Your POV (Hana):

There were disappointed groans throughout the crowd. A couple of girls actually bailed from the line.

Krystal, Seul Mi and Suzy looked as if they were about the shove me over the railing and onto the track. I took a seat a few rows behind them, slumped down and looked out at the field, where the guys were lining up for a penalty-kick drill.

Luhan's perfect calf muscles flexed as he moved his weight from foot to foot. I wondered what he would think about having me as his backslapper.

"Okay, ladies! Everyone has their man," Jaemi said happily once the line dwindled. "Our first big event will be next Friday, day of opening game. You'll be decorating your player's lockers and baking him a lil something to leave inside. Feel free to leave him an inspiration note, or a poem or whatever. Be creaative. I know last year one of your girls left a mix of heart-pumping songs to listen to pregame, and the players really loved that."

"That was me," Krystal said, raising  a hand. A bunch of girls looked at each other knowingly, like, 'who else could it have been?'

"We'll meet on Thursday, when I hand out locker numbers and combinations, then we'll have the hall till six o'clock so you'll have plenty of time to decorate." Jaemi continued.

Suzy and Seul Mi got up to talk to Jaemi, and as Krystal were gathering her things, I saw my chance. I clomped down the bleachers and dropped in front of her.

"Can we talk?"

Krystal glanced over her shoulder at Seul Mi and Suzy

"About what?" She asked quietly.

I blinked. Did she really have to ask.

"About, you know," I said, finding it hard to form actual words. "The thing Suzy mentioned at Sehun's that night?"

Krystal's cheeks turned pink and she looked at her shoes.

"Oh. She was just being melodramatic. You know Suzy."

Okay. Now i was confused.

"Well it was kind of a big deal," I said, tucking my hands into the front pocket of my sweatshirt.

"Please. It was a year ago. It was just a party." She said. Then she rolled her eyes. " I mean, I know I always made a huge deal about how important my sweet sixteen was, but I get why you didn't come. Really. It's all good."

My mouth sort of hung open. What the hell was she talking about?

"You invited me to your sweet sixteen?" I asked. Now it was her turn to be confused. "Yeah. I mean, that's what Suzy was talking about. How you never told me if you were coming or not. I was upset that time, but --"

"Hey girls!" Suzy interrupted brightly. My brain was still struggling to catch up as she and Seul Mi joined us. "My mum's waiting in the parking lot. We're gonna go to Riverside to get dresses for the Harvest Ball. Wanna come, Hana-sshi?"

My eyes darted to her face. I knew she was messing with me, but somehow my heart still flipped in hope.

"Oh, wait! The shoestrings that is your budget couldnt even lace up one of my Gucci boots." She added, tilting her head so that her hair tumbled over her shoulder. Seul Mi laughed, but Krystal looked pained.

There was only one explanation for all the confusion of the past two minutes : Krystal didn't know.

That night at Sehun's, when Suzy had mentioned what I "did to Krystal", she'd been talking about this infraction against mannders I'd apparently committed by no RSVP-ing to Krystal's sweet sixteen -- a party to which I'd never received an invitation.

But the more important thing was t hat Krystal didn't know. Also, from the looks she kept shooting me, she wasn't 100% down with the evil ostracizing of Kim Hana. Ironic, since she was the only one here I had actually betrayed.

I started to feel dizzy and sick. Maybe a little hopeful. If Krystal wanted to be friend again.....Maybe there's a chance I could get things back to the way they are.

"Come on," Suzy said, hooking her arm around Krystal's shoulder. "We have to go warn Luhan to expect some low budget decorations and some cheap brownies this year." She snorted a laugh. "Later, Norm!"

I glared at her back as they sauntered off. She may have gotten wrong about one thing : Luhan was gonna get the most kick- locker decorations in history.I would spend my entire paycheck on Luhan if it would prove to Suzy and the rest that I could still be a good backslapper.

I leaned against the front failing of the bleachers as the girls hit the soccer field sideline to chat with Baekhyun, Luhan and their teammates. My heart still pounded over the realization of my near miss.

I'd almost apologised to Krystal for what had happened with Baekhyun all those months ago, and she had'nt even known about it. If she knew now, I would have lost her forever.

