--Day Twenty Seven--
This is probably going to be where it ends for me...Carly thought to herself as she looked up at the large frame of Mark Gilligan’s body.
While Carly had been pulling up her socks she had been called from across the hall by Mark. Now Mark was a very muscular and tall guy, in fact, he was probably the biggest person in the school – teachers included. Carly has never had the opportunity to talk to Mark so she didn’t really know what sort of person he is. Also the fact that he was Georgina’s boyfriend was a scary fact, seen as though she had gotten on talking terms with the girl.
“I need to talk to you,” His deep voice literally shook the floor.
“Ok,” Carly squeaked, as she craned her head up to meet his eyes.
“It’s about Georgina,” He continued.
“Ok,” Carly’s voice rose higher.
“Thanks man,” He said with a grin as he stuck his hand out for a shake.
Carly stared at him incredulously, I’m so confused...is he thanking me for letting him talk about Georgina or something else?
“Huh?” Was Carly’s intellectual response.
“I’ve been meaning to thank you before but I never could catch you alone. I just wanted to say thanks for that time you stuck up for my girlfriend when that asshole Gordon harassed her. I owe you one,” He said, clapping his hand on her shoulder and sending her reeling forward, “I mean it, anything you need help in I’ll help you out with. Just give me the call.”
Carly chuckled nervously as she rubbed her shoulder, “Yeah, ok,” She wheezed, giving a small pat on his arm.
“See you then,” Mark said, as he turned and walked towards the entrance of the sports hall, “Good luck with the match.” Carly waved to his retreating back warily before hesitantly turning and entering the boys changing room, per Coach’s orders.
“Right boys we’ve got a big game here tonight,” Coach said as he walked in the space the boys had left in the middle of the room, “We’re in our last game. I don’t know about you but I want to go out there and kick some major ass!”
The boys cheered while Carly stared bluntly at the Coach, seriously? This gets their heads into the game?
“We have come all this way and we are not going to let some punk team take away our glory. Are we?” The Coach boomed.
“No!” The boys shouted.
“Then get out there and prove to me that you can win this game!” Coach shouted as he pointed to the door. Another cheer burst from their mouths as they all ran out of the changing rooms and into the hallway.
“Prisms,” The Coach called before she could leave the room.
“Yes Coach?” Carly answered as she stood in front of him.
“I know that everyone thinks that just because you’re a short ass with no muscle that you can’t contribute fully to this game,” Coach started.
Carly blinked, “Ok?”
“But I know different, I know what you’re capable of,” He said with a small pat on her shoulder, “Now it’s time for you to show them what I and everyone else on the team can see. Are you ready for some ass whooping?”
Carly grinned, “Hell yes,” She said, determination set in her eyes.
**********************
“Look there she is she’s getting on the pitch now,” Samantha said as she pointed towards the small goalie keeper.
Callum, Liam, Jasper, Dylan and Lillian all craned their necks in the direction of Samantha’s pointing finger. They watched as Carly jogged across the pitch to stand at the nets, she jumped slightly on the balls of her feet and shook out her hands. Looking up she surveyed the stands as she shuffled on her feet, she finally managed to spot her group of – with three new members – friends standing on the benches and waving frantically in the air for her attention. They pumped their fists in the air and grinned widely when she waved back with a somewhat shy and disbelieving smile – shy because of the attention they were attracting from the audience and disbelief from them being able to wave like that without falling off of the bleachers.
“Hey Carl,” Elliot called with a grin as he stopped in front of her.
“O-oh Elliot hey,” Carly stuttered, nodding awkwardly once and averting her eyes.
“Listen I just wanted to say good luck,” Elliot said as he clapped a hand on her shoulder, “I know you’ll be fine though so I didn’t really need to say it.”
“I’m glad you did,” Carly blurted, looking up and meeting his eyes. Her face turned a bright shade of red and she looked down at her already muddy shoes, “I-I-I mean good luck to you too.”
Elliot frowned and scrutinised Carl’s blushing cheeks, “Carl are you o-”
“Look the Coach is calling you,” Carly burst out, pointing frantically towards the said person, “Best not keep him waiting, you know how he gets.” She laughed nervously and scratched the back of her neck, her nails biting into her flesh.
