Comfy Closets - Chapter 23: Chapter 23

What do you do when someone you hate is staying around for too long? Punch them? Smack them? Kick them in the nuts? Yes, they were all very violent options, but I’m right now at the point where those very options seem very enticing to me, and I’m not normally violent at all.
The jerk from lunch the other week, the Kyle dude who nobody wanted around, was currently by the fence of the soccer pitch catcalling the girls on the soccer team. His cocky ass thought that it was okay to stand there and call us all these infantilizing names with no repercussions like an idiot. Well, he’s about to get a wake-up call from someone who, not in the distant future, was going to kick his ass.
“Can he shut up, already?” Lindsey groaned as she stood a few metres from me, heading the ball my way as I passed it to her. “The jerk seriously can’t take a hint.”
“It’s more like he’s cocky enough to ignore them,” Hayley muttered as she sent a glare in his direction.
The other girls who were in earshot muttered their agreement as they kept shooting annoyed looks his way, distracting them from the task at hand. I finally made the decision to head over there so I could shut him the hell up. Letting the ball fall, I started to march over when Camilla stopped me.
“Cap, coach is gonna handle it,” she nodded over to the said person that I hadn’t notice was already walking over with irritation in her expression.
“Good,” I quipped, watching the interaction from afar with my arms crossed and stance strong, trying to restrain myself from doing the job myself. The other girls could sense the anger radiating from me, and so said nothing in response. I don’t think they’ve ever seen me this mad before, but after what happened in the cafeteria with Leah, there was a very real reason for me to hate the guy.
Coach confronted Kyle with her hands on her hips, clear disapproval in her stance as the guy just stood there with his hands in his pockets, looking as if he didn’t care about a word that came out of her mouth.
“He seriously has the guts to come back after what happened last year with Coach Greyson,” Olivia voiced, shaking her head in disbelief.
This wasn’t the first time this had happened with Kyle. Last season, during practice, he would bring a couple of guys with him to watch us like creeps as they hollered and yelled like immature idiots. Our previous coach had to step in and kick their asses to the principal’s office, but now that we had a new coach this season, I’m guessing Kyle thought it was okay to start it up again. However, this time, I’m going to make sure he gets something a lot worse than detention.
Lindsey pulled me back to our previous positions and prompted me to continue practising so I could distract myself from their encounter. I did so reluctantly but kept glancing back at the two every few seconds.
Coach Ackerman, by now, had started walking back to us with a stony expression on her face, not revealing anything as Kyle walked to the bleachers instead of the exit, sitting down with a smug smirk on his face.
“Why the hell isn’t he leaving?” Samantha, my midfielder, said what was on everyone else’s minds as we all paused in our practice. Coach stopped by us, crossing her arms and looked at the rest of the girls.
“He won’t be disrupting our practice anymore if he doesn’t want to spend any time in detention,” she grumbled distastefully towards the end. “Get back to your drills, girls,” she said authoritatively, not allowing any room for discussion.
They all moved back to their places, although not satisfied, but still accepting it and moving on seeing as Kyle had stopped vocally disrupting us. I stood staring at Kyle for a few more seconds, trying to direct my anger towards him with unspoken thoughts, my hard glare enough to satisfy me for now before I turned back to the others.
Practise went on as we all worked up a sweat, with the thought of the upcoming game next week all on our minds. The girls worked harder today, talking strategy in between and possessing laser-like focus on the tasks at hand, ignoring the leering gaze of the creep in the background. I don’t even know why he stuck around for this long. He better be waiting around for someone or something of the sort because this was legitimately starting to feel creepy.
We were in the middle of our practise match towards the end of our session when I spotted Leah come out of the school building and head towards us, coming from what I was assuming was her drama rehearsals. We had planned to leave together for her house after my training, but she must’ve ended early.
“Shit,” I cursed as I looked towards the direction she was heading. Kyle was still sitting there, laid-back and bored, until he noticed the same person I noticed approaching his way. In my distraction, I stuttered in my run and tripped up in my footing, causing me to fall forward from the momentum of my body. “Shit!”
The impact wasn’t bad, just a little jostled in the head, but I quickly brushed it aside, a more pressing thought in my mind.
“Aly! You alright?” Hayley jogged to my side, worry in her tone. The rest of the team continued to play, knowing I would be fine, but the ginger knelt by me, helping me up and fussing over me all mother-like. “Girl, how do you manage to trip on flat ground?”
I waved her off, my attention focused elsewhere. Leah had seen the accident and had rushed towards the fence, looking worried as she clutched the railing. I gave her a smile and a thumbs-up to signal that I was fine, but my smile soon faded as I saw Kyle approach her from behind.
