Shaine and Alex were finishing up a light practice session with the newest addition to the team, Elizabeth Morgan, though she'd already insisted the team just call her Liza.
"I think that's plenty for today, Liza. Great work," their captain called out. Theodore Patterson approached with a characteristic easy smile, giving her a supportive pat on the shoulder. He was the kind of leader who prioritized a player's recovery over a scoreboard, a trait that had earned him the team's absolute loyalty.
Shaine jogged over and offered Liza a crisp high-five. "Solid shooting," she noted with a playful glint in her eye. "But let's see if you can find the net when Tiffiny Allisons is guarding it. She's half your size, but she's a literal wall in that goal."
Liza offered a shy, slightly nervous smile, her shoulders quivering just a bit at the challenge. "Thanks," she murmured.
The field felt a little emptier than usual; Elly was still home resting his sprained ankle, leaving them all hoping for a quick and easy recovery before the next big match.
Shaine headed for the middle of the field, kicking aside a few stray balls as she went. The abrupt dizziness was gradually less than before, like a dull, manageable headache. The others were still whispering about whether she should be on the field already at all, but Shaine had shut down the "hospital" talk before it even started. "It's not that serious," she'd snapped, her voice leaving no room for argument. She was fine, or she was going to force herself to be.
"Hey, Shaine," said a voice from behind. She turns her head to meet eyes with her friend.
"Hey Alex, what's up?" she asks, smiling with her dimples showing on her fair skin.
Alex scratches the back of his neck. "How's Elly doing?" he asked without looking into her eyes, hiding a faint growing crimson glow on his ears.
Shaine hums with a small nod along. "He's fine; I think he may be back on his feet by tomorrow. It was only a mild sprain, but I guess the hit from that guy was strong enough to keep him off his feet after the game." She awkwardly chuckled, whispering the last part, just for herself to hear.
After what happened yesterday, both Shaine and Elly spent their afternoon lying on the white beds in a small room. When they were rested enough, Elly's dad came to pick them up. Overly worried, he had to bring a wheelchair for Elly, but he didn't mind it at all, though he did first refuse to sit on it.
"I hope he can get back on the field soon. Oh yeah, Coach said that the team from yesterday will be visiting." Hearing this made Shaine snap her head towards Alex, her brow frowning with a glint of annoyance present in her stare.
"What do you mean, visiting?" she asks, implying the word like a spreading disease, with her brow raising. She did say that she had forgiven the boy, but there's still a hint of anger in her heart.
Alex shrugged, his expression unconcerned. "Something about a survey, I think. Or maybe just a scouting trip."
"When are they supposed to show up?" Shaine asked, but her question was answered by a sharp, rhythmic honk echoing from the campus entrance.
Alex let out a short, dry chuckle. "Right about now."
Shaine's gaze drifted toward the distant gates. A bright yellow bus sat idling, a bold, unfamiliar logo emblazoned on its side. One by one, boys in sharp, contrasting school uniforms began to spill out onto the pavement, their heads turning as they took in the sprawling university grounds with curiosity. As the group began their long trek toward the field, a hush fell over the courtyard. They moved with a practiced, effortless confidence, and more than a few students stopped in their tracks to stare. They were striking; enough to send a wave of hushed whispers and stifled squeals through the crowd of girls watching from the sidelines.
Shaine and Alex slowly made their way to the unexpected visitors; trailing behind them is their whole team.
"Good to see you again," the opposing captain said, his voice warm and practiced.
Shaine didn't respond. She remained anchored to the spot, her gaze fixed on her cleats as she idly kicked at a few stray blades of grass. The world around her felt distant until a light tap on her shoulder pulled her back to the surface.
"You must be Shaine, I presume."
She blinked, snapping back to reality to find the rival captain watching her with an expectant smile. She offered a stiff, formal nod. "Yes. And... it was a good game," she managed, her voice sounding a bit foreign to her own ears.
"My name is Leonard, but most people just call me Leo," he said, extending a hand. Shaine hesitated for a heartbeat before reaching out to meet his grip.
"We were hoping to see a few actions from the princesses of the Stone Serpent," Leo said, looking at his fellow team captain with an expecting glint in his eyes.
"Well, it's about time we showed off our princesses," Theo said, gesturing toward the three girls with a proud sweep of his hand.
Liza, ever the wallflower, gave a tiny, hesitant wave to the visitors. Tiffiny, leaning into her usual tomboy energy, offered a crisp, mock-military salute that drew a few chuckles from the crowd. Shaine kept it simple, offering a steady wave and a calm smile that didn't quite reveal what she was thinking.
"Alright then," Leo said, clapping his hands together. "Let's see what you've got."
The two teams marched toward the left goal. The girls sprinted to their marks, Tiffiny settling into her crouch between the posts, while Shaine and Liza guarded the perimeter just a few yards out.
Theo caught the eye of one of his starters. "Effrin, if you please." A lean, focused player stepped forward, the ball tucked under his arm. "Effrin is one of my best," Theo added confidently. "And now, you're about to see that each of our princesses has a very specific kind of strength." he added chuckling with a proud yet boastful tone.
Effrin began his drive toward the defensive line, but before he could even think about a pass, a blur of motion cut him off. Liza had closed the gap in an instant, her foot hooking the ball away with precision.
"Don't let the shyness fool you," Theo noted, his smile full of quiet pride. "Liza may be a beginner, but she's a ghost on the field. She can strip the ball in a single swoop before you even realize she's there."
