Pass or Play?

Goal?

a l e x 

It had been a long day at school today and I was so tired. I had just gotten home and already I was needed, helping my mum and dad unpack groceries from the shopping. 

"How was your day at school son?" Dad asked. I took him through each of my classes, the highlights of the day, and the content of what we were learning. Pretty boring if you ask me. "You know, you've got your first training session on tonight with the new team," he said. Oh great, I so tired and now I have to work harder? 

I had mixed feelings about joining this new team. I loved my old team with all my mates, we had fun and really worked hard together. Of course, as soon as high school hit, they had no interest in playing anymore, in fact, the only thing they played was girls; that's why I left them and made new friends in high school. 

Once I finished helping my parents, I headed to my room and put on some more comfortable clothes. My school had required us to wear ties and blazers as per school policy, and in the heat of today, I was dying. 

I grabbed my laptop and opened it to start my homework. Luckily, I had no maths homework thanks to my really nice maths teacher. However, in compensation, I had a LOT of English homework, with added extension work for merits. I started on my essay, and after a while got super bored. I went on my PS5 and played some Call of Duty, which my parents only just let me start playing. 

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At 7 pm, I went back to my room and prepped for training. I put on my brand new team uniform and strapped on my shin pads. I filled up my water bottle and sat on the couch waiting for my Dad to drive me there. To be honest, I had a few butterflies in my stomach, I heard that there were girls on the team and wondered what they would look like. 

Just as Dad and I were about to leave, my sister Emily had to come and nag us. 

"Alex, pweaseee don't go, come pway with me!" she begged. Aww, she was so cute but so irritating. 

"I'm sorry Emily, but I have to go to training, maybe when I get back. Have a nice evening, bye!" I said. She whined a little and said, "Bye-bye," before going and playing with her my little pony. 

Dad and I got in the car and dove down to the football field. We got out of the car and walked to the field. At first, I was unsure where to go, before noticing some boys from school and instantly knowing that was my team. I ran towards them and we conversed with greetings before the coach came and introduced himself. 

"Hey, Alex right?" I nodded. "Nice to meet you - I'm sure you're going to be a great asset to our team. If you need anything, my daughter Erin is on the team and can help you out and answer any questions. She's also a goalie, so you guys will probably have to do a lot of training together," he said. My eyes following the trajectory of where he was pointing, and I saw utter beauty. 

Blond hair, blue eyes, and a cute smile - she was my type. Boy, she was Heaven on Earth. I stared at her momentarily before one of the other girls on the team blocked my view. I refocused my attention on some of the boys from my school, and we chatted about boy stuff. 

We gathered as a team and went through introductions before running some laps. I was way ahead of the others, I was a natural runner. We finished that up before doing some other warm-ups. 

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Once training finished, the whole team started walking up from the field to the parking lot. I noticed Erin carrying a very heavy ball bag. 

"Need some help with that? Erin isn't it?" I asked. Say yes, say yes, say yes. 

She quickly brushed me off, thanking me for the offering. 

"Are you sure about that? It looks pretty heavy," I pleaded with my puppy dog eyes. She gave in, passing me a bag and slumping it over my shoulder. I knew no one could resist my puppy dog eyes. 

We walked up the hill together, sustaining a light conversation. She was so kind and so pretty, like no other girl I'd ever seen before. And those lips... geez, what am I thinking? I quickly helped her return the bags to her car, bid her goodbye, and rushed away before I ruined anything. 

I jogged back to Dad, gazing at the rising moon. "Hey Alex, how was training?" he asked. I talked him through it - I didn't really care. The only thing on my mind now was Erin. I was determined to ask her out, date her even. I could even picture us getting married - now I'm just getting ahead of myself. 

It would be too soon to ask her out now; but definitely by the end of the year, I was sure that I would make this achievement. I saw her as a goal, one that I just had to score.

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When we got home I was distracted, and more than I realized. I stumbled, I forgot to help with dinner, I even forgot to spray more deodorant - I never do this. Clearly, Erin was really screwing with my head; this was more than just a crush. This wasn't even the worst of it. Mum noticed that something was distracting me and constantly tried to find out, upon arrival, during dinner and before I went to bed. 

"So Alex, what's on your mind? You don't seem yourself. Is something wrong?" she asked. I hesitated, unsure of how to answer. 

"Oh, nothing, just thinking about my English essay," I replied. I played it safe. She wouldn't know, would she?

"You sure it isn't a girl?" I shook my head. "Ok, if you say so," she said cheekily. Gosh, mum knows me a little too well. 

A/N 

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