My girlfriend turned around when she noticed him there, her body leaning away when he came into view. I saw them interact, and from what I could tell with Leah’s tense posture, I knew it was making her uncomfortable. I made a move to head over, when I heard my name being called.
“Woods!” Coach called from the other side of the pitch. “What are you doing? If you’re fine, continue with the play!”
Ignoring her call, I looked back to the bleachers to see Kyle now towering over Leah, a little too close to be called normal as she tried to edge away, anger now clear on her face.
Without thinking, I ran over to them, pissed off now as a sense of urgency overwhelmed me. As I got closer, I could hear Leah yelling at him.
“-need to stop that, Kyle. I told you no!”
“Come on, baby. You don’t know what you’re missing,” the boy in the letterman jacket leered disgustingly at her, closing the gap between them until his chest nearly touched hers, grabbing her hips forcibly to tug her closer.
Leah pushed at his chest to create space between them, a desperation to her actions. “I’m serious, get the f*ck off!”
“Let me just give you a taste, huh?” he disgustingly suggested. As he was about to lean in to smash his lips against hers, he was suddenly pulled off Leah and thrown to the ground behind. “What the-”
I had leaped over the fence and grabbed him, tossing him back like he was trash. The momentum caused him to land on his back, with him groaning pitifully.
“You are seriously getting on my nerves,” I stated angrily, clenching my fists at my sides, ready to punch the guy. Leah stood slightly behind me to the side and placed a hand on my back. I glanced back at her at the touch and saw her shaking her head slightly, almost as if to say he wasn’t worth me getting in trouble for. I nodded in response, although reluctantly, before my gaze drifted back to focus on the worm on the floor.
When Kyle realised that it was me who pulled him away, he quickly scampered to his feet and faced me with a sneer. “What a cockblocker. Can’t we have a little fun without you budging in every time?”
“If you couldn’t already tell by the very obvious no Leah gave you, I’ll make it clear for you,” I stared him down menacingly, channelling all the anger I felt before into this one sentence. “You will regret ever ignoring another no from any other girl because I can do a lot worse than what you can ever imagine.”
He blew out a breath of disbelief, a mocking laugh blurting from his mouth. “You seriously think you can threaten me?” He gestured to himself like he was all high and mighty.
I looked down onto my uniform to notice the dirt stains I received from falling, and so casually busied myself with trying to dust it off as I answered, almost as if to say he wasn’t worth my attention. “You know, Kyle,” I started, brushing off a big stain on my shorts, “I don’t like to pull this card out a lot, to be honest, but I’ll do it just for you. My dad has connections, connections to very important people involved in sports. And I know football means a lot to you, right?” I finally focused on him again, a sharp and threatening smirk on my face. “I can make sure you don’t receive a single sports scholarship or offer in any good university in the country. I doubt you deserve it, with that attitude.”
I wasn’t bluffing when I said it, and he seemed to realise that as I didn’t falter once from our interaction. The guy put up a façade of indifference, reverting to his ‘lack of care’ tactic. “I doubt you can pull that off, loser.”
“You want to bet on it? It is your future, after all,” I shrugged indifferently. He knew who had the power in this situation though. It was as clear as the sweat rolling down his forehead.
“Listen here-”
“What is going on here?!” Coach interrupted the boy, barging in on the scene with a fury. “Woods?” she decided to ask me for an answer.
I nodded my head towards the obnoxious boy. “Kyle over here has no respect for personal space and had forcibly pushed himself onto Leah. It was lucky I interrupted him when I did,” I said icily as Leah’s hand was placed on my shoulder in support.
Coach looked between us with a frown on her lips, contemplating what to do. She certainly wasn’t looking impressed with Kyle, especially after what happened before. “You, boy, are going to the principle’s office the next school day. This will be reported to your parents and they will be informed of your repeated disrespect and inappropriate actions. Now, get off my field. I don’t want to see you here again unless required,” she ordered firmly, done with his antics.
Kyle looked like he was about to blow his top with how red his face went. But surprisingly, he turned with a huff and left the field without a word. I felt myself relax with the lack of his presence. Coach Ackerman sighed. “You alright there, Ms Bennett?”
I saw her nod in my periphery. “Yes, Coach. I’m fine. Just feel a little invaded, that’s all,” she tried to joke, but it didn’t work, considering the circumstances.
“I’ll make sure he gets punished for what he did,” she promised resolutely, and I could tell she cared. “In the meantime, I think it’s best if this practice comes to a close. Nobody’s really focused today after that fiasco.” She turned to the rest of the girls, who had all stopped to watch what was happening, the game long forgotten. “Girls! Practise is over. Let’s clear out!”
