Not a Love Story

Forty-Five // Playoffs

Benjamin Jones

Friday morning. The first playoff game was just hours away. I was leaning against Ollie's locker, waiting for him to show up.

"Hey." he greeted, confusion on his features as he approached me.

"Hey." I said, moving out of his way. "Are you coming tonight?" I asked.

"To the game?" he asked. I nodded. "I don't know. Maybe." he shrugged.

"If I ask you to come will that make up your mind?" I asked, smirking. He rolled his eyes.

"Possibly." he answered.

"Ollie," I started, making him look over at me. "Will you come to the game tonight? For me?" I asked, my voice low. He dropped my gaze and nodded, a blush forming on his cheeks.

"Sure. I guess I can stop by." he said, trying to play it cool.

"Cool. I'll see you there." I smiled, satisfied.

"Oh, Ben wait!" he called before I'd turned around.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Good luck tonight." he said, smiling. A soft smile formed on my lips.

"Thanks, Ollie. But you know I don't need it." I winked at him before waving and heading to my first class, seeing him sigh and roll his eyes before closing his locker and heading in the opposite direction.

- - - -

The bus ride to the field was loud and chaotic. Josh had already started blasting pre-game hype music and a lot of the underclassmen were buzzing with nerves for their first playoff game.

Cal was joking with Zach who was sitting behind us. I added to the conversation every once in a while, but my mind was somewhere else. Cal nudged my arm, making me look over at him.

"You okay?" he asked. I nodded, taking a breath.

"Yeah. Just ready to get this started." I said. Cal nodded, agreeing before laughing at something Zach said.

The field was bright and well manicured. I couldn't help but let my eyes wander the stands as Josh and I warmed up, throwing the ball between us.

"Jones! You look distracted, what're you looking for?" Josh called. I shook my head and threw the ball back to him.

"Just thinking. Let's keep going." I said, the buzzer going off a few minutes later signaling the beginning of the game. As soon as I got in a huddle with the team, my mind felt sharp, focused. I was ready to go, ready to show what I could do.

We started off strong, the team atmosphere increasing ten fold as we headed to the locker room during halftime. I still hadn't been able to find Ollie among the crowd, but he'd sent me a text saying he was here earlier so I knew he was watching. Coach let us mess around most of halftime before yelling at us to shut up before we ran back onto the field, making Cal and I exchange glances and roll our eyes before putting our helmets back on.

The other team came back strong after halftime, but not nearly as strong as they needed to in order to win. We beat them 35 to 14. Cal slapped my helmet as we jumped up and down in a team huddle, celebrating our first win in the playoffs.

I saw people running on to the field to congratulate us and my eyes immediately locked on Ollie, a wide smile on his face as his friend, Mia, pulled him down onto the field. He yelled as she nearly made him fall, making both of them laugh harder.

"Go ahead." Cal said, nudging my arm.

"Hmm?" I asked, looking over at him.

"Go see him. I'll cover for you." Cal elaborated, nodding his head in Ollie's direction. I thanked him and made my way through the crowd towards Ollie, smiling and thanking all the people who congratulated us on our win.