Like him, Until him

Lacey

Thwack.

I let the ball fly off my block as I jumped up to make sure it got back to my team.
The blue and yellow jerseys of the Yellowjackets, lovingly given the nickname "The Jackets" a stark contrast to my burgundy and black,
however as the goal keeper I needed to stand out, which is not an issue for me, I don't normally stand out, so the change is welcomed every once in a while.

The other teams striker turned and I could instantly tell I would need to dive for it, so I rolled my shoulders and threw myself at the ground as he kicked the ball exactly where I thought he would.

After successfully blocking the tenth point of the game I just threw the ball back into play and continued to do what I knew how, piss the other team off.
Any shot they tried to take?
Blocked
Aimed high?
Blocked
Aimed low?
Blocked
Aimed for the far right?
Blocked
Aimed for the far left?
Blocked
Seriously no matter what they tried I could tell what it was from a mile away.

So eventually they got desperate and the rest of the team easily pulled points off of them while I just blocked every point they tried for.

The only team that ever came close was the Ravens.

And the only reason they could was their annoyingly persistent Central Midfielder, and captain, Jett Sullivan, he was a loose cannon, he shot around the field like a rocket and it took Cove years to even start blocking more than half of his shots. Cove wasn't going to sit around and say that he didn't make games more interesting, I mean he was essentially the only player in the league that actually gave me a challenge, however the boy made it hard not to hate him.

I mean he was everything I wanted to be,
tall but fast,
muscular but lean,
dark but lit up every room he walked into
doesn't care about popularity but some how everyone knows him
he was adored by all but not cocky
he was ridiculously good at everything
he looked so cool and it looked like he didn't even try

he was the type of person who the underclassmen looked up to, teachers loves, and team mates adored,
and most importantly he was out.
He was out and somehow everyone still adored him!

I would be lying if I said I wasn't jealous,
I mean I've hooked up with a few guys from other teams while at away games, but I wasn't out by any means.

Not because I couldn't be, but because I wasn't ready to be.

I hated how easy it seemed for him.
Everything.
Soccer, school, friends, even just being himself.
But I really hated how much he seemed to be comfortable being out,
Comfortable enough to be himself, to everyone

Nobody could possibly understand how badly I wanted to be him.

(WC: 494)