Bend It

[SansaSaver]

The weather was miserable today, but Marcus was as happy as could be.

The last few days had been fairly homework-heavy, and the second he’d finished dotting the is and crossing the ts on his latest English essay his parents had almost literally shoved him outside, insisting that he do something other than pour over textbooks and rewrite assignments. For once he’d actually agreed with them; Marcus just wasn’t built for spending days on end cooped up inside, and the opportunity to get some fresh air and maybe socialise a little bit was altogether far too enticing to refuse. So he’d withdrawn his sketchbook and pencils from where they’d laid languished in his desk for the last couple of weeks, prepared a simple sandwich from what was left in the pantry, and set out to the local park with a spring in his step and a smile on his face.

The second he’d stepped outside, however, it’d begun to rain. Violently.

By the time he’d reached the town’s Central Park the majority of the bad weather has dissipated; though an occasional breeze and splutter of rain would assail him, further messing up his already wild mane of hair and dotting his clothing with thick and icy raindrops. In spite of that, however, Marcus’s good mood remained undiminished. While he’d been looking forward to the good weather, the way the windswept branches bent and twisted in the breeze made for excellent drawing ideas; a bit more exciting than the traditional, staunch trees he was used to.

Marcus hugged his sweater tightly against his chest and let his breath visibly waft into the frigid morning air as he moved towards what looked like a reasonably dry patch of grass, having been sheltered from most damage by an umbrella of multicoloured leaves. He sidestepped a particularly thick-looking pool of mud, before pivoting on his heel as he sat down and withdrew his belongings from within the depths of his messenger bag. It would’ve been nice if there were someone else here, something to talk to and maybe split a sandwich with, but for now Marcus closed his eyes and took a deep breath, enjoying the temporary tranquility he’d been afforded.

It didn’t last long.

Only a few minutes after shifting himself into a comfortable position and surveying the area for any particularly interesting subjects of art, Marcus’s relaxation was interrupted; the sudden arrival of a chequered ball a few feet away having pulled him from the minor daydream he’d been experiencing. It rolled gently through the mud and tangles of grass, coming to a stop right next to his feet. Marcus blinked a few times as he returned to earth before motioning to pick it up, dusting a few stray blades of grass from it. It looked more than a little well-loved, pocked with sewn up patches as well as general wear and tear, much like most of Marcus’s stuff back home. He’d always had some modicum of interest in soccer, however minor it might’ve been, and it was always nice to come into contact with the sport in some which way or other. Still, he gazed around the park before him, eager to return the ball to its owner; as cool as it was, he didn't want to deprive the equipment’s owners of any further enjoyment.

“Hey, dude! Think you could toss the ball back our way?”

Before he had a chance to finish his surveying of the area, a shout pierced the air, Marcus whirring around to locate its source. The voice was deep and silken, in contrast to its owner’s appearance; a youthful blond who couldn’t have been that much older than Marcus himself. He was accompanied by a similarly aged boy; a bespectacled redhead who offered Marcus a grin as he motioned for him to return their ball.

“Sure!” Marcus chirped, delicately dropping the ball to ground and sweeping his foot along the ground until he kicked it in their general direction. It went further than he’d intended, skating past them and landing in a nearby cluster of shrubs. Marcus let out a short yelp and began to jog to retrieve it, uttering apologies as he began to move past the duo. He was stopped, however, by a firm grip on his shoulder - belonging to the blond boy, whom Marcus now recognised as one of the upperclassmen back at school.

“Say, you’ve got quite a mean right foot there, dude,” he said with a grin. “What’s your name?”

“I’m Marcus,” Marcus beamed. “Marcus Redder. Sorry about kicking your ball too far!”

“I’m Arnie. Nice to meetcha, bro. And don’t worry too much about the ball. In fact...” Arnie turned towards his partner and raised with his eyebrows, the motion being met with a sharp nod from the other boy. “Say, Marco... if you’re not doing anything, Luca and I’d love if you wanted to do a bit of a kick around with us? It gets a little boring when it's just the two of us, y’know, and you seem like you'd be pretty fun to play with!”

Marcus could barely contain the joy that  across his face, his mouth stretching into a wide grin as he nodded enthusiastically. He hadn’t expected to be complemented at all, let alone invited to play with the pair of them!

“Sure, I'd love to!” He exclaimed, bouncing lightly on the balls of his feet. “I’ve got some sandwiches too, if you’d like some!”

Arnie nodded slightly as he looked Marcus, a slight smirk worming its way across his face.

“Sweet as, bro.”