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November rolled in with a rush of icy winds and cloudy skies, leaving behind the warm sunny days of October. The harsh unforgiving weather slowly stripped nature from her beauty as leaves withered and died, disappearing from their branches and leaving trees and shrubs bare. The world was awash with a drab grey and animals began to go into hibernation.
The students of Lumière were not spared from the unforgiving weather as they began to prepare furiously for the upcoming interhouse games. They had taken to walking together in groups as they bundled up in woollen sweaters and coats to protect themselves from the harsher elements of the weather.
Samuel’s time was filled with so much trainings and practice that Jayden saw less and less of him as the games drew closer.
A week before the games, the friends decided to meet at the soccer pitch and they sat on the bleachers watching Samuel and Leo’s practice match as the cold wind nipped at their skin.
‘Imagine being a jock,’ Cam commented wistfully to the others as he watched Leo skilfully pass the ball to Samuel.
‘I don’t need to,’ Paul chuckled as Samuel delivered a strong kick to the ball, sending it flying through the goalkeeper’s arms and into the net.
Noel glanced at him curiously. ‘Shouldn’t you be training with them?’
Paul raised a gloved arm. ‘Sprained wrist. Nurse said it’ll heal in time for the game though so I can still play when the time comes.’
Noel nodded and turned to Jayden who was sketching absently in a notebook, only looking up briefly to watch as Samuel scored another goal.
‘He’s really good, isn’t he?’
‘Mh?’ Jayden didn’t look up.
‘Samuel,’ Noel clarified. ‘He’s really good at soccer.’
Jayden looked up to stare at Samuel as he bumped fists with Leo as their team scored another goal.
He shrugged noncommittedly and turned his attention back to his work but Noel noticed his eyeroll as a group of girls giggled and sighed as Samuel jogged past them.
The game ended a few minutes later and a sweaty Samuel and Leo jogged up to the bleachers.
‘Yo, pijo,’ Leo called out as he slumped down by Cam. ‘It must suck to watch us play while you sit up here with this lot.’
Paul grimaced slightly at the nickname Leo had taken to giving him. ‘Must you call me that?’
Leo gulped down a bottle of water before looking up with a grin. ‘Well, you are a prince, aren’t you? And pijo means prince so Pijo Paul.’
Paul groaned. ‘I know what it means dumbass. Just stop calling me that, I don’t like being called a prince.’
Leo gasped and placed his hand theatrically over his chest. ‘You’re asking me to deny my entire Hispanic identity! It’s who I am! How could you be so cruel?’
‘I’m not!’
‘Are too!’
Samuel chuckled and tuned out their argument as he made his way to sit by Jayden, turning as he did to give him a soft smile.
‘Hey, there.’
‘Mn.’
Samuel glanced down at his notebook with curiosity. ‘What are you drawing?’
Jayden didn’t answer. He put the finishing touches on his work before he looked up, turning the notebook to face him.
It was a pencil art of a soccer ball lying alone amongst the tall grass in a windy field. A goalpost was drawn further away from the ball in perspective and the sky above the field was filled with dark clouds.
Samuel stared at the soft lines and smooth curves as the wind crinkled the paper in his hands.
‘It looks….amazing,’ he answered finally. ‘But also sad.’
Jayden hummed thoughtfully before suddenly ripping the page from the book. He rolled it into a ball and tossed it over his shoulder.
Samuel stared after it as the wind carried it away before turning to him in surprise. ‘Why did you that? It was so beautiful.’
Jayden didn’t look up as he began to etch new lines into his notebook. ‘Beauty is like the wind, fleeting and elusive. Here for one second and gone the next. If you judge something by its beauty then you have lost the true meaning of its existence.’
Samuel was impressed. ‘I didn’t know you were a poet.’
Jayden snorted. ‘Hardly.’
‘No, no.’ Samuel insisted. ‘You are. A poet and an artist, far better than being a jock. All I know how to do is sports, art is much deeper than that.’
Jayden looked up to give him a contemplative look. ‘You’re an artist too you know.’
Samuel chuckled. ‘Hardly. All I know how to draw are stick figures.’
Jayden shook his head and gestured to the field below. ‘Art isn’t paintbrushes or paint or pencil and paper. Art is creation, emotion and expression. For you, the field is your canvass, your feet the paintbrush and the ball your paint. Art is everywhere. It exists all around us we just have to see it for what it is.’
Samuel nodded slowly in understanding as he stared at the field. A thought suddenly popped into his head and he turned back to him with a bright smile on his face.
