Off the Field

Chapter Fourteen

Hey guys. So today was ALMOST a snow/cold day but it wasn't -_- so annoyed cuz so many schools around me cancelled except for mine of course. Sigh. But there's a chance for tomorrow, so please pray!! I've got so much to do - exams are next week and I take the ACT in less than a month and EEK so stressful. But I always make time to write; you know me, why study for exams? So enjoy this chapter, please, and let me know what you think :) I love comments!

Gracias! <3 vb123321

Chapter Fourteen

I guess I should've foreseen the outcome of the game when the rain started.

Or maybe when their goalie blocked my shot and I saw that familiar frustration on my teammates' faces.

After all, we were playing Crosswell, the team we had lost to by one point in finals the year before. My one point. Somehow our schedule had us against them much earlier, like this was some sort of milestone: Beat them, and you'll prove that you're better than you were last year. It was kind of strange because Coach assured us that this game didn't actually matter too much in the big picture. Which was good.

Because they were killing us. Again.

"C'mon, Jamison," I muttered, shaking rain out of my eyes as I watched the ball fly past our goalie yet again. That was the second he had let in within the first half, along with several near misses. Blowing out through my mouth in consternation, I jogged back to the half to start the ball with my two strikers.

"We can't let it get past the defense," Ray said hurriedly as our cleats squished in the soft ground. "They're only getting it to the goal because James isn't there to stop it."

James Clark, our rock-solid sweeper, had called me that morning to tell me that he couldn't stop throwing up and his mom wasn't letting him go to school, which meant that he couldn't play. Usually no ball could make it past him; it wasn't quite the same with his sub.

"Their defense isn't that great," I said, swiping my sopping hair out of my face. "We can stop their plays. Kyle, you gotta watch out for their number fifteen, got it?"

The sophomore nodded, assuming his side of the field as Ray took the kickoff, tapping it toward me so that I could begin the drive up the field.

Rain drizzled steadily on my head, trickling down my sodden shirt and plastering my hair to my head. My feet kept slipping in the muddy grass, reminding me forcefully of the last time we had played Crosswell, which had been under the same conditions. I made sure to concentrate on my footwork so that not every aspect was identical to the championship game.

The ball spun through the rain like a black and white blur, and somehow Ray was there to trap it. I could see the same frustration I felt in his eyes as he battled up the field, passing to Kyle or me as we tried to break through their defense. Every time the ball went out of bounds, it was difficult to throw in accurately because of how wet and muddy it became.

The half-time whistle was a relief to everyone on the field.

"It shouldn't be this hard to score," I said to Ray tiredly as we jogged over to the sidelines. "We're falling apart out there."

"Their goalie's good, Coop, you can't deny that." He spiked up his dark hair with one hand, water droplets joining the rain. "We'll figure it out this next half, don't worry."

Coach wore a large windbreaker that didn't hide his tense shoulders. "All right, guys," he began, immediately gaining everyone's attention. "We're pretty rough out there. What's going on? Is it the rain?"