Just for This Year

Chapter Nine

Remember to comment and vote! It's super encouraging to keep updating.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

September 9
Tuesday

52 Days Before

It was Tuesday afternoon. That meant it was officially the day Lila would begin her training with Ashton. She had been stressing about it all day. He wasn't exactly known for his kindness and patience. There was a reason the football team had improved in the last few years, and that reason was Ashton Westbrook. He had been elected captain their sophomore year, which was virtually unheard of. He had motivated the team to be essentially perfect through his unwavering desire to win. She couldn't be the reason they lost, she refused.

Lila ran a hand down the braids on her head. They weren't nearly as good as when Teddy had done them, but they would do the trick. She slipped her helmet over her braids, satisfied when it went over with ease. She took a deep breath, trying to mentally prepare for how this could go.

"Hey," a deep voice called out. Lila jumped, turning to the voice.

Lila finally took a moment to take in his appearance. Usually, whenever she saw him, she would tend to turn the other way. But now, she decided to look at him. Ashton had nearly jet black hair that swept upwards and looked like it would be incredibly soft to touch. His eyes were a dark brown, constantly looking as if he would rather be anywhere than where he was. His tan skin was accompanied by broad muscles, likely due to his long history in sports.

"Hi," Lila replied in a sheepish voice.

"You don't need your helmet," Ashton told her, his tone teetering from amused to mocking. Lila clenched her jaw, scolding herself slightly. "Or your shoulder pads. You're just kicking."

"Noted," Lila murmured, pulling her helmet off her head and smoothing the frizz from her hair down.

They walked in silence down to the field. She racked her brain for conversation topics, but she came up with nothing. Lila glanced over at the football captain and was confused when she saw soccer balls in the bag her carried instead of footballs. She figured she could ask about that, but she also knew she would find out why he had those when they got to the field.

Finally, they reached the turf. She set her things off to the side and watched as he set up. She followed him to the closest end-zone, simply observing as he dropped the bag of soccer balls. He pulled one out and placed it on the ground, glancing up to the goal post to ensure it was the correct distance away.

For a few moments, Lila just stared at him. Many people had many things to say about Ashton Westbrook. She heard just about every rumor possible. He was a bit of an oxymoron— popular amongst her classmates, but it was jarring how little everyone knew about him. Scarlett didn't even know if he had any siblings or what his family was like. And at her school, any bit of information, no matter how mundane, was gossip. People were typically known for their families. Everyone knew Sam and Lila. Between losing their Dad two years ago and having two older siblings who went to the same school not that long ago, it was hard to fly under the radar.

But Ashton was a bit of a mystery. Lila knew next to nothing about him except for the fact that he was a phenomenal quarterback and seemed to have a permanent frown on his face. She also was very aware of the fact that Sam hated him for essentially no reason. She wouldn't be against knowing a bit more about him, even if it was just for the sake of knowing. Before he could catch her staring, though, she pulled her gaze away from him and focused on how she would get the ball through the goalpost that seemed a mile away.