Amber was waiting for Erick to come out of the locker rooms near the bleachers. She sat down at the bench, with her chin propped on her palm as she watched the cleanup crew use a turf sweeper to clean the football field. Beside her leg was her small backpack. At first, both Dana and Jeayan offered to bring her backpack for her since they were going to go to the car and wait there but she refused. How could she let them bring her backpack when all of her snacks were in there?
So, while waiting for Erick, she was halfway through her snacks.
She was in a daze, watching the cleanup crew clean, munching on a prawn cracker when she heard someone call her name.
She turned around and was pleasantly surprised to see Krys walking down the bleachers with a smile on his face. Behind him was a couple of his friends. He stopped beside her and asked, "Oh, you're here too?"
Amber nodded as she placed her bag of prawn crackers back into her backpack. She stood up, hoisting her backpack on her back. And unconsciously, she took a step back when she thought they were a bit close. She did not notice a mysterious glint in his eyes when he saw her took a step back.
"I didn't know you like football," Amber commented, smiling back.
Krys jerked a thumb over his shoulders, pointing at his two friends, who were talking with each other a few metres away. "It's more like I'm accompanying them," he admitted. "Though, I probably shouldn't say that since it sounds like I'm not supporting my school team," he laughed.
Amber laughed. "No worries," she reassured. "To be honest, I'm not that big of a fan as well. I'm here because my boyfriend is playing."
Krys cocked an eyebrow. "Oh, do you mean, Erick?" he asked.
Amber nodded.
Just then his two friends walked over to them. They quickly introduced themselves to Amber who introduced herself back. Then they turned to Krys, saying that they will wait for him in the car. Krys nodded back.
After the two left, Krys turned back to Amber and said, "I did not realize that you two were a couple."
Amber gave him a sheepish smile.
Krys held up his two hands, as if trying to reassure her of something. "Oh, I'm not saying that you two don't suit each other. It's just that there were rumours that you two were together but there hasn't been any official news about it."
Amber tilted her head in confusion. "Official news? What's this? Hollywood news?" she sarcastically said. "Is there supposed to be news about us getting together? I don't think it's any of anyone's concern about my relationship with Erick," she further commented, a hint of anger could be heard in her tone.
Krys' eyes widened at her sudden outburst. He scratched the back of his head awkwardly, looking down at his shoes. "Oh sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I mean, I just thought…"
Amber sighed as she cut him off, feeling bad for lashing out at him. ���Nah, it's alright," she reassured.
The two of them went silent for a while.
Then Krys looked up with a smile and said, "Anyway, I'd better go. My friends should be waiting for me."
"Oh," Amber said. "Are you all going straight back home or staying here in this town and looking around?" she asked.
Krys shrugged. "Probably the latter," he answered. "It's not everyday that we go to Port Robston Bay anyway," he finished with another grin.
Amber grinned back and nodded. "Then I'll be seeing you back at school next week!"
Krys nodded back as he turned around and walked away with a wave.
Just as he left Amber, Bastian came by, carrying a large duffel bag on his back. He was with a couple of his teammates. It looked as if they had just had their showers, seeing how their hair was still wet.
Bastian was laughing with his teammates when he noticed that Amber was still standing alone near the visitors' bleachers.
A huge smile bloomed on his face as he looked around. 'Great! He's not here yet!' he thought mischievously, thinking of ways of how to annoy a certain young shifter.
He turned to his friends, saying a few words before jogging over to where Amber was standing.
As he got closer to Amber, a frown slowly replaced the smile on his face. When he stood in front of Amber, he looked around them, discreetly sniffing.
Amber frowned, looking confused when she saw him looking around, as if he was looking for something. Then her eyes narrowed. "Did you just sniff me?" she asked suspiciously. What's this? Before, it was Erick. Now, it's this guy. Is he…?
Bastian whirled around to face her and gave her a sheepish smile. "Eh? No no," he denied vehemently, shaking his hands in front of him.
She continued to look at him suspiciously. She then leaned closer and said softly, "Are you, by any chance, a shifter?"
Bastian's eyes widened. He then masked his surprise and pretended to frown at her. "Huh? What are you talking about?" he scoffed. "How can I be that? Don't you know that word is ban?"
Amber just cocked an eyebrow at him, her face reading that she wasn't buying his BS.
Before she could say another word, someone had placed his arm around her shoulders. Amber looked up and saw Erick fiercely glaring at Bastian. "What are you doing with her?" he asked.
Bastian held up his hands once more. "Chill, bro. I just saw her here alone and I just want to talk to her," he explained.
Erick looked down at the girl in his arm and asked, ignoring the young man in front of them, "Where's the others? How come you're here alone?"
