Chapter 5: A Bet

Getting to the hostel, Eric noticed that it was mostly empty and that was to be expected given that most of the students were still at the refectory.

He had left the refectory before he could actually touch his food because he wasn't feeling well so now that he was in the hostel, he just wanted to lay down on his bed and get some rest.

Before the signal for lunch went off when Chima was helping them get their stuff set up, there didn't seem to be anyone occupying the single bunks at the end of all the rows but right now he could see someone's leg sticking out from the bed on the end of the third row close to his row.

The bed was mostly sealed off from sight with three cupboards so he could only see the leg of the person.

"Oh, whatever." He sighed as he crashed down on his bed.

A few minutes later and he was fast asleep, he didn't even notice Evan come around to grab one of his football kits.

Thirty minutes later, he was slowly starting to regain his consciousness, in other words, he was waking up.

His forehead was covered in sweat as he turned to his right, his breathing suddenly increasing.

"No, not like that." He spoke in agony as he sunk his teeth into his lower lip.

The next moment, a sigh swept through the area as a step was taken toward him.

"What are you even dreaming about, dude?"

Eric suddenly stopped speaking after that question and a few seconds later, he slowly opened his eyes, a soft groan escaping from his lips.

"Yellow."

That was the word that escaped from his mouth as he caught sight of the person standing in front of him.

"I guess that's the first thing that comes into the mind of everyone that sees me."

Hearing that voice clearer now, Eric slowly raised his gaze to see the face of the boy standing in front of him.

Just like he had already said, his skin was a bright yellow so much so that he could almost pass for an albino if he wanted to. His hair seemed to be a bit bleached in the sense that it was a bit brownish instead of the usual black, that applied for all the hair on his body including his eye lashes.

Lastly, his eyes seemed to have soaked some of that bleaching, too, as they were more brown than black, just like his hair, but all of that factored properly into his intricate facial details.

"Who are you?" Eric finally managed to ask after staring at him for a while.

"Jasper." The boy responded. "You're the new student everyone was talking about, right? They said you had a twin brother."

"Yeah, that's me," Eric confirmed as he sat up on the bed.

"And what's your name?" Jasper inquired.

"Eric."

"Eric, I see," Jasper remarked.

'Why does he suddenly suddenly sound drowsy?' Eric thought. 'No, I think his voice just lacks energy.'

"Well, bye Eric," Jasper uttered before he turned and began to head toward his bed, the one on the farthest end of the third row.

"You're leaving?" Eric asked, a bit perplexed.

"Yeah, I was only drawn in by your sleep rambling and I figured it would be rude not to say hi since you had woken up."

"Oh."

"Well, that's my corner over there, so you can come over if you want to talk; see ya."

He increased his steps to get to his bed after that, and as soon as he got to his bed, he crashed down on his bed and covered himself with his blanket.

Soon after, the sound of screaming was heard coming from outside forcing Eric to turn his gaze to the window just behind him.

"Huh, I guess the match has already kicked off."

________ ________

Waking up from his nap, Eric found himself feeling a bit rejuvenated, so he decided to head down to see how the match he was told about was playing out.

The students of Senior Secondary Three (SS3), which was his class, versus the students of Senior Secondary Two (SS2), their direct juniors.

The closer he got to the pitch, the clearer he could see what was going on on the pitch.

The match had clearly already begun, one side seemed to be wearing orange and the other blue, and the closer he got, he realized that his teammates were the ones wearing orange.

Seeing Chima in the orange kit was enough to confirm that.

Matches like this obviously garnered a lot of attention as a good number of students from different classes were spread across the sides of the pitch watching and eagerly supporting their teams.

At the moment, Eric was just behind his team's goalkeeper, just a couple of steps away from the crowd, who wanted a closer view of the action. He could see it clearly from where he was standing after all.

"I wonder where Evan is."

As soon as those words escaped from his lips, a shot was fired from midfield straight toward SS3's goalpost.

The player was aiming for the top right corner, and although the goalkeeper managed to follow it, there was no point as the ball ended up hitting the crossbar before flying over for a goal kick.

A good number of the students behind the goalpost quickly chased after the bouncing ball to see who would get to it first.

"That was impressive," Eric muttered, his gaze fixated on the goalkeeper who was wearing a black kit.

"I wonder how long the game has been going on, and what the scoreline is."

"It's the twenty-ninth minute, so there's just one minute left before halftime."

Eric was referring to himself with everything he just said so he was a bit surprised when he heard someone respond.

He quickly turned to the right, where he heard the voice come from, to see someone standing there wearing a white tracksuit with a pink cap.

'A girl? Yeah, that's definitely a girl.'

He couldn't exactly tell because of the hat.

"And for the scoreline?" The person continued. "It's two goals to nothing in favor of SS3."

'Yeah, definitely a girl.' He confirmed in his mind.

"I see, so it's a comfortable win so far." He remarked as he slowly turned his gaze back to the pitch where the match had already resumed.

"Yeah, but that's going to change very soon."

"Huh?"

"I'm saying they're going to lose." She stated.

"Who? SS3?" Eric asked.

"Mhm." She nodded.

A look of intrigue suddenly appeared on Eric's face as he turned to her.

"I know comebacks happen a lot in football but why are you so certain that the team currently two goals up is going to lose?"

"Are you saying they won't?" She retorted.

'Responded to my question with a question, how wonderful.'

"Not really, but in this situation, I'll lean more toward the team with the two-goal lead." He asserted.

"I see, want to make a bet then?"

"A bet?"

"Yes." She nodded.

"Hey," Eric called, taking a closer look at her this time.

"What is it?" She responded.

"Are you sure you're not just desperate for some money?"

"Money?" She giggled. "Who said anything about money?"

Watching her laugh, the only thing Eric could do was scratch his head in confusion.

"I just want this."

"Huh?"

The next second, she pulled something out from her pocket, a bag of potato chips that looked like it had not been opened just yet.

"Chips?"

"Yeah, if I win, you'll have to get me one of these, they sell a lot of them at the canteen." She said as she pulled the pack open.

"Seriously?"

"Yes." She nodded as she filled her mouth with chips.

'Certainly not what I was expecting.'

"Okay, and what do I get if I win?" Eric inquired.

"Well, you can just get chips or…"

"Or what?"

There was a sudden pause as she promptly chewed the few chips in her mouth.

"Anything you want."

As soon as those words left her lips, the whistle was blown twice to signal the end of the first half.