"OH, COME ON, SHOOT THAT BALL!" Gael yells at the top of her lungs, leaning forward against the railing.

It's currently 0-1, the Pinehill Academy winning. We're so close to halftime, yet we haven't scored a goal. Pinehill isn't even a good soccer team. We've defeated them a lot, but today, however, hasn't been it.

Rowan shakes her head stiffly. "This is a hard game to watch."

My eyes are on Jonah as he merely stands there with no emotion on his face whatsoever. He hasn't been giving his full potential today, and that's honestly part of the reason we're not doing so great. I can see the annoyance on James's face, and I can tell he's pissed off at Jonah.

"Come on, Whitlock, do some magic here!" a Greyson High spectator shouts from the bleachers.

Xiao jogs up to Jonah, hands on his hips, with a face that's beyond displeased. When Jonah looks away, Xiao maintains eye contact. His mannerism is like a dad scolding his son. I almost want to laugh, but right now, it's not the time. We're about to lose to a school that we've never lost to, all because our star player isn't in a good mood. With a shake of his head, Xiao leaves Jonah alone.

"I guess they're gonna have to score themselves," Maisie mutters.

Phoebe crosses her arms. "Good. They've been relying on Jonah way too much recently."

Pinehill attempts to score on us, but Milo's quick reflexes block the attempt, catching the ball. He sends it to his brother. Hugo's in control of the ball, and he runs as fast as he can across the field. When Pinehill's players surround him, he kicks the ball over to James, who makes a breakaway.

"Come on, come on, come on," I mumble, my fists drumming the metal railing.

Everyone attentively stares as my brother storms through the defense and takes the kick, letting it fly into a corner. With satisfaction, we all watch the ball hit the back of the net, earning Greyson High a point against Pinehill. James jumps up while everyone else on the team runs up to body him.

"WOO!" Phoebe screams and jumps. She settles and glances at us with a smile. "See? They just have to stop relying on JJ too much."

"Or maybe he just needs to get over himself and actually do something," Sierra mumbles. "If he's not going to play, then get him off the field."

"That's a bit harsh, don't you think?"

I turn around at the sound of his voice. Theo Nicholson. His blond hair nearly touches his green eyes. He's wearing his Camber hoodie, but he makes it look like it's a luxury brand. His eyes are on me, and his lips are stretched into a smile.

"Hey, Fi," he says, hands in his pockets.

I smile back, half-heartedly, however. "Hi."

"Your team seems to be losing the spark," he briefly looks at the field. "What happened to Whitlock?"

I shrug and frown. "He's not himself."

"I hope it gets better," he says. "I don't want to compete against him when he's not giving his full potential. That would be a pretty lame game. Then again, every game with Whitlock tends to be...not worth it."

I cock my head to the side. "I'm sorry?"

"Some of the boys are talking, and it seems that Whitlock is some sort of nepotism baby when it comes to soccer here," he glances at Jonah venomously. "That's why he's been MVP two years in a row and always gets these honorary mentions."

I narrow my eyes at him. "I thought you liked Jonah."

"He's a good player, I'm sure," Theo goes on. "But not good enough to be receiving those titles."

"And who do you think should?"

He grins rather greedily. "Me, of course."

I cross my arms. "And what if Jonah's been getting those titles because he is a really good player?"

"Then everyone is blind," Theo's smile widens.

This is ridiculous. I didn't think Theo would be this egotistical. Okay, maybe I'm biased, but Theo has no right to be accusing Jonah of this. It's not Jonah's fault that these mentions and titles go to him. Theo gets some himself—isn't that enough?

He smiles again. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to drag Whitlock like that. I'll see you later, yes?"

"Mm," I look away, pissed.

After he leaves, another flash of golden hair enters my vision. From the corner of my eye, I see Caryn making her way through the thick crowd of spectators. She's got two drinks in her hand: a Gatorade bottle and a rainbow frappe. Her shades are resting perfectly on the bridge of her nose, and she reminds me so much of Sharpay Evans.

