And she feared that truth.

"Just a second, freckles." He said as he bent down in front of her and kneeled on the floor. Sh*t. He was awfully closer to places she would rather not think about right now. Her eyes widened with disbelief and her lips parted in a soft gasp.

What the hell is he doing?

Oh, calm your panties down, girlie. He is obviously not doing anything you are imagining in your dirty little mind, in the middle of school, now is he? Ms. Freak said and Sky almost died right then and there. What the hell... Why was she-

He grabbed her ankle with his long fingers and her legs trembled. She hoped her legs wouldn't give up now. It would be so damn humiliating if she fell right now.

He looked up from the ground, through his long lashes, with his smoky gray eyes and Sky's heart almost stopped. And then her heartbeat went fast, wild and irregular and she hoped she wouldn't faint.

"Freckles, you naughty, naughty girl!" He grinned as he pulled her shoe laces and tied them with quick, deft fingers. Sky wondered how he made tying shoe-laces look so sexy, so very enticing. His fingers made quick bows as he winked at her. "What a perv, freckles."

He sprung up and wiped his hands together as gave her a dizzying smile. "All done. Now don't keep dreaming about me and score some goals, freckles. Ta-ta."

***

"Sky."

"Hunter."

Sky didn't fail to notice how they stood, their bodies leaned against each other, as if they were subconsciously marking the emotional distance. She hated it, she hated the distance. Of course. She liked Hunter, but he was also her best friend for years. She had started liking him only recently.

"Your vacation, was it okay?" Hunter said with a forced smile that looked too chipper to be real. He knew how it was and this formality, it was not like them. Sky hated it, and she was also helpless to do anything about it.

"Yep, okay."

"Did you and your mother talk or-" he looked at her.

"Nope."

Sh*t. She didn't know what to say or how to dispel this awkwardness. Usually they talked without even taking a break, they talked about nothing and everything for hours and now... here they were.

Sky was almost relieved when Coach Harrison clapped his hands and let out a sharp whistle.

"See you in the field, Hunter." She said as she jogged away from him.

"So I know half of you have spent the whole summer either sleeping or doing things I would rather not hear. Now, I am ready to put some spring in your lazy steps. Off you go until I say stop." He signed to do the warmup jog with a small wave of his fingers.

Everyone looked up at Coach Harrison with a groan and the man whistled and motioned them to move their asses. "Chop. Chop. I don't have all day." Coach said in a loud voice, and Sky started running at a slow jog. Some of the guys gave her a peeved look and called her teacher's pet and Sky showed them a middle finger and they all laughed as they ran along with her. They increased the pace after a few feet and maintained the speed, then lowered it at the end of the first round and they continued. After a few minutes,

Sky's calves were already burning. Hunter ran next to her and gave her a tentative smile.

Peace offering. She wasn't ready for that, not yet.

"Sky, new cleats? Did you buy it in SF?" Hunter shook his head towards her pink cleats.

"Yes," she replied.

"It looks so good, little Sky."

"I know, that is why I bought it." She snapped and he gave her a frustrated look.

What? Just because he praised her cleats didn't mean she had to go and forgive him. What he did was beyond forgiveness. If he had dated anyone, anyone other than Melissa... Sky would have found a way to patch up her heart and she would have continued being an amazing, supportive friend.

After twenty dreadful minutes, Coach Harrison blew the whistle. Sky stopped along with the guys. Coach Harrison called out to Hunter and they set up the cones on the field for speed and agility training.

"Shuttle drill." Coach Harrison yelled, and everyone stood in the line. Sky watched as Hunter masterfully maneuvered the cones. The way he moved, the way he stopped right before the change, it was all done so gracefully that Sky couldn't look away. In the soft glow of the evening sun, he looked so handsome. Yes, he was handsome and she wished she could kick him in his balls or something.

"Mitchell..." Coach Harrison called her name. But she was so busy staring at Hunter she missed it.

"Skylar Rene Mitchell. If you are done daydreaming..." Coach Harrison let out an ear-piercing whistle that startled Sky awake from the wistful starting at Hunter 'the moron' Reed. Sky ran to the field, cursing herself for staring at Hunter and his magnificent shuttle drill.

Very romantic! NOT! Ms. Freak commented as Sky weaved through the cones with quick, efficient steps.

When the hour-long torture of warmups and drills were over, Sky's lungs were burning. She sat down on the stone bleachers and wiped her face with the towel and gulped the water down. She was burning, thirsty and she just wanted to lie down and sleep on the pitch.

"Holden will give you a ride back home," Hunter said as he pulled the strap of his backpack with a nervous look in her direction. He avoided looking into her eyes as he stood in front of her.

"Where are you-" Sky stopped halfway.

Of course. He must be going out with Melissa. Just thinking about it made Sky nauseous. She hated it. She hated seeing him with

Melissa, seeing him kissing her toxic lips. "Oh, of course, you have a date with your girlfriend. And Hunter, you don't have to worry about whether I have a ride or not. I can get my own ride."

"I just- Holden asked me to tell you he would be waiting."

"I don't care. Bye. I hate you and I hate your brother."

"Little Sky-"

"I am not little. Stop it, you idi0t." She yelled and Hunter cringed back from her as if he was afraid she might grab him by his hair or something. Oh, she might. She was tempted to, really, but not now.

Hunter Reed, I wish you were not such an oblivious moron!

The guys stopped doing what they were doing and gave them a strange look. If it was Holden, they wouldn't have even looked up. Sky screaming at Holden, that was everyday news. Sky screaming at Hunter, now that was a news flash.

Sky stomped away.

___