10 Ch. 10 Minute Whittemore

Myrddin finishes the last class of the day while remembering the previous night.

He was with Caval and he had to explain that he wouldn't be able to meet 'him' for the next 2 days.

After all this time and Myrddin still hasn't been able to figure out what gender Caval is.

There wasn't much of a response, but Myrddin was ignored for the rest of that night until he had to leave the Preserve.

As the class ends he decides to go to the library until the game starts. Although, he does plan on showing up early to actually get a seat since he has heard other students saying the same thing.

When it comes down to it, he can just read in the stands until the game starts anyway. He also hasn't bothered to learn the actual rules for the game.

It might actually be more fun to learn the rules without reading them from a rule book. Trying to figure out why certain things are done and why certain things aren't. After the game he plans on reading the rules to see how close he was able to get.

——————

Since the bell rung, signifying the end of the day, Myrddin goes to the library. There it's quiet and he can finish the day's homework without a hassle since he so t be able to do it out in the Preserve.

Nearly all his classes give out homework on a daily basis, and it's rather annoying. Since he's so far ahead though, it is basically just review. Unfortunately for Myrddin, he finishes all of it an hour before he would leave for the game. Now he has to find a book to occupy himself for the remainder of the time.

Very few people are in the library. In fact, Myrddin thought he was the only person there aside from the librarian, who is the stereotypical old lady. He found out she would actually be retiring this year or part way through the following year.

Myrddin stands up from his seat and moves his headphones down to around his neck. The library is actually very large so it isn't hard to find a book he hasn't read before. And the closest books to him are the romance books.

To Myrddin, romance books aren't anything special. They're a decent read, but they except how people view love and how it actually forms. Or that's what he thinks at least. Granted there are some books that get close to capturing true romance. But nobody reads a romance book to have it be realistic. That's why the twilight series and other romance-fantasy books do so well. The authors take a unique scenario and have two characters fall into the relationship.

Before his inner monologue gets to continue he cuts it short and grabs a random book off the shelf.

"You've gotta be messing with me" Myrddin looks at the cover of the first book of the Twilight series.

Instead of putting the book back, Myrddin decides to give it a read. If anything, it would waste his time that he would waste anyway.

——————

"Shit…" Myrddin sees that he is 15 minutes late to leave for the game. Luckily he would still be plenty early.

He will admit that he got lost while reading the book. It wasn't good, but it wasn't too bad either. If you shut your brain off and get through some of the weird concepts it was alright. Myrddin could tell why girls would love the book.

Leaving the library, he checks out the book. The librarian gives him a smile but doesn't make any comment about the book he's checking out. Something that Myrddin appreciates, but doesn't care about. If he was worried about being seen with it he wouldn't have checked it out in the first place. And who cares what he reads? It's not like he's forcing anyone else to read it.

——————

In the stands there are already some students and families that got first dibs on seats.

Myrddin himself decides to get a seat at the top of the bleachers. Him being relatively short means that if he sits in the middle he won't be able to see if people decide to stand. And sitting in the front would have too many people walking in front of him. Even if his vision is crap, he can still see from the top of the bleachers. Seeing the ball might be a problem no matter where he sits anyway.

As more and more people start coming to the field Myrddin ignores them as he listens to music and reads the book.

As people start getting to the game, nobody sits next to Myrddin who is at the top left corner of the bleachers if you're looking at it from the field.

The students don't want to sit next to him, and the parents want to sit away from the loner kid so they can focus on the game. And the people who don't care about Myrddin don't care enough to willingly sit next to him.

Even as the game is about to start nobody has taken the seat next to him. Granted there is only enough room for one person between him and some random family.

Myrddin's doesn't understand why everyone would willingly be crammed like sardines just to watch a sport. And he's glad that nobody has sat next to him.

As the sun sets. The Beacon Hills lacrosse team runs out into the field and everyone begins shouting.

There is some ringing in Myrddin's ears as the shouting gets even louder. But it begins to die down when the opposing time runs out onto the field.

The Twilight book is about to go into his backpack but he spots a certain strawberry blond at the bottom of the bleachers. And he can only groan when she spots him and the vacant seat next to him.

"Thanks for reserving me a seat~" Lydia thanks him as she sits down beside Myrddin.

Myrddin didn't even get to find a spot in his backpack before Lydia sat down. So he responds as he makes room for the book. It's Friday so he's taking his gym clothes home to wash them. "It wasn't reserved. Nobody wanted it besides you"

"Well isn't that sad" Lydia fake pouts.

"You don't have to pretend to care Lydia" Myrddin would much rather talk with her when she isn't playing the dumb girlfriend of the jock.

Lydia rests her hands in her lap ontop of her skirt. "Pretend about what?"

