I chuckle under my breath and give him a subtle shake of my head so that he doesn’t call his play cousins down here. He’s been chomping at the bit to handle Althea and the Pips but I can handle them myself.

“Fuck!” I yell. There’s no reason for the expletive to leave my mouth. It just feels good. I’ve discovered that I like cursing, a lot.

Kai, who is watching me pace back and forth across this patch of grass, smiles at my outburst. He convinced me to skip last period today because he could tell my nerves were shot. So, now we’re sitting in the park close to school. Well, he’s sitting; I’m pacing like a maniac. Today is an important game. The most important game I’ll probably ever play in high school.

When I made varsity last year and then became captain this year, I gained a lot of attention. Some good and some bad. The best comes in the shape of Coach Shannon Naughton from Rice University. I want to play at Rice just to play under her. She’s the best of the best. Coach Turner, my current high school coach, is great. I see why my dad was excited for me to work with him. He pushes me and I’ve grown under his guidance. But Coach Naughton is a badass and she’s also one of the few Black female coaches in Division l soccer, and I want to soak up all her wisdom. She somehow noticed me and told me she’d be at today’s game. I know I still have two years to prove myself but this game today will set the tone. If I don’t blow her away I can kiss an opportunity to get her to come back goodbye, but if I kill it then this will open so many doors.

Tired of watching me pace, Kai stands from the bench he was perched on and grabs my shoulders. “What do you need from me right now?”

And this is why he’s perfect. This is why Althea and her girls are obsessed. Ugh, Althea. I was fine after their bullshit in the bathroom earlier but then they proceeded to test me. Kai, Althea, and I are all in the same English class this year. We’ve been working on a group project for the last week, with me being assigned to a different group than them. All through class, I had to sit and watch her drag her nails down his arm and across his back and listen to her laugh a little too loud at everything he said. Every time her hand touched him I wanted to snatch it right off her wrist. Kai is mine.

That sparks an idea in my mind. I grip his hands and smile up at the eyes that constantly make me dizzy.

“You can sit back, relax, and enjoy the show.”

“The show?”

“Yep.” I don’t allow him to ask any more questions. I just push him back onto the bench, grab my phone, and pull on my favorite hoodie.