The girls then looked towards Luna, who had been protecting the sleeping Marcus up until this point. Luna frowned as the woman looked at her. "You two are wrong, Marcus is fine, he's just a little stressed."
"You know that isn't true Luna, I know you and Marcus are close, but you're blind to what he's becoming," Cora explained, her expression sympathetic. "Kinsley is a good friend, and she'll be an even greater football player, but Marcus will be a hindrance to that, she'll spend more time caring for him than herself."
Luna frowned, "but without Kinsley, Marcus has nothing left." She said softly her tone conflicted, "Marcus is becoming better, Kinsley will fix him, I know she will."
"But at the cost of everything she worked for," Cora said frustratedly. "You might not have seen it, but everyone has been talking behind her back about how strange Marcus is. He showed up to our campus covered in blood, he argued with her in front of the school, he's anti-social, and he comes and goes freely without consequence."
Luna frowned. "I…"
"Please Luna, help us, just get him away from Kinsley and we can push him and all his problems onto Kira." Cora pleaded desperately, her expression determined and passionate.
"It's not fair to Marcus." She said softly, "he works hard too if you see the things he's dealt with…"
"I don't care what he's dealt with, but I know what Kinsley sacrificed." Cora responded, cutting Luna off, "She worked hard to get this far, not just for the love of the sport, but to support her dad." Cora said with tears welling in her eyes. "Her mother died when she was six, six!" Cora said passionately, "and the first thing she did after mourning her death, was to promise her father she'd help him."
Cora then gestured towards the pitch, "Perfect marks in school, while working a part-time job and still finding enough time for practice."
Luna looked down towards the pitch to see Kinsley practicing her dribble, rushing past defenders and then working her way back.
"And when she got accepted into this academy and was paid to play, the first thing she did was send half of it to her father and brother, no strings attached."
Luna sighed deeply, her expression conflicted. It was clear she cared deeply for Marcus, but she wasn't oblivious to how dangerous he was.
He was emotional and could explode from the smallest of sparks, but even so, Luna saw how stern Kinsley was with Marcus, and how well she put things into perspective for him.
She thought that with a little more time, Marcus would eventually mellow out.
But after seeing how violent he was with Kira, she knew that was most likely a pipe dream.
"I don't know," Luna said softly.
"I'm not saying Marcus can't be helped." Cora said reassuringly, "I'm just saying that Kinsley shouldn't be the one to do it, not after everything she sacrificed to get to this point."
Kira leaned in, "And hell have me to fall back to, I can fix him, I'm not as stern as Kinsley, but I have other methods." She said with a determined smile.
"…ok," Luna said softly, averting her gaze towards the ground. "I'll help."
Cora breathed a sigh of relief as she leaned back. "Thank you." She said with sincerity, "There's someone other than Kinsley, someone who will support her, but Marcus is not that guy."
Luna frowned but remained silent, she hated the idea of going behind Marcus's back. Just the idea of it almost sent her reeling, but it had to be done, at least that's what she believed.
With the resolve in place, the three girls fell into silence once more. Each of them silently watched Kinsley on the pitch, as they planned to rip her from the first boyfriend she's ever had.
After some time, the coach finally blew the last whistle. "Good job ladies!" She said with a proud shout. "Now get changed and rest up for the day."
Marcus stirred awake to the loud whistle, his eyes snapping open as he leaned forward. "What time is it?" Marcus asked with a yawn.
"I don't know," Luna answered softly. "But Kinsley's practice is over." She said with a forced smile.
Marcus smiled back. "You sneaky chicken," Marcus said with a chuckle, reaching a hand to ruffle her hair.
"How'd you sleep?" Kira asked Marcus with a smile, though her eyes were still red and puffy, she looked genuinely happy.
"Fine," Marcus answered with a grumble, he then narrowed his eyes. "Don't forget about what I told you." He said threateningly. "You can play happy all you want, so long as you remember your place."
Kira nodded. "Of course."
Cora then sighed. "We should meet Kinsley outside the locker room, she said while standing up.
Marcus eyed her with a curious expression, he didn't know if he had missed something, but Cora's soft demeanor was off.
He quickly realized it must've been what he did to Kira that shook her. "Hey, I'm sorry about what I did to Kira, it must've scared you, right?"
"It's fine," Cora answered without looking back.
Marcus raised an eyebrow at the sudden reply but remained silent. He then stood up and followed Cora down the bleachers along with Kira and Luna.
After stepping off the bleachers and waiting near the entrance of the locker room, Kinsely finally emerged with her gym bag and a moist towel. "Hey guys." She said with a quick but exasperated breath.
She then smiled at Marcus. "And hey mister, I'll go to the gym before I watch you practice." She teased.
Marcus chuckled. "Hey, I came right back to you afterward." He said playfully.
"Mhmm, but you were asleep, so that doesn't count." She replied, approaching Marcus with a smile. She then reached for his hand, quickly locking her fingers with his.
Marcus playfully frowned. "Damn girl, your hands are sweatier than my balls." He joked with a laugh.
"Marcus!"
"I'm kidding, I'm kidding… not."
Kinsley rolled her eyes as she pulled Marcus along, "you guys coming to my dorm?" Kinsley asked Kira and Cora.
They both shook their heads. "We need to catch up on our work, not everyone is a star like you," Kira said with a wink.
