Location: Field alongside the soccer field
To: Griffin and Kanari
The crowd roared and swelled with excitement when passes were made, when the ball was dribbled down the field by a certain blond-haired soccer star, when successful plays were made and points were scored. Somewhere off to her left, feet pounded the metal floors of the stands, and soccer fans screeched their adoration loud enough for the entire university to hear. It seemed like exhausting work, and something Sera Pierce prefered not to participate in. She was completely content lounging on the grassy hill near the field, a pair of headphones tossed lazily over her ears and blaring a dirty techno mix to drown out the unnecessary noise on her side while she watched the game. It was the start of spring, the start of her second semester in college, and Sera found herself... at a completely different university than the one she attended, watching her old friend's third soccer game of the season.
Tyler was impressive on the field - she wasn't surprised, he'd been the same way in High School. But he hadn't gotten any better at taking shots. So when, across the field, Sera noticed the coach gesturing for him to prepare for their game-ending kick, the pink-and-purple haired girl nearly ripped her already damaged headphones clean from the kindle in her haste to stand up. She wanted to shout at him not to take it, to pass it off for someone else, but of course Sera didn't. Shouting at a player in the middle of a game was practically sin. Moreover, Tyler hadn't even known she'd be attending this game, and for simplicity sake she wanted to keep it that way. So, with an aggravated sigh, Sera clamped her mouth shut and watched him take that final shot. The horn blew, the ball blocked, the game lost. It pissed her off. Sure this had only been their third game, but one could only assume they'd been practicing for weeks before their season actually started. How had their coach not discovered Tyler's weakness for taking shots by now? It had been poor planning and decision-making on the coach's part that destroyed their chance of winning. And now Tyler would have to face blame for losing the game, and that irritated her.
"
Freaking idiot, this is why I don't play on sports teams..." Sighing heavily, Sera spilled back onto the ground, finally surveying the damage done to her abused headphones. One of the wires had snapped and she could easily bet this had been the final blow to strike them down. Oh, well. They were shitty headphones anyway. Heaving another sigh, Sera gathered up her previously cracked kindle and placed it back into its case, which was promptly dumped in a cherry-blossom printed bag along with a sketchbook and her drawing pencils. She tossed the bag over one shoulder and gathered up her remaining junk - the broken headphones, which she needed to find a trashcan for, and the box of strawberry dipped pocky she'd been munching on during the game. She stole a glance toward the soccer field, long enough to see Tyler trudging off toward the locker rooms, one particularly distasteful girl clinging to his side, and dispelled a noise of mild disgust before marching down the hill and toward the main campus center.
Sera was just reaching a trash can near the sports field exist when one familiar voice called out from behind. Griffin. It'd been a few weeks since the two had seen each other - that's what happened when friends went to different schools, and particularly when awkward situations between mutual friends occurred. The last time Sera had seen Griffin was at Tyler's last college party weeks ago, an event she preferred not to think about much. The two of them stayed in contact through text since her and Tyler's subtle falling out, to avoid awkward situations. Griffin had actually been the reason she showed up to see Tyler's game today. He'd texted her a few nights before with the season schedule, and as it happened, the second semester at her school didn't start for another week. So she decided to come and watch, even if she planned on avoiding their blond-haired friend for the day. Sera planned to catch lunch with Griffin before heading home, which worked out perfectly because she felt starved just then.
"
Hey, does your school have any good sushi bars? I could really go for some dragon rolls and pork gyoza..." Sera turned from the trash can, headphones discarded, and caught sight of Griffin... a small girl following behind him. "
Kana?" Sera was familiar with his little sister. When they had been younger, Sera, Griffin and Tyler had crashed at each other's houses often. Kanari was usually the plus-one, clinging to her brother's leg, scared of being alone. Sera loved the girl practically like her own little sister. But she'd been kind of looking forward to catching up with Griffin today, just the two of them, like they had planned.
"
I hate to do this but I have to 'go to the bathroom' and can you please watch Kanari for me for a second?" were the first words out of his mouth. Sera laughed, suddenly feeling very set up, as he thrust little Kanari onto her and took off for a place she assumed wasn't actually the bathrooms. Knowing him, Sera wasn't all that surprised that she'd been roped into babysitting. He'd done this to her a couple times in the past, so by now she wasn't all that uncomfortable watching Kanari, and she accepted it without much resistance.
"
FINE! BUT YOU OWE ME SUSHI WHEN YOU GET BACK!" She yelled to his quickly disappearing figure, huffing an over-dramatic sigh before looking down at little Kanari. "
Hey sweet thing, long time no see. How have you been? Want some pockey?" Sera took two sticks out for herself and offered the rest of the box to Kanari, and began walking her toward the center of campus, acutely aware of how close they still were to the sports field and the locker rooms. It would be best, she kept telling herself, not to run into Tyler here. They hadn't talked much the last few months, not since he'd gotten with his current girlfriend and started drifting. Running into him here, especially at the risk of his girlfriend's added company, wasn't a proper place or time to fix things between them... which she'd been meaning to do for weeks but hadn't quite figured out how to, yet. Or so she told herself, because truth was, other reasons kept her from being the one to break the ice and fix things.
"
Hey, I took your advice and put some pink in my hair. The blue was getting old. I actually like it more than I expected." Sera returned her attention to Kanari as they walked, dispelling her other troubles for a later date. They were coming close to the campus square now, which was sparsely populated by other students and empty benches under the shade. She wondered how far Griffin dragged the young girl around before finding Sera and figured sitting was a good option while they waited for him to return from the "bathroom".