Liza didn't linger; she pivoted and sent a swift pass toward Shaine.
"And Shaine? She's our powerhouse. She's been developing some... unique techniques lately," Theo added, his voice dropping slightly.
Shaine squared her shoulders, her eyes locked on the target as she wound up for a strike. Across from her, Tiffiny bounced on the balls of her feet. "Then there's our goalie," Theo continued. "She might look small, but she's faster than a lightning strike."
Shaine's boot connected with a heavy thwack, and the ball hissed through the air, carving a jagged path toward the top corner. Tiffiny didn't flinch. She quietly tracked the trajectory of the ball, sprinted to the left, and launched herself into the air, her hands snatching the ball mid-flight to deny the goal.
"Hey, Captain!" Tiffiny barked, landing lightly on her feet. She fixed Theo with a sharp, mischievous smirk. "Call me 'little' or 'precious' one more time, and the next save I make is going straight at your face."
Theo chuckled, though he couldn't help a slight, nervous shiver.
"I'm really not that great at stealing," Liza murmured, her voice barely audible. She kept her gaze fixed on the grass, her fingers nervously twisting together. "It's usually just... luck."
Shaine shifted her weight, crossing her arms defiantly over her chest. "And I'm not 'inventing techniques' either. That shot yesterday was a fluke; a one-time thing," she added, though the intensity in her eyes suggested otherwise.
Theo cleared his throat, his proud captain persona momentarily deflated as he looked back at his so-called princesses.
"Can't you three just be thankful?" he asked, letting out a dramatic pout. "I'm out here trying to make you look like legends in front of our guests!"
"Nope," Tiffiny replied.
"Nah," Shaine answered.
"Thank you?" Liza said, unsure if her answer is what her captain is looking for.
Theo buried his face in his hands, his frustration showing. His "princesses" were a handful; brilliant on the field but gifted with a biting wit that spared no one, least of all their captain.
Leo just chuckled, watching the banter with an amused glint in his eye.
Shaine fired a follow-up shot, which Tiffiny smothered effortlessly. The goalie walked toward Shaine, holding the ball against her side. "Question for you," Tiffiny started, her eyes narrowed. "Have you been getting into scraps behind our backs?"
Shaine chuckled, shaking her head. "In a fight? Please. I don't do violence."
"Right," Tiffiny said, scratching the back of her head as she glanced over Shaine's shoulder. "Then you might want to explain why that guy, from the opposing team, is practically burning a hole in the back of your head."
Shaine tracked Tiffiny's finger to the edge of the field. Her brow furrowed when she saw him, the same boy who had sent Elly to the infirmary with that "accidental" hit. He was staring at her with an intensity that felt heavy, but the moment their eyes met, he jerked his head away, suddenly fascinated by something in the distance. What is his problem? She wondered, a chill settling in her chest.
"Is he still trying to flirt with you?" Tiffiny asked, dropping her ball onto the ground and sitting on it with a practiced balance.
"I doubt it," Shaine replied, sinking onto the grass beside her. "He doesn't exactly look like the romantic type, remember?"
Tiffiny hummed in response, remembering the tension back in the gymnasium; she looked over at their newest teammate. "What's your take, Liza?"
The three of them had been inseparable since Liza's first day. Shaine and Tiffiny had practically adopted her, talking her ear off until her shyness finally began to melt away.
"Maybe... maybe he likes her?" Liza suggested softly, settling onto the grass with them. "He did try flirting with her the other day, although not romantically," she added.
Tiffiny clapped her hands together, the sound sharp in the open air. "That's it!" she declared, a mischievous smirk spreading across her face as she nudged Shaine. "He's totally smitten, in a perverted way."
Shaine let out a soft, skeptical chuckle. "Come on, guys. Let's not get carried away. He might have muttered an apology the other day, but I'm pretty sure I'm still at the top of his 'least favorite people' list."
"And why would he hate you?" Liza asked, a small, knowing smile tugging at her lips. "I've read enough books to know the signs. When a boy is staring at you; and then snaps his head away the second he's caught; it's usually a pretty big hint that he likes you."
Shaine laughed, shaking her head. "Don't assume too much, Liza; it's a dangerous habit. Besides," she added, jutting her chin toward the boy in the distance, "that's not a 'stare.' That's a glare."
He noticed how the girl stared back at him and instantly averted his gaze elsewhere; it was bad for his reputation to be staring at a particular girl, or so he thought. He's known in his school as a bad-boy-heart-breaker type of guy; indeed, he has the aura of a bad boy and the appearance too.
The girls broke into a light jog, moving toward the opposite end of the field to put some distance between themselves and the visitors.
"I'm telling you, he's totally into you," Tiffiny said, picking up the thread of their conversation without missing a beat.
"I second the motion," Liza added playfully, raising a hand as if casting a formal vote.
Shaine just laughed, though the sound felt hollow to her. Her friends hadn't seen what she'd seen. They weren't there when he'd pinned her against the sink or when he'd shoved her aside with a rough hand to her head. They hadn't seen the cold, dark smirk he'd worn while Elly lay on the ground, groaning in agony. To Shaine, those weren't the actions of a boy with a crush; they were the actions of someone who despised her.
Unbeknownst to the trio as they chatted, a pair of eyes remained fixed on Shaine's retreating back. The boy watched her with a predatory, chilling stare. He let out a sharp tsk under his breath, shoved his hands deep into his pockets, and turned away.