Chapter 5: The Best Result

While Adrian was still trying to process what he just witnessed, Oscar slowly walked up to him.

"I forgot to mention, but Noelle here is the ace of the female team; thanks to her, we managed to win something in last year's inter-house sports competition after the male team bottled the finals." He disclosed.

"Ace of the female team?" Adrian muttered before turning to Oscar.

"Yes." He nodded.

Getting that response, he quickly turned to Noelle.

"What position do you usually play?" He asked.

"Central attacking midfield." She replied. "However, I did play on the right wing for most of that competition as the only decent right winger we had suddenly came down with a fever after two matches and couldn't return after that."

"Oh."

Adrian found himself suddenly seeing her in a new light, he couldn't recall ever meeting a girl who knew her stuff about football and actually enjoyed playing it on a serious level.

"So, shall we continue?" She said, gesturing for him to proceed with his next attempt.

He responded with a nod before picking up one of the balls on the ground.

Just like last time, he dropped it directly on the kickoff spot before slowly taking two steps backwards.

'Looks like I met an interesting opponent, so losing is not an option.'

He quickly closed up on the ball just after that and neatly lifted it with his left foot.

This one had a bit more shot power added to it compared to his first attempt but he made sure to control the ball well, making sure it hit the crossbar a little to the right before flying over.

He heard the sound of clapping just after that hit the crossbar, and when he turned around he found Noelle with her hands joined together and a subtle smile on her face.

"Nice." She commented.

"Your turn," Adrian said as he walked past her.

She dropped the ball at the same spot she dropped the first one, and just like her first attempt, she slowly took three steps backwards.

Without much hesitation, she quickly closed up on the ball and sent it flying with her left foot.

Her shot, this time, was more controlled with less power.

However, better control didn't always guarantee better accuracy.

Noelle couldn't help but fold her left hand into a fist as she watched the ball fly over the crossbar, almost grazing it a little.

"That was close."

"Mmm." She turned to Adrian with a deadpan look on her face before turning away with a sigh.

With Noelle's miss, Adrian now had the advantage as it was currently two to one with him about to take his third.

Placing the ball on the same spot, he slowly took two steps backwards before turning to Noelle, who was staring at him with her arms crossed and her face back to being expressionless.

Adrian had been successful in making his first two attempts count.

Unfortunately, he couldn't make it three for three as his third attempt ended up sloping into the goalpost just before it could make contact with the goalpost.

His response to that was a shrug before he turned to Noelle.

"They've both missed one now," Oscar commented.

"Yeah, but why do I feel like there was something off about Adrian's third attempt?" Eric said.

"Something was off?" Oscar uttered with a confused expression on his face. "Looked like a normal shot to me."

Adrian missing his third attempt meant that Noelle could tie it once again.

Unfortunately, she wasn't up to it, as she sent the ball flying just over the crossbar, just like her last attempt.

This meant that Adrian had the chance to further increase his lead this time with his fourth attempt.

However, he didn't seem to be that eager to increase as, just like Noelle, he sent the ball flying just over the crossbar.

"They're both on a missing streak," Oscar commented.

The ball fell back into Noelle's court, giving her a chance to level the score once again, and this time she did not disappoint.

Controlling her shot with very little shot power, almost making it look like a lobbed pass, she was able to hit the crossbar just at the top before the ball flew over.

"Yes." She said, folding her left hand before lifting it.

She turned to Adrian with a smile at the moment to see him smiling back at him.

"Looks like everything comes down to their last attempts," Oscar commented.

"Mm." Eric nodded.

With the ball placed in the usual spot, Adrian slowly took two steps backwards before closing up on the ball.

He lobbed the ball toward the right, getting it to make contact just at the edge of the crossbar before falling off to the side.

It was now three for two, and Adrian couldn't help but grin as he turned to Noelle.

"He's left her with a lot of pressure," Eric commented with a smile as he shook his head.

Taking a deep breath, Noelle stepped forward.

"His shooting accuracy is better than I anticipated." She muttered as she slowly took three steps backwards. "That's very good." She smiled.

She closed up on the ball soon afterwards, and following Adrian's lead, she sent the ball flying toward the right with a lob.

Her accuracy was on point as the ball made contact just at the edge of the crossbar before falling off.

"Well, would you look at that?" She turned to Adrian with a smile.

"Nice hit." He commented.

"So, shall we continue or…."

"No, I think a draw is the best result for both of us," Adrian said as he walked off to the side.

"Okay." She drawled.

She watched him for a while before deciding to follow him.

On getting to the edge of the pitch, he sat down on the ground and began to untie the laces of his boot.

Those were Oscar's boots, which he lent him for the challenge, and now that he was done with them, he was going to return them.

"So, what do you think?" Noelle asked just after getting to him before she proceeded to sit beside him.

"You're a good shooter, better than most that I know." He responded.

"Really?"

"Mm." He nodded.

"Too bad someone of your talent won't be able to compete in the Intercontinental Cup."

He finished untying the boot on his right foot at that moment and turned to the other one.

"True, but being an active player on the pitch isn't the only way to compete in the game of football." She retorted.

"Huh? Wait, don't tell me."

Adrian suddenly stopped what he was doing and turned to her.

"You want to manage the team?"

"Yes." She nodded. "However that doesn't seem to be possible at the moment."

"Why?" He asked.

"To be honest, it isn't just about me managing the team, this is something that we have to do if we're going to have a chance at this competition."

"And what is that?"

"We have to get rid of someone who doesn't care about the team but still insists on managing it." She disclosed.

"A teacher?"

"Mm." She nodded.

"Oh, I see."

Taking a deep breath, he returned to untying the laces.

"Earlier you said I wasn't aware of the full situation. Does this have anything to do with it?" He inquired.

"Yes." She nodded. "It's a huge part of it."