Elliot opened his mouth to say something but decided against it. He took a hesitant step away from Carl and in the direction of the Coach; he looked back at the goalie one last time before jogging up to the frowning man with a clip board.
“God damn it, he’s jogging away from her,” Samantha groaned as she continued to look through her binoculars.
“Let me see,” Callum said as he tried to pull the binoculars from her grasp, but he retracted his hands when Samantha slapped at them. He stared down at his hands for a second, before grumbling under his breath and rubbing the slapped skin.
“The fact that she has binoculars on her person is a more stressing matter,” Liam argued as he munched on some popcorn.
“Never underestimate the contents of a woman’s bag,” Lillian giggled as she took some popcorn too.
“Do you think Carly will be alright?” Dylan asked, she frowned at the small player with slight concern.
“She’ll be fine,” Jasper said as he offered some nachos to her, “She’ll just have a small panic attack in the beginning but then she’ll get over it. In fact, it looks like she’s going through the stages of her attack right now.”
Holy shit, I can’t do this? Whose idea was it of me being a goalie in the first place...? Oh yeah...it was Elliot. God damn it! I’m not fine with this! Carly pulled at the ends of her hair in a distressed manner and bit her bottom lip.
Her group of friends winced from their position as they watched Carly spin out of control, “Are you sure?” Lillian asked.
“Like I said,” Jasper muttered, “She’ll get over it.”
“Hey guys!” Callum, Liam and Jasper turned their heads at the familiar voice.
“Mr.Penton,” Callum said as he budged down to allow some space for both John and Sally, “So you made it?”
“Yeah, it was hard but I managed to convince my boss to let me out early,” John said as he took some of the offered popcorn, “By the way this is Sally, my girlfriend.”
The group greeted her kindly and shook her offered hand, “God,” She said, “I haven’t been to a match like this since my High school years.”
“Yeah, me too,” John mused as he looked around at the spectators, “Hey, how did you guys get to seats right at the front.
‘Right at the front’ was only having a small white barrier between them and the field. They were so close to the front that they could actually brush their fingers against the heads of the soccer players on the bench – and they were sitting down. They only knew this because they had put it to the test.
“Don’t look at us,” Callum said with raised hands, “This one is all on the girls.
At John’s questioning gaze Samantha grinned and shook her head, “Sorry, can’t tell,” She said with a shrug.
“We’ve been asking her for the last hour and she still hasn’t told us how she got these seats,” Liam whined before stuffing his mouth with more popcorn.
“Where’s Carly?” Sally asked as she craned her neck to see all sides of the pitch.
“There she is,” John said, a proud grin taking over his lips as he saw his daughter standing at the nets.
“She looks so cute in her uniform,” Sally cooed.
“Yeah,” The rest of them agreed, nodding their consent.
Carly scuffed her shoes on the grass and watched as the players got into position. I can do this; she thought as she jumped on the spot, I’m going to be just fine.
The whistle sounded and the game commenced.
************************
It was going steadily through the second half of the game and so far both teams were at a draw with two each. Chris was sitting out on the bench after rolling his ankle and was being taken care of by Carly’s group of friends and family, who were giving him popcorn, nachos and drinks over the barrier.
Carly wiped the sweat from her forehead, not caring that she had most likely smeared mud on her face from the countless times she dove to intercept a ball. She was watching the movements of one of the opposing team’s players as he neared the net. He was a rough player, taking pleasure in targeting each of Carly’s team mates in a violent manner. Carly’s eyes widened when she saw him strike the football with his foot and barrel it towards the nets. She decided in a split second to jump to the right and felt immense relief when her hands connected with the soccer ball. She stood with the ball in her hands, grinning up at the stands. She only turned her head away when she heard the sound of a whistle being blown. She turned curious eyes towards the referee who was conversing with the opposing teams Coach.
She allowed the soccer ball, which she had placed on the ground, to roll freely across the grass. She didn’t notice it being stopped by the foot of the player who tried to score, nor did she see the menacing glare he was sending towards her.
“Nice one Carl,” Elliot praised as he clapped her shoulder.
“Thanks,” Carly smiled happily, “You to-”
Carly cut herself off with a loud groan, her hands clutching her stomach as she dropped to her knees. The soccer ball that had hit her in the stomach rolled away harmlessly from her curled body. Carly caught only a glimpse of the smug looking smile of the guy who kicked it, before she was surrounded by the concerned faces of her team mates.