She walked away to gather the equipment and some of the girls went to help, while the rest slowly made their way to the benches down the field from us.
I finally turned to face Leah. “Babe, you sure you’re alright?” I asked concernedly. I went to reach for her hand but stopped myself when I realised where we were, with the looming presence of my teammates a sharp reminder.
Leah noticed my hesitance and I could see it bothered her slightly, but she let it go. “I’m okay, just a little shook,” she brushed off, but I could tell she was just saying it. At that moment, all I could think of doing was to hug her, so I did just that with every other thought ignored. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her into my embrace, offering all the comfort I could. I felt her relax and melt into my arms, returning the hug tightly.
“That asshole will get what he deserves. I’ll make sure of it,” I reassured.
Leah pulled away and nodded, letting go of me just as the girls got closer. A sly smirk stretched her lips. “By the way, you’re kinda hot when you’re mad,” the blonde purred softly under her breath, casually leaning back against the railings.
I raised my eyebrows inquisitively, following her actions and leaning on my side. “Really, now? Well, you’re cute when you’re mad,” I teased. She pouted in response, causing me to chuckle. “Don’t worry, I love your cuteness.”
Ever since I told her the entire truth, I’ve felt so free and have been more comfortable than ever around her. She understood me, even when I was annoying about this whole secret thing. She truly was amazing in my eyes.
My hazel-eyed girl smiled and pushed me towards the others at the bench. “Come on, hurry up. I wanna get out of here.”
Giving her a playful salute, I jogged back to my teammates who were hydrating themselves and getting ready to go. Most of them were eyeing us curiously, probably because of what just happened with Kyle.
“What happened, Aly?” Camilla was the first to ask as soon as I arrived.
“Yeah, I didn’t notice what happened. Just saw coach telling him off,” Lindsey said, prompting me to explain.
I sat down and went through the process of taking off my gear, not particularly wanting to recap the events. “Um, Kyle was being a jerk and wasn’t accepting ‘no’ for an answer,” I said simply.
The girls held varying emotions of anger and hatred, some even sympathy for Leah. “I feel sorry that Leah over there had to deal with him,” Hayley spoke up.
“Yeah, nobody should have to deal with his shit,” Camilla vented out, lines of frustration creasing her forehead.
“He’ll be dealt with,” I informed the girls.
We left the topic at that and moved on to less interesting things such as ice baths and naps. When I was about to head off with my bag over my shoulder, Olivia halted me. “Alyssa, wait!” She jogged to my side and started walking with me. “Are you going to the party tonight?”
“Eh… I don’t think so.”
“What? Why? I know it’s not really your thing, but almost everyone on the team is going to be there,” she pointed out, brushing the stray brown strands out of her sweaty face.
Looking around me to confirm, the other girls nodded and started excitedly chatting about it, convincing me to go.
“Come on, cap! It’s gonna be so fun!”
“It’s the end of semester party. You can’t miss that!” Camilla joined in.
“Just come this once. We never get to hang out outside of soccer.” Olivia’s statement stood out, making me feel slightly guilty about the truth behind those words. I really haven’t been spending time with my girls. As team captain, that was unacceptable.
“Fine! Alright, I’ll come,” I gave in, receiving a chorus of cheers in return. Camilla jumped on my back in excitement, almost knocking me forward.
“Hell yes! I call first shots with Woods!” I internally groaned at the idea of burning alcohol sliding down my throat. Bleh.
We reached where Leah stood, and she joined my side on our journey to the parking lot amongst my teammates. I’ve gotta admit, it was a little strange seeing her in this environment, as it usually was when I mixed my two groups together. But Leah being Leah, she seemed to know everyone already, as everyone else obviously knew her.
Hayley drifted to her other side. “Hey, Leah! You going to the party tonight? You can join us!”
The dirty blonde looked unsure about the offer, as the two of us had originally made plans. “I wasn’t planning to go tonight…” she trailed off.
“Aww, even Alyssa is going to this one, and she never normally does.”
Leah looked to me in surprise, a curious glint in her eyes. I shrugged helplessly, almost as if to say it wasn’t my choice.
“Alright… If Lyssa is going, I might as well join the fun,” she said, trying to sound peppy.
The ginger bounced in excitement. “Cool! I can pick you up if you want.”
Leah smiled gratefully but declined. “Nah, it’s okay. I can ride with Lys.”
Hayley’s eyebrows rose as she looked to me but didn’t ask about it any further. “Okay.”
