4

During my free period, I decided to go outside on the empty field on one side of my school. This field wasn't used a lot because typically the bigger football field would be used for sports practices, games, and gym class.

I placed my bag down on the grass, the cloudy day resulting in my slipping on my hoodie before throwing my hair into a ponytail. I pulled a soccer ball out of my gym bag and carelessly started to dribble the ball before taking some shots at the goal or working on my rainbow kicks.

I stopped playing soccer competitively years ago when I started to get shadowed by my sister. My mom would be occupied attending her dance recitals and cheerleading practices so she never showed up to one of my soccer games. My dad would come when he could but it was hard for him to get away from work all the time.

My eyes were trained on the ground as I watched myself dribble the ball closer to the net, looking up when I kicked the ball into the net.

I was taken by surprise, my game being thrown off when I saw Kaden standing at the goal, easily catching the ball in his hands after I had kicked it.

I jogged over to him, a little breathless. "What are you doing out here?"

He ignored my question, grinning at me impressively, "So you didn't take the dance, cheerleader path like your sister, huh?"

I narrowed my eyes as I took the ball from his hands, "How long have you been out here?"

"Long enough to know you're incredible and could easily make captain of the soccer team." He quirked an eyebrow at me.

I huffed before turning to walk away.

"Hey," he quickly caught up to me and took my wrist in his hand, stopping me.

I turned to look at him, raising my eyebrows.

He grinned, "Come on, not one to take compliments either?"

I sighed, "What do you want, Kaden?" I sat down on the ground beside my bag and started to untie my cleats when he swiftly swooped down and grabbed my hands in his, pulling me up on my feet.

I squealed in surprise, watching as he started to dribble the ball away from me.

"What are you doing?"

"Come on, Mar." He smirked as he passed the ball to me and ignored the look of confusion on my face.

Without saying anything, I shrugged and started dribbling the ball away from him until he surprised me by swooping in, easily kicking the ball away from me an towards him until he ran off, dribbling the ball t the net before scoring

Without saying anything, I shrugged and started dribbling the ball away from him until he surprised me by swooping in, easily kicking the ball away from me an towards him until he ran off, dribbling the ball t the net before scoring.

This continued for another half an hour, progressively getting more and more competitive.

I exhaled deeply as I sat down and started to untie my cleats, Kaden sitting down beside me and placing the ball on the ground beside him.

"And here i thought you were the star lacrosse player," I laughed as I slipped on my normal Nikes.

Kaden laughed, looking at me

Kaden laughed, looking at me. "Soccer star is a close second." Kaden paused for a moment before tilting his head and looking at me with narrowed eyes, "I didn't know you played soccer."

"I don't," I mumbled, looking at the grass.

Kaden scoffed, "Very convincing, Mar. Why'd you stop playing, then?"

I sighed, bringing my knees to my chest and hugging them, leaning my chin down on my knees. Kaden, in an incredibly short amount of time, was learning more and more about me and I was letting him because when he asked me these things, I could tell he really did want to know which was a new feeling for me. I didn't know how I felt about getting closer with him in this sense because the outcomes weren't looking good.

"It... was an unrealistic dream. My mom definitely didn't support it and eventually all the efforts were put on Avery's dance dreams." I told him honestly, not thinking much about it because what would he really do with the information? Aside from that, he was the only one who knew so it did feel nice being able to talk about it.

"Mar... it's not unrealistic, you're amazing. Hell, I've never met someone who can get a goal past me, yet here you are. Why couldn't your mom see that?" I didn't look at Kaden but I could tell he was frowning.

I shrugged lightly, staring at the grass that looked duller than normal because there was no sun out to shine on it. "She would tell me it was a 'boy sport' and that I should join dance or cheerleading with Avery but I had no interest in those. In freshman year, in hopes to make my mom the slightest bit proud of me, I tried to join the cheer team."

"What happened?" He asked, his voice quiet and gentle.

I laughed as I looked up to meet gazes with him, "My sister happened. She, somehow managing to become cheer captain in the ninth grade, didn't let me on the team because 'there was no room'. I knew it was crap and she just didn't want the spotlight to falter on her."

"Seriously?" Kaden's eyebrows furrowed in disbelief and what seemed like a little bit of anger. I knew he knew what Avery was like but he didn't know how much it affected other people in her life, a.k.a me.

I nodded, a fake smile on my face.

Kaden had a look of pity rush through his eyes but he quickly masked it in hopes that I wouldn't notice. "That is messed up, Mar. I'm... sorry you have to deal with that."

I shrugged nonchalantly, "I didn't want to join the team anyways."

Kaden chuckled, "Still."

I gave him a reassuring smile, "It's okay."

"Did you say anything to your parents? About how she did that to you?" Kaden continued asking questions that I couldn't help but continue to tell him about, feeling comfortable talking to him though it also scared me.

I shrugged again, leaning my head back down on my knees. "I couldn't say anything to my mom because Avery would play victim and my mom would side with her, she always does. My dad however, he told me being underestimated is one of the biggest competitive advantages I have so I should embrace it because they won't see it coming."

"Did you?" He asked. "Embrace it?"

I scoffed, shaking my head lightly. "I can always bring Avery a battle but she will turn it into a war that I'm not going to take on because I'm nobody compared to her."

"Hey," Kaden frowned. I sat up straight and turned to look at him in question. He took me by surprise when he carelessly tucked a strand of hair that had fallen out of my ponytail behind my hair. He shook his head, "Don't say that. You're not nobody. You're beautiful, strong, and genuine and nobody can tell you otherwise. You've lived with Avery determined to outshine you for so long that you've convinced yourself to think so little of yourself but if you ask me, you're worth much more than anyone will realize."

I got lost in his eyes for a moment. It was one of those very cliche moments that happens in every movie ever.

I didn't know why my heart felt like it would beat right out of my chest. Maybe it was because nobody had ever shown this much attention or interest in me, making me actually feel worthy.

I didn't have time to comprehend what to do or what could possibly happen but luckily for me, the bell rang causing me to quickly stand up and grab my things.

Kaden cleared his throat and handed me the soccer ball. I nodded in thanks and headed to quickly walk towards the school when I stopped and turned around to look at him.

"Hey, Kade," my voice was quiet and hesitant. I smiled softly, "Thank you."

He smiled and nodded before I quickly walked off.