“Whoa Carl!” Elliot exclaimed as he helped lay Carly down on to grass, “Take it easy man.”
Carly could only groan in response, she wrapped her arms around her mid-section and rocked slightly to ease the pain.
“Carl,” The Coach said as he crouched beside her, “Are you alright lad? Do you think you can stand up for me?”
“With all due respect Coach I don’t think he’s going to get up any time soon,” Elliot bit out as he shot a furious glare towards the attacker.
“What do you mean you’re not going to suspend him from the game?!” Joshua shouted at the referee.
“The guy just launched a soccer ball into our goalie’s stomach,” Benny argued.
“I’m sorry but because I didn’t see it I can’t issue a red or a yellow card towards the player,” The referee said honestly.
“You son of a bitch!” Liam shouted from where he was stood on the bleachers. In all of their High school lives none of the students had ever heard Liam swear as much as he did in that moment.
Lillian was standing on the floor and was holding onto the back of Liam’s shirt so that he wouldn’t fall off of the stands, her eyes wide with concern for her new female friend. After the initial shock had worn off Samantha had joined Liam by using every swear word she had ever had the fortune of hearing. Sally was trying to calm John down and stopping him from climbing over the barrier and pummelling the kid who hurt his daughter. Dylan and Jasper had disappeared as soon as the incident had occurred.
Callum had immediately climbed over the barrier between the stands and the pitch and had started marching purposefully towards the attacker.
“Callum,” Chris cried as he limped after him.
Callum stopped in his tracks and looked over his shoulder at the injured player, “Go sit down Chris, your ankle will get more damaged if you walk on it.”
“I’ll only sit down if you come with me,” Chris demanded, “If you beat that kid up you’re going to get in a lot of trouble. You’ll make the situation a lot worse for the team.”
Callum looked up towards the small huddle of players around Carly and then back at Chris. He had an almost desperate look in his eyes as he looked back towards Carly, before heaving a heavy sigh and walking towards Chris.
“Sorry man,” Chris said as Callum walked towards him, “I know it sucks and – Hey! What – what are you doing?!” Chris’ eyes widened as Callum picked him up from his feet and held him like a newly wedded bride.
“Your ankle,” Callum mumbled as he set him on the bench slowly.
Even though the excuse was reasonable it didn’t pardon the blush that was slowly traipsing across his cheeks. Chris also blushed and mumbled a quiet ‘thank you’ before turning his eyes back towards the nets.
Liam had stopped shouting profanities and instead studied both Callum and Chris suspiciously. How the Hell did he calm Callum down so easily. The only people who have ever been successful in calming him down were Jasper, Carly and me. What makes Chris so special? A devious grin took over his face as he continued to study the two of them; oh...oh this is going to be good.
“Carl, here,” Adam held out some cooling packs towards him, which he had taken out from his pockets.
“Dude, seriously? Cooling packs?” Daniel said incredulously as he stared down at the packs in his hands.
“Well they’ve come in handy so far,” Adam argued. Carly took one of the offered packs and pressed it to her stomach, it dulled the pain slightly making it easier for her to breathe.
“I don’t think he’s going to be able to play Coach,” Daniel said as he crouched down too.
“Yeah,” The Coach muttered looking down at the grass, “I guess so-”
“I’m playing,” Carly mumbled.
“What?” Elliot asked shocked.
“I’m playing,” She repeated getting up into a sitting position.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Elliot tried to reason as he watched Carl stand to his feet, “Dude you just got a soccer ball barrelled into your stomach.”
“I’m fine,” Carly said as she locked eyes with the asshole who hit her. She could feel the anger slowly rising to the surface when she saw the smug smile still set on his lips. “Get me the ball and tell the referee to blow the whistle.”
“Carl I seriously think that you should-” Elliot started.
“Elliot,” Carly bit out, “If you don’t shut up and get me that ball I am going to get it myself and ram it up your ass.”
