"I don't make excuses, I make results." ~unknown
I peeked out from the girl's locker room at the massive field before me. The lines had been sprayed, and the flags had been placed.
"It's massive, isn't it?" Scarlett said appearing behind me.
"Yeah, it's also terrifying." I pointed towards the stands. "Look at the massive amount of people there."
Scarlett put her hand on my shoulder and gave me a hug. "Don't worry, we will be fine."
"Welcome to our Annual Christmas Games. Today we have two teams competing to make their Christmas Day better. Here are our visitor's, the Elias Eagles."
As the announcer uttered those words our team steeped out of their dressing rooms. We ran behind Dillon. The crowd mostly booed but the few family and friends that we had in the stands stood up and cheered. I could see my family in the stands as well.
"And now, please welcome the amazing home team, The Roaring Bangles."
The crowd was thunderous and it shook the stadium. Man was it loud in here. We gathered around Coach Aaron who drilled into our head the most important thing, defense. Both captains of the teams faced each other with the referee in the middle. They spoke a bit and returned to their designated teams.
"We won, what do you guys want?" Dillon asked as he returned.
"First ball, we are going to switch the field anyway after half-time." I said.
Dillon looked at everyone in confirmation. Nobody contradicted me so he took it as his answer.
Coach Aaron called the players that were starting. "Dillon, Scarlett, Nick, Kevin, Shaun..."
My thoughts trailed of. I was not going to be starting. I guess it made sense in a way. I had not played that well in our last game so coach had decided not to go with any risk and put or best players on the field. I sat down on the bench, trying not look to disappointed.
The game started and the players began to run the fields. It was going back and forth and it seemed that the other team had a slight upper hand and I found out I was right when minutes later the other team scored a goal. 1-0. we were losing. Coach Aaron looked more distraught by the minute.
The game started again from the middle. Scarlett Nick and Dillon were passing the ball to each other but the main problem was that their defense was too good. As the defense got the ball, they kicked it past half the field. Their forwards then went for the kill. The last thing I saw was Brandon running forward and other player colliding with him.
I visible winced at the impact as did many others in the crowd. I saw the rest of the team rushing to where Brandon was. I couldn't see anything as there were so many people crowding around.
"Alana" coach started, "figure out what's going on over there."
I nodded and raced to the field. The opposing player seemed fine, only a couple of bruises while Brandon was lying on the grass. There were tears streaming down his face and I was immediately worried. Nobody cried like that until it was extremely serious. Nick and Dillon were kneeling by his said muttering word like 'it's going to be okay.'
I found my way to Scarlett. She looked as shock as I felt. "It's bad isn't it?" I said.
She nodded. A stretcher came onto the field and what seemed liked medics were hauling Brandon away. As soon as he reached the bench he was then taking away by his parents who were going to be taking him to the Hospital.
Coach Aaron was having a word with his parents and when he finished he turned to me. "We are going to need a defender to replace Brandon. He seems severely injured. I have no choice Alana. I am putting you on the field. Make sure that you play your utmost best; for Brandon and most importantly yourself."
"I hope to do so Coach." I replied. It was time for me to prove to Nick and everyone that I had been working hard to improve. I wanted Dillon and the rest of the team to have faith in me. I tied my shoelaces tighter and made sure my shin guards were in place. My auburn hair had been tied in a bun and I sipped a whit headband through it, insuring that no hair would escape. I quickly did some basic stretches to get my body into the tempo and jogged onto the field.
The referee was taking to Dillon and it seemed like we were getting a free kick. I positioned myself beside Shaun and in front of Kevin.
Shaun looked at me and asked. "You okay Alana?"
I replied "Yes" weakly. That was far from the truth. I felt extremely quinsy.
"You'll be fine." Shaun said.
As I turned to look at him, he wasn't looking at me but instead at Dillon kicking the ball.
"It's time to bring this game into the grasp of our victory."
"Yeah," I muttered.
I kept my eyes on the ball but it seemed like I didn't really have to. Ever since Brandon's injury, our team had gotten this determination to win not matter what. Dillon, Nick, and Scarlett were doing their best to keep the ball in their zone by using the triangle. Whenever they were further into the field, Shaun and I would move up. I glance behind me at Kevin. He almost seemed extremely bored. And that it how the game was until half-time.
I lay beside Scarlett who was panting extremely heavily. She had almost chugged down the entire water bottle. Unlike most teams, Coach Aaron would not let us drink and energy drinks stating that it 'affected our stamina negativity.' Our only option was water and healthy snacks like apples, bananas, and oranges. Occasionally whenever someone would sneak a snack to the game they became the celebrity.