I realised then that most of these girls must have been surprised to see Leah waiting for me, since being in ‘that crowd’ wasn’t typical for me as I usually liked to keep my social circle small with close friends only. But what they didn’t know was that since meeting Leah, I’ve grown to be more open and forthcoming in that regard. And to be honest, it was a nice change.
Our group split up, going in different directions in the car park and promising we’ll meet up at the party tonight. As soon as they were out of earshot, Leah turned and looked at me strangely. “So… a party, huh? I thought you didn’t really like those.”
I scratched my head sheepishly. “Yeah, it usually isn’t, but I figured it’s the end of the sem, so I might as well celebrate. And besides, the last time we went together was pretty fun,” I recalled, smirking as the memories of that night flooded my mind. Our bodies close, sweat dripping down our skin, dancing against each other like no one was watching.
The same thought must have popped up in her mind because I saw her cheeks flush a faint pink as if reliving the sensual motions with clear vision. “Um,” she gulped, “looking forward to it.”
“You hot and bothered, babe?”
“You wish.
___________________
“My girlfriend is looking hot.”
“Stop it…”
“No, seriously! The outfit is bomb, but you, babe… I can’t stop looking at you,” Leah mumbled, looking me up and down with irrepressible desire.
Leah had let me borrow her black thigh-high dress that revealed a lot of my legs, paired with a leather jacket that, I’ve got to say, looked quite badass on me.
“Thanks, I guess. But Leah… my eyes are up here,” I teased.
“But those legs are looking so fine…” she trailed off, staring at my exposed tan legs that seemed to look longer with the heel boots I was wearing. “I could just imagine them wra-”
She cut herself off, embarrassed by her train of thought.
“Imagine them…” I prompted.
“Nothing,” the blonde quipped, quickly getting up from her bed and heading for her door. “Come on, the Uber is gonna be here soon.”
Her quick change of topic wasn’t lost on me, but she wasn’t the only one thinking the same dirty thoughts. If only she knew the images that were circling my mind… Maybe it could become a reality later into the night. Who knows?
Our boots loudly clomped down the wooden stairs. The noise attracted the attention of the adults who popped out of the living room to see us coming down. “Where are you girls headed?” Leah’s stepdad asked.
“A friend’s place,” Leah stated convincingly. To me at least. Leah’s mom had this look in her eyes that said she knew what was up.
“I have gone through this process two other times already with your two older siblings. Don’t think that I don’t know where you girls are actually going,” Diane warned.
I stood stock-still, unable to bring myself to respond. Leah, however, wasn’t as panicked as I would’ve imagined. “Technically, it’s true,” she said, tilting her head side to side.
“Mhmm.”
“We won’t be back too late, mom. Promise,” Leah said, slowly edging her way to the front door. I followed her lead, sending a bashful smile to the woman who only raised a brow, unimpressed.
“No later than midnight!”
“And take care of each other, girls!”
We escaped out the door, my legs instantly shivering as the exposed skin became bombarded by the cold. “Geez! Why did you choose a dress for me?” I whined.
Leah was comfortably in some skinny jeans and a crop top with a jean jacket over it. “I forgot about the cold,” she apologized, wrapping an arm around me to pull me closer as we made our way to the waiting uber.
“Y-your mom is surprisingly chill about this,” I mentioned, snuggling closer to her.
My girlfriend opened the car door to let me in. We plopped inside and greeted the driver before she answered. “I guess my mom trusts me to be safe and whatnot. She’s gone through this with Lena and Landon, so I guess she saw no pointing in trying to stop me.”
“Landon?” I asked.
“Oh, my brother.” She unconsciously smiled at the mention of him, almost in a fond manner. “He’s coming to visit in the holidays, so maybe you’ll get to meet him.”
“I’d love that,” I softly smiled, glad she wasn’t hesitant about me meeting the rest of her family. She doesn’t really talk about them much, so this was a rare occurrence. I could tell there were things she kept to herself, but I reminded myself that with time, she would open up.
“Does your mom know about us, by the way? Because I get the feeling that she does,” I noted, thinking back to when I arrived this afternoon and how she looked between me and Leah weirdly when my girlfriend said we were hanging out in her room.
Leah hesitated. “She… probably does.” I pursed my lips, not knowing what to think. “She would be fine with us being together though. You’re not my first girlfriend,” she mentioned, trying to put my mind at ease.
I raised my eyebrows at that. “Really, now. How many girlfriends have you had before me?”
Her hazel eyes widened in panic from suddenly being put on the spot. “Uh… you know… just two.” I hummed, unimpressed. “Babe, my exes don’t matter anymore. They’re in the past.”
