Gary trudged to his after school club. He'd chosen to try and join the football club since he wanted to get a bit of exercise and run around after being in class all day. He'd never played the game before but assumed that he would be taught how it worked when he got there.
Unfortunately, Gary hadn't realised that all of the jocks had the same idea. That meant he would be playing against a team of boys that had been playing since they were toddlers and were also about twice as muscular as him. Gary gulped nervously, maybe he'd made a mistake in choosing this extracurricular.
He turned the corner and saw all the boys stretching and warming up with one familiar one ordering them around until the coach got there. Barry. Gary frowned, apparently he couldn't get away from him. Judging by Barry's reaction to him jogging over, he felt the same.
"Oi, Sheffield! What are you doing here?!" He shouted, stretching his arms across his chest. Gary started to stretch his legs and ignored him, not wanting to get in a fight with him right before the game. "Sheffield… Are you ignoring me?" He questioned, no longer shouting at him. Gary stood up to his full height, he was still shorter than Barry but he didn't really care.
"Oh sorry Barry, I thought you didn't know that other people actually existed!" He taunted. Barry grit his teeth and clenched his fist. That was a mistake. He shouldn't have insulted him like that in front of his team, but he was still too angry about Barry manipulating the nerds.
Barry was about to punch him when a deep voice called, "Save it for the field, Barry." They turned around to see the football coach walking up to them. He was a large man with a small cap decorated in the school colours and logos. He had a clipboard and blew a whistle, calling all the other boys over. "Today you're all trying out for the team, we have a competition in May and you will be judged on your performance through this term." He explained, complete control over the otherwise obnoxious boys. Gary frowned worriedly, it sounded like the coach would just be rushing in.
Bradley walked over to Gary giving him a warm smile, "Know how to play?" He asked warmly. Gary turned to look at him, he was supposed to be Barry's best friend and henchman of sorts but he got along with everyone. He was just the type of guy that made friends wherever he went.
"Won't Barry kill you for talking to me?" Gary questioned, wondering why Bradley was the only one in the school who didn't seem to be afraid of Barry. Bradley just laughed, making Gary smile slightly. He understood why Bradley was popular, he was friendly and down-to-earth unlike the king of drama, Barry.
"He wouldn't touch me, besides he plays best when he's got competition… So? Have you played before?" He jokingly responded, his blond hair swaying in the wind as he grinned showing off his perfect white teeth. Gary nervously ran a hand through his hair.
"Is it that obvious that I've never played?" He asked nervously, hoping the others would go easy on him. Bradley laughed again and took Gary's shoulders and stared into his eyes intensely. Gary was sure that he was about to get beaten up, when Bradley grinned again.
"Don't worry, I got you man!" He answered warmly before starting to explain the rules and positions to Gary. He smiled slightly, even if Bradley was Barry's best friend, he was still a nice guy. He seemed like a ball of sunshine that was under the control of a devil like Barry. Gary started to wonder why they were even friends.
"Choose your teams!" The coach called, making all the boys run into the middle of the field. Bradley started to run and Gary followed after with a newfound brief explanation of football floating around his mind.
The coach made Barry and another guy that Gary didn't know choose the teams. It seemed like Barry was the head of the football team as well as Head Boy. He was in control of everything. One by one the two heads choose their teams, picking boys they thought were the best or the fastest. Gary was left standing there as Barry picked one of the nerds who had picked football. The guy groaned but accepted Gary anyway and the heads decided which players would go where.
Gary nervously walked out onto the field, Barry was glaring daggers at him. The coach blew the whistle and Barry and the other head ran towards the ball. Barry's team started to make advances on the others, Barry hogging the ball while his other players were free.
"Barry, you need to pass!" Bradley called standing behind a few members of Gary's team that were tying to take down Barry. Barry scoffed but when the coach started to write something on his clipboard, Barry booted the ball at Gary. He stood in shock at what Barry had done and the football smashed into his forehead, knocking him over. The ball the ricocheted off Gary and landed at Bradley's feet. He kicked it in the goal but the coach blew the whistle again signalling for them to stop. Barry was smirking with a hand on his hip. Bradley frowned looking at him and came over to Gary who was regaining consciousness.
"Barry, what was that?" The coach asked coming over to him, Barry dropped his hand and replaced his smirk with a worried expression. Everyone turned to Barry, annoyed that he had interrupted the game so quickly but also surprised that the possibility of him getting told off.
"I was passing the ball to Trevor, Gary just wasn't paying attention and decided to intercept the ball with his head. It's not my fault." Barry reasoned, as the coach turned to the rest of the team, spotting Trevor standing behind Gary concernedly. The coach then walked over to Gary who was rubbing his eyes.
"Sheffield! Keep your eyes on the ball next time, and go get an ice pack." He ordered. Bradley helped Gary up to his feet and walked him over to the bench. He slipped an ice pack out of the cool bag and handed it to him, smiling awkwardly.
"Did I do well?" Gary asked sarcastically, holding the ice pack to his forehead. Bradley laughed and walked back onto the field. Gary watched them play and instead of being disheartened, decided to learn from the other boys on the field. He wanted to do better next time. If Barry would let him.