"Hey, guys," she beams, stopping in her tracks.

Maisie grins back. "Oh, hey. What are the drinks for?"

She shrugs. "I'm just delivering the power drink to Jo. He needs it."

Next to me, I hear Sierra mutter, "As if he's been working his a*s off today."

I kick her leg.

I couldn't see Caryn's eyes through the dark lens of her sunglasses, but her face angles towards me. "Hey, Fi? Would you do me a favor and move my shades on my forehead?"

"Oh," I turn my body to fully face her. "Sure." After I carefully do what she asks, her green eyes light up.

"OH MY GOSH, THERE GOES HIS BREAKWAY!" she screams, wiggling in between me and Rowan. I follow her gaze to see Jonah with the ball in front of him. His gaze is fixed on both his footwork and the net—and the determination on his face is burning. It's like he's got his spark again with the way no one's able to even touch him. Then he kicks the ball, letting it fly and reaching the upper corner of the goal.

Xiao runs and jumps on Jonah, lingering on the blondie's body like a koala hugging a tree. Everyone else just surrounds him with a roar, a bunch of bright smiles on their faces. The entire Greyson High section starts cheering on the top of their lungs, myself included.

"Okay," Sierra hums, "so he switched up."

"I wonder why," I subconsciously mutter.

Caryn giggles before averting her gaze back to us, "All right, well, I have to go deliver Jo's drink. See you girls!"

I catch Theo's eye from behind Caryn, and he winks at me before pulling his phone out. After a few seconds pass, he looks up at me again before putting his phone back in his back pocket. I take mine out, seeing the notification pop up on my screen.

Theo: Tell Whitlock that I'm looking forward to our match on Thursday.

Fi: So, you take back what you said?

From the corner of my eye, I see him unlocking his phone and texting back.

Theo: I still think I'm better.

Fi: Pfft.

Theo: I'll let the game change your mind. ;)

A victory meant dinner at Sonny's. Here I am sitting at the big booth with the friend group plus some of the other Greyson players. I haven't had the chance to break the tension and say congrats to Jonah, and I probably won't even do it anyway with this distance between us—and Carlisle. He's all the way on the other end with Carlisle, talking to his teammates.

"Psst," Gael pushes a plate of waffles to me. "Can you do your magic?"

I look from the plate to her face. "Gael, it's not rocket science."

"I know, but every time I do it, it doesn't taste right" she says, jutting her bottom lip out.

Xiao cocks an eyebrow. "Or maybe you just have bad luck."

"I'll make sure to give the bill to you."

"Doesn't matter—I can cover it."

"Smug-a*s."

"Ooh, you kiss Hugo with that mouth?"

Hugo glances at his girlfriend, and they both exchange a knowing look.

Xiao fake gags, "Gross. Hugo, that's my cousin."

Gale scowls. "That?"

"Yes."

She rolls her eyes before looking back at me. "Please?"

"Fine," I say, grabbing the whip cream provided by the staff and making a swirl on the waffles. Then I take the chocolate syrup—also provided by the staff—and drizzle it on the whip cream. I push the plate back to Gael. "You're welcome."

Her eyes brighten up. "Yay! Thank you!"

"Fi?" Hugo asks me, resting an arm on the chair Gael's sitting on, "have you spoken to Jonah at all since...?"

Gael peers up at me through her lashes, expecting an answer too.

I shake my head, lips tight. It's been four days since Xiao's Halloween party, and at school, Jonah and I never interacted. Not once. He didn't even look at me or acknowledged my presence during lunch. I didn't see him at lunch yesterday or today.

Hugo's shoulders drop. "He's not the same you know. I can see it. We all can see it. He's been acting weird and it's not the good kind."

Xiao rolls his eyes. "It pisses me off. What did you do to my boy, Ophelia?"

