What do you know? I managed to complete and put out another chapter before it's officially 2023. Hope you all had a wonderful holiday season.

Marcus let out a huge yawn as he gently rubbed his eyes, before entering the school. After a couple days of being able to sleep in a little, he was caught a little off guard with having to get up early again for the new school week. It’s completely unfair how the weekend is so close to the weekdays while the weekdays are somehow far away from the weekend. He shook his head to clear his thoughts on this injustice and figured he would relax a little before school.

“Hey! Rainbows!”

Marcus immediately turned in the direction of the excited and even flirty sounding voice, only to almost gag instinctively. In the distance was perhaps…. No, the most disgusting human being he has ever seen. In front of him was a blue skinned male with poorly groomed and incredibly greasy dirty blonde hair in a terrible looking bun. He was also wearing a cheap looking sweater vest that only made him look more like a greased up hobo. On his feet were torn up flats with countless holes, revealing dirty stained black socks. Marcus instinctively squeezed his nose, only to still smell a foul odor coming from him walking past and Marcus didn’t know if he was imagining it or not, but there might have even been a group of flies flying after him. Despite being completely disgusted and flabbergasted by the person he just saw, he was curious and decided to see where he was going.

“Come on, Rainbows! I just saw you around here and I am in no mood for your game of playing hard to get!”

Marcus noticed everyone else watching this strange and disgusted man with mixed reactions. The girls seemed to look at him with pure disgust and annoyance while the guys’ reactions were mixed among themselves. Some looked at him in pure amusement as if they were about to experience an entertaining show while others simply shook their heads.

“I know you’re hiding around here, Rainbows. Come on out, so we can finally start dating,” He spoke once again while rubbing his messy hair with a smirk.

Marcus and everyone else could hear a loud and annoyed groan from a nearby garbage can. The hobo looking man immediately grinned and moved behind the can.

“There you are, Rainbows, looking even more awesome than usual and I didn’t think that was possible,” He flirted with a grin and wink.

Rainbow with a disgusted scowl on her face could only once again groan in pure aggravation. She was sitting down in a hiding position and instead of her usual outfit, she was wearing matching rainbow styled sweatpants and sweatshirt. Her hair was in a long ponytail with a rainbow scrunchie and on her feet were matching Rainbow and white tennis shoes.

“Zephyr,” She finally began, sounding completely disgusted and annoyed, “How many times do I have to tell you I am not interested in you?”

“Rainbows, how many times must you play hard to get, before you admit you have always loved me and we can finally become the best couple in the school… No, world. No, wait, universe,” Zephyr simply responded with a cocky grin.

“I. Am. Not. PLAYING. HARD. TO! GET!” Rainbow simply grunted slowly and with emphasis in the hopes it would actually help him understand.

“Come on, Rainbows!” Zephyr began with a frustrated sigh, “Enough of this game. You look so amazing in your sweats,” he added as he glanced at her with a flirty smile and wink, “I can already see and imagine your amazing body curves.”

Rainbow once again could only groan in pure annoyance and disgust, before she got up and walked right to him.

“Zephyr, I am sick and tired of this!” She exclaimed with a killer death glare as she even poked him hard on the chest with enough pressure to push his back a little, “For the last time, I am not playing hard to get and I am not interested in you at all! Now, leave me alone!”

“Come on, Rainbows! Why wouldn’t you want to be with me?” He asked with a cocky grin.

“Where should I start?” Rainbow asked rhetorically as she placed a hand on her chin and pondered the question for a brief moment, “You smell like a rotten dumpster to the point that I swear flies are attracted to you half the time. Your hair is disgusting and your attempts to have a cool hairstyle is a complete failure as it looks stupid and not cool at all. As much as I hate to agree with Rarity, you are a good reason someone needs to actually bathe regularly and make me want to do so more often than I tend to do just to make sure I don’t end up like you!”

“Rainbows, this is the Zephyr Breeze style,” Zephyr scoffed bitterly with crossed arms, “I figured someone cool like you would appreciate it.”

“No, it’s not cool. It’s completely disgusting,” Rainbow scoffed while crossing her own arms, “And that is just your appearance. Even if you didn’t smell like a dumpster and actually groom yourself in a cool style, I wouldn’t be interested because you aren’t cool enough to make up for your horrible smell and looks.”

