DAY OF TRYOUTS
The final bell rang and all the students ran out of their classes to either go home or go for their after-school clubs. A certain brunette was filled with so much glee that he literally skipped down the halls on his way to the soccer field.
Immediately Ryan left the building he bumped into someone who, instead of tumbling down, surprisingly retained their stance while he fell down with a thud.
"Are you OK?" the person asked with a familiar voice.
Ryan couldn't make out who it was because from his angle, the sun was shining in his eyes making whoever it was that he had bumped into look like they were coming out of the sun.
As soon as the person helped him up, he could clearly see who it was.
"Brianna?" He asked once he saw the mesmerizing green eyes behind those blue glasses.
"Where are you going in such a rush?"
"To the soccer field. The try-outs are today and I don't wanna be late."
"Yeah, sure, but you don't run with your eyes closed or else you'll end up getting to the field in crutches!" She said in a matter-of-fact way.
He scratched the back or his neck and nervously chuckled, "Sorry"
He continued walking and was surprised to see Brianna walking along with him.
"Where are you going?" He asked her.
"To the field, duh."
"Why?"
"Oh, I don't know, to bake a pie." She said sarcastically.
His finger touched his chin," But you bake in a-"
"Ugh!! I'm going for the try-outs!"
"WHAT??!! I didn't know you played soccer!!"
"There's a lot you don't know about me."
He was about to ask another question when she interrupted saying that they had reached the field.
Surprisingly, they weren't the only first years trying out.
They scanned the group assembled there recognizing them from their class.
Peter Vega. A notably shy boy who likes reading. He has a pale skin tone, navy blue hair and electric blue eyes. FLASHBACK: "OK, let's start the introductions here," the teacher said while pointing at the blue-haired boy at the front of the class. "O-OK," he stood up, "I'm Peter Vega, nice to meet you all." He said shyly then quickly sat back down END OF FLASHBACK.
Patricia Greene. Her fiery red hair is one of her most striking features along with her purple eyes and fair skin tone. FLASHBACK: "I'm Patricia Greene, I love to sing and I also play the guitar." She said with confidence. END OF FLASHBACK.
Tristan White. Termed as 'cute' by most of the girls with his urban orange hair, golden brown eyes and slightly tanned skin. FLASHBACK: "Hey," he said with a wink once it was his turn causing some girls to fangirl over him. Madam Trishia sweatdropped while Brianna just rolled her eyes." I'm Tristan White" he said then just smiled while the girls still gawked. "OK, thank you, next," Madam kindly said trying to get rid of the awkward moment. END OF FLASHBACK.
Mike Marshall. His blond shoulder-length hair and crystal blue eyes made him seem more like a bishonen. FLASHBACK: "Next?" He stood and introduced himself in a calm manner, "Hi everyone, I'm Mike Marshall and I'm really excited to be here." END OF FLASHBACK.
Clara Page. A kind and helpful go-getter who is always willing to help. She has dark brown wavy hair and deep jungle green eyes. FLASHBACK: "Hiya! My name is Clara Page and I hope to make friends. I'm very kind and helpful." she said in a bubbly tone before returning to her seat. END OF FLASHBACK.
Tristan then noticed the two walking towards the field. He smirked as he made his way to them. "Hi, I'm-" "Tristan White, yeah we know, we're in the same class" Brianna cut him off before he could continue whatever he was trying to do.
"Oh, I see, you're Brianna, I remember your intro," FLASHBACK: Brianna stood when it was finally her turn. She scanned the class with a stoic face before beginning," I am Brianna Rose . I was homeschooled in elementary so," she closed her eyes before smiling," I'm excited to be here." END OF FLASHBACK. "I have to admit, when you just stared at the class, I thought you couldn't talk, then you started talking and I thought you were a robot until you smiled then I was like, 'OK'" Brianna was not affected by this thus she kept quiet.
"Just leave her alone," Patricia stepped in. "Maybe she's just self-reserved unlike you who is so filled with pride."
"WHY YOU-" Tristan was cut off by Mike saying, "Shhh they're here!"
Just then, Mark, Axel, Jude, Nathan and Jack walked on to the field. Talk about perfect timing.
"Hi everyone!!! So I'm guessing you're here for the try-outs." Mark started, "Well we've never done this so we're thankful that you all came out. I actually didn't want to do this, I just wanted to let anyone who loved soccer to join, but..." he turned to Jude.
"I just want to make sure we have the right team, with people who can play."
"Yeah but even if they can't play we can still teach them. As long as they love the sport-"
"We don't have time to teach them, the frontier is starting soon and we need a complete team if we are going to compete."
"But..." They started bickering between themselves until Nathan jumped in.
"Anyway... so as you know, last year, the Raimon team was dispersed to different schools all around Japan in order to strengthen Japan as a nation so as to compete against the world. Now that that mission is complete, we are back but some of us decided to stay in their assigned schools to keep helping them while some got international scholarships to play abroad."
"So now," Axel added, "Raimon needs new players to continue the legacy and defend the school's title."
