12 My Tragic Hero

Destiny

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"Bring it on, Davis," Royal provoked.

We fixed our attention onto Sean and Royal, who seemed to be committed to their prolonged gaze. Coach Lennon on the other hand, has already made his way off the bleachers and out of the field.

They've got to be kidding.

"Nah, I'm totally messing with you guys," Royal laughs, making his way down to Sean and Kordell. "I love my position as captain, but I enjoy the process of getting there, even more."

There's the Royal we know.

"That was a pretty good throw Kordell." He pats him on the back. "You'll be a great asset to the team."

Kordell smiles, then we watch as he makes his way back to the middle of the field with Carter and River.

"You're good, but you could be better," Royal smirks, making eye contact with Sean, who then shakes his head, laughing in response.

"We tryna play some football, or what?" Sean consults, holding his arms out to the side, before having them fall right back down.

"Yeah, we are," Royal challenges.

Sean meets my gaze for a brief moment before he, and the rest of the guys, follow after Kordell and them.

Saffron and I watch, as the guys continue to pass around the prolate spheroid.

What a weird shape. Couldn't it have been something else? It's like somebody couldn't choose between an oval and a sphere so they decided to mix it in the process. Whatever works best for the game, I guess.

"What the hell just happened?" Saffron transpires, still snacking on the cookies.

"Football," I tell her.

"And this is why we cheer," Saffron clarifies.

One minute we were watching Kordell throw a football and the next, Coach Lennon and Royal seemed to be analyzing their way of game out of something that wasn't even as serious as they were making it seem.

I mean it's lunch, right? They were just having fun.

Eh. Coach will be coach, and he loves to win.

"Last cookie. Any takers?" Saffron offered, with a teasing smile.

Gosh, if coach saw us eating these, Saffron would no longer be a substantial influence on our dietary restrictions.

"Give it," I mimic, returning the smile.

Oh yeah. I meant we.

"Did you finish with the papers?" I implored.

"Of course I did," she perpetrated, striding back to where we were seated.

Every year, Saffron and I would design vouchers to advertise the cheer team. We make enough copies to plaster around the entire school and make sure they contain useful information like, how to contact us, where and when we'll be holding tryouts and the deposit fee for a cheer uniform.

Saffron and I usually do this together, but because of our schedules, we had to compromise. And since Saf made the vouchers, I'll have to plaster them up in the halls after I set up the field. It works out just fine, considering my spare for last period.

"Those look great, Saf. So aesthetic." I speak honestly, and she smiles in feedback.

"Here are the keys to the equipment room," Saffron motions, handing them over to me. "Just set up like we do each year. It shouldn't take you any longer than 10 minutes," she reassures.

I grab the keys from her hand and she continues. "Then you can have the rest of the hour to get lost in your boring books and jot down your boring stories," she mocks.

"I'm joking," she giggles, not even waiting to hear my response.

Classic, Saffron.

For the time remaining, Saffron and I proceeded to eat, sit, and talk. We could've used this time to finish off with the field but procrastination was at its peak.

Soon after, the bell finally rang and so, we made our way off the bleachers and onto the field.

"See you in an hour or so," Saffron waves before we parted ways.

I smile in response and looked over to Royal who was now making his way towards me. Oh right, we have spare together.

I walked the opposite direction and it only took him a couple extra strides before catching up to me, then we continued to walk side by side, towards the huge steel storage containers.

Ever wonder what was inside of these? Just a bunch of extra equipment for the school. Nothing exciting. It's why we call the human-sized container a room. I mean, we gotta give it some credit.

"Are you going to set the field up for after school too?" I question, already knowing the answer.

"Yup, I got River and Jason to start hanging up the vouchers you guys made. Sick by the way," he compliments, as I hand him the keys to the equipment room.

"That was all, Saf. We didn't have the time to get together and work on them, remember?" I remind him.

After all, he was with us when we were planning to divide and conquer.

I open the door and gestured for Royal to hold it open while I grabbed everything we both needed. He knows the drill.

"Oh. Yeah, I knew that," he replied in a sarcastic tone, and I shook my head in reaction.

Not only do Saffron and I create vouchers for the cheer team, but we also create some for the football team. With the boys' portrayed visions, of course. From there, they'd take care of their own stuff and we'd take care of ours.

"Just hold your flashlight up for me, will you?" I plead, hoping to get out of this box as soon as possible.

Royal follows suit.

I gathered the first batch of equipment then made my way towards the door. Just as I was ready to exit, I bump into the rack and lose grip of what I was holding, causing it to drop roughly onto the floor. And when I thought, I couldn't get any more aggravated, items from the rack followed shortly after, dropping down as well.

Frustrated, I look up at Royal who was trying his best to contain his laughter.

First batch and I'm already a train wreck.

"Why don't you hold the door, and I'll grab everything we need," Royal smart mouths. "It'll be quicker, plus, I need to use the bathroom," he finishes.

Oh no. I can do this.

"It's fine, I got it," I enacted, picking up what I dropped. "I'll be quick."

Knowing that he couldn't change my mind, Royal held the door open wider, and let me do my thing.

A few minutes have passed and so far, I've only dropped three more things than I had since the first batch. With just a few trips in and out, I'm almost done grabbing just about everything.

"Des, will you hurry it up? I have to go. Like now," Royal complains from the door.

Really, Grant?

"Royal, I'm almost finished, will you just hold it?" I snapped.

Only a couple more equipment to go, then we can lock this room up.

"Fuck Des, no way. It's been 10 minutes since your smart ass insisted on doing all the heavy lifting. Or all the heavy dropping." He whispers the last part.

I turn to face him, but before I could say anything more, he calls out to the one person I've seen enough of today.

"Sean! Get over here!"

Perfect.

Just perfect.

"No, Royal!" I stammered.

Completely ignoring my comment, Royal continues to wave Sean over, until he's in full sight.

"What's going on?" Sean issues.

"Do not move," Royal gestures, making sure Sean is standing securely in front of the door before leaving.

That's it? No instructions? No reason? He's just going to leave? I guess he really did need to use the bathroom.

"What the fu—"

"No don't!" Sean shifts his attention to me, only now realizing my presence. Couldn't Royal have told Sean what he needed to do before rushing away? "Stay there," I decree.

"What the hell?" Sean continues, watching his use of profanity. He'd normally use the f word.

It has to be his favourite phrase.

"Shouldn't you be in class?" I wonder, straying away from his choice of words.

"I have a spare. I was waiting on Royal so we could start setting up the field." He gave me an unsettling stare and accused me with cold eyes. "Guess I know what the hold up was."

I walk past him and roll my eyes in comeback before placing the second to last bag on the ground, and heading back inside for the final one.

I know what he's doing. He's blocking me out. It's why he taunts me. Fine. He can have it his way.

I grab the ladder and climb for the last essential items.

"Be careful with that, Destiny. You didn't even unfold the damn thing right," he speculates.

Did he just address me by my first name?

I turn towards him in acknowledgement but I'm hastily caught off guard when the ladder wobbles, causing me to lose balance and stumble in the opposite direction of which way the ladder was rapidly collapsing. Everything was a blur, a blur that swirled out of existence.

"Frick," I hear Sean say before instantly and without hesitation, making his way over and catching me mid-air before crash landing onto the floor.

His arms held me in place and I winced. They felt like the metal bars that would lock me down during a rollercoaster. His arms— He is my tragic hero.

And then, the door shuts.

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