Aiden Makes A Daring Play

Chapter Two: Aptitude.

I threw my shorts on, finished tying my cleats and made my way outside. I started to the left when I saw the coach speaking to a few other players, waved to get his attention, and let him know I was out here. He nodded and motioned me forward. I could read his lips as he yelled for all other players to come together and was incredibly grateful for my lack of hearing as he blew the whistle.

As players jogged up, Coach grabbed my shoulder and introduced me. I could see him explaining that I was deaf by the looks of surprise and grimaces. That was when I noticed the boy from yesterday. Now that I could look at him more closely, I realized he had green eyes, copper brown hair, and a lithe build. He also looked decent in a soccer uniform. Not that I should be noticing that right now. He had the most disinterested look of them all and that meant he either didn't think I was worth his time as a player, or that he just didn't care. Guess we would find out.

Coach grabbed my attention by shaking my shoulder and asked if I could understand him, I nodded yes and motioned to my lips.

"We are going to do a simple scrimmage, see what you got, and see if you have what it takes to join our team."

I smiled and nodded, excited to feel the blood pumping through my veins as I started running. Soccer was a core part of who I was, and being a deaf player made it all that much special to me.

I got onto the field and got into position, knowing that the real test would be the other players and how they handled me joining them. Males were often territorial, and a rando deaf boy trying to join their team might not be their idea of fun. I looked up and met eyes with green eye boy, who narrowed his eyes at me. I cocked a brow and looked away. I had to focus. When playing, since I couldn't hear any whistle, I had to be alert of body movements to be my indicators. It was almost an art form to me, having to watch everything at once, relying on it almost completely to make sure I could succeed as a player. My old coach had spent time to teach me how to be my best on a hearing team. Teams for the deaf were not common, especially in high school settings.

I saw a slash of movement began and readied myself to move.

The ball shot to the green-eyed boy, whose name I should learn so I could stop calling him that, and he immediately took control. His foot work was impressive. But. He seemed to have a small problem ball watching and I saw a slight chance to close in. I took it. I swiped from the left, took control, and slightly grinned at his shocked and angry look. I made a pass to my laughing teammate and completely missed the 5"10 mass barreling into my side.

I hit the ground and the wind was knocked out of me. I gasped for breath before it came rushing back. The whistle must have blown because movement had stopped. I looked up and saw the coach rapidly walking my and the other players way. He shot me a pissy look and then his face went blank.

I could see the coach asking the player why he thought a late tackle was necessary as I'd clearly passed the ball more than 30 seconds before. The player shrugged and I stood up, motioning to the coach. He benched the other player and I motioned that I was fine.

He sighed "I am probably going to have to learn a little bit of sign so that you and I can communicate better, huh?"

I shrugged and smirked.

"Because you just stole the ball from Lake, our team captain, and no one ever steals a ball from Lake. Its enough to show me you have skill. But communication will be key, so let's see what we can do about that moving forward, okay? You can be done for today, come back tomorrow at the same time."

I nodded and gave a thumbs up with a big smile. Smiling because he was going to give me a chance and because I finally had a name for green-eyed boy. I looked around and saw him fuming down the field a bit. Oh well.

I walked off the field and into the lockers, grabbed my bag and decided to start the walk home.

__________

When I walked into my home, I went straight to my room to drop off my bags and then tromped to the kitchen because I could smell something good. I turned the corner and saw my mom, gave her a smile and a hug.

She started asking about my day and I told her it was fine.

"Did you try out for soccer today like you planned?"

"Yep. I tried out and made the team."

"What?! That's fantastic Aiden! I'm so proud of you."

I shrugged "I found a small flaw in the captain's footwork and took advantage of it, made a snatch and helped to make a goal". I decided not to tell her about the tackle because my mom was nothing if not a fierce mama bear, and I had a feeling this team was going to make it a trial to join their ranks. But I was ready, I loved soccer too much not to try.

"That is excellent honey. Do you start tomorrow then?"

I nodded and swiped some carrots as she tried to swat my hands "Ma, I am a growing boy and I need sustenance!"

She rolled her eyes at how dramatic I was and shooed me away. I ran upstairs to shower, and by the time I made it back down dinner was ready, and my dad was home. He ruffled my hair and we ate, talking about our days. I loved my family.

Lakes Point of View:

I vaguely recognized the new kid from the office earlier today but hadn't cared enough to list to his name. I didn't much care really. I did hear coach say he was deaf so my guess is this tryout was just a pity thing because of his 'disability'. Didn't really have much time to care, I was team captain and we had a match coming up in two weeks.

Let's weed out this new guy so we can get back to business. We got into position and the ball almost immediately made it to me as I kicked to the right, ready to close in and make that goal. Suddenly the ball was no longer in front of me. What the hell?

I jerked my eyes up and saw the new kid with the ball, getting ready to pass. I felt rage overtake me. My friend Mike must have seen it because he took it upon himself to do a late tackle and brought the new kid down in a flash. I could see him trying to catch his breathe and almost, almost felt a little bit of guilt. But that's what you get for trying to show off on your first day.

I saw coach go and reprimand Mike, who turned away and winked at me. I shook my head and couldn't help but smirk a little bit. Coach was talking to new kid now, who briefly looked my way, and then started walking off field. Good, maybe he was giving up and I wouldn't have to deal with it anymore.

Coach blew the whistle and we all huddled in. We ran a few more scrimmages, and then were released for the day.

"Lake!"

I turned back "Coach?"

"I just wanted to give you a heads up as captain that the new kid, Aiden, will be joining our team. We're gonna have to figure out some ways to communicate with him but I think he definitely has skill." He squeezed my shoulder as he walked by and on to his office as I stared after him.

Shit. I didn't want that fucking guy on our team. I angrily grabbed my crap and made it out to the parking lot to my car. I slammed my stuff into the trunk, got in and started the drive home.

I pulled up to the 3-story colonial home and realized from the outside my life probably looked normal. Too bad they didn't know what went on inside.