forever yours • adam banks

chapter twenty six

ella

The state finals.

Every high school athlete dreams of playing in that game. The thrill, the anxiousness, and the adrenaline that rushes through your veins when you're on that field or court. The outpour of relief and joy that comes when you realize that you've won.

Of course, someone has to lose. And that itself comes with its own set of grief, agony and pain. No one likes to lose, but someone has to. It's a part of the sport.

For the first time in Eden Hall history, the girls soccer team has made it to the state finals. Our school is doing very well in sports this year. With the hockey team winning their eleventh consecutive state title yesterday, the football team winning counties, and the field hockey team making it to semis, this is a huge year for Eden Hall sports.

We have an advantage, because we're playing on our home field. Everyone in the school is coming to watch. What's even better is that tomorrow is Thanksgiving, so that means sleeping in and spending the day with my family. We also have our varsity banquet tonight, so all of the teams will be joining together for a fancy dinner, complete with awards and senior speeches.

As soon as the final bell rings, everyone starts rushing towards the stadium, trying to get the best seats they can for the game. I go to Tavia for my daily checkup, and then make my way to the locker room. The good news is my crutches should be gone within the next two weeks, and if I'm lucky, my boot should be gone right before Christmas, which means I can ski.

As I crutch into the locker room, music is blasting like usual. I make my way over to Callie and braid her hair, for superstition's sake. We've never lost when I've done this and I'm not about to ruin our record, especially when it's the state finals.

The game isn't until four, but we need forty-five minutes to warm up, which gives us until three-fifteen in the locker room. At three o'clock sharp, Coach walks in. The music stops and everyone goes quiet as we wait for him to make his final speech of the season. He clears his throat and speaks.

"Well girls, this is it. The moment you've all been waiting for. You've earned every single game, through your hard work and dedication. You've worked hard, and given Eden Hall it's best year of girls soccer in school history. You've shown you can overcome challenges, and you've shown that you deserve everything you've earned. No matter what the end result is, know that you've achieved so much, and you've made myself and the school very proud. Winners or losers, you girls are the true embodiment of what it means to be an Eden Hall athlete. This is only the beginning for this program."

Everyone starts cheering and clapping. I can't believe this is it... until next year at least. Who knows how far we'll go though. The good news though is that I'll actually be able to play, so I'll be able to fully experience the feeling of playing in the playoffs.

"Alright girls, let's do this!" Callie screams, and the team starts running out of the locker room and towards the stadium. Since it's a bit of a hike, Tavia and I hop on the golf cart and drive over.

The whole stadium is cheering as we arrive, and the girls throw their bags onto the bench and jog out to start warmups. Our competition is MPA, or Minnesota Preparatory Academy. They lost in states last year, and they're ranked as the number one seed, where as we're the second ranked team. That means we're the underdogs, but hey, we've been the underdogs for the entirety of our playoff run. We will be just fine.

The warmups go by super quickly, and that means game time. Here we go.

After a super intense first half, it's still 0-0. We need to pull through, and fast. But after the second half, it's still 0-0. And that means overtime. Someone kill me.