The Irish One

They went back to their cheap hotel they were all staying at till this weather passes over to change into what they called 'suitable clothing' for footie. As for I, I was always ready. I had on a pair of Adidas jogger pants and a jumper hoodie. So I gathered my board and I skated down to the park.
I know that this sounds a bit funny, but skating feels so freeing for me. Its like I'm flying. The air against my skin was so chilling and if it is raining, the rain stings but it is the most beautiful feeling. The feeling of being boundless.
And being on this board made me feel so independent- something a car just can not give you. I bet birds felt the same way.
Arriving at the Freckleton park, Charlie, Edmund, and Cole where already there. Ed and Cole were twins, and what was funny about it is that they are exactly alike- personality, taste in music, everything- yet can never seem to get along. And I had arrived just as Charlie was just breaking them up. The two were always at each other's throats.
"AhSuh Aj!" Charlie greeted, doing the sign that went along with it. I rolled my eyes.
"Never greet me like that again," I tell him. Charlie slaps me on the back.
"I see you stole my pants," He quips.
"Yeah, because we all know I wear them way better than you do."
"A good point has been made." He shrugs. "So where have you been the past couple days? I've hit you up on messenger but you never responded."
"Stuff at school," I reply. Charlie gives me a knowing look. He shook his head and emits a laughs and he shoves his hands in his pockets. "Screw off, Char,"
"Hey, I just wanna know if he was scraped up pretty bad afterwords." He says, holding his hands up in defense.
It was my turn to shrug. "It was a broad this time."
"A fucking broad? AJ, you're better than that." Cole interjects, flipping his blond hair out of his eyes. Ed jogs over as well, giving me a friendly punch in the shoulder before he asks, "Was she at least hot?"
"How the hell am I supposed to know?" I tell him. Charlie gives me a pointed look. I groan begrudgingly. "She started it this time.."
"Whoa, this time?" Cole mocks.
"Yeah," I simply said. "And headmaster said that he couldn't have his students in constant danger so he gave me the ax."
"Shit Aj, " Charlie laughs. "What the hell?! John's gonna kill you!"
"Kill would be too nice." Ed comments.
"Whatever.." I sigh. "I brought a couple of friends with me."
"Friends?" Charlie asks.
"Yeah, met them a couple days ago." I shrug. Almost on Que, my friends arrive. And I could just tell Charlie was unimpressed- perhaps a bit worried.
"Those are your friends?" He asked me, concern etched across his features.
"Well, I wouldn't really say friends. More like parasites that I can't rid myself from but oddly find myself enjoying their company. Seriously, it's like that whole Stockholm Syndrome shit."
"AJ, do you know who they are?" Ed asked. He seemed just as concerned. What was going through my head was something along the lines of 'oh shit, I just got myself tangled up with the most hardened criminals in the country. However, looking at them, there was no way they were criminal running from police. They were something worse. . .
"AJ, you know who One Direction is, right?" Charlie asked me.
I shrug. "Heard the name a couple times.."
"Fucking. . . " Charlie muttered under his breath as he gave me a shove forwards.
"Hey," I greeted.
"Hey Aj, nice to see you in a good mood." Louis remarks. I rolled my eyes and attempt to ignore it.
"So these are your friends.." Cole says, his voice trailing.
"Yeah we ar-" Louis had started but I quickly interjected.
"Acquaintances, strictly." I say. "Lads, that's Harry, Liam, Zayn and the jackass over here is Louis."
"Well, didn't know there were going to be more of us playing. Hope you don't mind the slush." Cole says. And this is where Louis made the mistake of his life. The worst thing he could have done:
Louis scoffs, "I don't mind. I know what I'm doing. Hope AJ can say the same thing." He tosses me his little smirk as held his head high.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I say to him. Cole and Ed took a small step back.
"Well, do you know what you're doing?" Louis restates.
"Mate, I don't think that was a smart move, you-"
I interrupted Charlie. "No, its okay. Any yes, I do know how to play footie. In fact, I bet I can score a goal against you in the first ten minutes you asshole." I shot back. I could feel my face heating up. Nobody knocks my athletic ability- especially when they didn't even know me.
"Okay okay, we'll let the field do the talking, then." A smile spread across Louis' lips as he jerked his head towards the more open part of the snow-patched grass field.
Charlie, Cole and Ed pulled me aside. "Aj," Ed pleaded. "He's a narcissistic asshole, you don't need to prove anything. Why don't we just head back to Charlie's pla-"
"No, I want to." I told them. I them pull a smile to match Louis'. Charlie looked like he was about to protest but closed his mouth when he saw my expression and he knew what it meant. He knew that there was no way for him to talk me out of this. Louis insisted that he slit up the teams so that they were not, how he put it, rigged. I had Harry, Cole and Zayn (whom I had come to learned was not much of a sports person so who really tried to rig the game?) on my team while he had Charlie, Ed and Harry.
"So you against me? You sure, Aj?" Louis asks me. "I really don't want to embarrass you in front of your mates."