Amber looked up and smiled at him. "I'm waiting for you. Jeayan and the others are probably waiting at the parking lot."
Erick nodded. "You girls going straight home?" he asked.
She shrugged. "I'm not sure of their plans yet."
"If you girls stay, I can join you," he replied.
Amber nodded. "We should have some space in the car," she answered.
Bastian frowned as he watched them talking as if he was not standing in front of them.
"Hello? Bastian here! Are you ignoring the handsome me who is standing just in front of you two?" he said, waving his hands at them.
Both Erick and Amber turned to him. "Why are you still here?" Erick asked rudely.
"This area is still my school's property, you know," Bastian replied sarcastically.
Erick looked down at Amber and said, "Seems like we're not invited here any longer. So it's best that we get out of here immediately. Besides, I bet something smells bad here, right?"
Before Amber could reply to him, Bastian punched Erick on the shoulder, jostling Amber as well who was still in his arms.
Erick released Amber and then stood in front of Bastian, giving an intimidating front. "You want a fight, bro?" he asked threateningly.
Bastian smirked as he pulled his arms back in a stretch. "Do you?" he asked back.
Amber quickly stepped between the two of them and told them to stop. She then hissed softly, "Are all shifters this full of testosterone?"
The two young shifters froze. Erick let out a light chuckle as he straightened up. But Bastian turned to her, looking awkward. "Now, now, little lady," he started. "Didn't you remember that I said that word is taboo?"
Amber just raised her eyebrows in a condescending manner. She then turned to Erick, her face asking without words, is he for real?
Erick's light chuckle turned to loud laughter when he saw the disdain on his girl's face. He turned to his friend and said, "Cool it. She knows."
Bastian's eyes widened in shock. He did not expect a human being to know about their existence. Yes, even though they were still around but they were in hiding. No one was supposed to know that they still roam around in plain sight!
He turned to Erick, still shell-shocked.
Amber frowned when she noticed Bastian's still shocked face. She leaned closer to Erick and asked softly, "Am I not supposed to know that? Is it really taboo? I do recall people not talking about it but is it that quite serious?"
Erick scratched the back of his head, pondering. "It's not really that serious but yeah, people don't usually talk about shifters in the open."
Bastian leaned closer to Amber, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. He then sniffed openly, drawing a weirded look from the young woman. Erick immediately pushed Bastian's face away. "What the heck are you doing?" he loudly asked in disbelief.
Bastian narrowed his eyes more, but this time at Erick. "She's your…?" he asked slowly.
"Mate."
Bastian narrowed his eyes more, but this time at Erick. "She's your…?" he asked slowly.
"Mate."
Bastian was quiet for a while before he shouted. "What???" he exclaimed in disbelief, his jaw dropped open. He then studied her with narrowed eyes. "Wait... She's..."
Erick quickly kicked his legs to shut him up but Bastian was fast as he nimbly evaded the kick, while covering his mouth with both of his hands, his eyes still open wide. "Sorry, bro! I was too shocked," he apologized, waving Erick away.
Erick rolled his eyes.
Bastian then walked closer to Amber, studying her from top to bottom. "Interesting," he murmured, as if he was talking to himself. "A human mate."
Amber ignored him and turned to Erick. "Shall we go? The girls are still waiting for me at the parking lot," she said.
Erick nodded.
The two of them then ignored the light bulb and went out of the mini stadium.
Seeing how the couple ignored him once again, Bastian decided that he hadn't had enough time to tease Erick so he followed them from behind.
His other friends who were waiting for him at the parking lot looked confused when they saw him walking behind Erick and Amber. He then waved them, telling them in the mindlink that he will be going with them and that they should just leave without him. Apparently, his two friends were shifters too. They nodded and went to their car and drove away.
Jeayan was laughing with her other friends when she looked up and saw Erick and Amber approaching them. Erick looked as if he was texting someone in his phone, his thumbs non-stop pressing on the phone, whereas Amber waved at them, smiling. When they stood in front of Jeayan and the others, Amber apologized for being late.
Jeayan just waved away her apologies. It was then she realized that there was another person behind them. She peeked around Amber and was surprised to see a good-looking blonde guy. As she discreetly sniffed, she realized that the guy was a shifter as well.
"Who is he?" Dana asked, gesturing at Bastian who was smiling at them.
Just then, Hamish walked over with his duffel bag on his bag and another duffel bag in his hand. He tossed the other duffel bag at Erick. Apparently, it was Erick's.
"I already told the coach that we have our own ride back home so he and the others have left," Hamish said.
Erick nodded his thanks.
Hamish then turned his head and frowned when he saw Bastian. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm joining the fun," Bastian answered shamelessly with a grin.
