Bab 15: Hawks vs Ravens
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As Melanie mentioned when they were leaving the dormitory, the front rows at the bleachers were filled. Even some of the teachers had come to take a look at the game that would start in fifteen minutes. Julie heaved for air as Melanie had made her run halfway so that they wouldn't be late. With the sky slowly turning dark, the floodlights were on, allowing the spectators to view the mowed field.
The students were loud, creating a buzz. Julie, who was searching for empty seats, pulled Melanie, "Look there! There are three seats," and she dragged her friend along with her.
"God bless your glasses with more spray to clean it," replied Melanie.
They made their way from the front and climbed up the stairs, squeezing through the students before they reached and sat down. Though they weren't the centre seats, they would still see the players on the field.
"I never knew that Conner was interested in playing football," remarked Julie, her eyes watching at the swarm of students around them.
"I am surprised they are even letting him play. I am worried that he will end up in the infirmary before the first half of the game," muttered Melanie because Conner was lean in the physique. He had been rejected the last two years when he had applied to be part of it.
"Maybe he is stronger than he looks," replied Julie, giving their friend the benefit of the doubt.
Melanie crossed eight of her fingers in Conner's support and said, "Let's hope for the best."
Julie looked at the space after the front row of the bleachers, where two cheerleaders were cheering for the respective teams. One set of girls was dressed in blue, and the other girls were dressed in red. "Which team is Conner in again?" she asked.
"Ravens. They are the ones with blue uniforms. Red are the Hawks," explained Melanie.
As her eyes continued looking at the girls cheering, Julie's eyes fell on Eleanor, who was part of the cheering team. She wore the red uniform, swinging her hands back and forth with a smile on her lips. Even though Eleanor had been slow when it came to running, Julie had to applaud the girl for being able to stretch her body. And it took her only a few minutes before she understood what Eleanor was doing in the cheer squad.
Roman stepped on the field from the right side with the rest of the team. She also caught sight of Simon in the same team.
When her eyes shifted away from Roman to look at the Raven's, she spotted their friend who looked like a shirt that had been hung on a shoulder. In the back of her mind, Melanie's earlier words made her worry.
"Oh no," Julie heard Melanie utter. Conner had been paired with porcupine and some others, who had a bad reputation.
"I am conflicted," muttered Julie. Of course, she would support Conner and him alone, she thought to herself. "Looks like Conner is playing the first half."
"Your friend is playing?"
Julie's eyebrows drew in together when she heard someone speak. Turning her head, she saw a guy who had occupied the empty seat that was on her right. His face seemed familiar, as if she had met him before, but she couldn't remember where.
He had a round face, and his dark brown eyes looked at her now through his glasses.
"Yeah, he is," replied Julie.
"I am sorry I couldn't help but overhear the worry for your friend. My name is Dennis Mcoy," he introduced himself.
"Julianne," replied Julie, and when his eyes shifted to look at Melanie, Mel said, "Melanie."
"Is it that scrawny looking boy from the Raven's?" Dennis questioned, and Julie felt an immediate distaste towards the person. She didn't know if it was because he had decided to question by involving himself as if they were friends or if it was because he had called Conner scrawny.
"It is him," replied Julie, turning her head to the front while trying not to make another eye contact with the person who sat on her immediate right.
"This year's matches are going to be tough. It looks like they have selected the best one's on both the teams apart from the new ones," Dennis tried to rekindle the conversation with Julie, while Melanie didn't hear Dennis speaking because of the noise that surrounded them. "You must be supporting your friend's group."
"Isn't it natural," asked Julie.
"It is. It is the obvious thing to do. As your friend needs more support, I would like to join in to cheer him," said Dennis with a smile. On a second look, Julie realized he, too had a lean figure. The only difference was that he was taller than Conner.
"You don't have to do that. Melanie and I are sufficient. I am sure you have your own player you want to support," said Julie, wanting to draw the line so that he wouldn't try to get too friendly with them. Dennis offered her a smile.
It took her a while before Julie remembered where she had seen him. He was the same person she had crashed into a few days ago while climbing up the stairs!
Melanie leaned towards Julie's side and whispered, "I think he is hitting on you."
Trying to ignore the guy, Julie saw both the team players walk to the centre place of the field with the referee who was iterating the rules.
She noticed how some of the well-built guys took a seat on the bench while letting the students from the freshman year play. Soon the referee blew the whistle and the game started with the ball being passed from one person to another, and within two minutes, the Ravens scored a goal.
