Kiss of A Titan
Chapter 25

It was from a single scribbled paper flyer pinned to the billboard I stumbled across on the hallway during lesson hours that I found out that the school field Lacrosse team was having a friendly match against a rival team from a school in the next town while scouring for club flyers that I could fit. I knew how imperative it was for my aunt to find a place I could fit in Houston High before the end of summer and so far, I wasn't ready to break the deadlock of finding the safe haven within the clubs that were permitted to operate in the school.

She would pester me all the time with boring tales of her past school experiences if she found out that I wasn't doing the right thing to please her and myself as well.

To me, Lacrosse wasn't a bit more of an outdoor sport compared to the indoor games of basketball and it wasn't part of my world of my favorite sports let alone my aunt who barely had interest in topics relating to sport recreational activities including lawn tennis.

Contrary to my personal opinion about the closely related form of Rugby and Football, the flyer had a lasting impression on me at first glance. Basically, not because of how it was legibly designed that it was able to stand out from the rest of other flyers from different clubs and pinned to the billboard, but as a result of the contents scribbled on it.

None of the teachers were there in the corridor to stop me from reading the lucid message to those who were already members of the Lacrosse team. I found out from the detailed flyer that the match was fixed to kick-start at the school field on Saturday, next weekend. Apart from delivering the message the flier was intended to serve its purpose, I saw the possibility of spending some time with Chloe who seemed more inclined to attend than I do.

I knew Chloe won't have the nerve to turn me down if I invited her in person only to make sure things go rightly in the way it should.

Pleased with my discovery, I kept the flier in my handbag and trotted back to class to join the next lesson before break time. The teacher was having a boring lecture with everyone else in class and after seeing Richard sitting alone at his usual spot, I didn't thought much if he already knew about the sport game of Lacrosse happening in the school vicinity and I felt the need to keep him out of my priorities.

It has become a fact and an irksome thought that I had been curious about his own world ever since we met and I had often caught myself several times thinking about him more in my own thoughts concerning his personality even though I had told myself not to fall for his charms. He had implanted a viral infection in my head that has its own name and space inside of it which had become too difficult to get rid of in spite of everything I had done to forget what transpired at his party.

No wonder I caught myself thinking how it would feel hanging out with him at the game as I surreptitiously glanced at him beside me when he wasn't looking without being aware of it. The lesson ended shortly after the bell rang throughout the entire school for recess and the teacher had done pretty well in relaying important messages to the whole class whose desperate pleas and prayers for the boring lecture to end was answered by the sound of the school bell but I was only one that didn't pay too much attention to the assignments and projects the teacher had planned for us. All I had thought about was going to the Lacrosse game with Chloe hoping to catch more excitement with the home team though we would only be watching from the sidelines.

I left the classroom quickly and more hastily before Richard could even notice that the likes of his classmates had left him alone to scribble down a few important points he picked during the lecture on his notepad.

Soon, I found Chloe downstairs and we matched towards our locker to get a few things ready for the remaining hours of lessons that were to follow before going to grab something to eat at the cafeteria. I was the first to open my locker after we barely made it through the crowd rushing to settle their own business on the corridor which was broad enough for everyone else to find a bit of space to maneuver through to reach their destination.

"Chloe, I got a bit of news for you", "What is it, darling?", She asked, giving me the desired attention I needed for a lucid explanation. Two boys walking past us overheard her and chuckled at both of us, after mumbling out what they thought of us to themselves. I paused as we both watched those stealing glances at us till they disappeared into one of the classes not too far from the staircase.

"Okay, that was weird...", "Yeah, freaking weird but it happens, so what do you want to tell me?", Chloe asked again and I quickly took my mind off the two nuisances that unwittingly tried to interrupt our conversation.

"Oh, right. It's about this Lacrosse game next weekend", "Lacrosse?", "Yes, that's what I said. What's with the surprise face?", I wondered why Chloe appeared surprised when I mentioned the name Lacrosse.

"Uh...I had no idea you would be interested in watching the Lacrosse team play as usual at the school field", "Of course, I'm interested, sort of", I replied and kept the flyer inside the locker.

"And Rosalie, it shouldn't be what I think it is", "What do you mean? I really wanted to invite you to come with me like you and Amanda did lady time", "Sorry but I got plans with my mom next weekend", "Plans? Can't you cancel for me?", "I'd love to but she really needs my help", "That's... disappointing", "It's not the end of the world. You can forfeit or ask Amanda to go with you", "I'll consider your suggestions", "Sounds fair", Chloe replied without looking back at me. She had been far too engrossed in her afternoon makeup application that she baked her face with "Aren't you done yet?", "Nope, I'm just getting started", She replied applying more of the make up to her round face. Then she ended shortly with painting her lips red with lipstick only to see that my face had gotten pale.

