3. Mayson
Mayson
“ T hat was fucking weird,” my teammate Anja murmurs.
“Not really, that’s just Colin.”
I feel his eyes on me throughout the night, and I’m just waiting for him to pounce. I’m trying not to drink too much because I have to stay alert around him. But when the drinks start to hit me a little harder than I expect, I wonder if I didn’t eat enough.
I can’t even remember what I ate today.
The room is spinning.
Where did my friends go? I swear I was staying next to them and they wouldn’t just leave me.
God, my head feels horrible; I swear I didn’t drink that much. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this drunk before in my entire life. This is awful.
I lose my balance because suddenly I feel like my legs don’t work. My instant thought is that I’m not going to be able to play soccer anymore if I can’t use my legs .
“You’ll be able to play soccer,” a deep voice says, and I didn’t even realize I spoke.
I recognize the stupid voice as Colin, but he sounds so far away.
My vision is so blurry I can hardly make out his stupid attractive face.
I hate that he’s good looking because it would make hating him a lot easier if my body got on board.
Instead, physically I want him when the rest of me wants to punch him in the face.
“I knew you thought I was hot,” he says with a laugh.
I can’t believe I said that out loud as well, I’m just going to clamp my mouth shut. I try to do just that, but he laughs again, and I swear I’m being taken somewhere. I can’t ask where because my mouth is shut and I don’t know how to unstick my lips together.
My back hits a bed, and the room around me continues to spin. I’m able to open my mouth again because a tiny piece of self preservation finally kicks in. I’m unable to form any words so I just start to scream.
A hand clamps over my mouth and I try to thrash, but my entire body feels heavy and weak. I can barely even lift my arm to hit the dark figure looming over me. I don’t even get to make contact with any part of him before my limb falls onto the bed.
“No one is going to come save you, but don’t worry I’m not going to hurt you,” Colin pauses before adding, “yet.”
I squeak out a protest that gets lost behind his heavy hand over my mouth, while my head spins.
“Welcome to Hell. I’ve been waiting for you to join me.” He threatens darkly.
His hand slips away from my mouth, and his body moves further away. I’m unable to move, speak, or do anything. I think I see some light as he exits the room, but I’m passed out before he even shuts the door behind him.
When I wake up I have the hangover from hell.
This isn’t like anything I’ve ever felt before.
My head is pounding and even the small amount of light shining into the unfamiliar room has me slamming my eyes shut once again.
A groan tries to escape my throat, but it feels like I swallowed a bunch of knives.
My entire body feels heavy, but at least I’m able to move, kind of.
As I’m trying to get myself oriented, a loud banging starts and it only gets closer. The door swings open, and Colin is hitting a pan with a wooden spoon. I cover my ears from the piercing sound, wanting to scream, but I feel like my throat will actually slice open if I do.
“Get up, sleepyhead!” he yells, and then continues the banging.
“Fucking stop!” I finally manage to yell, and crack my eyes open a bit more to see he’s standing there with that stupid smirk on his face.
Oh god, he’s shirtless, revealing his tanned, toned chest from the constant work outs. His basketball shorts hang low on his hips and that single silver chain he wears is dangling around his neck.
“Don’t worry, babe, you’ll get lots of time to ogle me now that you live here, but you gotta get up.” He leaves before I have time to process what he just said.
When it finally hits me, I’m rushing out of the bed I was in, tripping over the sheets. I do my best to ignore the way my head feels like it’s going to cave in on itself as I chase after him.
Colin is in the kitchen, shaking up his protein shake like he does every morning. I am always fascinated by the way his arm muscles bulge, and how the veins pop under his skin. He flicks the lid open, and takes a big swig from the drink, his eyes on me, and an eyebrow raised .
I fold my arms across my chest, which is when I notice I’m not in the clothes I was wearing last night. I’m in one of his soccer jerseys.
“What the fuck am I wearing?” I screech. “You undressed me?”
He just looks at me, the side of his mouth pulled up.
“Colin, I swear to fucking god. Why am I in your house and in your stupid jersey.” I pluck the fabric away from my body like it’s going to burn me.
That’s when I realize I’m only wearing underwear and my bra underneath it so my options right now are this or being practically naked in front of my stepbrother.
He leans on the counter separating us, and I can’t help but stare at those stupid arms of his. Everything of his is stupid.
Hot, but stupid.
“You’re in our house, and in my jersey.”
I scoff, “This isn’t our house. My mom said as long as I stayed out of trouble I got to stay on my own.”
“Yeah, well that’s over,” he says, suddenly serious.
“I haven’t done anything to get in trouble, what do you mean?”
He doesn’t say anything, just pulls his phone out, and comes toward me, showing me his screen. “Press play.”
I really don’t want to because I’m worried about what I’m about to see. But the frozen image on the screen is very clearly me from last night, with Colin holding me up. I press play, and watch, horrified as my practically limp body is carried by him into another room.
“You were drugged last night, I’d say that’s some trouble,” he tells me seriously.
“Who the fuck drugged me?” I cry out, though it does make sense. I didn’t think I drank that much, and even when I have been drunk, it’s never felt like that .
He shrugs. “Doesn’t matter, but what does is that the second I show this to dear old mom and dad, they’re going to want you right here with me. I just beat them to it.”
“You’re not showing them.”
“Aren’t I? You have no say. Either I show them, and you move in here, or I don’t show them, but you move in here.”
I grumble about what an asshole he is.
“You can be pissed about it, but it’s not going to change anything. Welcome home.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“You know exactly why. I have to go work out. You better still be here when I get back, and if you’re not I’m going to get you and bring you back.”
“You can’t make me.”
“Watch me.”
I’m warming up with my teammate Maeghen, kicking the ball back and forth while we wait for our drill to start.
“You good?” she asks, passing the ball back to me.
I stop it, kicking it up, bouncing it on the top of my foot, then onto my knee before letting it fall back onto the grass. “I fucking hate the stupid Red Card Rites.” I kick the ball a little harder than necessary.
“Sh,” she shushes me, looking around to make sure no one heard.
I roll my eyes, yeah the first rule of the Rites is to not talk about the Rites, or something like that. We don’t actually know the rules because it’s totally misogynistic and run by the guys while we’re just supposed to take it. Well, fuck that.
“Colin thinks I’m going to move in with him just so I can be his hostage for whatever he has planned for me.”
She grimaces. “Just don’t move in then.”
“Yeah, I have a feeling he’s not exactly going to give me an option.”
I leave out the part about me being drugged last night because I don’t need to be spreading that around campus and getting everyone worried. Plus, if it came back that it happened at Colin’s, I’m sure there would be even more issues and he would know it was me that told.
It’s like I can’t win in anything other than soccer lately.
“Anything happen to you lately?” I ask, passing the ball back.
She shakes her head. “Doesn’t mean I’m in the clear, though.”
It’s true, not everyone gets picked because the guys have the option to opt out, but usually only if they’re in a serious relationship. Though, I’m not sure how many of the guys actually choose not to participate. This is basically considered the men’s team World Cup of Northgate.
“Alright, ladies, line up,” Coach Carmichael calls out.
After practice we’re all in the locker room changing and I overhear some of the girls talking about what the guys have done so far. Petty, stupid things, but I know it’s only going to escalate. It always does. Every year we hear and see what happens.
Then there’s Halloween.
I know one thing and it’s that I’m not going to take any of this lying down. I’m going to fight back. Whether it’s Colin or not, since he’s so hellbent on making my life miserable, especially now, he’s going to have to deal with me serving it right back.
Something tells me my teammates are all going to agree that it’s time to turn the tables. The guys aren’t the only ones that get to have the fun.