Some parts of the crowd cheered, while some booed at the teams. The next goal was scored by the Hawks. After the first half-time of the game, some of the players switched. Two minutes passed at the beginning of the second half when the opponent team member's leg tackled Conner and he rolled on the ground, not getting up.
Holding her friend's hand, Julie said, "We should go see how Conner is doing." It was also a good opportunity to get away from Dennis.
"You are right. They take the injured players from the locker room before going to the infirmary," agreed Melanie and picked up the bottle she had carried with her. Right on time, even Dennis turned his body, ready to go with them.
To stop him from following her, she quickly turned to him and said, "Enjoy the match. We'll be going now," she offered a quick smile at him before climbing down the stairs. The game continued with the player being replaced as she walked away from the football field.
Instead of going and waiting in the infirmary, both the girls reached the front of the boy's locker room. "Is this a good idea?" asked Julie in a doubtful voice.
"It is fine," Melanie waved her hand as if she had done this before. She leaned to take a look inside. "Hm, looks like there's no one here."
Julie looked back and forth, noticing the place was deserted, and the only sound came from the crowd at the bleachers. She said, "We should go to the infirmary, Mel. I mea-"
"Look what the cat dragged in," said someone from behind her. Julie quickly turned, and her eyes fell on the porcupine. "I was wondering when I would find you by yourself. The last time at the detention had been hard to get you alone. I even got an empty chair for you to come and sit next to me. I had some things to discuss with you," said Mateo with a smirk on his face.
"How thoughtful of you, you didn't have to do that," Julie offered him a polite smile while feeling her palms turn slightly sweaty. "I am a mere person, who doesn't mind sitting in any seat. I don't need special treatment."
Almost all the students and the teachers weren't here, but at the bleachers, leaving the place here with only Melanie, her, the porcupine and his two friends. She wondered if there was any chance for the game to finish right now.
"We'll take our leave then, good game," praised Julie, sending them her false support and ready to leave. But Mateo blocked her way.
"You don't leave until I decide it is time for you to leave," stated Mateo. A grin appeared on his lips, and he said, "The last time you escaped, but don't think I forgot what you did."
Oh, so they were back at it again, thought Julie to herself.
Julie replied, "I am not much of a violence person. Let me apologize to you if it makes you feel better. Maybe a written apology?" She suggested the porcupine. "No?"
"This time I have something better on my mind. For both you and your little friend," taunted Mateo, his eyes shifting to Melanie and then back to Julie. He then ran his tongue over his lips, and Julie clenched her fists.
Was he suggesting to have sex with him?! Maybe she was smaller than the porcupine in size, but she would make sure to punch his face if he tried it.
Melanie, who had earlier told Julie that it was fine to come here, now looked pale and regretful. "I am going to scream for help!" She tried to threaten them, but at her words, the three guys who were in the corridor laughed as if she had told a joke.
"Do it by all means. But no one is going to hear you no matter how much you scream. The game isn't over and we have plenty of time," Mateo took a step towards Julie.
He was right. With the number of people who were screaming and shouting outside, none of them wouldn't be able to hear them, thought Julie to herself. Did the locker room have a lock on its door? She questioned herself. Her eyes quickly moved to where Melanie stood. Wait, where was the door?!
And on the contrary to what Melanie had said earlier about the locker room being empty, out of it stepped the antagonist of the porcupine's life.
Julie's eyes fell on Roman, who was still in the Hawks uniform, and he stepped out of the locker room.
"Thought I heard something squeak out here," commented Roman, his eyes falling on Mateo, and he asked, "Was that you, Jackson?"
The porcupine's eyes narrowed, and he taunted back, "And what are you little fucker doing here? Did the coach kick you out of the team for not scoring a decent point? Isn't that pathetic?"
Roman let his body lean to the side and questioned, "You know what is pathetic? To fall on the floor by a girl smaller than you in size. Isn't that right, Winters?"
Julie's eyes widened at being dragged into the conversation, and she didn't know why Roman was trying to stir more trouble for her. If he hadn't snickered and commented anything the last time, Mateo Jackson would not have been wanting to hunt her.
When her eyes fell on the porcupine, his eyes narrowed, and Julie cleared her throat, "We just came here to find our friend Conner. We aren't looking for any trouble," she said to the boys who were there.
"I find it hard to believe," murmured Roman, without moving from his place. After the first half of the game, he had decided to get back to the locker room, but he hadn't expected to have visitors this early. "Your friend isn't here. Infirmary," he replied in a nonchalant tone to the girl with the glasses.
"Thank you," said Julie, noticing Roman quietly watching her.
"Back off, Moltenore. They are our prey. Find someone else to prey on," porcupine warned with a glare at Roman.