‘Hey, by the way, will you be coming to watch my games next week?’
Jayden gave a noncommittal shrug. ‘Maybe.’
Samuel frowned slightly in confusion. ‘Is that a yes or a no?’
‘It’s a maybe.’
Samuel was interrupted by Leo’s sudden loud burst of laughter. He turned to see him holding his sides as he laughed at a frustrated Paul.
‘That’s not fair,’ Paul pouted. ‘You tricked me.’
Tears were streaming down Leo’s face as he struggled to breathe through his laughter. ‘All’s fair in love and war papi.’
‘Pig.’
‘Brat.’
‘Barbarian.’
‘Pijo.’
‘Cam!’ Paul protested.
Cam didn’t look up from his homework. ‘Leo, shut up.’
‘But-‘
‘Shh.’
Leo humphed and folded his arms, sticking out his tongue at Paul. Paul grinned and stuck out his tongue in response.
Noel rolled his eyes at them and Jayden just shook his head silently, his attention still on his drawing. Samuel chuckled before turning back to watch as Jayden’s pencil flew over the page in long elegant lines.
‘Hey Sam,’ Noel called out.
Samuel looked up curiously. ‘Huh?’
Noel nodded to the corner of the bleachers. ‘Isn’t that your sister?’
Samuel blinked and turned in the direction Noel pointed, following his line of sight until his eyes landed on his sister.
He nodded grimly. ‘Yep.’
Cissy was standing on the sidelines with her arms folded across her chest. She had a revolted look on her face as she watched the cheerleaders giggle and flirt with the jocks who flexed their arms and winked at them.
‘Yo sis!’ Samuel yelled, waving his arms at her.
‘What are you doing?’ Paul hissed. ‘Don’t call her over.’
Samuel put his arm down. ‘Why not?’
Paul shivered. ‘She’s scary.’
But it was too late, Cissy had already heard him. She turned and looked around until she saw him. She came up to them with a smirk on her face.
‘Hello, tiny people. Well, well what do we have here; three jocks, two nerds and a mysterious dark artist from the Victorian era. What a strange assortment you lot are.’
Paul and Samuel gave her a horrified look at being called tiny while Leo just stared up at her with a besotted look on his face. Jayden inclined his head to her in a gesture of acknowledgement and turned his attention back to his art.
‘We are not tiny!’ Samuel huffed.
‘Sure you’re not little bro,’ Cissy said as she patted his head with an amused smile. ‘By the way, I need a teensy favour.’
Samuel dodged her invading hands and fixed his hair while throwing a glare at her.
‘What favour?’ he asked warily.
Cissy gave him a sweet smile. ‘Darling brother, sweet brother if you ever see me fawning and preening over a boy like that insufferable lot down there, without any hesitation promptly proceed to put a bullet in my head.’
Samuel blinked slowly at this strange request. ‘O…kay?’
‘Thank you little brother,’ Cissy turned to look curiously at Leo who was staring at her with his mouth hanging open. ‘What’s up with him?’
Paul nudged Leo sharply with his elbow. ‘She’s talking to you.’
‘Erm… eh… erm…. eh…,’ he stuttered unintelligibly.
Cissy quirked an eyebrow at him. ‘Quite an extensive vocabulary you got there.’
Leo blushed furiously and turned away causing Cam to roll his eyes at him and Paul to stifle his laugh with a cough.
Cissy turned to Samuel and this time there was a slight tinge of concern in her voice. ‘I just heard about what you were planning to do. Are you sure about this?’
Samuel nodded firmly, his jaw set in a determined line. ‘I’m sure.’
Cissy gave him a searching look before nodding. ‘Alright then.’ She turned back to the group. ‘See ya later shrimps. I need to go babysit a particular daft group of girls. Laters.’
The others waved at her as they watched her disappear down the bleachers. Leo snapped out of his daze and turned to Samuel with a look of shock on his face.
‘Bruh! Narcissa Asamoah is your sister?’
Samuel nodded in an absentminded amusement as Paul turned to slap Leo upside the head.
‘Who else could she be dumbass? Her last name is Asamoah for crying out loud.’
Leo rubbed his head and shot Paul a dirty look. ‘Lots of people have the same last names. How was I supposed to know that in their case they were actually related?’
Noel glanced at him thoughtfully. ‘What’s your deal with her if you don’t mind me asking?’
‘Leo has a huge crush on her,’ Cam answered with his head still bent over his homework.
‘I do not!’ Leo protested. ‘It’s just she’s the most amazing person to walk the earth. She is like a literal goddess.’