How lucky was I? I mean, Krystal didn't need to know. It hadn't meant anything. I'd been too emotional and confused and scared and sad. And clearly she and Baekhyun were still together. What would be the point of telling her and screwing up her relationship?

I swallowed the lump of guilt in my throat and decided it was for the best.

Luhan's POV:

The Friday of the first soccer game, colorful leaves had fallen all over the walkway at school, and for the first time it really felt like fall - all crisp and clear and windy.

Inside, the team's lockers were decorated. I always thought it was stupid, having a whole club with a sole purpose of fawning over us.

But it wasn't just soccer. We had the backslappers, and the football team had the cheerleaders. Next week t here would be a huge pep rally for them and their lockers will be decorated too.

Besides, this day meant cupcakes for breakfast. And a hot girl waiting by my locker.

And this year, that girl was going to be Kim Hana.

My friends were all sympathetic that penniless Hana was in charge of my decorations, but I didn't give a crap about the size of the posters. I just thought it was awesome that Miss-I'm-More-Holy-Than-You had to show me the love.

Kinda looked forward to lording it over her.

Also, it meant I was going to get to talk to her again.

When i turned down the hall way towards my locker, I almost tripped. I looked over the shoulders too make sure thiss wasn't a joke. A few people were staring, but that was about it.

The entire hall was decorated. Streamers across the ceiling, attached to the wall over my lockers and fanning out in all directions.

There were ten posters with my name on em. Glitter and sequins and stars everywhere. Mini soccer balls dangled from my locker door, which was surrounded by balloons, and y name had been spelled out in letters decorated with the black-and-white soccer ball pattern.

I opened my locker door carefully, and confetti exploded in my face. I was still spitting it off my lips when I smelled chocolate. Piled inside on the floor were half a dozen cellophane covered paper plates. Brownies, cookies, cupcakes, lemon squares, blondies, doughnut holes.

More dessert than one person could eat in a week. A big yellow card was propped up on the shelf with my books.

Xi Luhan kicks! Good luck in the game tonight, Tiger! Your backslapper, Hana.

My palms were sweating. I couldn't believe she'd done this. That she'd gone all out like this. It must have cost her a fortune and she'd done it all ffor me. The girls were going to . Baekhyun was going to .

"You like it?"

I turned around. Hana stood in the center of the hall in a tight maroon T-shirt and denim shorts. She was giving me the eye. I knew it. She wanted me.

Maybe that y act on the first day of school had just been a reaction to Sehun's party. But now.... I looked her up and down. It was like a whole new her.

"It's awesome," I said, placing the card back in the lockers and slamming the door shut. "Cool," She smiled. "Spent my entire paycheck on it. I baked all that stuff myself."

I glanced towards the back of the school. "Do you wanna go and, like, talk or something?"

A little wrinkle popped up over her nose. "Um, sure."

"Come on."

We walked down the hall and out the back door. No one was around. I nudged her arm and pressed her up against the wall.

"What're you doing?" She asked. "Thanking you." I said.

I was half a millimetre from her lips when she ducked away. My forehead hit the brick wall.

"Ow??! What the hell!" I brought my fingertips to my scratched skull.

"What the hell?" She spat. "God! Maybe whoever was your backslapper last year slapped more than your back, but I was just doing my job."

My heart felt sick as my brain tried to catch up. "But I thought --"

"What? That because I went all out on your locker meant that I was, like, in love with you or something?" Hana said, looking me with disgust. "Get over yourself." She yanked open the door and strode inside. The slam made my head throb even more.

I leaned against the wall and touched the bump above my nose again, checkin my fingers for blood.

There wasn;t any. "I want to shoot myself," I muttered under my breath, kicking at the ground.

So much for that.

Your/Hana POV:

"Xi Luhan, get off the field! Now!"

Luhan cursed under his breath and stormed past Coach Ki. I flushed with heat as he passed me by, his eyes on his muddy cleats, sweat soaking his hair and shirt. He shrugged Seul Mi off as she made a move for him a slammed his open hand into a stack of paper cups on the water table, sending them flying.

I swallowed hard and clutched my arms.

It was the third match of the year, and top scorer, Xi Luhan, was not on his game.

"Hana," Jaemi sang in my year. " It's about time you acted like a backslapper."

