A/N: Written for RichonneFics' Richonne Rom Com Challenge

The Rivals- They say there is a thin line between love and hate. Which one of these frenemies will be the first to cross the line to love?

Got a lot of inspiration from seeing Andy wearing the Melting Passes football jersey at NYCC. AU high school Richonne. I've decided not to post it where I post my other challenge offerings, namely because I will consider writing more, if readers respond well to it.

Thursday

The afternoon sun shone brightly as Michonne Harris and Sasha Williams dropped their gym bags to the ground and walked out onto the soccer pitch. It was a small area at the back of their school, and it was kept in good condition. Its condition was at an excellent standard, not only because the groundskeeper was diligent, but because it did not get frequent use outside of what it was meant for. The basketball and football arenas were often used for other events, but the soccer field was not.

There were many sports teams at Woodbury Academy; the girls' and boys' soccer teams were two among the many. Though, each were at differing levels when it came to being winners. The Woodbury Tigers, the boys' team, had a poor track record with victories, whereas the girls' team, The Falcons, were state champions.

Michonne was the new striker for The Falcons; she had a keen eye, great aim, and rarely missed a shot. She was fast, and always able to outrun the opposing team's defenders. Her team mates nicknamed her 'The Samurai' because she cut so many opposition players down. Sasha played as the right winger, another attacking position that worked closely with Michonne's; it is how both girls became fast friends.

While their season had only just begun, Michonne and Sasha wanted to get some extra training sessions in while they had spare time. They had been meeting every day after school for a few weeks now. They would run laps together and then do some goal-kicking drills. It was also a good chance for them to hang out, since Michonne was still relatively new to town.

The girls started their warm-up exercises when they heard the sound of someone wolf-whistling not too far away. They searched the immediate area, and then scoffed in disgust when they saw a group of players from the Tigers wearing their training gear and kicking a few balls to each other. They were headed in the girls' direction.

"Great," said Michonne, as she continued to stretch. "Ten bucks says they try to tell us to leave."

"Ten bucks says Shane Walsh tries to sexually harass us," Sasha replied, before jumping up and down on the spot.

"Hello, girls," Shane, The Tigers' goal keeper, said as he approached; the other boys stood behind him. "While I would love to watch while you finish off all o' that stretching and bending, I hope y'all know we've got training here right now."

"Okay," said Michonne. "What does that have to do with us?"

"We're gonna need you girls to move your sweet little asses off our pitch," he said. "That's what."

"Your pitch?" asked Sasha, folding her arms over her chest. "We've got just as much right to train here as you do."

"In fact," said Michonne. "We were here first, so maybe you and your so-called team should take your little asses off our pitch."

"Come on now," said Rick Grimes, The Tigers' defensive midfielder. "We can share."

Michonne was a little taken aback by his good looks up close; nevertheless, she shot him a dubious glare, as did his best friend, Shane.

"Listen, blue-eyes," said Michonne. "Your bigmouthed friend here ruined any chance of that."

Rick tilted his head to the side and narrowed his eyes; he stepped closer, "Who are you, again?"

He did want to know who the attractive, no-nonsense girl was.

Michonne rolled her eyes and kneeled down to tighten her shoelace, "Don't worry 'bout who I am..."

There was a chorus of ooohs from the other boys; Rick rolled his eyes.

"I don't have to answer any of your questions, and y'all don't have the right to make us leave," Michonne said, as she straightened up and stood.

Rick felt very intrigued by her; he and Shane shared a look.

"We've got the pitch on Thursdays for training," Rick explained to the pretty girl, not wanting their first meeting to continue to be on a sour note.

"You haven't been here for the past two Thursdays," Michonne said, while gesturing to the field.

"Well, we're here now," Rick replied, unable to keep his gaze off of her.

"Yeah," said Shane, stepping closer to the girls.

"Back off," Sasha warned, knowing his reputation for being a hot-head.

"I'm not tryin' anything," Shane replied. "I just thought we could come to some kind of arrangement."

"I think the fuck not," said Sasha, staring him down.

"Not like that," he answered sincerely. "How about we play each other. Winner gets to use the pitch whenever."

"Hey, Einstein," said Michonne. "You do know we all get to use it whenever we like?"

"Like my buddy said," Shane started. "Who are you, again, exactly?"

"She's striker for The Falcons," said Sasha. "And she'll run rings around you and your buddy."

Shane laughed, and Rick smirked; Michonne shot them an unimpressed look.

"I'd like to see that," said Rick, almost unintentionally. He let his eyes roam over her form; she felt flustered under his gaze.

"Anytime, anyplace," Sasha answered, raising her chin; Rick kept his stare fixed on Michonne.

"How about next Thursday?" asked Shane; Rick and Michonne kept their eyes locked on one another.

"Fine by me," Michonne answered.

"Me too," replied Rick.

"Bring your whole team, plus reserves," said Shane. "You're gonna need 'em."

"Whatever," Sasha retorted. "You might wanna bring your mamas so they can patch-up your boos-boos after we kick your sorry asses. Come on, Mich. Let 'em have the pitch. They're gonna need the practice."