“Please, who could be a cooler guy for you than me?” Zephyr asked bitterly with a scoff, before a cocky smile formed on his face, “Come on. I know you decided to dress up like this to impress me and may I say you did an incredible job by the way. After all, what other reason could you have to dress like this?”

Rainbow only groaned and rubbed her face in pure aggravation, long exceeding her limit of dealing with Zephyr for one lifetime. She looked around and groaned again upon finally noticing the crowd around them, before her eyes widened slightly when she noticed Marcus.

“Him,” Rainbow simply said, before rushing towards Marcus, earning confused looks from Zephyr and the crowd.

“What?” Zephyr asked.

“Him,” Rainbow clarified as she pointed at Marcus, “I am dressed like this, since today I was planning on training him to possibly join a team or few.”

Zephyr and the crowd simply stared at Rainbow in bewilderment for a few moments, before Zephyr scoffed disbelievingly.

“Fine, keep playing this game, but one day you better knock it off, so we can finally go out,” He told her before going on his way.

“So, I bet you are wondering what that was,” Rainbow told him awkwardly, after a few moments of silence while sheepishly rubbing her ponytail.

By then the crowd had moved on since the show was over and went back to what they were doing before.

“I think I can guess.”

“Well… That was Zephyr, Fluttershy’s younger brother,” She finally answered after a brief awkward pause.

“Younger brother?”

“Yes, he had a major growth spurt and it went to his head, so he thinks he’s the most amazing boy around. He thinks he’s the strongest around just because he’s big and thinks he’s so handsome he doesn’t have to bathe or groom himself, but since he doesn’t put an effort to be either, he’s actually clearly not.”

“I see,” He simply responded.

“That’s not even the worst part. Ever since Fluttershy and I met as little kids, he had this obsessive crush on me and kept trying to get my affection,” Rainbow continued with a frustrated sigh, before she gagged, “Ever since his growth spurt, he thinks I now love him back and no matter how much I make it clear to him, he just thinks I am playing hard to get.”

“Wow,” Was all he could say in response to that.

Suddenly, the two heard the bell rang and Rainbow took a relaxing deep breath.

“I will talk to you later at lunch about your training and hopefully this is the last time I have to put up with Zephyr for at least today.”

Rainbow instinctively flinched as she felt chills on her back and feared something terrible was going to happen that involved her and Zephyr. Rainbow managed to shrug it off and considered she was being silly, but perhaps she shouldn’t tempt fate.

“Hello, Marky! It’s wonderful to see you again!” Pinkie greeted cheerfully with a large grin on her face as he sat down in his usual spot.

“Pinkie, I saw you on Saturday.”

“I know, but I couldn’t spend much time with you while working,” Pinkie pouted for a brief moment, before with a grin, began gently nuzzling his face with hers, “But now I can make up for that!”

Rarity, Sunset, and Applejack glared bitterly at Pinkie.

“May I remind you we all hung out last Friday?”

“Yeah, but it’s been days since then,” She argued bitterly with a groan as she stopped nuzzling him.

“The thing you have to get used to about Pinkie is how clingy she can be,” Rainbow told him with a chuckle.

“Though, she seems to be even more so with you,” Applejack added bitterly with her arms crossed.

“Your hair is in a long ponytail,” Marcus pointed out.

“Oh, you noticed,” Applejack began nervously with a light blush while she sheepishly rubbed her ponytail, “I… I thought it felt more fitting and found I like it more than having it in a short one.”

“Alright, I was hoping we could get started on your training after school today,” Rainbow spoke up with a determined look.

“Sure, I have nothing to do today,” He responded.

“Great, I was hoping and looking forward to it!”

“So, I heard earlier and can clearly see.”

“Right, I may have gotten dressed for it sooner than I should have,” Rainbow admitted sheepishly while rubbing her ponytail.

“At least it suits you may I say, darling,” Rarity spoke up with a teasing smile, “Not to mention, it’s interesting you are so excited for it that you changed your attire before you even made sure he agreed to it.”

“Well…” Rainbow began with an embarrassed blush, “I just want to do this as soon as possible and make the team even more awesome,”

“I see he made an impression on you, Rainbow,” Applejack teased.

“Well, I am looking forward to dominating him and perhaps making him almost as good as me!”

Applejack playfully rolled her eyes, before giving Marcus a smile.