Elliot’s eyes widened and his mouth opened to say something more, that is, until he saw that Carl was actually serious. He snapped his mouth shut and muttered a quiet ‘okay’ before turning and doing what he was ordered. The rest of the team turned slightly worried – and scared – eyes towards Carl, “Why are you all looking at me for?” He muttered irritably, “Get into positions, now.” The team didn’t need telling twice.
The Coach barked a short laugh, “Well there’s something you don’t see every day,” He said as he stood from his crouched position and watched his students get into position, “By the way-” He placed a hand on Carly’s shoulder, “-I am willing to draw the referee’s attention for a while.” He shrugged his shoulders in a care free manner, “Who knows what could happen in that time?”
Carly felt a small grin tease her lips as she watched the Coach silently walk back towards where he stood, which so happened to be behind the referee.
“Hey Carly,” A voice whispered behind her.
Carly turned round and was surprised to see both Jasper and Dylan standing behind the nets, their fingers linked into the thin ropes. “What are you guys doing here?”
“Just came to see if you’re alright,” Dylan said, casting a glance to the referee to see if he was paying any attention to them – he wasn’t.
“You don’t need to play on you know,” Jasper reassured, “You got hit really hard, no one’s going to look at you any different if you decide to sit out.”
“I know no one will,” Carly said, turning so her back was towards them once again, “But I will.”
Dylan opened her mouth to argue further but Jasper’s hand on her shoulder stopped her. She was going to question his actions until she saw the small proud smirk on his lips, “That’s my girl.”
Carly jumped slightly on the spot, she nodded a thanks towards Elliot when the ball was back at her feet and waved away any concerned comments he threw her way. In any other situation Carly would have probably fainted at the fact that Elliot was so concerned with her well being, however, right now her mind was more focused on revenge. Carly turns slightly narrowed eyes towards the giant asshole, who was jumping side to side to warm up slightly. He caught her stare and had the audacity to wave mockingly at her, an annoying grin plastered on his lips. However, his grin soon slipped and his hand fell back to his side when he saw the right corner of the goalie’s lips turn up into a creepy smile. He shuffled nervously in his place when he caught a glimpse of the mischievously, glinting eyes through his fringe and he swallowed loudly when he saw the goalie move into an almost fighting stance.
Carly barely heard the whistle blow; all of her attention was focused on the asshole. She saw him part his legs in an attempt to steady himself and grinned wider, that’s right, you part those legs, keep them nice and wide...
Just as Carly pulled back her leg and kicked the ball with all of her strength, the referee started to run sideways to keep track of the ball’s movement. Although, he didn’t anticipate his foot to get caught on something and for his face to get planted into the soil of the soccer pitch. He didn’t catch the Coach slowly move his foot back and then retreat to stand back in his place by the bench. Callum, who had been sitting next to Chris on the bench, silently raised his hand towards the Coach and grinned when he felt the Coach high five him.
Carly grinned maliciously when she saw the asshole rolling on the ground in a groaning mess, his hands cupping his balls in a futile attempt to ease the immense pain that was emanating from it. Joshua and Benny took a second to realize what happened, with matching blank expressions and mouths parted slightly they turned their heads to face each other. It was as soon as their eyes locked that they burst into loud and helpless laughter. They both held onto each other to support their shaking bodies as they staggered in a seemingly drunk display towards the fallen player.
“Dude!” Joshua cried through his laughter, “You just took a ball to the balls!”
“Here,” Benny laughed, throwing one of the ice packs he had snagged from Adam, “Your deflated ball sack is going to need this.”
They both continued to laugh at the unfortunate player, piling as much humiliation as they could on the asshole until the referee picked himself up from the ground.
********************
“Come on Daniel!” Carly shouted as she watched both him and Elliot run towards the goalie.
There was ten seconds left on the clock and if they didn’t get this goal in they would finish the match as a draw. Carly felt her heart squeeze as Elliot and Daniel passed the ball to each other, swerving the other players. Everyone was on their feet, the cheerleaders the Coach, the students, the teachers, the parents, even the people who didn’t want to be there but came out of fear of being called a reject were standing on their feet and craning their necks to see the outcome of the game.
“Come on, come on!” Carly squeaked as her eyes flickered to the time and back to the players, four seconds left.