"Who is he?" Dana asked again, this time softly at Jeayan. However, since the four of them were shifters, except for Amber, of course, they, including Bastian had heard her question.
Bastian flashed his winning smile at Dana and answered, "I'm Bastian Cesaro, the captain of the Port Robston Bay Football club."
Dana's eyes widened in surprise. She did not expect the captain of the football team whom they just beat to be in front of them. Shouldn't he be with his team?
Jeayan had the same question as Dana and she voiced them out, asking bluntly, "And what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be with your teammates? Your team just lost the game."
Bastian clutched his chest where his heart lay and pretended to be wounded. "That hurts," he said sadly.
Erick ignored him once more as he turned to Jeayan. "So, where are you all headed to?" he asked, hoisting his duffel bag onto his back.
Jeayan shrugged. "We're planning to go around town and grab some food." Then she looked at Amber, "Though, I'm not sure whether this girl is still hungry."
Amber rolled her eyes as she turned around, showing her backpack. "You think the stuff inside is enough?"
Bastian butted in. "Then it's a good thing you have a local here with you! I can bring you to the best place to eat! What do you want? Hot pot? BBQ?" he suggested happily.
Jeayan glared at him. "Can you shut up for one second?"
Bastian's eyebrows shot up in surprise. He then took a step back and walked closer to Hamish, who was quietly watching them. He leaned closer and asked, "Are most females in your town that cranky and rude?"
Jeayan continued to glare when she heard his question.
Bastian immediately kept quiet.
"How many cars did you girls bring here?" Erick asked again, still ignoring Bastian's antics.
"We actually came here with Isaac and some couple of guys too," Dana answered.
Erick's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Other guys?" he repeated, looking down at Amber.
Amber just rolled her eyes.
"Want to ask Dex whether he wants to join us?" Hamish asked Erick.
"He's here?"
Hamish nodded. "He came to pick up his ma-- girlfriend, Zoe," he replied.
"You can go ask him."
Hamish nodded again. He then turned his back to them, his fingers typing on his phone. If one looked closely, he actually did not typed anything on his phone. Rather, he was using his mindlink to connect with Dex, who was still somewhere at the football field with Zoe and the other cheerleaders.
Dex, who had received Hamish's mindlink, rejected the offer, saying that he would be bringing Zoe back home since she was tired. The other cheerleaders too would be going straight home, together with their coach, using the bus.
After saying goodbye to Dex, Hamish turned back around and told them what Dex had replied. Erick and the others nodded. Isaac then joined the group. After waiting so long in the car, he decided to get out and asked what was taking them so long.
Amber apologized for being late. Isaac brushed away her apologies, saying it was fine. Who would want to scold their future Luna?
Soon, they began to discuss who will follow in which car since they had two cars; Dana and Isaac. Few minutes later, it was decided that the girls would follow in Dana's car, whereas the guys would follow in Isaac's car, much to Erick's dissatisfaction.
When both Hamish and Erick had climbed in Isaac's car, Bastian was about to follow suit when Erick pushed him out of the car, saying, "What are you doing?"
Bastian gave him a sad look. "I'm joining you."
"Who invited you?"
"I invited myself."
"But I did not invite you."
"Do I look as if I care that you invite me or not?"
Tired of listening to them bicker, Hamish let out a long sigh and said, "Just let him join or he would not shut up."
So Erick had to move a bit to give space for Bastian to join in. Luckily, the car that Isaac drove was a slightly larger car so they weren't feeling cramped inside.
Since they were waiting for Isaac to drive since he would be leading the way, Dana and the other girls had to wait. Soon after, when Bastian finally got in the car and Isaac was now driving, the girls followed from behind.
The trip took nearly an hour, with Bastian keep changing the direction because he could not make up his mind on where to eat. It was not until Erick smacked him on the head and threatened him to pick a place before he kicked him out of the car.
They finally decided on a BBQ place. Seeing how the weather was getting colder during the evening and that they, especially the guys, were getting hungry, it seems like the perfect place. And the best thing of all was that there were meats!
When they arrived at the BBQ place, it was already crowded for dinner time. Even after eight o'clock in the evening, it was still crowded. Luckily, there were a couple of empty tables outside. Even if the weather was cold, at least they were eating BBQ and the heat from the grill may help them to keep warmth.
Seeing the big group, the waiters and waitresses in the restaurant helped to place the empty tables together to make a longer table. After they were done, they began to place a portable bbq grill pan on each of the tables.
Erick and the others soon made themselves comfortable. Erick quickly tugged on Amber's hand, pulling her next to him so that she would sit next to him.
Bastian, who sat across Erick and next to Hamish, leaned closer to the latter and asked, "Is he always like this?"
"You have no idea."
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