Kinsely rolled her eyes as she continued walking with Marcus and Luna in tow.
By the time she reached her dorm room, Kinsely was exhausted. "Ugh." She groaned as she stepped inside her room. "The closer we get to week one of the pre-season, the worse training becomes." She complained as she removed her sweaty shirt, revealing her sports bra and toned stomach.
Marcus smirked like a toddler in a candy store. "I think a shower could fix that, I could use one." He said while sniffing his armpit, followed by him scrunching up his nose.
Kinsley smirked knowingly. "You can just ask Marcus, it's not like I'd say no." She said while removing her shorts. "Besides, there's something I've been craving a little myself." She said with a point towards Marcus's crotch.
Marcus smirked. "Well if you insist." He said with an ugly chuckle, pressing his jaw to his chest, giving himself a double chin.
Kinsley rolled her eyes as she grabbed a towel and headed into the bathroom. "Just hurry up, you pervert."
Marcus hurriedly began removing his shirt as he followed Kinsley into the bathroom. "Can I stick it between your legs this time?" He asked excitedly.
"Marcus!" Kinsley shouted in an embarrassed tone, "Not in front of Luna." she said sternly, his voice muffled from within the bathroom.
Marcus' eyes widened as he turned back to see Luna awkwardly standing by the bed. Her face was covered with a lost expression. "Shit, my bad Luna, I didn't mean–"
"It's ok Marcus." Luna said softly, "But do you mind if I visit Kira for a bit?"
Marcus frowned as he stood at the bathroom door shirtless. "Why?" He asked in annoyance. "She's nothing but trouble."
A faint chuckle came from within the bathroom, presumably from Kinsley.
"I… I know." Luna said hesitantly. "But I don't want to listen to you and Kinsley have sex," she answered.
Marcus sighed. "Technically it's not sex, just us rubbing–"
"Marcus, I swear to god," Kinsley said angrily.
Marcus flinched as he looked back into the bathroom, he then chuckled nervously. "Ok, ok." He said calmly, he then turned his attention towards Luna. "You can go, just don't let her talk you into anything crazy, okay?"
Luna nodded.
"I love you," Marcus said with a smile.
"I love you too Marcus," Luna replied with a hesitant smile. "I love you a lot."
Marcus smiled warmly as he attempted to step out of the bathroom.
"Not that much!" Luna hurriedly said as she held her hands out. Closing her eyes as she turned her head.
Marcus chuckled as he retreated into the bathroom. "That's a first." He said with a smile. "Close the door on your way out, and be safe."
Luna nodded. "I will, you have fun with Kinsley okay, as much as you can."
Marcus smirked as he raised his eyebrows. "You already know." He said with a chuckle before closing the bathroom door.
Luna smiled as she stared at the closed bathroom door. Listening to the muffled laughter of Marcus and Kinsley from within.
"Ha ha ha, Marcus, we haven't even gotten in the shower yet."
"I can't help it, now get over here."
Luna's eyes began to well with tears as her smile began to falter. "I'm sorry Marcus." She whispered. "But, I have to take responsibility, I can't let you hurt her."
Luna then sighed as she turned to exit the room, closing and locking the door behind herself. "I'm terrible." She whispered to her as she wiped her tears. "But love makes people do bad things, that's what Dr. Fletcher said."
As Luna walked down the hallway, Cora and Kira were already planning their first move into Kira's dorm.
"First we need to get him to snap in front of Kinsley." Kira explained, walking back in forth, "Like what he did to me, if she sees him grabbing my jaw again, she'll have to confront him about it."
Cora nodded. "Yes, if she doesn't see him lashing out, she won't believe us when we tell her he's worse than that."
"I think I got an idea on how to trigger that response, he gets mad whenever I bring up his secrets." Kira replied, tapping a finger on her chin, "If I could just threaten to expose the right thing, he would snap and attempt to shut me up."
"So what do you know?" Cora asked.
Kira sighed, "a lot… Marcus is hiding a lot of secrets." She said while creating a large square shape with her pointer fingers. "He's fatherless, he can't talk to his mother or sister, he lost a friend named Kael, and there's this Dr. Fletcher woman that seems to be tormenting him. He's lonely, extremely so, with only five contacts on his phone and that includes his mother and sister, who he can't talk to."
Cora's eyes filled with a pained sympathy. "I see."
"I also suspect that he can't talk to his friend Felix like he wants to because Felix is dealing with something similar except he seems to have a better support system in place than Marcus does."
As Kira continued talking, there was a sudden, yet soft knock on Kira's dorm door.
"W-who is it?" Kira stammered in surprise.
"Luna." A voice replied softly from the other side.
Kira's eyes widened as she looked around over to Cora. Cora smiled softly, an expression of relief befalling her face. "Open the door." She mouthed.
Kira nodded and quickly made her way over. She opened the door and was greeted by a disheartened Luna. "You're going to help us?" Kira asked in disbelief.
Luna looked up to Kira with tears in her eyes. "Only because I don't want Marcus to hurt your friend, but I want you to know, they are happy with each other, and it's you who are breaking them apart, I just hope it's worth it."
"It is," Cora answered almost immediately, her voice full of determination. "We need to do something now before Kinsley becomes attached to him."
Luna nodded. "As long as your conviction is strong, I'll help, but if I suspect you're doing this out of jealousy or malice even once, I'm telling him everything."