/Samantha/
I couldn't wait for the football season to be done with. It felt like I was in a state of constant worry about him from the beginning to the end of the season, but he didn't seem to comprehend it at all. The sooner it was over and done with, in my perspective, the better. I hated to watch him suffer when he moved or be covered in bruises after a brutal tackle, so the sooner it was over and done with, the better. Aside from that, though, we had been living together for exactly two weeks at that point, and other than that, life could not have been more ideal. Being Mrs. Henry Williams was truly like being in a dream all of the time.
It was Friday, and I was getting increasingly anxious about the upcoming weekend. The weekend before last, my mother, his parents, and I all came over to paint, which prevented us from being able to simply hang out and enjoy time together.
This last weekend, we had the option to do whatever we pleased, including lounging about in our pajamas and eating ice cream till it came out of our ears. Because Henry had been so dedicated to his training all week, he deserved to be pampered over the course of the weekend, and that was exactly what I planned to do for him. I was prepared to give him a lot of massages and take him for bubble baths because I knew he would appreciate them.
We only needed to make it through one more practice without him getting harmed too badly, and then we would be able to start enjoying our weekend. I gave his lips one more kiss and then skipped off in the direction of the library, oblivious to the wolf whistle that he blew after I had already left. I looked back over my shoulder as I pushed the door open and saw him standing there at the other end of the hallway with his hand on the door, making sure I went in okay before he went to practice. I grinned to myself and pushed the door open.
"Go." I made a serious face and pointed my mouth toward the door while trying to sound authoritative.
He gave me a grin and mouthed the words "I'm going" as he stood there waiting for me to enter the building. Even though he was still being ridiculously overprotective, the fact that it made him feel better prevented me from continuing to complain about it.
He was still being ridiculously overprotective. I had to keep my mouth closed because his smirk and eyebrow rise were giving off such a seductive vibe. I was counting down the remaining minutes till the start of the weekend, and I couldn't wait for it to arrive. I heaved a sigh and started walking in, well aware that he was going to wait outside until I came in, at which point I decided it was best to just give up and let him win.
As soon as I went in, Mrs. Sing greeted me with a friendly smile. "Hi Samantha."
"Hey, what exactly am I going to do with today?" When I inquired, I was staring at the pile of books that had been returned and were sitting there, getting ready to be put away.
She gave me a friendly smile and nodded, saying, "Returns if that's okay with you." She gave me an embarrassed look, but to tell the truth, I found it pretty enjoyable in a nerdy sort of way to be a bookworm. I was thankful for anything that I could do because it was much preferable to waiting outside in the cold and listening to Henry get yelled at and knocked to the ground.
I placed them in the appropriate locations, taking my time with the task in case she didn't have anything else for me to do and dispatched me to the field or something like that. I loaded them onto a trolley first. A few minutes before four o'clock, I was unable to prolong the suspense any further, so I made my way over to the desk and looked at her eagerly.
"Is there anything else that has to be done?" I inquired while frantically hunting for work opportunities.
"In point of fact, I have a lot of orders that have been placed by students, and I need to place those orders with the main library. Would you be willing to help me out by doing that?" She did this while simultaneously pulling up another chair next to me and turning on the laptop.
I let out a sigh of relief and strolled up to the desk, where I took a seat in the chair next to her and began filling out the form for the requests. After around five minutes, the phone in the library began to ring. She answered it with a smile, and I made an effort not to listen to what she was saying while she was talking, but I couldn't help it because she was sitting next to me.
Something to the effect that an order that she had made was over budget, but she was adamant that she had checked it and that it was within the limit that had been assigned to her. After some deliberation, she decided that the best way to resolve the issue was to meet with the principal in person rather than discuss it over the phone.
She sent an embarrassed glance in my direction "I'm sorry, Samantha, but because of concerns for your wellbeing, I can't just leave you in here alone yourself. Since it is already after school hours, the institution would be in a lot of trouble if you were to fall and damage yourself without anyone else being present to help you."
I grumbled to myself silently but managed to keep a brave face as I agreed and pointed out that there were only twenty minutes of practice left at this point, so at least I wouldn't have to watch for that long. It's alright, I'll go check on Henry and see how he's doing." I gave a shrug and reluctantly pushed myself up from the chair before getting my backpack from the floor.
"Have a lovely weekend Have you thought about making any plans, Samantha?" She asked me this as she grabbed her bag, turned off the lights, and followed me out of the library before closing the door behind her.
I gave a cheery smile and replied, "Nope, and it's going to be amazing."
She smiled and rolled her eyes as she chuckled "Young love, those were the days that I remember. Because the honeymoon phase of a relationship doesn't continue forever, you have to make the most of it while you still can."
"I know, but whatever stage follows after that will be great too," I chuckled to myself as I smiled. I gave her a giggle before skipping off in the direction of the parking lot, and she turned around to proceed in the opposite direction, towards the principal's office.
When I first stepped outside, my eyes had to adapt because the sunlight was significantly stronger than the dim lighting in the library. I got out of my car and started walking through the parking lot in the direction of the school field which was located on the opposite side. I turned around after hearing footsteps approaching from behind me, and I couldn't help but wonder who on earth could be in this location at this hour of the day.
In most cases, the entire school departed from this location as quickly as was humanly feasible; no one ever lingered afterward unless there was a club or sport that they were participating in. I quickly scanned the parking lot to see if anyone was there, but there was nobody there; the place was completely empty. Although I was fully aware that I was acting foolishly, I was unable to prevent my heart from racing as I made a U-turn and started walking more quickly towards the direction of the field.
Suddenly, someone grabbed me from behind, wrapping their arm around my waist and placing their hand over my mouth to stifle the scream that came out of my mouth.
The exercise was finally over when the coach blew the whistle to mark its conclusion. I gave a grateful smile and rubbed my aching hands together while wiping off the dirt that had gotten on my hands during the most recent tackle I had taken. Because Coach Bradley wanted to go through all of our plays, I was fortunate enough to be volunteered to play the other team for the majority of them. As a result, I had spent a significant portion of the previous hour and a half trying to get myself up off the floor. I silently thanked God that Samantha was safe and sound inside since she would have been losing her mind if she had been outside throughout that ordeal.
I guess it was necessary for Coach to push us to our limits because the next Saturday was the championship game for the state, and we wanted to win. If none of us got hurt in the week leading up to the game, then we should be able to cruise to an easy victory and it was something that meant a lot to the entire school, not just the players, and I was pretty sure we were ready for it.
As I was walking in to take a shower, Coach Bradley motioned for me to come over. Since I was a little bit behind the rest of the team, he took advantage of the opportunity to talk to me in private.
As I approached him, he flashed a grin. "Great practice, Henry; I just need you to keep an eye on Andy; he's still lacking in confidence, and I need him to be at the top of his game in preparation for Saturday." He did so while looking at me with an optimistic expression on his face.
"I'll discuss it with him; don't worry, Coach; everything is going to work out. It shouldn't be too difficult at all." I made a dismissive motion with my hand and added, "We most certainly had the better team, and our record this season was unrelenting, which would have The Crows afraid of us ready for the match the next week."