Think You Can Beat Me?

"Game-on!"

We made it pretty far.

Scratch that.

In 10 minutes, my team is supposed to go out and play the championship finals, the most important game in this entire season. Even though I'm not playing, I still follow everyone in the locker room and give out the pump-up speech. Wherever I am, I know that I'll always be the captain of this team and I know my teammates good enough to know that they need me as their captain to give them a speech. 

Just as the game is about to start, I pull Carli a side. 

"Tobin! What's up!" Carol tried to give out a calm and collected vibe, but I can tell by how she couldn't stop fidgeting that she's nervous.

"Well... I know that I won't be on the pitch.... and that Hope is the captain..." I trail off and held out the captain arms band and tried to read her expression.

She doesn't get it.

"For tonight, you're the captain."

Now, she gets it.

After a lot of fighting, I finally got her to put on the neon arms band with a bold C on it. 

I looked at the team, and they looked back at me.

I smirk, knowing that if I show confidence, my team becomes confidence.

I signal everyone to gather around.

"TEAM ON 3! 1, 2, 3, TEAM!" 

Boom.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After the 1st half, nothing much happened.

I'm just joking.

Nobody scored in the 1st half, but the other team already got a red card for fouling Megan twice. It's at the 75th minute now, and we were down a point. They just scored of a rough foul, and yet the referee didn't call it. As the game crawls on, the opposing team became more and more physical. At the pit of my stomach, I sense something bad is gonna happen. Each time it's 1v1, I'm at the edge of my seat, ready to yell at the ref. Just as I take a glance at the clock, I hear the sharp sound of the whistle. I whip my head towards my teammates and do a quick head count. Megan's missing. 

I whistle the team call, short-short-long, and everyone turns their head at me. I signal for them to bring Megan to me and come to the sidelines. As the trainers carry Meg to the sidelines, I gather my teammates. 

"Now, can someone tell me what in the world just went on!"

"Someone stepped on Megan's inside foot just as she was about to cut in."

After around 3 minutes of everyone waiting for the trainer's news, he came over to our group. We all stand up as we await the news that could either win or lose this game. 

"Her ankle is broken. We're gonna need a sub."

Well, sh*t.

We don't have any subs. 

As I make awkward eye-contact with everyone, I looked down.

I felt a nudge on my shoulder, and turned my head to see that Lex has my jersey in her hand.

I look at the jersey.

I look at her face.

Then the jersey.

Then the team.

They all give me a desperate look.

They're making me choose.

For the sake of my team, or for the sake of myself.

Being the unselfish person I am.....

I chose the team.

Shaking off the ghosts of my past, I decided to step back into the light. Let's show who the real Tobin heath is.

Not the one that haven't played soccer since the incident, nor the one that has been continuously haunted by her secrets.

The one that her teammates look up to, the one that the school looks up to, the soccer player. 

Think you can beat me? 

Think again.