Like Real People Do - Jill Roord

Except One Person Remained Silent

Hunter's POV

We were playing Manchester United, up in Manchester, and there were two minutes of injury time remaining. The score was currently tied on 2-2, it had been a match full of individual wars and collaborative battles. It was feeling like the longest ninety minutes of my life, my legs were on fire and my throat was dry as a desert, but the game wasn't over yet. It wasn't over until the final whistle blew.  

One last chance if we were lucky. That's all we were going to get. And in terms of the WSL title race, matches like these would always be important; bad as it sounds, we prayed on United loosing those precious points. 

"Hunter!" I heard someone yell my name down the pitch, it was Jill. 

Quickly, I ran into space trying to escape my dear friend Ona Battle. I may have loved my Spanish international friend, but she'd annoyed me the entire match with her constant and heavy defending. 

The ball reached my feet though I could see Ona ready to pounce; she'd do anything to defend this ball in the final two minutes.
I made it look as if I was turning right, seeing Ona leap to the side and then I swiftly pivoted, shooting the ball directly towards the goal. My heart would always stop as I see the goal keeper dive and this time was no different, her fingers were fully outstretched but the ball snuck past the gloves, rippling into the back of the net. 

I threw my arms up in the air, feeling someone run up behind me and wrap their arms around my waist. Looking back, I saw Jill, "Good goal Hunter! You did it!" 

"It was an even better assist," I laughed, happy Jill had gotten the assist; she was already making a mark within this team.

Within a couple of seconds the entire team was in one big group huddle, knowing that goal had been massively important and scored at the perfect time.
If we wanted to win the league and other competitions, teams like Manchester United were important to beat, so this game did mean a lot. 

The full time whistle was blown shortly after my goal, I walked over to each player and shook their hand. Finally, I saw Ona who I jogged over to, pulling her into a hug. 

She looked slightly disappointed as I pulled away, "Me entristece decir que fue un gran gol (I'm sad to say that was a great goal)," Ona tried to chuckle, it came out rather disheartened though. 

I shook my head, pulling Ona's chip up so her eyes would leave the ground, "Tenía que ser genial superar tu defensa (it had to be great to get past your defence)."

Ona scoffed, now laughing, "Eres tan modesto Hunter (you are so modest Hunter)," She commented sarcastically.

"Es uno de mis muchos atributos increíbles (it's one of my many amazing attributes)," I rolled my eyes. 

Ona pulled me into another hug, "Te he echado de menos (I've missed you)," She sighed. Seeing as we lived on opposite ends of the country, we didn't see each other much. It was honestly easier to go to Barcelona than Manchester in many ways. So Ona and I tried to keep regularly in contact but it was challenging considering our busy schedules.

"Yo también te he echado de menos (I've missed you too)," I smiled, my head rested on her shoulder; it was a bittersweet moment. 

"Hunter!" Jen shouted from near the tunnel, "We're all going in!"

"Okay!" I gave her a thumbs up then turned back to Ona, "Creo que tengo que irme (I think I have to go)," I frowned, moving to walk away but Ona caught my hand. 

"Esperar! (wait!)" Ona suddenly called, "Qué haces esta noche? (What are you doing tonight?)"

"Probablemente solo nos vamos a la cama, nos quedaremos en Manchester por la noche (Probably just going to bed, we're staying in Manchester for the night)," I began to smile, understanding what she was getting at.