I cross my arms. "It's been messy, okay? And get over it. This whole Jophelia thing is just a pipe dream. I can't believe I even thought it could happen when it never will."

"That's not true," Gael says, frowning. "Maybe—"

"Oh, come on, Gael, look at him and look at me," I fight the tears in my eyes. "He wants nothing to do with me, and there's nothing I can do about that."

She sneaks a glance at him, and he's beaming while laughing at something one of his teammates said. Caryn's giggles follow, and it sounds like a screech instead.

Milo leans back against his chair. "I have an idea."

"What?" I ask.

"Go after Nicholson."

Xiao chokes on his water. "Okay, what the hell, man?"

"What? I'm just proposing the idea," Milo says, holding up his hands.

Hugo covers his eyes with his hand and sighs. "You know, Milo? You say some of the dumbest sh*t."

"No, yeah, that would piss Jonah off big time," Gael tells Milo, giving him a look that said, What is WRONG with you? That glance practically shut him up and continue eating.

Milo rolls his eyes like we're all dumb. "Which is the point because that's the only way Fi would get his whole attention."

"No way in hell am I going for Theo only to get Jonah's attention," I shake my head. That's just weird. Theo's cool and all, but wouldn't that be pretty low of me to just pull that stunt?

I glance at the soccer star sitting away from us. His lips stretch to show off a smile, a soft chuckle following. Gosh, I miss hearing his real laugh. Especially when the joke is so good he falls off whatever surface he's sitting on and ends up clutching his stomach on the floor.

"He likes you, you know," Xiao says.

I whip my head back at him. "Who?"

He rolls his eyes, "Nicholson, you stale piece of bread. My word, it's no wonder you and Jonah aren't together—you're blinder than my uncle born without eyes."

"How is Uncle Gabe?" Gael asks, twirling a fork in her hands like she's planning on removing Xiao's own eyes.

Xiao shrugs. "Still blind."

I let out a big sigh, "Okay, first of all, since when did you have an uncle without eyes? And second, stop insulting my vision."

It feels like everyone is staring at me like, Yeah, sure.

"Ophelia," Milo says, "how do you know Jonah isn't hanging around with Caryn to make you jealous?"

Everyone who heard him grew quiet. A blanket of tension rests on my shoulders like my heavy backpack full of the five million books a high schooler could need. How do you know Jonah isn't hanging around with Caryn to make you jealous? Obviously, I had thought about it.

"Because he doesn't look my way after every single thing he does or says to Caryn. He doesn't act as if he wishes I'm watching them. I just know, Milo. And I'd appreciate it if you all stop talking or asking me about Jonah," I say before taking a big sip of my cold water.

Our table grows silent until Milo clears his throat. "You should text Theo tonight. I saw him talking to you during our game. He looks at you like he wants that cookie really bad."

I almost choke on my water.

Hugo shakes his head disapprovingly, "So instead of watching the ball when we're on the verge of losing, you're watching Nicholson converse with Fi? Some goalie."

"Hey, be thankful that I trust my boys on defense," Milo points a condescending finger at his younger brother before turning back to me. "What was Whitlock 2.0 saying to you?"

I merely blink at him before looking around. "Okay, why are you suddenly so interested in my life? Where is your BFF, Leon?"

He sighs heavily before shrinking in his seat. "He's with his club team in Barcelona. I miss my bro."

James points at himself. "What about me?"

Milo ignores my brother. "Well...."

"Guys, are you spending the night here or what?"

We all look up to see Jonah at the end of our table with Caryn right beside him. He looks at everyone but me, with a confused look in his eye. We all glance at each other, realizing that everyone else has left except for us. Oops.

As we each slide out of the booth, Milo spares Jonah a glance before turning to me to say, "So, are you gonna call good-looking Nicholson tonight, or what?"

Jonah's icy blue eyes meet mine, and I notice the veins in his neck as his jaw clenches.