Michonne gave Shane a snarky look, before offering Rick a crooked, cocky smile. She and Sasha turned and ambled over to where their bags were. The boys started to do their warm-ups as the girls retrieved their bags, readying themselves to leave. Michonne looked back towards the pitch, and caught Rick staring at her once more. He gave her a small wave; she scoffed and shook her head. She could not wait to see him again in a week's time.

xXxXx

Friday

The hard-to-describe sound of the beanbag, shifting under the weight of a person, was audible as Michonne got comfortable. The grumbling of her tummy was louder; she looked around the quiet library hoping no one had heard it. Just then, over near the far wall, she spotted him: Rick Grimes. She lifted her comic book up closer to her face, and watched him. He was wearing their school's mandatory navy-blue uniform; his hair was neat, though a little unruly in the back. He had his backpack hanging from one shoulder, and a look of concentration on his face.

She continued to watch him as he approached one of the shelves and searched for a book. He was cute, she thought a moment, admiring the way his gait was bowlegged and his frame, slight. He had a handsome face and kind eyes.

Michonne tilted her head and let her eyes roam down to his firm little backside; it too looked cute in those pants. Suddenly, he turned and she had to shift her gaze upwards, causing their eyes to meet. Hurriedly, she looked away and brought her comic book higher. It was too late, he had recognized her.

After considering what he needed to do next, Rick decided to approach Michonne. He did some Googling after he had gotten home from their training session the night before, and realized that she was a big deal in the girls' competition. Though she had not been with The Falcons long, she was a very formidable and capable replacement for Carol Peletier, who had moved not too long ago. He found her interesting, and very pretty.

"Hey," he said, as he stood in front of her; Michonne gazed up at him.

"Hi," she offered, letting her book rest in her lap. "You needed something, or…?"

"No, I just wanted to say hello," he admitted. "I'm Rick."

"I know who you are," she answered. "I've watched a few of your games."

He nodded his head, a little shamefaced that he had not seen her team play at all that season; he was interested in playing soccer, but he did not really make time to see the girls' team play, at least, not lately. Anytime the boys' team did turn up, it was because Shane wanted to hit on the girls' team after their game. That was one of the reasons why there was little solidarity between them; that and the fact that the boys got new kits whenever they wanted, and were generally given more support from the school, as well as more incentives to play. This disparity existed between them, even though the girls were a champion team.

"You're Michonne, right?" he asked, not wanting to admit that he had not seen her in action thus far.

"Yep," she answered, surprised when he sat down beside her on a beanbag.

"I heard you're a star player," he offered.

"When did you hear that?" she asked. "You didn't know that yesterday. You didn't even know who I was. What? Did you Google me, or something?"

Rick scrunched up his face and shook his head.

"Sorry about yesterday," he said, sheepishly.

"Don't be," she answered confidently. "I won't be when we thrash you on Thursday."

He let out an amused laugh.

"You don't think we can?" she challenged. "Is that why you're laughing?"

"Maybe," he replied, before amending what he had said. "I mean, no; I ain't laughin' at you or your ability. I just find it funny that you're so…competitive."

"Why's that funny?"

"It's not funny-funny," he offered. "It's, I don't know."

Now she chuckled a little at how flustered he was becoming.

"What I'm tryin' to say is, I came over here to talk to you; to get to know you," he said a little shyly. "And you're talkin' about beatin' my ass."

Michonne laughed, "Okay, I get your point."

They shared a quick, coy smile with one another; it grew quiet between them.

"Whatcha readin'?" he asked, pointing to her comic book.

"Oh, it's just this comic book I brought from home. The selection here is pretty awful," she said, nodding her head. "What're you looking for in here?"

"This book about ancient Greece," he replied, showing her the title of the book scrawled on a scrap of paper.

"You won't find it there," she offered, gesturing to where Rick was just searching. "You need to look in the reference section."

"Ah, okay," he replied. "Thanks for that. Glad you're here, otherwise I might've gotten stuck in this place all day."

"Yeah," she said somewhat contemptuously. "Wouldn't want that to happen."

"Oh, not that's it's a bad thing," he stuttered. "It's probably a really cool place to hang out. I mean, you're here on your own and it's lunchtime, so it can't be that bad."

Michonne just shrugged at Rick before supplying a quiet, "Yeah."

Silence pervaded; Rick's shoelace suddenly became interesting to him as he stared at it. Michonne twiddled her thumbs.

"So," he finally said, grabbing her attention. "Thursday, uh?"

"What about it?'

"Nothin'," he answered. "It's just gonna be interesting."

"Why's that?"

"Well, we've never played girls before," he said in a matter-of-fact way.

"Well, we've played a bunch of below-average teams before," she quipped. "So, it's not gonna be that interesting for us."

"Really? You're gonna sit here and call my team shitty to my face?" he asked, half-jokingly.

"Looks that way," she replied, with the hint of a smile on her lips.

Just then, the bell sounded, announcing the end of the lunch break. Michonne stood, placed her comic book back into her bag, and then glanced at Rick. He had gotten to his feet as well. He placed the piece paper back into his pocket, picked up his backpack, and ran his fingers through his hair.

"It was cool to meet you properly, Michonne," he said sincerely.

"Same here," she answered.

"Guess I'll see you around," he said, not moving, even though the other students were filing out of the library.

"Sure," Michonne replied, still standing in place. "I'll see you on Thursday."

"For my scheduled ass-kicking?" he teased, causing her to gift him with the most beautiful smile he had ever seen.

"Yeah," she said, while walking past him and heading for the exit.

"Just remember one thing," he called.

"What's that?" she queried, looking back over her shoulder.

"You don't have to take it easy on me, just because you like me now."

Michonne rolled her eyes and then sneered at his seeming attempt at flirtation.

"Trust me," she said while walking away. "I won't."