God's Field |COMPLETED|

Chapter Twenty-Seven- Tragedy Doesn't Live Here Anymore

     Today was different; today was new.  Yesterday was old; yesterday was a fool.  In five minutes, the Saints would make their final debut for the season against the Blue Devils. 

     The game I've dreaded long before I knew I would battle against them.  We were lined up, ready to run out onto the field for the first time.  There was an added intensity in the air and not because of what happened last year. 

     We were both returning champions.  The Blue Devils didn't get a chance to play last year after winning four consecutive years in a row, and the Saints won last year's championships as their first time making it into the playoffs. 

     No one knew which team would prevail, mostly due to the fact we were both undefeated and all over news' headlines. 

    "Let's go guys, they're ready for us.  Keep your head in the game!" Coach Sanders's few words of encouragement actually soothed the butterflies in my stomach. 

     With a deep breath, the world around me grew quiet and still; much like when Kelsey had barely hit me with her car and I couldn't hear what she was saying to me. 

     I looked at the ground and started jogging.  My friends weren't behind me, but rather, they were beside me.  I could feel them.  Call me crazy or dimented, I could almost smell Alejandro's cologne and Levi's hairspray. 

     I looked to my left and faint outlines of Alejandro, Alexander, Ravi, Levi, and Tyler smiled at me.  I looked to my right and saw Fisher, Gregory, Jeremy, Maverick, Carter, and Marcus grinning at me full of pride. 

     I took a short glance behind me to see Cameron, Lucas, Walker, Keller, Jack, Jone, Blake, Thomas, Quinton, and Preston; they all regarded me with light smiles and fiery eyes. 

     The moment I stepped onto the field, I saw Coach Trey clapping for me on the sidelines with the widest smile known to mankind. 

     I couldn't keep my lips in a straight line then, no, the corners spread as wide as the earth's surface.

    This was it.  The final game.  I never imagined I would step back onto a soccer field nor would I join a team that wasn't made up of my best friends, but that's not what God had in store. 

     I may never be okay with it, I may never find peace in it, but I've learned to accept it.  I raised my gaze to the stands full of people and recognized a good portion to the left of my family and most of my hometown from Michigan. 

     They all came here to support just like they always did when I wore their blue jersey.  The Blue Devils hadn't stepped onto the field yet, but my Michigan people stood on their feet and roared in cheers.  I noticed the entire audience had their arms erect to proudly show the bracelets Lucas and I had so carefully designed. 

     My eyes scanned over encouraging signs written in all sorts of colors and prints, all of them announcing my best friends and I with uplifting quotes or neat phrases or simply just a number and a last name written on. 

    I was awestruck and stopped jogging to take it all in. This wasn't an ordinary game and that wasn't because of the throng of people crowding around the fields where the stands didn't provide enough seats or the news channels trying to get the best angles for their many, many massive cameras. 

     No, it was unique because of the reason.  The reason everyone was gathered here today, the reason the world was tuning in, wasn't because of something as simple as a championship game; it was out of respect for my fallen teammates. 

     The tragedy that consumed my life from sunup to sundown no less than nine months ago.  I brought my hand to Fisher's captain band around my bicep and let out a breath in disbelief.  This was a lot, support pouring from every inch of the vicinity.