Blood on the Pitch

Chapter Two

Madison impatiently taps her pencil against her Calculus worksheet, hoping if she continues to tap her pencil, the solutions would magically appear on the sheet.
Madison was a smart girl.
She took a generous amount of Ap classes and was a shelf filled with school rewards and perfect score messages.
Her mind however, was busy thinking of her hangout with Sophie the night prior.
She smiles remembering the smile that appeared on the girl's lips when she drove her home, handing the vinyl to her. How she had more fun with Sophie last night then she had with Veronica over the course of the last couple weeks.
She looked over to Talia, who had also been staring daggers at her sheet.
"Maddie?"
"Hm?" She looks at the curly haired girl, her brown hair being held up in a ponytail.
"How the fuck do you do this?" she whispers.
Madison shrugs, "I don't even know why I took this fucking class,"
"Because you're a nerd?"
Madison playfully rolls her eyes, but then Talia taps her again.
"Hey, so you know how my mom is friends with the Rookie's parents?"
"She has a name Talia,"
"Either way, apparently, she didn't come home last night,"
Madison straightens her posture, "What?"
"Yeah, apparently she never made it home, has your dad said anything to you?"
Madison shakes her head, "No, nothing at all,"
Madison felt a weird twist and turn in her stomach, dread and worry made her feel like she was going to throw up.
"Do you think-"
"She was kidnaped? Murdered?"
"I wouldn't have said it as blunt,"
Talia rolls her eyes, "In this small town? No, no I don't. She probably just ran away, or something. Who knows, maybe she'll show up at practice with a funny story or some shit"
Madison thought for a minute, turning away from Talia.
Her eyes locked back down to her worksheet, she made a mental note to talk to her father about it later.

The bell rang and Madison tried to continue her day as normal as lunch time was next.
Madison sighs, making her way to the team's lunch table.
"Hey, Maddie," a junior, Liz Jenson, smiles at her. A kind, social girl, her red hair and green eyes always made Madison smile at her beauty.
"Hey, Liz,"
She looks around at the rest of the team members, noticing Sophie's absence.
"Where's Soph?" she asks, sitting down.

Veronica raises a brow, "Soph? Since when are you on nickname terms with her?"
"Since...always? I don't know,"
"I think she's by the bleachers," another girl, Jenifer says.
"Probably getting drunk or giving a blow job," Veronica snickers.
"Shut up, Veronica," Madison cringes, "Like seriously,"
Veronica looks taken aback, "What?"
"Stop insulting her all the time. No one thinks it's funny,"
Veronica scoffs, "Jesus, what crawled up your ass?"

Madison huffs, taking a breath, "Has anyone seen Laura today?"
The team shakes their head, Madison sighs, biting her lip.
"Why?"
"She didn't come home last night," Talia mixes her salad around with her fork.
The team glances around at each other, their own theories twirling in their minds.
"Maybe she was murdered," Casey Stevens buds in, another Senior who Madison didn't care too much for.
"Don't be glib," another, Rebecca Jacobs adds.
"She probably just ran away or some shit," Talia rolls her eyes.
"This isn't the fucking 70's Talia," Olivia Roberts adds.
"How about we all just shut up and eat our lunch?" Jill Trench glares at everyone.

"Fine by me," Talia agrees, the girls all begin to quietly eat, Madison's mind still scrambles.

The girls were once again in the locker room, getting dressed for their practice, there was still no sign of Laura Matthews.
Madison shuts her locker, jumping when Sophie appears in front of her.
"Jesus fuck!" Madison holds her hand over her heart, Sophie can't help the laugh.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," she tilts her head.
Madison shakes her head, "Where were you today at lunch?"
"Aw, did you miss me Walker?"
"In your dreams Parker,"
"I was re taking a Biology test. I need to keep my grades up in order to stay on the team,"
Madison nods, from the corner of her eyes spotting Veronica staring daggers at the two.
"Are you still down to take me driving after practice?"
Madison snaps her gave back to the shaggy blonde in front of her, plastering a smile on her face, "Yeah, for sure,"

Sophie smiles, seeming to also notice Veronica's glare.
"Uh oh, looks like my existence pissed her off,"
Madison walks over to Veronica, "Are you okay?"
"Since when are you two friends?"
"Since when do you care so much about who I talk to?"
Veronica huffs, her arms crossed over her chest.
"Look, just, be nice to her, okay?"
Veronica rolls her eyes, "I'm going to finish getting ready," Madison runs a hand over her face, sighing before following the team for warm ups.

"Come on girls! Faster!" Coach Brian Scott blew his whistle at the girls who were running lines. "Last girl to finish is doing 50 push-ups!"
Madison picked up her speed, ignoring the cramps that were beginning to develop in her side and the squeezing in her lungs as she ran.
Madison took the lead, being the first of the girls to finish the whole sprint exercise, Sophie followed not too far behind, panting as she rested her hands on her knees, hunched over.
"Jesus fuck," Sophie pants.
"Good job you two!" Coach Spencer walks over, watching as the other girls began to slowly finish, Madison took note of Sophie's smile when Veronica was the last one to finish.

Veronica huffed in annoyance as she was ordered to drop down and give 50.

Coach Brain claps his hands, "Okay girls! We have a game on Friday, that's in two days! I need you ladies to pick up the slack so we win, understood?"
The girls nod, still breathing heavily.
"Good. We are going to play a few practice games, get you guys back in the game spirit. Madison, Sophie, can you guys go get the cones and balls from the equipment shed?" he points to the red shack a little ways away.
The two nod, making their way over after the coach tosses them the keys.
"My fucking legs are on fire," Madison complains, each step making her lungs feel like they were squeezing closer together.
"God, you can say that again," Sophie nods,

"At least we don't have to do push-ups like Green over there,"
"I think my whole body would collapse if I tried right after that," Madison jokes, fiddling with Coach's keys.
The girls approach the shed, Madison feels the twist and turn in her stomach grow as she stands in front of the door.
"Are you going to open it? Or just stare at it?" Sophie jokes.
"This shed gives me the fucking creeps," Madison searches through the keys, finding the one with a red label with the name Shed on it.
Madison slides it into the lock, twisting it, being taken aback at the awful smell that hits her nose.
"Oh what the fuck is that?" Sophie covers her nose with the back of her hand, moving past Madison to find the light switch.
"It smells like-" Madison pauses when the lights come on, Sophie lets out a shaky gasp, her breathing quickens rapidly, she stumbles back.
"What? What is it?" Madison steps forward, going to see what got Sophie so shaken up, but Sophie is quick to turn around to try and stop her.
"No! No Mads don't-"
But it was too late, Madison had already seen it.
A lump forms in her throat as her chest heaves up and down, a horrified scream escapes her throat.

Sophie grabs the girl, trying to get her to look away as the rest of the team comes sprinting over.
Madison clutches onto Sophie's arm, "What the fuck!?" she cries. "What the fuck is that!?" 
"Girls, what the hell-" Coach Brain pauses, standing beside the girl.

"Holy fuck," Veronica gasps.
"Is that-"
"Holy fuck it is!"
Madison felt tears in her eyes as the body of Laura Matthews laid limp against the fall.
Her golden blonde hair is stained red.
Her throat slit, the blood sticking all over her skin.

Sophie moves Madison out of the shed, just in time for her to empty her stomach on the field.