“Since, Rainbow is insistent on you spending time with her after school today, I guess I will have to show you around my family business another time, sugarcube.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

“Hopefully, we get to it sooner than later,” Applejack giggled cutely, getting baffled looks from the other girls for a brief moment.

It was strange for the usually tomboy cowgirl to giggle like a girly girl. Pinkie, Sunset, and Rarity felt a flare of jealousy burning inside them, before they managed to stamp out the feeling.

“Looks like you are the one he truly made an impression on, huh Applejack?” Rainbow teased with a grin, causing the cowgirl to blush hotly.

“Well…. I…. Maybe a little,” Applejack managed to mumble nervously while sheepishly rubbing her ponytail.

“Well, speaking of spending time with you, darling,” Rarity began sweetly with a flirty wink, making him lightly blush and Applejack, Sunset, and Pinkie to glare bitterly at her, “Plus, speaking of business, I could also show you around mine and perhaps make a new wonderful outfit for you. It’s rare that I get to design outfits for men after all,” She added as she glanced at his handsome and muscular figure and imagined him in a few potential outfits.

“Yeah… Maybe later.”

Marcus took a relaxing breath as he pulled out a carrot from his paper bag, but before he could eat it, an adorable white bunny jumped out of Fluttershy’s backpack and onto the table, before rushing towards him.

“Angel!” Fluttershy exclaimed, completely stunned and disappointed, “What did I tell you about staying in my bag?”

“Really, Fluttershy, you still bring him to school, despite what Vice Principal Luna told you?” Applejack asked while shaking her head.

“I can’t help it! Angel gets so lonely and annoyed being left alone at home without me,” Fluttershy pouted cutely.

“More like you get lonely without him, Flutters,” Rainbow teased with a chuckle.

Fluttershy could only blush in embarrassment. Marcus looked down at the adorable bunny, looking eagerly at his large carrot with his adorable black eyes.

“Hungry little guy?” He asked softly, getting a nod from the bunny.

Marcus reached out and gently rubbed the bunny on the head. The bunny quickly relaxed from his touch with his eyes closed, much to the girls’ shock and amazement. Marcus then quickly broke the carrot into a smaller piece and placed it down next to the bunny, who immediately grabbed it and began eating it.

“Wow. Angel usually only lets me touch him like that,” Fluttershy spoke up, sounding completely amazed, “Are you usually this good with animals?”

“I guess so,” He responded with a shrug.

“Perhaps, he has calmed down and will let anyone… Ah!” Pinkie began with a smile as she moved a hand towards Angel, only for him to almost bite it, “Nope. Looks like Fluttershy isn’t the only one around here that is great with animals.” She added with a giggle.

“Angel, what have I told you about biting my friends?” Fluttershy scolded with a sigh, “Now, get over here and I will feed you, but you must stay out of sight before I get caught.”

The bunny with an annoyed look slowly made his way back to Fluttershy, who immediately pulled out a small bowl filled with vegetables.

“Alright, you better eat and relax while you can, because I won’t go easy on you after school,” Rainbow told him with a serious look, “You are getting training from the best.”

“You better actually live up to the hype this time,” He quipped back.

Rainbow blushed hotly while the others chuckled.

“Yeah, well…. I will show you!” Rainbow managed to say with an adorable pout, before it turned into a look of pure determination.

Rainbow impatiently stomped her foot onto the ground repeatedly with a bored look on her face as she waited for Marcus to finally arrive. Out of nowhere, she suddenly felt a sense of dread and looked around suspiciously, more specifically at a group of bushes in the distance. Perhaps, she’s being paranoid, but she had the feeling someone was watching her. Before she could ponder this for long, Marcus finally left the school building.

“About time you showed up,” She complained playfully with her arms crossed.

“Well, here I am, so shall we?”

“Yes, follow me to the field where I will test and dominate you.”

“Bitter over your losses last Friday?” He teased with a smirk.

“No,” She denied bitterly with a pout while blushing hotly, “Now come on! We are burning daylight!” She demanded, before going on her way.

Marcus chuckled, before following her. Unknown to the two, someone was watching Rainbow through a few bushes with a scowl on his face. A certain hobo looking man.