She held out her hand and I grabbed it. When I retrieved my hand I saw that there were a bunch of fuzzy peaches sitting there. Thank you so much I mouthed. She nodded in reply. It wasn't long before half time ended.
We gathered around Coach Aaron who gave us some advice. "Defenders, you guys can move up depending on the situation. Don't hesitate. Forwards you guys keep up with the triangle formation. Remember passing is the key so no hogging the ball. Believe me if I see any mistakes in this quarter I will bench you. I don't care how good you are, I only judge on the performance you show me today."
We all nodded and headed towards the other side of the field. It was the other team's ball since we had it in the first half. The games began with their team racing to our side. It seemed as though they had also gotten a pep talk with their coach because they pushed full force. I saw my first action in the game a while later.
A player was pushing through and I realized he was the same guy who had accidently hurt Brandon. I was terrified but a burst of energy entered me as I went foot first and managed to get the ball away from him. I could hear Nick's voice in my head.
Step 1: Get the ball away.
Step 2: Make sure you stop it.
Step 3: look at who's open
Step 4: kick it as hard as you can.
I did everything. I stopped the ball and glanced around the field. I saw Scarlett open. I swung my right leg back while aiming my left toes in the direction that I wanted to kick. I kicked the ball and it soared through the air until it reached Scarlett. She header the ball and kicked it towards Nick. He ran with a burst of speed and kicked it to Dillon who was in position. The ball hit Dillon's foot and the goalie barely had time to see what happened as the ball whooshed past him in the net.
The game had been tied. We all ran towards Dillon. We hugged him like crazy. The crowd went wild. I looked over to the stands and I waved at my family. We were cheering like crazy as though we had won the game rather than tied it.
Coach had a smiled on his face as he said gruffly, "Don't get too cocky."
We didn't. We all played the rest of the game well. Back and forth we both went. It seemed that neither of us wanted to lose. As the referee blew the whistle the game was still tied. We went to overtime and eventually shoot out.
"Who's kicking?" I asked as we huddled around.
Coach thought about it for a while. "We need five kickers, Dillon, Nick, Sophia, Shaun and Alana."
I looked at coach in shock. "Me?"
He nodded. "You played extremely well today. Besides we don't have any other kickers."
Scarlett squeezed my shoulder. "You'll be fine."
Everyone else nodded in response.
All the kickers lined up. Nick, Shaun and Dillon all got it in. 3 for 3 same with the other team. It was now my turn to kick. I aimed the ball and kicked as hard as I could. It seemed to be going it but ended up hitting the top pole. I groaned disappointed.
The other team got the ball in after me which meant that Scarlett had to get in in no matter what. Scarlett looked at me before kicking and I gave her a thumb up. She kicked the ball and it soared in the net. We were safe for now. The last kicker for the other team came forth and I crossed my fingers silently praying 'please don't get it in, please don't get it in.' It seemed that my prayers were heard as Kevin stopped the ball in a splendid motion.
We had won. We all raced to Kevin hugging him. With the sheer number of our team Kevin fell to the ground as we all jumped on him. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Coach Aaron throw his white board in happiness. Our families started screaming. It felt good to win. We shook hands with the opposing team members who were scowling but that didn't dampen our moods. After we had time to celebrate for a little bit we all agreed to meet up at the hospital to see Brandon.
I gave my hearts a huge hug and even went to hug Justin but he turned away. The smiled and me and told me how proud they were. I explained the situation with Brandon and we all headed towards the hospital.
"Just give us a call when you want us to pick you up." My mom said.
I nodded and entered the hospital. I looked around the lobby but nobody was there. It seemed as though I had been the first one to arrive so approached the front desk where there was a pretty receptionist sitting there.
"Hi I'm looking for someone. Name is Brandon O'Conner"
She clicked a few buttons. "He's in room 237, the doctors have just finished checking up on him."
I thanked her and sat back down. A few moments later, everyone seemed to stream in.
"He's in room 237."
We all barged into Brandon's room as soon as we found it. To be honest I think he was a bit scared with having six cheerful people surrounding his bed grinning like Cheshire cats.
"We won!" We all shouted.
A grin spread across his face. "That's great!"
"Yeah we know. If it wasn't for you getting hurt..." Dillon started.
"How long are you in here for?" Shaun asked.
Brandon groaned. "Probably a couple more days, apparently it's going to be painful because I broke my Achilles tendon. I won't be able to play for at least two months."
"That sucks." I muttered.
"Yeah but at least we won. Bring some food and let's party."
Ladies and gentleman and that's how we spent the rest of our evening. Raiding the vending machine and blasting music in Brandon's room. It was a great feeling.
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How did you guys think the game went? Is Alana improving?