13. Section 1 vs. Section 2

I gulped the remaining water in my tumbler, the sense of victory still pushing my adrenaline to rush through my entire body, neglecting the tiredness that I should be feeling after a very intense game.

"You okay?"

My head shot up when I heard Brian spoke behind me. Like me, he's also sweating bullets and his hair remained disheveled.

"Of course, why?"

"Well, those girls from the second section seemed to really hate you."

I chuckled along with him.

That laughter vanished as soon as a thought crossed my mind. I don't get it why they act like I'm the bad guy — like I'm a villian in a drama who's twirling a glass of champagne while trying to take innocent people's happiness. Last time I checked they're the one who did me dirty, yet here they are acting as if the fact that I caught them red-handed is a sin. It's not my fault I heard them jubilantly badmouthing me in a freaking public comfort room.

"Just ignore them, I guess?" I took my face towel to wipe the sweat that pooled on my forehead.

Images of how Lily and her friends looked when their section lose flashed before my eyes.

Their team wasn't bad — in fact my classmates and I had hard a time trying to kick someone out from their side. There were two balls in each turns, since they got the 'advisory students privilege' they were the first ones to initiate the start of the game. It was a fun game really, they just kept on aiming for someone considered as a weak target, throwing ball here and there while the victims try to dodge them. But here comes Lily and those petty minions of hers, obviously targeting me everytime they get hold of the ball. They didn't even bother to be discreet about it. Unprofessional, really.

I dodged all of their attacks as much as I can,

but since their other classmates had caught on to the conspicuous tension, they resorted into choosing me as the new prey. Good thing that I'm fast enough to weave through their assaults, or else I'll be out of the game within minutes. When the ball latched onto my hand, I made sure to make my angle perfect for that blonde girl. However, she's smart enough to hide behind one of her classmates, therefore insuring her safety. The meanie even have the guts to smirk mockingly at me. I got it much easier on the red head — it took me only one strike and she's already out. Of course that made Lily even more aggressive.

We were down to 13 vs. 9 — 13 on our side and 9 on their side — when Lily did a small trick. She pretended to point the ball on Brian, only to do a quick maneuver the last minute, a simple but effective scheme. The round object came pelting to my direction, and no matter how fast I tried to swerve out of the way , it's already predicted to hit me. Just as I saw Lily's smug grin from my peripheral vision, the ball was caught in between Brian's hands. The turn of events immediately wiped the smile out of Lily's face.

"Watch out, Skie."

Brian managed to say as he throw the ball back to Lily. He decided to stick beside me after that. Though I don't really like the fact that he seems to keep a close eye on me — occasionally saving me from the attacks I didn't managed to perceive, I'm glad he did guarded me since it helped me with what I wanted. To win against Lily. When I got another chance to strike, I decided to mimick Lily's move. I raised the ball towards the blonde's direction, and when I everyone thought I had let go of the ball, I spun and throw it on Lily. Bewildered, she didn't even managed to move an inch. My classmates roared with claps and cheers while the section 2 students erupted with salty murmurs.

"They looked really sinister, Skie."

I was pulled out of my train of thoughts upon hearing the sudden seriousness in Brian's voice.

"You should keep a safe distance away from them." He added.

"Well, we're from different sections. Does that counts?"

A chuckle resonated from Brian's throat. He doesn't really need to tell me to stay away from those girls since I don't really have anything to do with them. I already have so many complications in my life and I don't have any plans to add a new one. Especially if it's gonna be something juvenile.

"I'm serious, Skie. I'm worried about you." Brian let out a sigh.

"You don't have to, Ian. I can handle myself, really."

I turned to give Brian an assuring smile, only to see him eyeing me in bafflement. I raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"Oh," He let out an awkward chuckle. "It's just that....I haven't heard you call me Ian in a while. It's nice hearing it again."

My gaze instantly fell to the floor.

Yeah, it's really been awhile. And honestly speaking, I missed calling him with the sobriquet I'd gave him. The name rolled off my tongue in a foreign way yet it left a satisfying feeling inside me. I smiled.

"I missed calling you that too." I admitted.

"Clearly."

I mirrored Brian's grin for a moment until the bell rang, announcing the break time.

"You'll head to the library now?" Brian asked, fixing his duffel bag in the process.

"Yup, I'll wait for Austin there."

"Mind if I join?"

The genuine smile that etched its way across Brian's handsome features tugged on my heartstrings. He looks like a kid asking his parents for permission to go out and play with his friends. How odd that I pictured him like that when I'm literally the one who would no doubt look like a kid when I stand beside him.

"Of course. Let's go?"

Before I could even take a step forward, Brian had grabbed my wrist.

"Wha—"

My eyes widened when he suddenly stooped down infront of me. I followed his movements and it took me a heartbeat to realize that he's tying my loose shoelaces. I blinked a couple of times as Brian straightened up.

"Tsk, you'll trip on your own feet with your carelessness."

He said, granting me a teasing smile. I playfully rolled my eyes at him.

"Thanks then."

Brian snickered before draping an arm around me. His action caught me by surprise, considering the fact that even before our friendship came to an almost permanent halt, Austin's the only one who likes to do this skin ship. It felt odd — I wasn't used to anyone other than Austin doing this kind of gesture to me. But I guess Brian's just trying to make up for the year we had lost.