Paul chortled at the dreamy look on his face. ‘Well, she thinks you’re a literal ape now. Real smooth of you mate, real smooth.’
Leo ignored him, the dreamy look still on his face. ‘Do you think she’ll go out with me if I got her flowers and chocolate?’
Cam suddenly snapped his book shut with a loud thud. ‘I need to go,’ he muttered darkly as he picked his backpack and stormed away.
Leo stared after his retreating figure with a confused expression on his face. ‘What’s up with him?’
Noel shook his head and grabbed his backpack, getting to his feet. ‘I’ll go check on him.’
Paul and Leo watched their retreating backs in confusion before shrugging it off and launching into another argument about which team has the best players.
Samuel was deep in thought as he watched them absentmindedly and Jayden looked up from his drawing to fix him with a curious gaze.
‘What was that about?’
‘Mh?’
‘What your sister said. What are you planning to do?’
Samuel looked away from the two and stared hard at the field below. ‘It’s not easy you know, being the younger brother. Especially if you have brothers like mine who attended the same school. I’m always compared to them. Teachers always remind me how amazing they were in sports, academics, and everything else.’
He let out a derisive laugh and mimicked their voices. ‘Oh, you’re Peter’s brother! He was my star student; I hope you’re like him. Jake is your brother? The best sportsman we’ve ever had. You should sign up for the team if you’re anything like him you would be great too. Don’t tell me you don’t know how to debate! John was a skilled debater. What a disappointment!’
Samuel let out a heavy sigh. ‘Everyone knows me as Peter’s brother, or Jake’s brother, or James’ brother. Just once I would like to be my own person and not be known as someone else’s brother. Nothing I did was enough. Joining the soccer team, the swimming team, the basketball team, the football team. They’ve already done that and so I’m just another Asamoah boy. No matter how hard I try to prove that I’m not my brothers, I’m Samuel it never seems to work. I’m just living up to their legacy.’
Samuel paused before continuing. ‘My brothers always participated in the games but there is one race they have never won. The 5000m race.’
He saw the look of confusion on Jayden’s face and shook his head in amusement. ‘It’s the one where you run 15 laps around the field.’
Jayden nodded slowly in understanding and gestured for him to continue.
‘Anyway, no matter how many times they tried they could never win that race. Everyone says the Asamoah brothers are not built for endurance or stamina, they’re built for speed. Well, I’m going to win it. I’m finally going to prove that I’m not like my brothers. I’m my own person. Break out of their shadow if you will but yeah.’
He fell silent after that and Jayden gave him a long stare.
‘You don’t think you can do it,’ Jayden concluded finally.
Samuel stared down at his hands and nodded shortly. ‘I have never won that race before either.’
Jayden stared at him. ‘How determined are you to win?’
Samuel looked up. ‘Extremely.’
‘How hard have you trained?’
Samuel wondered where he was going with this. ‘Very hard?’
‘Then you’ll win.’
Samuel frowned. ‘How can you be so sure?’
‘I’m sure.’
That left him speechless. ‘Huh?’
Jayden sighed. ‘Look, there is no pep talk I or anyone could give you that would make you win. You have to believe in yourself that you can do it. You’ve put in the work now you just have to believe that your effort was enough. If it wasn’t then it’s not the end. You’ll just put in more effort next time and try again and again till you get it. Nothing worth having in life comes easy.’
Samuel nodded but Jayden wasn’t done. ‘Besides, for what it’s worth I believe you can do it. I’ve seen you train and you’re right, you’re not like them. You are way better than them.’
This caused Samuel to blink in surprise. ‘Did the unimpressible Jayden Mills just compliment me?’ he asked with a grin.
Jayden turned away. ‘Don’t get used to it, it’s not happening again.’
Samuel nodded solemnly. ‘I would never dream of it.’
‘Yo, Leo. Sammy! Coach is calling us, we have a few more drills to run.’
Leo groaned and made his way sorrowfully down the field. Samuel stood up and turned to leave but he hesitated and turned back to Jayden.
‘Erm, it would mean a lot to me if you’ll come and see me play next week. Would you?’
Jayden wore a thoughtful expression on his face. ‘We’ll see.’
Samuel nodded and with a bright smile jumped down onto the field and jogged to join his teammates.
The rest of the week flew by after that and before long, it was time for the long awaited and much anticipated interhouse games. The air crackled with excitement as students, teachers and even parents got into the spirit.