“So, Rainbows wasn’t lying,” Zephyr scoffed bitterly as he glared at Marcus, “So, he thinks he is good enough to to be trained by Rainbows. Please, I better keep an eye on them and make my move, then she will see I am the only one worthy of her training and maybe even decide to stop playing hard to get, so we can finally date.” He added as he sneakily followed them.

Rainbow led Marcus to the field where someone was waiting for them. This person was a bright yellow skinned woman with short orange fiery hair. She was wearing a yellow and orange flame style sweatshirt and sweatpants. On her feet were matching flame styled athletic sandals and socks.

“So, this is the one you told me about, Dash,” The woman began, before giving Marcus a good and long look, “Yes, he looks impressive enough, though, I would like to see to make sure.”

“Don’t worry, Coach Spitfire, I will be sure to put him through the winger,” Rainbow responded with a cocky smile.

“Somehow I have a feeling he’s the one who’s going to do that, Dash,” Spitfire pointed out as she glanced at Marcus’ muscular arms, “But I guess we will see,” She added, getting an annoyed pout from Rainbow, “Anyway, like Dash said, I am Coach Spitfire and I am interested in seeing how this goes, since she thinks you will be a necessary addition to any and all of our teams here.”

“I’m Marcus and I will be sure to try to put on an entertaining show.”

“Oh, I’m sure it will be one,” Spitfire responded with a smile, “Now, why don’t you two get started while I keep track of everything.”

Rainbow and Marcus both nodded while out in the distance Zephyr let out an annoyed groan.

“Coach Spitfire is getting involved to play ref, huh? It should be me showing off how awesome and athletic I am!” Zephyr grumbled to himself, “Well, I get to watch my Rainbows beat this fool and teach him a lesson for thinking he could be a challenge for her. Please, only I, Zephyr Breeze, is good enough for that.”

Spitfire and Rainbow led Marcus to a large grassy field with a couple of nets on opposite sides of it. Rainbow did a few stretches as Spitfire grabbed a clipboard in order to keep track of the progress. Zephyr, who was still hiding nearby, eagerly watched with drool coming from his mouth, Rainbow doing her stretches while imagining her curves.

“Alright, you two, let’s start with a quick game of soccer. First to five goals win,” Spitfire told them as she grabbed a pencil from her clipboard.

“Hang on,” Rainbow responded as she opened her backpack.

“What, Dash? I thought you were the one who wanted to do this,” Spitfire told her with a sigh as she wrote a few things down.

“I do, but I need to finish preparing for this.”

“You dressed like this before even getting agreement from me to do this today and you somehow still need to prepare?” Marcus asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah, but….” She began sheepishly as she rubbed her ponytail, “I finished my stretching, so now all I need is to put on my lucky socks,” She answered as she opened her backpack.

“Lucky socks?” He questioned.

“Yes, they help me perform an extra twenty percent better than usual,” Rainbow answered as she continued to look through her backpack.

“I didn’t expect someone who brags about themselves and their skills to believe in and use a ‘lucky charm’.”

“Yeah, well…. It only helps me a little bit and I want to give you my absolute best to train you,” Rainbow finally managed to answer while blushing hotly.

“This kind of thing is common,” Spitfire explained with a reminiscing smile, “Plenty of people have superstitious traditions to give them a boost. I was the same way…. Well, I still have my own lucky socks that I am actually wearing right now, but I now know it’s only wishful thinking and only have them to keep the tradition alive.”

“I see,” He simply nodded.

Rainbow groaned as she put her head into the backpack for a few moments, before she dumped all of her stuff onto the ground.

“Where are they? I always keep them in….” Rainbow pondered bitterly with another groan, before her eyes widened, “Right, I loaned them to Pinkie in order to bake that difficult cake for Mr. and Mrs. Cake’s anniversary last week and forgot to get them back.”

“Oh, well. I guess we will have to continue without them,” He responded.

“I…. I don’t think it’s right to,” Rainbow told him sheepishly, before looking down, “I always use them before a game and I am not stopping now.”

“So, are you telling me we have to reschedule?” He asked with a raised eyebrow,

“Sorry, but I need them, so I have to get them back from Pinkie.”

“What if you use another pair of lucky socks?” Spitfire asked, as she slipped off her sandals.

“You’re…. You’re going to let me use your lucky socks?” Rainbow asked, completely stunned, “The ones that helped you become one of the best athletes in the whole town?”

