meant to be • adam banks

chapter sixteen

Adam is the only one who sticks out to me, mainly because he's wearing his letterman jacket with just a plain black t-shirt underneath. I can't tell if he looks miserable because he doesn't want to be here, or because something else is going on, but I decide to look away. I don't think I want to find out, because it's not like I could anyway. That look he gave me after he fought Alex last week told me all I need to know about where we stand.

Speaking of Alex, he looks so happy to be here. He's with a bunch of his friends, and he's the only one dressed in Eden Hall gear. The rest of his friends are in the familiar green and white of Hill-Murray, our opponents once again. Although his friends are most definitely giving him crap for not supporting his school, it makes me feel warm inside to know that he's here for me.

Now that I've had a moment of peace, it's time to get to work. Warmups, pre-game traditions, and Coach Hofmann's speech go by in a flash, and I'm taking my spot on the field before I've had a second to breathe. The whistle blows, and off we go.

This is it. Everything I've worked for in my high school career all comes down to this moment.

The play is back and forth for most of the first half, but it all falls apart when they score two quick goals right before halftime. We walk back into the locker room defeated, and it's honestly hard to see how we're going to come back from this. It's difficult enough to tie a game when you're down a goal... but two? Almost impossible.

"We're not losing this game." I think out loud, quickly realizing I interrupted Coach's speech.

"What was that Ella?"

"We're not losing this game." I repeat, standing up. "We've come too far to let it all go to waste. We've worked too hard to give up our title to our biggest rival. We've come too far to let someone else have what's been ours for the past two years, and we've worked way too hard to not keep making history. We deserve to threepeat, and we deserve to win this game. One goal at a time, guys. We got this. I believe in us to do it, so that leaves me with one question. Do you?"

I look over to Coach, ready to apologize for cutting him off. But to my surprise, he looks prouder than I've ever seen him. He knows we can do it, and he knows now that we have the leaders in order to do it. All we have to do is believe in ourselves.

When we walk out for the second half, the crowd looks just as nervous as I feel. Who knows if we'll actually be able to pull off a miracle? My speech could end up being all for nothing, but I know that it'll be for something. Because I know that we're going to make damn sure this game turns around.

Once the whistle blows, I snap into game mode. Each ball that comes my way, I'm clearing without a second thought. Every free kick given to us, I'm putting in a perfect place for someone's head or foot to give us a chance at scoring. Every battle for the ball is with a purpose, the ultimate prize on the line.

Frustration sinks in as the minutes go on, because no one is converting any of the opportunities I'm giving them. However, everything finally starts to change with five minutes to go. And it couldn't have come at a better time.

Sadie gets tripped in the box, which the ref immediately calls. Her PK goal makes the score 2-1, which starts to turn the momentum in our direction. Right off the kickoff, Addison blocks a pass and sprints down the field, putting a shot past their goalie to tie the game. Within a minute, the score is tied at two.

Everything has changed now. The momentum is fully on our side now, the crowd is going wild, and we've found belief in ourselves. Two goals within a minute is basically unheard of in soccer, and the fact that we've just done it is helping us realize that we can do anything we set our mind to. Not only that, but we are unstoppable when we work together.

The next four minutes are the hardest four minutes of my life. Everyone on the field is battling their hardest to get the go-ahead goal, and as the seconds tick down, we're all thinking about overtime. That is until Blayne gets tripped right outside the box with three seconds left.

The clock stops, and Coach immediately calls for me to take the kick. Although there is so much noise around me, all I can hear is my own thoughts. That's something Miguel taught me from an early age; if you don't block out the noise and focus on the choice you want to make in an important moment, fate is going to choose for you.

I take a deep breath and jog up to the ball, going over every single time Miguel has reminded me to focus on my choice. I pick it up and throw it back down, watching the backwards spin as it falls. I then adjust it to how I want it, and wait for the ref to blow his whistle. When he finally does, I raise my arm and take a deep breath.

As I strike the ball, I hear the horn sound to signal the end of the game. I watch as the ball soars through the air, cleanly hitting the back of the net. And then... pure chaos breaks out.

My whole team runs towards me as I hold my hands up in the air, smiling up at the sky. I feel my grandma's presence for a quick second, and then I'm tackled to the ground by my friends. All I can hear are the screams, laughs, cries, and pants of my teammates, evidence of the relief we all feel. This was a complete team effort, and this wouldn't have happened if we didn't work together.

After we celebrated with the plaque and congratulated Hill-Murray on their season, we're released to our loved ones. The first person I run to is Alex, who easily catches me as I jump into his arms. "That was fucking insane. I'm so proud of you."

I pull away from the hug to look down at him, and his smile is just as big as mine. Before I can stop myself, I'm leaning down to kiss him. I don't really care who's around, because I'm on top of the world right now. I just won my third straight state championship and have someone who treats me the way I'm supposed to be treated.

He finally puts me down, but doesn't break the kiss. When I finally pull away, I bury my head in his chest and hold him tight. "Thank you for being here. It means more than you know."

"Hey." he says, tilting my face up so that I'm looking at him. "Anything for you. Now, go enjoy yourself champion. You deserve it."

I give him one more kiss before running over to my family, who are all equally as excited as I am. When I finally leave them, I run to Sadie and Morgan next. I jump on their backs to let them know I'm there, and they laugh at the level of energy I still have. What can I say? I just won my third straight state title, at my future college field. I'm on top of the freakin' world right now.

I finally calm down after a few more seconds, and I give hugs to all of the Ducks who are there. I thank them all for coming, and stay to talk to them for a few minutes. When I eventually turn to leave, I bump into the one person I wasn't prepared to see.

"Hey!" I start, giving him my best smile. "Sorry, I didn't see you there. Thanks for-"

"Mhm, yup." he interrupts, not even trying to hide his anger. "Congrats."

Before I can get another word in, he walks past me and towards our friends. His mood immediately changes, and there's a real smile on his face as he jokes around with them. I know it shouldn't be bothering me, but seeing that makes me more upset than I've been in a while. I understand why he's upset with me, but I didn't think he'd shut me out completely.

Today was supposed to be the best day of senior year so far, but what just happened ruined it for me. I don't know what I'm supposed to do. Get my best friend back, or lose him all together? And more importantly, how the hell am I supposed to choose between the two?

*a/n*
i hate the way i ended this i'm sorry. also don't hate me for the drama please i swear it'll end happy and i won't break that promise. but school sucks and it's hard. that's all i've got see you soon love ya