There were marching bands, television crews and lots of fanfare as the games took off. Bets were staked and gambles were placed on which house would emerge the victor this year. The odds were split between Lepus, the reigning champions and Draco. Aquila and Scorpius were also huge favourites and Aquila in particular was gunning towards the House Cup with a ferocity and tenacity that did them compliment, determined as they were to not let the cup slip through their fingers as it did last time.
The games progressed steadily with one competition after another. The first competition was the soccer match between Draco and Aquila. The crowds turned up in full force and Samuel saw his family waving eagerly at him as he scanned the crowd hopefully for a certain raven-haired boy.
He tamped down his disappointment, which only grew as the days passed and game after game went by without any sign of Jayden.
On Thursday, after still no sign of Jayden, he was close to giving up hope of seeing him. He was in the pool swimming practice laps for the swimming competition that was almost about to start when he caught sight of Noel by the lifeguard chair.
He swam up to him and placed his elbows on the edge of the pool. ‘Hey, what are you doing here?’
Noel looked down from his clipboard and bent down to get closer to him with a small smile on his face. ‘I’m refereeing this match. How are the laps going?’
Samuel shrugged with a grin. ‘Alright, I guess but it helps to see a friendly face. Where are the others?’
‘Well, you know Paul has a crippling phobia for water so he is staying as far away as possible. He asked me to tell you he has already fulfilled his best friend quota by showing up for the previous days and he would come tomorrow but definitely not today.’
They both laughed as the image of a frightened Paul popped into their head.
Noel shook his head with a fond smile and continued. ‘Cam is helping Leo get ready for his match in the back so I guess you only have me today. I can’t cheer for you though because we’re in different houses and I’m the referee so I have to be impartial but just know I’m rooting for you.’
Samuel grinned gratefully but he couldn’t help glancing occasionally at the entrance.
‘He’s not coming you know.’
‘Huh?’
Noel was staring at him with a thoughtful look on his face. ‘Jayden. He’s not coming.’
Samuel tried hard to not let the disappointment show on his face. ‘Oh.’
Noel sighed and suddenly let out a frustrated groan which startled Samuel. ‘Look,’ he began. ‘I didn’t want to say this since it’s not my place but I know if I leave it to Jayden he’ll never tell you. Not because he doesn’t want you to know, it just wouldn’t cross his mind that it’s important to mention.’
Samuel grew curious. ‘Okay, I’m listening.’
Noel passed a hand through his hair in frustration. ‘It’s not that he doesn’t want to be here for you it’s just… You’ve met his father, you know how he’s like. Well, he put Jayden through a lot to make him like sports, to make him more ‘manly’. He forced him to do stuff that…. God! All you need to know is that because of that, Jayden associates anything even remotely related to sports with trauma and he tries to avoid it as much as possible. Even exercising puts him in a bad place and he needs some time to recover after that.’
A bolt of realization hit him and he suddenly grew frantic. ‘That’s why last year he was…. Where is he? Is he alright? I should-‘
He was already halfway out of the pool, his torso dripping with water when Noel placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.
‘He’s fine. Just concentrate on winning this match so you can tell him about it later.’
Samuel allowed Noel to push him back in but he couldn’t stop worrying throughout the match or even the rest of the day.
The next day finally arrived, Samuel’s big day. The sun had woken from it’s lethargy and blazed through the clouds, soaking the world in a warm golden glow.
He was on the field stretching and getting himself ready for the match. The crowds were out in much larger numbers than before. This was the competition that will decide everything. After, a week’s worth of competitions, the four houses were close together in points with Aquila in the lead. The competition this time would be undoubtedly more cutthroat and fierce than the previous ones.
The crowd was growing frenzied with excitement but there was an underlying note of tension in the air. It all came down to this.
Samuel smiled at his family and gave a wave to his friends who were seated up with the crowd. They waved excitedly back in encouragement and Noel gave him a thumbs-up sign.
‘What did I miss?’
Noel jumped at the voice and turned to see Jayden standing by him. ‘You came.’
Jayden smirked at Noel’s surprised tone and turned to watch as Samuel jogged in place at the starting line. Samuel turned to scan the crowd one more time and he stopped short when his eyes rested on Jayden.
His face suddenly broke out into a beaming smile and he seemed to forget all about that tension that weighed on him a second before.
‘Hey,’ he mouthed to him, completely ignoring the people around them.
Jayden gave him an encouraging smirk and mouthed back. ‘Good luck.’
Samuel nodded gratefully and fell into the place. The race was about to start. The crowd fell silent, holding their breath as the runners lined up and placed their fingers on the track.