"I'm sure, Tomlinson."
"And if you lose?" He asks me.
"Loser gives a blow-job." I state. Louis' eyebrows quirk up and his lips turn creep up into a Cheshire smile.
"Fine, loser gives a blowjob." He agrees.
We shake on it and I remove my jumper and rolled up my jeans. The lads around us 'ooh' and I noticed Harry's eyes lingering on my legs. I sent a smirk his direction and wriggled my eyebrows at him. He grunts and jogs back to the make-shift goal posts.
"Hold up, guys." I say and everybody stops. "So if this is going to be a fair game, I want a promise that you all are going to play the way its supposed to be played. That means your friends on my team will play for me, and my friends friends to you."
All the lads smile and nod in agreement. Louis winks at me.
I laugh at his gesture and tag along, now with a new kind of confidence I didn't have before- which is weird. I'm a pretty confident person in general.
We start our little match, and I had to admit it was harder than I had thought. Louis was an aggressive player, same with Charlie; I haven't played against Louis before. He was better than I had imagined him being. However, but I had eleven years on my belt. Liam and I made a pretty good team, with him interpreting my signals right and on point. I got the ball and ran across the snow-patched field. I wanted this so bad. I had to beat that goddamn prick. Louis was chasing me, however, I knew he would not e able to match my speed. I dodged Harry and made my way to Charlie, who was goalie. Louis had given up chasing me and had ventured over to the goal. I could tell how angry he was just by looking at him and it pissed me off even more. This bloke was so full of himself! I pass the ball to Zayn, who immediately passes to Cole and I motion him to keep it in his possession of the ball till I was closer to the goal. As soon as I reached the other side, Louis screamed at Charlie to move his arse. Charlie, confused for a second, looks over at me before he jumps into action. I nodded to Cole and he launched the ball my direction and
I bumped it with my chest (which hurt like a fucking bitch, by the way) and gained control of it and launched it at the goal. Louis made another mistake: he shoved Charlie out of the way. Charlie was the best goalie I have ever met- will ever meet. He was tall and lanky and had more limbs to him than he knew what to do with. The ball hit the post crudely nailed posts and bounced back at me, and Louis was too busy sneering and mocking me, failed to notice the ball soaring right past him and into the chain link 'net'.
I was overjoyed, Liam, Harry, and Zayn looked shocked. Charlie, Ed and Cole nodded their heads in approval. I screamed in excitement high-fived Liam, Zayn, and Cole. I could feel the sweat dripping down my brow, same with the other boys,however no one seemed to notice. As they kind of dispersed and chatted amoungst themselves, I saw Louis standing exactly where he was when I had scored. He was holding the ball and turning it around in his hands. I go over to him and although I really wanted to call him out, I slapped him on the back instead. "Good game, you were a great opponent."
"Well, you weren't as suckish as I thought you would be," He tells me. I scoff.
"Thanks... Wow, you're such a narcissist." I muttered to myself. I had started to walk away when he calls after me, "Hey, wait." He puts his hand on my shoulder.
"You.. y-youuu. . . were good.. out there." he admitted. He scratched the back of his head and took a step back. Then he smiled and shook his head. "You know, Niall is pretty good at football as well."
I shook my head. "And. . . " I say. "Your point is?"
"You're really good, surprisingly. And I know you guys do have a lot in common." He continues.
"Wow, thanks." I say. Then I notice something. "Wait, where is the shamrock anyway?"
Louis points over his shoulder. I look past him and see the dorky blonde sitting on a bench, alone. I look at Louis, who shrugs, pats me on the shoulder before walking off and joining the others for another round. I release a laboured sigh and make my way over to the bloke.
Niall was wearing Adidas jogger pants and a green hooded jumper with a snap back covering his blond tipped hair.
"What are you doing here?" I asked him. Niall shrugged. "So I hear you're a football lover."
"Yeah," He sighs.
"Why didn't you play?" I begin.
"Well, you see, it's never a good idea to play with Louis, he gets aggressive. I got injured once playing against him."
"Oh."
"Yeah.. oh.."
"AJ," I heard Harry call. "We're getting drinks, you wanna come?"
"Nah, I'm good." I shout back. I turned my focus towards Niall.
"Why didn't you go with?"
"Well, couldn't leave you alone. There could be wild dogs and tigers, Ni." He chucked at my remark, or at least I thought he did because he gave me this huge grin. But it wasn't because I was quoting him from when we first met.
"I thought you didn't like me, though."
"I really don't, trust me. You're like a parasite that I can't seem to rid myself from but oddly find myself enjoying your company. Seriously, it's like that Stockholm Syndrome shit. I'm probably some sort of sadist because I don't know how else to justify this."
"AJ, can I ask you something?"
"Go ahead."
"Do you want to watch a film tonight? I mean, I still kinda owe you. . "
"I don't know last tim-"
"I won't try anything. Just two friends watching a film."
"Just a film?"
"Just a film." He nods. I sigh.
"Only if you provide a shit ton of food."
"Deal."

Notes