"Like you care about what anyone does, or in this case doesn't do to me. Anyway, care to tell why you are late? I figured you would have been the first to be here" Myrddin sits back up and pushes his bag back behind his legs.

"I was just wishing Jackson some good luck before the game starts" Lydia briefly answers and looks at Myrddin who is an inch or two shorter than her. "But imagine my surprise when I spotted Tom here at the game. I figured you wouldn't be caught dead at one of these"

Myrddin leans back against the fence. "Depending on how this game goes I might actually wish I was dead. And how did you wish Jackson good luck? I can't imagine coach would let him get away for too long, he a minute man?"

Lydia rolls her eyes. "A minute is generous"

"Oof" Myrddin winces at that one. "If Jackson heard that he might actually drop dead"

"Maybe that might encourage him to focus on something other than sports and school" Lydia frustratedly says. Jackson always has to be the best at everything so most of his time is spent trying to be the best. Either studying his basic subjects or exercising. And Lydia can't help Jackson study or he gets frustrated because Lydia is so much better than him.

"What? Nevermind" Myrddin watches as 3 players from both teams walk to the center of the field where a ref is standing. "By the way, you should put some lipstick on. You were wearing it today but now you aren't, kind of a dead giveaway what you were doing"

Lydia touches her lips and looks over at Myrddin who is studying the field. She takes out her lipstick from her purse. "And this is why I still call you Tom"

"I'm just observant of the small details. And the not so small details like how you're skirt is inside out. Gotta hand it to you, almost didn't catch that one" Myrddin comments absentmindedly as he sees the players shake hands and a coin is tossed. After which, the ref points towards the away team signifying they get the ball first. At least this much matches football, but after this it's a complete blank for him.

Lydia narrows her eyes as she applies her lipstick and then puts it away. "Keep that mouth of yours shut. Or else I'll take those glasses away"

Myrdin leans away from Lydia but doesn't take his eyes off the field. "I would rather you not. I'm actually trying to pay attention to the first and last lacrosse game I'll be watching. You know without these I'm practically blind"

"And that's exactly why I threatened to take them away" Lydia puts the lipstick away and dusts her skirt off. She doesn't know how Myrddin knew it was inside out, it's kinda creepy. The skirt was made to be worn both regularly and inside out so there is nothing to tell the two apart. "Why are you paying such close attention? Not even I pay that much attention to Jackson"

Myrddin shrugs. "Maybe you should find someone you can pay this much attention to then. And I'm doing this because I plan on guessing how the game is played. After the game I'll be reading the rule book to see what I got right and what I was completely wrong about"

There isn't much Lydia can say after hearing Myrddin's first sentence. It doesn't even make her mad, it was genuine advice that kinda stung her heart. But she moves past it after a little bit. "Why would you do that? Doesn't that defeat the purpose of watching the game?"

"Godiva, this IS my purpose for watching the game" Myrddin loses sight of the ball as soon as the game starts. But he figures that the guy being chased by everyone else probably has the ball.

Lydia is yet again left speechless. This time it's because she simply doesn't have a response. Everyone has their own reason for watching a game, and Myrddin's might be the most unique and interesting, albeit very weird.

As time goes on Myrddin begins to understand the game. But it's not like it's rocket science. You use the stick to throw the ball into the other teams net and try to stop the other team from doing the same to your own net.

Lydia ends up watching the game less and less as she begins to watch Myrddin's reaction to the game more and more. The way his eyes move around the field and how his expression changes between confusion, realization, and understanding.

Myrddin holds his chin with his right hand and tilts his head. "Why do they pummel the shit out of people who don't even have the ball? Is it because the refs aren't paying attention to anywhere the ball isn't? Or is it just because they can and they want to tire the other team out by beating them into the ground?"

Lydia looks at the field and sees some poor sap pick themselves up from the slightly muddy field. "It's a bit of all the above. Technically they aren't supposed to bodycheck anyone not within 5 yards of the ball"

"Then this is stupid. Why don't the refs call a penalty?" Myrddin watches as the ball gets thrown at the net but gets blocked by the goalie.

"Because it happens so often that the only time it gets penalized is when it's so obvious the refs can't ignore it. Notice how it only happens where the refs aren't?" Lydia shares some of her useless knowledge about the sport.

Myrddin had noticed that pattern, and a few others. "That fact has been taken into account"

The two continue to talk about the game. Myrddin is basically using Lydia as a cheat sheet, he can't be sure she is telling him the right answers to his questions but he's fairly certain Lydia isn't playing the idiot anymore as they talk. And Lydia is only answering the questions he asks and doesn't give too much information to give any hints or spoilers to any other rules.