I kept a straight face, giving her a few more seconds to squirm before I leaned forward to kiss her cheek. “Very true. And your mom finding out is natural, I’m just gonna be a little nervous around her, now that she knows. Like, does she even like me?”
“Lys, she would’ve kicked you out of the house instead of letting you stay the night if she didn’t like you.”
“Also, very true.”
We arrived at the party ten minutes later, thanking the driver and stepping out. The house was way bigger than the one we went to last time, with a very modern and urbanistic style to its architecture. With mostly glass windows and concrete walls, it definitely was one of the fancier houses in town.
I whistled, impressed. “Whose house is this?”
“I think Danielle’s. I remember she lived somewhere around here.”
“I kind of want to tour the place instead…”
As we entered the house, the noise level raised to almost an unbearable amount as the music pulsed around the house, with the addition of teenagers chatting over each other and drunk yelling going all around. Leah took my hand and started making her way to what I’m guessing were the drinks, holding it tight so she wouldn’t lose me.
Entering the as equally modernistic kitchen, I spotted the rows and rows of drinks ready for the guest’s consumption. It must’ve looked like heaven for some of these adolescents.
Suddenly, a weight crashed into me that made me almost fall over. “Aly! You actually came!” the girl exclaimed. I had let go of Leah’s hand to steady the person who jumped on me, realising it was Camilla only after she stepped away.
“Cam, you bulldozer,” I laughed.
“Let’s take those shots,” she hopped excitedly. I could tell she had already had a drink or two as her hyper self went to grab shot glasses and liquor.
“Oh, boy.”
I pulled Leah with me to the counter, waiting for our drinks. Camilla held out a shot each for us and picked up her own. “Alright, bottoms up.” We threw it back together, the liquid burning a trail of fire down my oesophagus. I scrunched up my face at the burn, slowly feeling my insides rise in temperature.
“Bleh.”
Camilla put her glass down and started pulling me by the hand. “Come on! The others are dancing right now. Let’s go!”
With that, she excitedly pulled me away as Leah chuckled. “I’ll catch up,” she yelled over the noise, pointing to her friends in the corner. Nodding in acknowledgement, I let Camilla lead me away.
We soon got to the spacious living room filled with dancing bodies and couches pushed to the sides. I spotted my teammates in the middle of the makeshift dance floor dancing their hearts out, with some of them even grinding on other eager dancers nearby. We made it to them after a lot of contact and budging, joining the circle my friends had made in the centre.
“Yo, Aly! You made it!” Lindsey yelled.
“I call next shot with cap!” Hayley announced.
“Why do you guys want me drunk?” I groaned.
“Because you never come out with us,” Olivia supplied, slipping next to me. “And I kinda want to see you drunk, ” she grinned cheekily.
I rolled my eyes at them but started swaying to the beat, my shoulders and hips moving to the rhythm beating through my body. I started singing the lyrics to the pop song along with my friends, the alcohol already working its magic in making me weirdly confident and carefree. Jumping around and bopping to the songs, I had to admit that these things were fun once in a while.
Camilla was enthusiastically screaming the lyrics at my face. Hayley was flailing her limbs around in the air and Lindsey was grinding up against some guy from school. Olivia was the only one who was semi-normal, laughing hysterically at Hayley's dance moves with me. After the second song had ended, she turned and started dancing with me. I couldn’t help but notice that her movements were a lot more sensual than before, with hands running through hair, hips swaying sexily and eyes often meeting mine.
In my muddled brain, I thought I saw her inch closer and closer, feeling her hand brush against my skin, but I couldn’t be sure. I pulled away when I realised her body was a lot closer than I should’ve let it, a tinge of guilt sparking in my conscious.
“Um, ahh... I think I’m gonna take a rest from dancing for a bit,” I excused, pointing somewhere random behind me, trying to get myself out of this situation.
“Oh, I’ll come with you! I know a good place we can hang out, I’ve been here with Danielle before.” Without waiting for a reply, she got a hold of my hand and started swerving through the crowd towards the staircase to the side.
“Liv, wait- I don’t think I should-” I tried to protest, but my voice was lost to the music. I wanted to tug my hand out of hers but thought that might be rude. I mean, friends held hands, right? We're just two friends holding hands. Totally normal.
As she was pulling me up the staircase with her, with my slow brain not able to come up with anything to get out of this, I heard the one voice I had been missing call my name.
Turning around with a smile and seeing my girlfriend, it soon faded as I realised with clarity how this must've looked.
Held hands. Going up the stairs. Nothing but rooms up there.