“Yes, the very same and I don’t want to have to do this another time, so let’s get on with this,” Spitfire answered as she took off her socks.

Rainbow eagerly took the socks and after quickly taking off her tennis shoes used them to replace her own rainbow socks.

“I never thought I would get to use the special lucky socks of one of my athletic idols,” Rainbow began with a grin as she slowly put on the socks.

“No problem and glad I could help you out. Besides, I don’t really need them anymore,” Spitfire shrugged as she slipped her sandals back on, “The cool fall air does feel nice. Maybe, I should start playing sockless during this nice season,” She pondered for a brief moment as she wiggled her toes, “Anyway, if there isn’t anything else, shall we get started?”

Both Rainbow and Marcus simply nodded in agreement, before Rainbow quickly put back on her tennis shoes. Meanwhile Zephyr let out a disappointed groan and even took off his slip on shoes.

“If only I could give my Rainbows my socks,” He mumbled bitterly to himself as he rubbed his dirty black socks, “Surely, they will help her more than even Coach Spitfire’s and it will help us get closer to one another like we should be.”

The two quickly took up opposing sides on the field.

“Get ready, Marcus. You are not only going up against the captain of every sports team, but one with the lucky socks of her idol and one of the best athletes in town!”

“Sounds great, assuming you can actually put your money where your mouth is this time,” He quipped.

“Yeah, well…. I will show you!” Rainbow stuttered with a pout while blushing hotly.

Rainbow managed to shrug off her blush and took a relaxing breath. What is going on with her? No one has ever made her react this way before. When others, usually Applejack, teased her she only gets annoyed and angry, but when he does it she gets nervous and sheepish. The strangest part is she actually likes it. Why?

“Alright, you two, I want to see a nice and clean game. First to five goals wins,” Spitfire announced as she kicked a soccer ball to the center of the field and held up her clipboard, “On the count of three. One. Two. Three,” She added as she held up a pencil.

Both Rainbow and Marcus rushed towards the ball while Zephyr watched eagerly.

“Finally, the main show has begun and I can see my Rainbow school this moron, who thinks he can challenge her,” Zephyr began with an excited smile on his face, before he scoffed, “Please, I am the only one who can challenge her.”

The two reached the ball at around the same time and fought to kick it closer to their opponent's goal. Eventually, Marcus gently pushed Rainbow back and away from the ball and with a powerful kick managed to get the ball into Rainbow’s goal.

“With an impressive and powerful kick he managed to get a goal,” Spitfire announced with an impressed smile.

“But he used his hands and….”

“I am only not allowed to use my hands on the ball,” He corrected with a smug smile.

“He's right and he gets extra credit in my book for being clever,” Spitfire spoke up as she grabbed the ball and placed it back in the center.

Rainbow pouted but didn’t argue. Looks like she is going to have to take this more seriously and show him why she’s the captain of every sports team and that she is the best student athlete in the school!

Zephyr shook his head with a groan.

“Rainbows, let him get one in order to make it hurt more when she dominates him.”

Rainbow took a relaxing breath. Clearly, he is stronger than her, so she should try to out maneuver him. When he tried the same trick, she moved out of the way and quickly kicked the ball closer to his goal.

“Did you really think I would fall for the same trick twice?” She teased with a cocky grin.

“Worth a shot,” He simply responded with a shrug.

Zephyr’s face broke out with a grin and he chuckled as he watched Rainbow and him fighting over the ball with her slowly and surely moving it closer to his goal.

“That’s my Rainbows. After you school him, I will reveal myself and I will be sure to actually give you a challenging game!”

“What did I tell you?” Rainbow taunted with a grin and chuckle.

“Nice to see you actually live up to the hype,” He simply quipped back.

Rainbow managed to resist pouting and blushing and instead kept her focus on winning this round.

“Nice try. You aren’t distracting me from getting this goal.”

“Like I said before, it was worth a shot,” He shrugged.

The two kept fighting for control over the ball, until Rainbow managed to get it inside the goal.

“I told you!” Rainbow bragged with a cocky smile.

“That’s my Rainbows!” Zephyr cheered, “If only I have popcorn to enjoy this more. Oh well, seeing my Rainbows be awesome is amazing enough!”

“With an impressive comeback, Dash has gotten her first goal,” Spitfire spoke up, “I can tell we have a great game ahead of us and I can’t wait to see what happens next.”

