The Dangers Of The Damaged ✔︎

16 ↝ Beautiful Distraction

"Turn your magic on, to me she'd say,
Everything you want's a dream away,
Under this pressure, under this weight,
We are diamonds taking shape."
- Adventure Of A Lifetime by Coldplay.

"It's warmer than usual today." Kiara comments, letting out a breath. I walk beside her, Nessa walking on my other side.

We got back from the mall after having a late lunch there, and once we came back to campus, we dropped off our bags in Nessa and I's dorm. After grabbing some iced coffee from the cafè, we're now heading towards the field that's situated at the other end of campus, where soccer practice takes place.

"I can't wait for Christmas." Nessa sighs, her hand wrapping around my bicep. "I've been craving Christmas turkey since like, May."

I chuckle, shaking my head as we finally approach the football field. It looks similar to the movies, with the grass field in the middle, the track wrapping around it, rows and rows of bleachers on the left side, big stadium lights, complete with the gigantic scoreboard.

On the grass field, I spot the boys, running around in the midst of a match. My eyes inevitably search for a certain raven haired boy as I follow Nessa and Kiara to the bleachers. They sit on the first row, closest to the field, and I mimic their actions.

Most of the boys I know, but there are a few familiar faces that I haven't really interacted with, I've just seen them hanging around the soccer house sometimes. Kye had explained that they were freshmen, who are still training and not in the team yet.

Their coach, who's a short muscly man in his late forties, stood a few feet away from the net, barking instructions and commands.

I spot Hunter finally, at the very end of the field, his eyes trained on Oliver, who has the ball between his legs. He wears a white kit that hugs his body in all the right places, the stark white color of the kit contrasting against his black hair attractively. His hair is matted against his forehead with sweat, and sweat also drips down the sides of his face, and for some reason that's unknown to me, I find that so bloody hot.

For the next few minutes or so, my eyes refuse to leave Hunter, watching him intently. Oliver passes him the ball, and he immediately springs into action.

The way he plays, his movements quick and rapid as he moves across the field with the ball between his feet, dodging people from the opposing team skilfully. I can't tear my eyes away from him, the sight of him in his element too good to look away from. The way his demeanour completely shifts when he's playing soccer or when he's in the boxing ring, is amazing. You can tell that his mind is only focusing on his goal, to win. To shoot the ball to the net, or to knock his opponent out.

He expertly dodges Kye, who's on the opposing team, before making his way down the field towards the goal, and makes a swift kick to the net.

My breath catches in my throat in anticipation as I watch the ball skid across the air, and Daniel, the goalie, jumps up in an attempt to block it, but he misses it by an inch, and the ball shoots neatly into the net.

Although this is just a practice match, the boys in Hunter's team rejoice, clapping Hunter on the back. And of course, Nessa and Kiara scream his name at the top of their lungs, cheering for him.

This catches the boys' attention, and they all look in our direction. I feel a small chill rush down my spine when Hunter's beautiful grey eyes shift over to me. He stares at me for a few seconds that feels like hours, before finally turning away when their coach blows the whistle, instructing them to play again.

They begin playing once again, and this time I manage to shift my focus from Hunter from time to time, admiring the other boys' skills as well. I'm watching the little happy dance Kye is doing after he successfully shoots a goal, when the feeling of being watched washes over me. My eyes search the field, and my heart skips a beat when I see that it's Hunter, looking directly at me.