Chapter 50

“Does it hurt?” Sam asked softly as Dan stood there. The scrimmage was over, and the players had all left. They’d lost, by quite a bit. After Dan’s stunt, the JV coach had put in all of his top players. The worn-down freshman team didn’t stand a chance. What had already been an uphill battle, became a snowball. And Dan, even with the short rest bonus, had been unable to do anything.

“Losing?” Dan asked. “I’ve always hated losing.” He said bitterly as he looked towards the coach. She was looking at him with an inquisitive look on her face. She’d asked him to stay behind as everyone was leaving, to wait for her as she finished up with whatever it was, she’d needed to do. The whole time he’d been alone, he’d just been replaying that scrimmage over and over in his mind. Particularly, the moment he’d scored that goal before the end of the second half.

“Not that,” she said with a chuckle, “though I share that sentiment. I was meaning your injury.” That brought his mind back to the part of his body that hurt the most. All of his body, currently, was in pain. He was sore and stiff, and apparently, there was backlash from pushing one’s body to the 200percent limit. So much so that his Health Stat, which he’d checked during halftime, had actually dropped down an alarming 30 points from 150, to 120.

“Oh,” he lifted his sweat soaked shirt, which was cold to the touch as the fall breeze blew around him, making him shiver slightly. Lifting it up, he could see his entire stomach was already discolored nicely, with all the indents of the cleat’s very clear. He sucked in slightly, wincing at the pain, but marveling. He’d not realized it when he ranked up, but his physique had improved. He now had abs. Neat. “Yeah, it stings.”

Sam sucked in as she looked his stomach, shaking her head. “That asshole.” She said. “I talked to the coach already, that player’s going to be sat from their first game. It was obvious he did that on purpose.”

“You don’t say.” Dan said dryly. “Though, honestly, my whole body hurts right now.”

Sam nodded, her eyes lingering as he lowered his shirt back down. “After what you did, it’s no surprise. Honestly, I’ve never seen a player move like that Dan. Are you sure you don’t want to stay on the team?”

He’d been thinking about that as well. It had been exhilarating on the soccer field. He’d felt truly alive out there, and a joy had filled him that’d he hadn’t even realized he’d been missing. The brutal effectiveness of his new Auto-Battle cheat skill as well, made him even more excited to be playing his favorite sport. If he could master that skill, he’d be able to execute moves like he’d done earlier even more frequently. What would that be like?

But he knew he couldn’t. Peter had put a lot of time and effort into him already, and after his earlier interaction with Ashley, he couldn’t just change his mind now. No matter how much he loved soccer, he’d set out to accomplish something. He’d set a goal for himself, and it had to do with tennis. He was going to see it through. No matter what.

“I’d be lying if I didn’t say I wanted to stay. I loved playing with everyone this week.” He glanced at her, a grin on his face. “Even if someone was having a little too much fun abusing the freshman during her special training sessions.”

Sam laughed, a light, uplifting sound. And yet, there was a hint of sorrow to it. “You’ve got more potential than any player I’ve ever come across. But, if you can’t put your full heart into it, I won’t force you to stay.” Her voice held sadness. Her eyes resigned. This was painful for her.

“Thanks,” Dan’s voice cracked, and this time, he wasn’t sure if it was from hormones, or emotions. “Really, for everything this past week.”

For some reason, he wanted to hug her. He was torn. She was his coach, and yet, in this moment, it felt like more. She seemed like a caring friend, like she actually had his best interests in mind, and she was going to support him with that. It was a…figure in his life he’d never actually had before. Not to this degree. It wasn’t a parent role, and it wasn’t a friend role. Something else perhaps? Caretaker? Advisor? Whatever it was, he didn’t know how to respond.

“If you ever want to play more,” she spoke softly, stepping closer towards him, placing a gentle around him to rest comfortingly on his shoulder, “just let me know. I’m sure the team will let you partake in scrimmages, and if you ever want to test your skills against me in a one on one, I’ll gladly take you on.” Her hand tightened slightly on his shoulder. At the same time, he couldn’t help but have the moment ruined as something flashed across his peripherals.

Charisma +2 (61), Relation Improved to Excellent, +50% to all interactions with Samantha Jones

“Thank you.” Dan replied again. He was trying to process what was going on. He’d be lying if he wasn’t curious what the Charisma modifier was doing, and also what it meant his interactions with Samantha were getting a boost. Previously when he’d gotten his Charisma buff, it had stated he would begin receiving a boost to such things. But still, it wasn’t something he understood. “Really Sam, it means a lot to me. And I may just have to take you up on that.”

She held onto him as they stood here, a grin crossing her face as she looked at him. “Good. Though I have to wonder if you’ve been holding out on me, after what you did on the field today. Maybe next time, we both promise to go all out?”

“Well, I can’t promise I won’t make you look bad if we do.” He said, his mind still trying to figure everything out.

“If its you,” she said softly, “I don’t think I’d mind.”

And at this point, as much as his hormones were alright with everything going on, his mind told him it was time to leave. That, and the fact his body really was in a lot of pain. The sooner he got home, the sooner he could sleep, and the sooner he could heal. Additionally…the sooner he could try to process exactly what was going on with Sam and see about what exactly was up with his Charisma and all it entailed. The only reason he was going to wait till he got home, to check with Syn about this new development…was because he could already figure Syn was, at this very moment, placing all sorts of lewd bets about Dan with his mysterious ‘friends’. And Dan, didn’t need to deal with that right now. Not with everything going on in his mind.

“Thank you for everything Sam,” Dan said, pulling himself free softly. “Thank you for being so understanding, and thank you for pushing me, and helping me keep pushing my limits.” Her eyes stayed focused on him, a smile on her face as he spoke. “But now I really do need to get going. I think I’m starting to feel the aftereffects of that scrimmage.”

“Would you like a ride?” She asked. “I’ve no issue driving you back to your house.” The sudden change in her attitude towards him, triggered by that message he’d received, was making him even more leery of the Charisma skill. How much of this was genuine kindness and compassion, and how much was due to his ‘powers?’

“I mean,” Dan paused, not sure how to respond. He’d just said he was in pain. Turning down her offer wouldn’t make much sense, would it? Besides, it wasn’t a long drive to his house. “I don’t see why not…”

He trailed off as he looked towards the parking lot, noticing a car, and a figure leaning against it. “On second thought,” he said, causing the smile that had drifted to Sam’s face to falter. “I think I see my ride.” Her disappointment was evident, but she didn’t say anything as she glanced in the direction he was looking.

“Well, alright then.” She said dejectedly. “But remember what we talked about, and if you ever need anything, you know you can just reach out to me.”

Dan nodded towards her, and then noped out of that awkward situation as quickly as he could. Both relieved, confused, excited, and concerned about everything that had just happened, his emotions were a mess as he drew closer to the car and figure.

“Oh man Danny boy,” a familiar voice said with a chuckle. “I leave for a week, and you ditch tennis to chase the Soccer Coach.” Peter’s eyes were grinning as he stood up from against his stylish sports car. “Come on, fill me in as we go.”