The two were evenly matched as they continued to get goals through different ways. Marcus from using powerful kicks to manage to get goals before Rainbow could counter and Rainbow from using her slightly better agility to out maneuver him. Finally, they were tied four to four and were in their last round.

“Alright, you two! This is it and let me say it was a great game. You both showed your skills and I can tell Marcus here is athletic enough if he can go toe to toe against you, Dash. I am fully willing to allow him to join any and all teams,” Spitfire announced with a smile as she placed the ball down, “I have seen enough to have confidence he will be a great asset to any and all of our teams. Dash, I trust you to continue to train him on your own and after this we can call it a day.”

Both Rainbow and Marcus nodded and gently wiped sweat from their foreheads. Rainbow took a relaxing breath. Not many have ever managed to challenge her like this and she was more than happy to finally find someone that was also willing to join a few teams. Applejack has always been too busy helping out her family business, but now she has someone else. A handsome athletic stud that could actually challenge her and make her sweat. Wait, handsome stud?

“Before we get to it, just let me say you are one of the few who has challenged me this much and I agree with what Coach Spitfire just said. I am happy to see I had the right idea about you,” Rainbow began with a smile, “You did well against me, but now you will lose like everyone else,” She added as it turned into a cocky one.

“I am happy to see you have actually put your money where your mouth is this time and we’ll see.”

Rainbow simply nodded with a determined look on her face, before the two rushed for it for the last time. Zephyr was eagerly watching to see the conclusion to this match.

“I guess Rainbows decided to be nice and make it fair for him, but now I finally get to see him lose before I reveal myself.”

Marcus tried his hardest to end it with another strong kick, only for Rainbow to block him and try to sneak the ball past him, only for him to block her every attempt as well. This continued for a few minutes as Spitfire watched the match intensely with her clipboard lying on the bleachers, having long stopped writing on it. Meanwhile, Zephyr was gradually losing his patience and could only let out groans of annoyance.

“Come on, Rainbows! Beat him already so I can reveal myself and we can spend time together!” He screamed out bitterly while pounding on his head with his fists, only to quickly cover his mouth when he realized he was being too loud.

Rainbow, Spitfire, and Marcus froze in their tracks when they heard Zephyr’s scream.

“That. That scream sounds like….” Rainbow began, before pausing and groaning, “Zephyr!”

“That guy that was bothering you this morning?” Marcus asked, getting a nod from Rainbow.

“So, someone you know is spying on us, Dash?” Spitfire asked.

“Yes, Coach Spitfire,” Rainbow answered with a groan, before she began looking around for where he might be, “Zephyr! We know you are out here, so come out and explain why you thought you could spy on us!”

Zephyr sighed, before walking out of the bush he was hiding behind and with a “charming” smile that showed his yellow and crooked teeth, which still had pieces of food in them, made his way to the group.

“Rainbows, I can explain why I am here and….”

“You mean other than being a creepy obsessive stalker?” Rainbow asked bitterly with a death glare while crossing her arms.

“I am not a stalker!” Zephyr exclaimed, completely offended.

“If the shoe fits,” Rainbow simply responded.

“I mean I don’t know you but what I saw this morning is proof enough for me to agree with her and it isn’t a good look for you,” Marcus piped up while shaking his head.

“Who asked you?” Zephyr asked bitterly, before taking a relaxing deep breath, “Look, at first I wanted to see if you were telling the truth and not making another excuse to continue your game of playing hard to get.”

“For the last time, I am not playing hard to get! When are you going to get that through your thick skull!?”

“Please, who could resist Zephyr Breeze,” Zephyr bragged with a cocky smile and even did a flex, causing Rainbow to scream in pure aggravation and smacked her head, “Anyway, then I decided to watch you beat him and while it was great to see you score, it’s annoying that you decided to go easy on him and make it fair. You don’t have to do that, Rainbows.”

“I wasn’t going easy on him,” Rainbow argued, “He is actually skilled enough to challenge me and even make me sweat to the point I am actually going to take a second shower for the day.”

“You can be too nice for your own good, Rainbows, but we both know only I can challenge you like this,” Zephyr shook his head, before a cocky smile formed on his face, “You know what? Let me take your place and beat him to show you.”

Rainbow, Marcus, and Spitfire simply looked at each other in complete bafflement.