The stands are so loud that nobody can hear the two talk. Not even the family next to Lydia. Otherwise her comments would have been very awkward for them.

When the game gets to halftime the teams exit the field and the band gets ready for their halftime homecoming performance.

"Does the band always play at halftime?" Myrddin asks as he takes his glasses off and rubs the corners of his eyes. He's strained them for too long. There are apparently 4 quarters that are 12 minutes each. And each team gets timeouts. The timer also stops when a goal is made or the ball goes out of bounds so the clock can go by very fast or very slowly depending on how the game is going. Right now it's a close game with Beacon High only up a few points. And each goal is only worth one point. So far Myrddin hasn't found any way to score more than one point.

Lydia twirls some of her hair around her index finger. "Not really. This is because it's the homecoming game"

"Oh" Myrddin puts his glasses back on.

"Yep" Lydia pops the p dramatically.

"Don't you care what your friends will think if you continue to talk to me? I thought you cared about your public image above everything else even your dignity?" Myrddin asks as he blinks a few times to let his eyes reset a bit.

"What are you talking about Tom? Don't you do my homework all the time?" Lydia says as she shows her phone to him. It shows their texts with his name being Tom.

"Right. And what's Jackson's excuse for 'hanging out' with me?" Myrddin can't help but wonder what his excuse is.

Lydia sets her phone on her lap. "I believe he was forced to meet up with you after what he did to you. The school and you are very kind for not exploding that little scuffle out of proportion"

"Hahaha!" Myrddin laughs. "Like the school actually cares! I think someone would have to actually die for them to do something!"

Myrddin's words get drowned out by applause from the audience to the band as they finish their first song. But Lydia can still hear him.

"Yeah, while it worked in Jackson's favor that time it is rather worrying. But that's just how life is" Lydia shrugs.

"Good point" Myrddin mutters as he looks at the field where the band is still playing.

Suddenly, Myrddin's vision goes blurry for a second before returning. But what he sees now is different from what he saw but a moment ago. What he sees now is still the lacrosse field. But his point of view is as if he was down on the field itself. Like he is on the sidelines watching the field. He sees Scott on the field playing. Well, more like dominating. And there's also another person on the Beacon Hills Cyclones team dominating the field right alongside Scott. This guy is a few inches taller than Scott. And they both look muscular, even under their lacrosse equipment. And the random guy has a stick that is longer than the rest, just like 3 other sticks out on the field.

"Myrddin!"

Myrddin comes out of whatever that was and comes back to himself as he looks around. He sees Lydia's hand on his shoulder shaking him and her concerned expression as she looks at him. "Sorry, what do you need?"

"Jesus Myrddin. What the hell was that?" Lydia takes her hand away and gets angry as she crosses her arms under her chest.

"What was what?" Myrddin rubs his eyes.

Lydia gives him a confused look. "What do I mean what? I'm asking what that was. We were talking and you just completely blanked out. It was… disturbing"

"It was disturbing that someone stopped talking to you? Oh no~! How can anyone ignore Lydia Martin the up and coming reincarnation of Lady Godiva~" Myrddin jokes as he himself tries to figure out what that was. He remembers the feeling, it's like when his intuition is spit on… but it was like that feeling was multiplied by 10. There's not really any other way to describe how whatever that was felt like.

"Could you be serious for one minute?! Fuckin prick!" Lydia huffs.

Myrddin leans back against the fence behind him more. "I just zoned out for a bit"

"Normally when people just zone out they answer when someone shakes them!" Lydia exclaims.

"I did, didn't I?" Myrddin looks over at the girl.

"Not really! I practically had to throw you out of your seat to get you back down to earth!" Lydia wonders if he had a mini stroke or something.

"I… don't know. I think I need some sleep or something. How long until the game starts up again?" Myrddin asks and looks over at the board displaying the current score.

"There's still a little over 8 minutes" Lydia answers, clearly unhappy.

"And then we still have over 24 minutes until the game is over. Geez, are these always this long?" Myrddin pulls his book out.

Lydia looks down at the field of performing band members. "This game is actually going pretty fast, that's how you know it's a close game. Don't worry, the last quarter always go by slowest"

"Shouldn't it be the opposite?" Myrddin opens up to his page and pauses. "Or I guess not. By the last quarter they are tired and will make more mistakes which will allow the other team to make more goals or they will miss more throws and catches resulting in the ball going out of bounds…"

"Yes, and that leads to the timer being paused until the ball is brought back into play" Lydia finishes Myrddin's thoughts out loud.

"Well crap. At least one of us will get some sleep tonight" Myrddin flips to the next page.

Lydia brings some of her hair behind her ear. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Myrddin blankly looks at Lydia. "It mean that after the minute man wins you'll get some sleep"