The gun went off and they were off like a shot. The crowd roared as they completed the first three laps. Jayden was getting anxious by the fifth lap, and by the sixth, he was almost hyperventilating. Crowded places made him anxious but he took a deep breath and steadied himself, determined to stay for the end of the race.
Samuel had started well but by the end of the eighth lap, he had begun to fall behind.
‘What’s he doing?’ Leo muttered anxiously as he gripped the Draco flag he had tied to his back.
‘He’s getting tired,’ Paul mumbled back with a frown as he crossed his fingers and urged his friend on in his head.
The ninth lap ended with Samuel now fallen behind the last person. Jayden frowned and cursed in his head. He fidgeted anxiously as his mind turned furiously in his head.
‘Wait, where are you going?’ Noel called after him as he began to make his way down the bleachers.
Jayden didn’t hear him and he ignored the curses the spectators threw at him as he pushed through them. He reached the sidelines and ignored the yell from the officials as he crossed the threshold and jogged up to Samuel.
Samuel turned to look at him in surprise as he fell into place beside him. ‘Jayden? What are you doing?’
Jayden ignored his question. ‘What are you doing? You’re supposed to win this thing remember?’
Samuel managed to summon the extra energy to roll his eyes at him. ‘It’s not as easy as it looks. My legs are burning and my feet are aching. How are you even here, isn’t it against the rules?’
‘Well technically, the rules didn’t say anything against jogging beside a runner or talking to a runner while they’re racing. And I’m not on the track with you, I’m on the grass beside the track so all’s fair and above board. I’m honest like that.’
‘Ha, ha,’ Samuel laughed sarcastically.
Paul and Leo were watching the two down below with something akin to confusion on their faces.
‘What the hell are they doing?’ Leo asked finally.
‘I think they’re… bantering?’ Paul answered unsurely.
Cam looked lost. ‘Is that allowed?’
‘Well, technically yeah. The rules didn’t say anything against that.’ Paul answered thoughtfully. ‘It’s actually a disadvantage to the runner because it distracts them from the race.’
‘I think that’s what Jayden is doing.’ Noel commented. ‘But instead of distracting him from the race, he’s distracting him from his exhaustion.’
‘Well whatever he’s doing it seems to be working,’ Leo shouted excitedly. ‘Look!’
He was right. Samuel had passed the runner before him and he was slowly overtaking the next one.
He didn’t seem to notice though.
‘Jayden, I don’t think I can go any further,’ he grunted in exhaustion.
‘You can and you will. This is the last lap and there is only one more person ahead of you. You can do this, you owe it to yourself.’
Samuel shook his head as he struggled to breathe. ‘No, I don’t think I can.’
He was close to giving up and just throwing himself on the ground. Jayden pursed his lips in frustration and an idea suddenly popped into his head.
‘You need something to run toward to.’
‘Huh?’
But Jayden was already gone. He ran to the other side of the finish line and opened his arms.
‘What are you doing?’ Samuel mouthed to him in confusion.
‘Giving you something to run to,’ Jayden mouthed back. He opened his arms wider. ‘Now come to me.’
Samuel shook his head but he couldn’t stop the smile that crossed his lips. He took a deep breath and managed to summon extra energy. With a surprising burst of speed, he shot past the final runner and with an extra burst crossed the finish line in a blur and crashed into Jayden’s arms.
They toppled over and Jayden hit the ground with Samuel on top of him. The crowd suddenly burst into a tremendous roar that seemed to shake the earth and shots were fired into the air.
The noise however seemed to fade and disappear into the distance as the two looked into each other’s eyes.
Samuel’s eyes grew soft as he continued to look down at Jayden. ‘You came.’
Jayden’s expression was unreadable but his eyes were warm as he gazed back at him. ‘Of course I did.’
Samuel shook his head with a fond smile on his lips. ‘No, we did it. Thank you.’
The images around them became a blur as they disappeared into each other’s eyes. Samuel’s head inched a fraction closer but their little bubble was suddenly popped when strong arms lifted the two off the ground.
Samuel let out a laugh as he was hoisted up by his housemates and turned to look back at Jayden with a small smile on his face as he was carried off in a blur of gold and silver.
Jayden gave him a small smirk and raised his arm in a half-wave as he watched Samuel disappear in a sea of Dracos.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: Well that was…. exciting.
Thoughts?
Looks like Draco won the house cup. Are you in the winning house?
Don’t forget to vote and comment if you enjoyed this chapter and I look forward to seeing what the next chapter holds.
Adios for now.
😀
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