“Rainbow?” Marcus finally asked.

“Yes?”

“Has he always been this obtuse and delusional?”

“You…” Rainbow sighed, “You don’t know the half of it and never had to put up with him since early childhood.”

“I am so sorry about that,” Marcus told her.

“Same here, Dash,” Spitfire added, “If it wasn’t after school, I would gladly give him detention for his behavior.”

“Thank you,” Rainbow responded with a relaxing deep breath, “You know what? Fine, Zephyr. You can take my spot on one condition.”

“What, Rainbows?”

“If he wins, you leave me alone for a whole week.”

Zephyr pondered it for a brief moment, before nodding.

“Deal and if I win, which I will, you stop playing hard to get and we finally go out on a date,” He told her with a smile, before blowing her a kiss, that made her cringed and gaged.

“I am not…. Fine, only because I know he will win,” Rainbow responded with her own cocky smile.

“Rainbow, are you sure…”

“Yes! I don’t care about winning this on my own and only want him to leave me alone for a while and I know he stands no chance. Besides, we can always play another game later,” Rainbow interrupted.

“Ok, if you are sure,” Marcus responded.

“After the week is up, I will be sure to keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn’t keep this behavior up,” Spitfire added as she glared at Zephyr.

Zephyr was oblivious to any and all negative thoughts and conversations about him for the moment as his mind was filled with thoughts of him winning the game, getting Rainbows to admit she likes him too, and finally dating her. He quickly cracked his knuckles, only to groan in pain from doing so. The two then quickly took up opposite sides of the field, glaring at one another.

“Rainbows, may have been nice and went easy on you, but I won’t!” He taunted cockily with a grin.

“No way am I letting a disgusting stalker force a girl that doesn’t like him to go out with him!” He simply responded bitterly.

“I am not either of those things and Rainbows does love me! She is playing the biggest game of hard to get!” He grunted angrily through clenched teeth.

“Alright. On the count of three. One. Two. Three.”

The two rushed for the ball, only for Zephyr to stop right before it to take heavy breaths. Taking advantage of this, Marcus gave it a powerful kick and knocked it into the goal.

“I win. Now leave her alone for the week,” Marcus simply said.

“What!? No, I wasn’t ready. This isn’t fair,” Zephyr spoke between heavy breaths.

“No, you lost fair and square. Now honor your agreement,” Marcus responded bitterly.

“I… Who’s going to make me?” Zephyr asked angrily with a glare, “I know what Rainbows wants.”

Marcus, Rainbow, and Spitfire could only shake their heads in complete annoyance at him still being stubborn

“We are done here and leaving anyway,” Rainbow spoke bitterly with a sigh, “I am just glad I don’t have to date him,” She added while gagging.

“Yeah, it’s better just to leave and ignore him for right now.” Marcus agreed.

“If he still gives you trouble, let me know and I will take care of it during school hours,” Spitfire spoke to all of them, getting a nod from Rainbow and a groan from Zephyr.

“Whatever!” Zephyr scoffed, “It was a fluke and I know you truly love me Rainbows. I will get you to admit that soon. I just know it!” He added as he finally decided to go on his way.

“Finally,” Rainbow said with a sigh, “Now, I am going to take a shower and relax for the day.”

“Dash, if he has been bothering you for a while and at school, why didn’t you tell any teachers about it?” Spitfire asked.

“I… I just….”

“You didn’t want to look weak?” Spitfire asked with a sigh, getting a nod, “Rainbow, his behavior is terrible and you should have spoken up. He is almost an adult and can’t get away with it. Look, we will talk about this later and decide on options to make it stop.”

Rainbow nodded gratefully with another sigh, before the three slowly began making their way home. After a few moments, Rainbow remembered she still has her socks.

“Oh, right, I almost forgot to return your…”

“You can keep them.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I am not into that superstition anymore and only kept them for fun. I guess you can consider it a gift from one athlete to another. Be sure to continue their legacy,” Spitfire answered with a smile.

“Thank you! This makes up for having to deal with Zephyr today!” Rainbow exclaimed in pure happiness with a beaming smile.

“I'm glad I could help make up for having to deal with him. Now, let’s go home and hopefully have a more pleasant day without him around,” Spitfire responded, getting a nod from Rainbow and Marcus, before they all went on their way.