"You can prey on the chicken in the lunchroom," retorted Julie while keeping her ground.
One of the porcupine's lackeys said, "We prefer alive ones that are fresh to taste," and the words were enough to make Julie's skin crawl. When the boy started to walk towards her, Julie tightened her fists. But before he could get close to her breathing space, it wasn't hers but Roman's fist that came to knock the boy away from her.
It had happened so quickly that Julie had missed Roman coming near where she stood and hitting the boy's face because right now, the boy had both his hands covering his nose as it bled.
"What the fuck was that for?!" asked the boy whose hands weren't enough to contain the blood.
Both Julie and Melanie's eyes went wide on seeing that much amount of blood. Sure she had hoped for Roman to help them, considering how she had noted that he and Porcupine had a brawl on her first day in the university. But seeing the blood drip from one of the boy's hands, she was worried.
Roman stretched the fingers of his hands that he had used to punch.
"That was a knock of sense. The next one will be an in-depth knowledge if you would like to indulge yourself in," responded Roman, coming to stand face to face with the three boys.
Mateo looked furious, and he took an angry step forward. He said, "You have no claim on them. So get back to whatever you were doing while we can continue."
Roman's lips twisted into a smile. His head subtly tilted to the side, and he said, "Don't bring in more trouble than what you can handle, Jackson. Go back to your own locker room. This isn't your den," his underlying words holding a threat towards the mohawk boy.
"I will see how you can stop me," growled Mateo, and he stomped towards Julie, who stood behind Roman. "You have been acting too cocky," and he raised his hand to punch Roman, but the dark-haired boy effortlessly moved to the side before bringing his own hand from below to hit the other boy's chin.
Roman didn't stop there, and he used all the space around them while pushing the porcupine to move away from the original position. When the other lackey of the porcupine appeared from behind to catch hold so that their leader could punch, Roman used his legs to kick right into Mateo's face before elbowing and throwing the other boy, who was behind him, against the wall.
"Don't tell me that is all you had with the amount of barking you did," commented Roman that infuriated the other three boys.
Julie could see that Roman was enjoying this more than he was supposed to, as if he had been waiting to get into a fight.
The one with the bleeding nose continued to hold his hands near his nose without moving, while the other two stood up, ready to dive back into the fight. Mateo returned to his bull form, his eyes turning into a rageful look and locking Roman as his target. Mateo came running, but within one second, he was on the floor groaning in pain because Roman had broken one more nose.
Julie flinched on hearing the crack sound and saw blood started to rush down from his nose, similar to the first guy.
"I will kill you for this, Moltenore," the porcupine growled.
Roman glared back and said, "Now run before I damage more than just your nose."
Julie watched Mateo, who looked as if he wanted to continue to fight. But after playing on the field, he had drained most of his energy. The other two boys pulled him away from the corridor, and she heard the retreating footsteps, which was replaced by the noise of the crowd from outside.
She felt Melanie pull her sleeve, jerking her head to indicate that it was time for them to leave too so that they wouldn't be questioned.
"Thank you," came the quick squeak from Julie, ready to escape from there, and they started to walk.
"Where do you think you are going?" demanded Roman that had both the girls stop in their tracks.
Both the girls turned around, and Roman locked his eyes with Julie's. He raised his hand before he curled two of his fingers in a 'come here' motion to her with a serious expression in those black eyes of his.
As grateful as she was, every time she saw Roman fighting ruthlessly, it only made her that much wary of his presence. Julie softly gulped and walked to stand two steps away from him.
"Did you want something?" Julie asked him and noticed his usual cologne was mixed with sweat and maybe blood.
"Yes," replied Roman. The space between them diminished when Roman took a step forward, making her heart skip a beat, "Who told you could leave?" he asked, tilting his head to the side as he questioned her.
Mateo and his lackeys had left them for now, and she had thanked Roman for chasing them away. What else was left to do here? asked Julie to herself. She took a subtle step backwards so that she wouldn't have to crane her neck to see him.
"I got into the fight thanks to you. Agree?" Roman questioned Julie, one of his eyebrows raised to intimidate her.
"Yes, we are very thankful about it-"
"Good. You see those spots on the floor?" he asked, and Julie looked down at the floor. There were blood drops from the broken noses. "You will find the mop and bucket in the locker room. Clean it before you leave here. The last thing I need is people questioning what happened," and he got inside the locker room.
"Julie!" whispered Melanie, coming to her side. "The game will get over soon. Let's do this quickly."
Were they really going to mop the floor right now? And yes, they did after five minutes, quickly moving back and forth outside the locker room because Roman did shoo the porcupine away.
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