Jack concluded, "That's why you're here, and from what I can see, I believe you all have the potential to make it in and make the team be better than ever."
Just then, the bickering had stopped, Jude having successfully hushed Mark, and the first years were asked to change into the temporary uniforms supplied by Sylvia Woods(Kino Aki) and Celia Hills(Ootanashi Haruna).
"Um... excuse me?" Clara walked up to Mark and with a determined face said," I actually would like to become a manager."
"Oh, that's great!" Sylvia came in, "The managers could use a lot of help since Nelly is still abroad!" * Nelly Raimon(Raimon Natsumi)*
So Clara became the new manager and Celia showed her the ropes while Sylvia went over how the try-outs would go on with the boys.
10 MINUTES LATER
They all returned in their temporary uniforms. The coach, Seymore Hillman(Hibiki Seigo), got to the field too and explained the rules.
"The rules are simple. Each one of you will go up against one of these five members depending on your position. We are not testing who will win or not, but your skills on the field. So who would like to start?"
Tristan raised his hand and put on an arrogant smile while stepping forward.
"I play as a midfielder," he stated confidently when asked his position.
He was to go against Jude. The competition was to try to get past each other and who ever get's to the other's goal, wins.
It started when Celia blew the whistle and both Tristan and Jude ran for the ball that was at the center of the field. Tristan got to it first for his speed was unimaginable, and started dribbling toward the goal on Jude's side of the field.
The commander on the pitch couldn't be defeated that easily. He rapidly stole the ball from Tristan, almost making him tumble over, and began heading for the other goal.
Tristan couldn't give up that easily. In a swift movement he was right on Jude's tail. The battle went on and on until finally Jude succeeded in completing the task.
Next was Patricia, "Forward!" Her challenge was to try getting past the defenders and scoring a goal.
She started pretty well by dribbling the ball at a steady pace then as she got closer to the defenders, her pace quickened.
She was about to get passed then when Jack stole the ball from her and passed it to Nathan. He then passed it back but Patricia intercepted the ball and shot it toward the goal, but Mark was fast and blocked it, but not without some struggle.
Next was Peter, "Defender" he said in a voice that was just above a whisper. He was to try and get the ball from the forward, who in that case was Axel. Despite his mousy behavior, he was a great footballer. He was able to successfully steal the ball from the flame striker, but quickly lost it because Axel had a trick up his sleeve.
Mike, "Midfielder," was up next and his challenge was the same as Tristan's. Jude got the ball first this time and began dribbling up the field. Mike struggled to catch up to him but when he did, he wasted no time in sliding to steal the ball.
As soon as he was in possession of it, he ran down the field with it. Jude quickly blocked him but Mike was able to get out of that quagmire with his insane(as in the good one) dribbling which shocked everyone. Surprisingly, the commander recovered from that and found an opening using it to his advantage, he quickly made his way to the opposite goal not giving Peter another chance of stealing the ball, thus winning the challenge.
"Defender," said Ryan when his turn arrived. Axel stood in front of him waiting for the whistle to be blown. Sylvia blew it and he dashed toward the boy who tried his best to stand his ground.
When Axel was close to him he stepped forward and was surprised to see the ball under his foot. This surprised everyone. 'How did I do that?' he wondered but he did not have much time to figure it out as the flame striker was back and trying to get the ball back.
Ryan's adrenaline pumped and his reflexes moves like lightning as he ran away from Axel with the ball. He didn't last long for Axel quickly stole the ball back and ran to the other side of the field making the goal.
Lastly was Brianna, "Midfielder." She made her way to her side of the field facing Jude waiting for the whistle. Little did she know, someone was up on a tree, their eyes on the girl.
As soon as the whistle was blown, they both dashed to the center of the field. Jude was the first to get the ball but lost it just as quickly to Brianna who began her attack to the goal.
Jude appeared in front of her but she did not let that stop her as she made a rainbow to get away from him. He recovered and went again to successfully steal the ball making her tumble a bit. She stood her ground and noticing that the commander was a bit far, she did some backflips and one last flip to get ahead of him and re-steal the ball.
The challenge kept on going back and forth intensely as the spectators just watched in awe.
Jude was in possession of the ball and was about to reach his goal when Brianna appeared in front of him trying to get it back. They fought until Brianna got the ball and dashed down the field. When she noticed someone was right on her tail, she acted without thinking a second time and made a goal, leaving everyone dumbfounded.
She turned around exhausted only to see everyone staring at her, shocked. Jude walked up to her with a serious face making her feel like she did something wrong. "That was amazing," he said then gave her his hand to shake. She gladly shook it letting out a sigh of relief.
"Young girl," Coach Hillman said when she got to the bench. "Which team did you play for before?"
Brianna was a bit hesitant but answered, "I'm sorry sir, but I just started playing soccer recently, this is the first team I'm trying out for."
He didn't seem satisfied with the answer but nodded and turned to the group. "OK, we will have to go discuss this and we will be back to tell you whether you're in or not." He said then left with the seniors.