four│malum

                                    

                                          

a chilly breeze blew against the screaming crowd, eyes watered and nose and ears were tinted pinkish-red. the weather was turning unforgivable as the sun began to set on the horizon behind the home teams bench, which was going wild with the crowd cheering. 

                          
no one seemed to pay attention the odd, cold night as they watched the soccer match. everyone cheered as the home team passed the ball down the pitch straight to the forwards, luke and ashton, to make a shot one goal. 

                          
calum grinned, his eyes wide as he watch luke possess the ball, moving pass the opposing midfielders. the crowd fell silent as everyone watched luke bring the ball up field and sending through to ashton coming up the left side. everything was silence besides the sound of the ball against grass and cleats hitting the ball. 

                          
the game was tied one to one. the clock ticked down from a minute with only one chance to shoot the goal. the crowd stood as ashton prepared to take a shot quickly, blocking the view for the small raven boy. calum pouted, standing up from the cold bleachers where he sat alone to support his best friends. 

                          
he sighed still struggling to see the game, so he stood up on the top bleacher where he previously sat. calum's eye widen as he barely caught a glimpse of ashton striking the ball on goal; as cliche  as it sounded, the moment turned into slow-motion. ashton's kick felt like it took minutes and the goalie slowly fell to his side as leaped to grasp the ball, the ball slipping through the tips of his fingers. 

                          
adults, children, and students from the home section screamed in triumph. some people went as far to bring a cowbell, ringing it obnoxiously but no one cared; the home team won. calum went as far to cheer with the crowd, screaming ashton's name with everyone else. 

                          
calum normally didn't cheer, but this time he did. all week he heard nonstop from luke, ashton, and michael how nervous they were for the game. they wouldn't shut up about it because when those three boys were nervous about something they bring up the topic to talk it out in hopes to calm themselves down. 

                          
hearing about the game got old, but calum couldn't have cared more than he did now as he watched his best friend gather into a huddle, cheering loudly themselves for their own victory. michael, ashton, and luke were all hugging each other with no care for their sweaty bodies touching each other. 

                          
as the crowd poured out of the bleachers to go congratulate who they were here to support calum followed, him being one of the last people out of the stands. he saw ashton and luke's families here, gathering near the gate to greet them. calum frowned slightly because michael's family was nowhere to be seen. 

                          
they were still gone. 

                          
calum took the steps down the bleachers, joining the irwin and hemmings family by the gate as the boy's soccer team filed out from the pitch. liz and anne both smiled, hugging calum each with big grins and a friend 'hello, calum' from each. he blushed whispering out a small 'hi' back. 

                          
his best friends families were always kind to him; they loved calum. he was respectful, quiet, kind, and sweet. anne, liz, and karen loved that their boy's were always there for calum and enjoyed seeing all the boys were such close friends. no one was left out. 

                          
ashton and luke were first out of the gates behind the rest of their team and michael trailing a bit behind them, talking to the coach. ashton and luke rushed their families, hugging everyone who came to support them. for ashton it was his mom and two siblings, lauren and harry. for luke it was his mom and dad and his two brothers, ben and jack.