For Senior Year

Her Inspiration

Tatum POV:

Day two of tryouts and lacrosse is already kicking my ass. When coach finally called a water break we all walked over to the benches, dragging our feet with exhaustion. I took a couple large gulps of water before putting my water bottle back down. I didn't want to get a cramp.

I sat down on the turf before flopping onto my back. I placed my feet flat on the turf so that my knees were bent and I crossed my arms over my eyes to block the sun. I panted, taking deep breaths. I heard someone laughing from above me so I moved my arms slightly so that I could see. I squinted into the sun to see Emily standing over me.

"I didn't know that you were so out of shape. I remember you being way more athletic than this." She said with a laugh as she looked down at me. 

"Hey I'm still athletic. These tryouts are just harder than normal." I grumbled. 

"They're the same tryouts that they've always been." Emily said with a laugh.

"Sure." I grumbled as I covered my face with my arms again. Emily doesn't know the real reason why I'm out of breath and I don't feel like telling her. I couldn't tell her about it while we were dating. That's why we had to break up. 

I heard coach's whistle echo across the field and I groaned even louder. "WATER BREAK IS OVER! LET'S GO!" He yelled.

"Ugh I can't do this." I grumbled. I heard Emily's feet shuffle and I opened my eyes to see where she was going. She was now in front of me, standing over me with her arms out.

"Yes you can. Come on." She said. I sighed, contemplating it for a moment before taking her open hands in mine. She held my hands tightly as she helped me up from the turf. When I was on my two feet, she let go of my hands and I missed the feeling of her touch immediately.

We then started walking over to the lacrosse girls that were circled around Coach Crowley.

"Wait. What are you doing here anyway?" I asked as I glanced over at Emily. She smiled softly as she glanced back at me.

"You were right. This job is an amazing opportunity so I decided to take it." She replied. I smiled back at her words.

"I'm glad that you did." I whispered.

"Yeah me too." She whispered back.

We stopped talking once we approached the circle so that we could listen to what coach was saying.

"Two more things and we are done with tryouts for today." He stated. The circle of girls clapped and smiled when he said that. They were all ready for today's torture tryout to be over. 

"Hey no clapping or we can run sprints!" Coach yelled. The smiles fell and people instantly stopped clapping. I glanced over at Emily and she glanced over at me two. We both shared knowing smiles. Coach loves to threaten us with sprints but he hardly ever makes us actually run them.

"As I was saying, two things left for today. We will be doing some dog fights and then playing power and finesse." He stated. He looked around as the group of girls nodded. "Alright then! Form two lines on the goal line extended." He stated.

As the girls started jogging over towards the goal, I looked back at Emily. 

"I guess this is where we part ways." I said cheekily. 

"I guess it is." Emily said with a laugh.

I then jogged off towards the net to join the rest of my team.

________________________________________________________________________________

Emily POV:

I watched as Tatum jogged away from me. I smiled as her braided ponytail swished back and forth. Taking this job offer was already turning out to be a good idea. Not only am I getting paid good money, but I also get to be around the sport that I love.

And also the girl that I love.

I finally tore my eyes away from Tatum and walked over to where coach was standing. His hands were on his hips as he watched the girls run through the drill. He would occasionally pull a small notepad out and write things down. When I got to him, he looked at me with a smile.

"I see you decided to take my job offer." He said with a smirk. 

"Yes I did." I replied with a smile.

"I'm glad you did."

"Yeah me too." I replied.

"Your lacrosse knowledge and skills are going to be a great help to this team. Having you as an assistant coach is the next best thing to having you as a player." He said. His smile turned slightly sad.

"Thanks coach. If I could still play I would." I replied honestly.

"I know you would." He said.

We both then turned to watch the drill. The group going just finished up their round and moved out of the way of the drill. I smiled when I saw that Tatum was lined up to go next. She was in a ready stance with her stick pressed against her thigh. She stared at the goalie intently as she wound up and threw the ball out.

Tatum was off faster than the other girl could even react. She ran as fast as she could, effortlessly scooping the ball into her stick and turning to face her defender. Tatum slowly jogged up to her, cradling her stick back and forth.

The defender glared at her, ready to match any move that Tatum would make.

Suddenly, Tatum did a skip towards the left side and switched her stick into her left hand. The defender turned her body and leaned forward so that she could push Tatum with her stick. She was too slow though.

In one fluid motion, Tatum spun and cut to the right. The stick was now magically switched into her right hand. She started sprinting as fast as she could and the defender struggled to catch up to her. She frantically swung her stick at Tatum in an attempt to check the ball out of her stick but she missed every time. 

Tatum approached the goalie, swinging her stick back and forth and faking up and down. The goalie frantically moved her stick in an attempt to match Tatum's but she was too quick. Tatum then effortlessly flicked the ball into the bottom right corner. Defeated, the goalie scooped the ball out of the back of the net before rolling it out for the next group to go. I watched as Tatum walked to the back of the line.

"You know, she reminds me of you." Coach Crowley said.

"How so?" I asked.

"She plays just like you used too. You were her idol Emily. She looked up to you like you were a celebrity and she listened to everything you said. She's become the lacrosse player that she is today because of you." Coach explained. 

"No that's not it. She became an amazing player all on her own." I replied. He just shrugged as he watched the next group go.

"Maybe, but she learned it all from you. She may have put the work in on her own time but you were her inspiration." He added. I shrugged as I glanced over to where Tatum was standing in the back of the line. She was laughing and talking with Hannah.

Her smile and laugh were always my favorite things about her.

Actually, that's a lie. I love everything about her. I could never pick a favorite thing. She's too perfect. 

The only thing that would make her better was if we were still together.