In the first two games I hadn't so much as talked to Luhan, let alone slapped his admittedly y back, and Jaemi had definitely noticed.

"Siwon! Sub in for Luhan!" Coach yelled.

My heart leapt. "Seriously?" Siwon said, popping up off the bench. "No. I'm practicing my stand-up routine," Cooach spat.

"Yes, seriously! Sub in!"

"Go Siwon!" I shouted, slapping his shoulder as he jogged by. "Yeaah, Siwon! Kick !" Yoona screeched from the bleachers.

We shared a smile before she got back to taking Crestie behavioural notes on her laptop.

"That's great, Hana, but I didn't mean for him." Jaemi nudged. "Luhan is your responsibility. Go! Pep talk the boy!"

She shoved me towards the bench. Luhan sat at the end, elbows pressed into his thighs, his hands clenched into fists against his forehead, his right leg bouncing up and down.

I knew how he felt.

But did I really wanna boost Mr. Ego? The guy who was so cocky he thought a few posters meant I wanted to taste his tongue?

Maybe he needed some humbling.

"Luhan! Hyung! It's all right man!" TaeJun shouted from the top bleacher. "Luhan, Luhan, Luhan, Luhan!" TaeJu chanted, trying to get the crowd into it.

I rolled my eyes at them. Did they not know they were making it worse?

"No worries man! Here comes your backslapper to save the day!" TaeJun joked loudly, standing up to point at me. "Kim Hana to the rescue!"

I would have knocked their skulls together, but I had a feeling they were already dropped as a child. Meanwhile, Luhan spotted me and dropped back against the bench, shaking his head. Like I was some huge, pointless disappointment.

A waste of a backslapper. Was that what he thought? Suddenly, Seul Mi's hand fell on my arm. "You're not really going over there."

My adrenaline rose in my veins. "I'm his backslapper."

"I'll do it. He doesn't even know who you are," she said snidely. I glanced past her shoulder at Luhan.

So he hasn't told anyone we'd met. I pried my arm from her grip "Thanks, but don't worry about us." I replied.

 I knew that calling Luhan and I "us" and "we" would piss her off, and I was right. Her nostrils flared as I walk over to the bench and sat next to him.

"What is it with you?" I demanded. His eyes narrowed. "What?"

"What's your problem?" I asked, turning my knees towards him. He glanced at Krystal, Suzy, and Seul Mi who were hovering just on the edge of earshot and leaned in.

"Look, I'm sorry I tried to kiss you, okay?" He whispered through his teeth. "Obviously I was wrong. But I don't really think that right now is --"

"The hell are you doing out there?"

"Scuse me?" He blurted.

"Missing passes, giving them easy steals. I thought you were the star of this team?" I tried to ignore the obnoxious, annoyed glares of m former friends.

"Dude, that guy is all over me!" Luhan protested, throwing his hand out. "Did you see that illegal tackle? He should have gotten a yellow card for that. It's not my fault if the refs are freaking blind."

"Oh, wah, wah, wah," I replied sarcatically, tilting my head back and forth. "Poor Luhan's getting defended. You gonna cry about it now?"

A few people in the stands laughed, Yoona harder than most. Luhan, meanwhile, blazed red with anger. "Um, Hana?" Jaemi said, appearing behind us. "This is not what I meant."

"I'm not crying bout it," Luhan snapped.

"Oh, no? It sounds like it to me." I shot back. He stood up and faced me. "I can run circles around that guy."

I pressed my lips together to keep from smiling. 'Oh, so all of a sudden you're a player?" I said dubiously, standing up to look him in the eye. "More of a player you'll ever be." He shot back.

Was it just me, or was he trying not to smile now too?

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"Prove it?" I demanded.

"Fine!" He shouted.

"Fine!" I replied.

Suddenly he grinned. To my surprise, he leaned toward my ear. "You're pretty good at this." He smiled again at me before jogging over to Coach and pleading his case to be put back in the game.

"Wow. Nice work." Jaemi said as she walked by. "I underestimated you."

I turned around, grinning over both the praise and the lingering buzz of flirtation, and found Seul Mi staring me down through narrowed eyes.

WELCOME NEW SUBBIES. Comment or Luhan will eat you.

GET IN ME XI LUHAN.