"Girl, what's with the long face?", "Nothing.... it just that it seems to me that you really do hate the whole Lacrosse idea", "You got me wrong there, I do like Lacrosse", She said tying her hair into a ponytail.

"You do?", "Absolutely, my dad was a diehard fan back in day and my older brother was a Lacrosse player back at our old home in Chicago before we moved here to Houston", "I thought your parents had just you and Charlie", I said as soon as I got thrilled to hear more from her.

"Uh... It was all three of us until two years ago when he had to leave for a job in New York for a newspaper magazine", "That's awesome. I'm sure he must have wanted you to watch him play at every game", I closed the door of my locker and went closer to Chloe with a few notebooks wrapped against my puffy bosom.

"He really did and I guess he loved it when my dad and I cheer him on from the sidelines", "I can't believe you've a deeper connection with the sport and yet you turned me down", "Sorry but I can't help. Maybe next time would be great", "It ain't fair, Chloe, to have such a lovely family history with Lacrosse and yet you still wanna go shopping for groceries with your mom"

"Actually, she's going to see my grandparents alone and I'm the only available adult she trusts to assist with the chores", She replied and slammed the locker door shut.

"Sounds a lot like mine", I replied and we started to head back to the cafeteria after Chloe was done applying her makeup. Four glances quickly shot across at us from the bystanders as well as the teenagers walking towards us and I knew from the way they looked at Chloe, it had something to do with the makeup.

"Like a whole new princess", I said to her and she smiled back at me with dazzling rays of a bright smile on her face. In fact, she was glowing because of it and I enjoyed every bit of the little attention we received which only ended shortly after we left the hallway to the Cafeteria.

Then we tagged along as we strolled to take our places at the queue. Before the end of the school day, I talked to Amanda about hanging out at the Lacrosse game next weekend and she positively agreed to make time for the game. And true to her word, she kept her promise by arriving there earlier before the games even started. Thanks to her punctual arrival, we were able to get a good seat in the crowd before visiting fans as well as the visiting team arrived and a better view to watch the host mascot entertain the entire fans with his acrobatic displays like I had seen back in my old school in Georgia.

About an hour after the thrilling mascot's show ended, both players of each team came out to the stand at the arena before the audience at seats of the small stadium. Both teams respectfully took their places at the goalposts with the home team covering the left half of the field in their blue jersey and blue helmet against their opponent dressed in green striped jersey and green helmet.

The match commenced as soon as the referee blew his whistle and the crowd became annoyingly noisier than it was before the game. Amanda kept whistling wildly and kept urging me on to do the same thing. I was completely surprised at her energetic enthusiasm and wondered if she too has been fond of Lacrosse like Chloe's family.

The host team was trailing behind by one goal to nil when Linder and Richard arrived at the game. They had arrived later than usual due Richard's reluctance to show up at the game due to his stereotypical opinion about the sport but Linder had been persistently persuasive enough to bring him along in a taxi instead of Richard dad's SUV. He didn't like the sport. Neither did he fancy cheering for a kind of sport that was different from what he loves but Linder thought differently and wanted to spend some time of the weekend instead of the usual weekend routine of nonstop swimming at the gymnasium and overlapping exercises at the race track.

Led by his friend, they somehow maneuvered their way through the aisle of the rowdy crowd and pitched their seats a couple seats away above where Amanda and I were watching the ongoing game. Despite the fact that the midday sun was drastically having a negative effect on the moral of the fans, the crowd kept on with the shout but the roaring from the crowd only became more loudly violent whenever a player misses a perfect chance to score for his team.

As the games progressed into the hot afternoon sunshine, a lot of the people in the crowd began to feel thirsty but some still held on and kept keeping the noise alive as long as the games continued to the next minute. Soon, it was my turn to feel the thirst in my throat which had gone dry as a result of the hot air that hovered around the area where the game was played.

I looked at Amanda and she still had more energy left in her to keep on bellowing wildly like the coach from host team whose hoarse voice was compared to heat he endured under the sun while walking 9n the sun-baked field. I got up to leave before Amanda could notice but she caught me when I tried leaving without her knowing about it.

"Where're you off to?"

"To get something for us to drink", "You sure you got enough cash for two smoothies?", "Yes, I do", "Then you can get going but be fast about it"

"I will", I said and slipped through the crowd, taking the upper route out of the sloppy stand.