After breakfast, they both went into Louisa's room and Louisa sat, legs folded on her bed, as Kayla threw clothes around.
"So the silver lion's color is silver and navy blue and I think yellow, so that's what we're going to pair up."
Kayla ran back and forth from her room to Louisa, grabbing clothes, make-up, shoes, and accessories.
She would go to the mirror and hold the clothes to her body picturing how they would look on her.
Louisa's eyes followed her while chewing her fingers. Kayla was obsessed with fashion and always dressed up to the nines for some reason. It had been since they were kids but Louisa was used to it by now. She had a feeling it was because clothes were her armor, hiding what she truly felt inside but she never told Kayla that.
"Done! I think I got it!" Louisa heard Kayla's elated voice.
"Finally," she let out a groan.
"Oh come on, it was worth the wait!" Kayla rolled her eyes, playfully but she was right because it was worth the wait as Louisa turned left and right in the mirror.
Kayla made her wear a navy blue mini-skirt, a white crop top with the school's name, 'SLYVESTAR LIONS,' and glittering silver sneakers.
For Louisa's eyelids, Kayla used a mixture of navy blue and silver glittering pallets and a heart-shaped pink sticker. Her lips were painted black which was weird to Louisa but Kayla said it was fine.
The cherry on top was when Kayla parted Louisa's midnight blue hair down to the middle, tied each side into a high ponytail, and used a yellow ribbon to tie them with loose strands framing her face.
She said, "Since you love ribbons, how can I edit that out?"
"God, I look so pretty!" Louisa smiled and Kayla admired her work.
For herself, she didn't do too much. She wore a yellow top with the school name, a navy blue jacket with sleeves colored yellow, and at the back, a silver lion was drawn on it. To add a silver touch she wore silver thigh-high boots and black tight leggings.
Her hair cascaded down to the middle of the back, slightly wavy. Of course, she wore silver jewelry.
"You ready, Loui?" Kayla called from the bottom of the stairs.
Louisa grabbed her phone, pocketing it. "Ready!" she shouted back, bounding down the steps two at a time.
Louisa grinned as they met at the door, both wearing matching jerseys and an undeniable energy sparking between them.
"The game's gonna be insane," Kayla said, grabbing her jacket. "I heard half the school's going."
"And more from the other school," Louisa added, nudging Kayla with her shoulder. "Do you know who they are going to be playing against?"
"How the fuck am I supposed to know that? You were the one who invited me!" Kayla shook her head.
They made their way to the field, and Rosa was the first to spot them, her face lighting up.
"Kayla over here!" she called, waving them over.
"Rosa!" They hugged each other and when they broke the hug, Kay introduced her to Louisa.
"Louisa, this is Rosa, she's in the special cyber security class with me, and Rosa this is my bestie, Loui!"
"Nice to meet you!" They smiled at each other.
"Gosh, you should have told me you were coming! And your outfits look super cool!"
"We wouldn't miss this for the world and Kay is the mastermind behind the outfits!" Louisa beamed.
"Oh stop it!" She gently slid her hair behind her ear.
"I'm not surprised! Kay's fashion sense is out of this world!"
"You better cheer loud today. We've got some real competition!" Rosa exclaimed, her excitement infectious.
Kayla smiled back, but as the group moved toward the entrance of the field, her eyes narrowed when she spotted two familiar figures approaching. Jack was walking toward them, and walking behind him was Reigna, her ever-present smug expression plastered across her face.
"Oh, great," Kayla muttered under her breath.
Rosa noticed and leaned closer. "Just ignore her."
But ignoring Reigna had never been Kayla's strong suit. Especially when Reigna went out of her way to provoke.
"Well, well, look who decided to show up," Reigna drawled, stopping in front of them, her eyes scanning Kayla's outfit with mock disinterest. "Didn't know you were into sports, Kayla."
Kayla retorted, "To know that means that we have some kind of relationship, Reigna."
Reigna gave a half-shrug, her lips twisting into a sneer. "Hope you don't embarrass yourself out here."
Before Kayla could respond, Jack stepped between them, his smile awkward as he tried to defuse the tension. "Alright, alright, let's not do this right before the game. I didn't know she followed me like a lost duck but with that attitude how can she have friends?"
Reigna's smile faltered, but she dropped her gaze from Kayla, walking away without another word, huffing as usual.
"Who was that?" Louisa questioned.
"Kayla's arch-nemesis, Reigna Powers. Both go out of their way to annoy the professor and flatter him respectively," Jack replied, with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"Really?"
"I can assure you, class is never boring without these two girls. Gosh, you should see Kayla arguing with the professor in class. It's like a heated battlefield and no one is allowed to enter."
Kayla rolled her eyes.
"Out of the classroom, it's the same too. Our friend is friends with him so anytime we have a hang out it's always a war of who thought of the sharpest insults." This made the other three laugh and Kayla glared at them.
They headed toward the large field, where the stands were already filling up with students and fans. Kayla could hear the distinct roar of excitement growing as they approached. The school colors waved from every direction, flags flying high, and the sound of chanting grew louder. But something else caught Kayla's attention—a familiar chant, but not from her school.
Her steps faltered for a moment as she recognized the uniforms of another school across the field. It was unmistakable.
"Belgelvian Tigers!"
Her friends didn't seem to notice and got up on the cheering, even Louisa. They all went into the fields but Kayla stood rooted to the ground.
This wasn't happening. She took steadying breaths, her foot in front of the other, and hoped that no one noticed her. She prayed with all of her heart that the seat her friends chose was way in the back but life had other plans.
The worst part was her friends started to shout her name except for Louisa who grimaced trying to shush them and she went to sit in the front row. If she went unnoticed she would stop drinking boba tea as a thank you but that was an utter lie and the gods knew it too.
"Who knew being friends with the assistant captain got us front-row seats?" Rosa said, sighing loudly.
"Yeah. It's the best." She gave a tight-lipped smile.
"We can just leave, Kay," Louisa whispered but Kay refused. "No, your book is more important!"
"We can come to see another game, another day, Kay. If you're not ready to see-" Her words were drowned out by the loud voices of the people in the field. The players were jogging into the fields, fist thrusting in the air and waving to the students with a smile.
Wyatt scanned the crowd and he saw Kayla almost instantly. He grinned and walked towards her.
"He's coming here! Oh my god! He's coming here!" Rosa repeatedly slapped Jack's shoulders.
"Shit, he's coming here!" Kayla wanted to cry.
"Hello, beautiful." Wyatt greeted, happy that she had come. People were surprised that the captain was talking to a girl. Was she his mystery girlfriend?
Rosa and Jack looked between them and their eyes widened.
Before she could reply someone else called out to her, "Mitchie?"
The person who called out to her was the captain of the opposing team, Andrew.
"Fuck."