All noise drowned out when Elliot pulled back his leg and kicked the ball, both of his feet lifted from the ground momentarily and the sweat that had been accumulating on his forehead and hair sprayed outwards. Eyes widened, mouths parted, hands tightened into fists, standing on toes, a shout of either disappointment or victory rose in their throats. They watched as the soccer ball soared past the goalie’s desperate hands and into the awaiting net of the goal sending the audience into absolute chaos.
Carly screamed in victory and pumped her fists in the air when she saw the soccer ball hit the nets. She ran immediately towards Daniel and Elliot who were already being hoisted into the air by their team mates.
Callum and Chris both stood on their feet in joyous delight at winning and without thinking embraced each other in a tight hug. They stayed like that for a couple of seconds, nothing but the others laughter reaching their ears. It wasn’t until Chris buried his nose in Callum’s neck that he, along with Callum, realized just who he was hugging. They both sprang apart in a comical display of bashfulness and uneasiness. Liam who had been watching the two oblivious males couldn’t help the chuckle escape his lips as he watched the two of them blush a terrible red. Idiots...he thought as he clapped loudly.
Dylan and Jasper laughed and hugged each other, a single second passed before Jasper realized what he was doing. He proceeded to push Dylan away from him and sent her reeling to the ground in an ungraceful sprawl.
“What the hell Jasper?!” Dylan exclaimed as she dusted herself off.
“Don’t act as if you didn’t enjoy that,” Jasper countered with a blank face.
“Smug, egotistical, self-absorbed bas-”
“Elliot!” Carly cried as she saw him part from the crowd.
“Carl – whoa!” Elliot reeled back before steadying himself as Carly jumped up and latched her body onto his. Elliot laughed and patted Carl on the back, however, his right eye soon twitched when Carl held onto him longer than was necessary.
“Um Carl?” Elliot said timidly.
“Hmm?” Carly hummed obliviously.
“Could you maybe let go of me now?” Elliot asked in an uncomfortable voice.
Carly snapped her eyes open and realized the position she was in, her arms wound firmly around his neck and her legs planted on either side of his waist. Sweet baby Jesus, I can feel his abs. She quickly let go of him and scrambled a couple steps away, “Ha ha!” She laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her neck, “Oh would you look at that...” She pointed to a random place out of sight and proceeded to shuffle towards it.
Elliot watched Carl go with a mixture of both amusement and bewilderment, until; both Joshua and Benny latched an arm around his neck, so that he would bend down, and dug their knuckles into his head.
The Coach allowed his team to wallow in their victory for a couple minutes before bringing them into a huddle around him. Daniel supported Chris by taking his arm over his own shoulder and allowing Chris to lean onto him. “Right!” The Coach began as he put his clip board down on the bench beside him, “That was a good match, now there were a few faults that I could mention but I’m too damn proud of you to do that.”
The soccer players widened their eyes in disbelief, sending each other questioning looks. However, they weren’t as shocked then as what happened next. Slowly the Coach’s lips lifted into a warm soft smile, the corner of his eyes crinkling and the dent between his eye brows disappearing. Never has a student seen the Coach smile before, they have seen him chuckle darkly when he thinks of a fitting punishment and laugh uproariously until he cried, but even then that was probably because of an unfortunate situation a student had befallen themselves into. So it was no surprise that the soccer players could do nothing but stare at the Coach, their faces an equal match of that of a clueless idiot.
As soon as the smile came it disappeared back into his usual frown, “Why are you all staring at me like a bunch of Dodo’s without their feathers? Get out of here and shower, you smell like my Grandmother’s arm pit – may God rest her soul.” He muttered the last bit, picked up his clipboard and strolled into the school’s gym.
The soccer players stayed rooted into their place, “Did he just-” Joshua started but halted when he couldn’t get the word out.
“-Smile?” Benny finished in a disbelieving tone.
“Holy shit!” Daniel cried as he gripped his hair, almost causing Chris to fall to the ground – thankfully Adam was there to steady him – “Are we the only students who have seen him smile?”
“This has to stay between us,” Carly stressed, “If anyone found out that the Coach had smiled at us we would be bombarded by every student in this school on the description of his smile.”
They all nodded in agreement their eyes still wide at the unexpected event. “You have to admit though,” Chris pondered, “He looks handsome when he smiles.”
There was silence within the group, no one wanted to admit that yes, yes he did look handsome when he smiled.