Blood on the Pitch

Chapter Ten

"Hey, Stranger,"
Madison shuts her locker, a feeling of relief when she sees Sophie standing in front of her.
"Oh my god, Soph," she pulls the girl into a hug, "I was worried sick about you!"
Sophie pats her back a bit awkwardly, then pulls away.
"Why didn't you call?"
Sophie sighs, "Sorry, I tried. My dad was being a fucking asshole,"
Madison inspects her face for further injuries, frowning when she finds a bruise on her jaw.
"I can see,"
Sophie looks down to the ground, shifting uncomfortably.
Madison gently tilts Sophie's chin up, Sophie looks at her, melting in Madison's brown eyes, feeling the familiar warm fuzzy feeling she always got when she looked at Madison.
"Are you okay?"
Sophie nods, "Yeah, I'm okay. I'm tough, remember?"
"Ah, of course I do," she smiles. "The toughest,"
"Besides, I was locked up in my room most of the day anyway, he was 'Too disgusted to look at me'" she quotes while she tugs on the sleeve of her letterman jacket, Madison wearing hers too.
The whole team was.
Today they were having a memorial for Liz and Laura during the assembly that was starting in a few minutes.
"I'm so sorry, Soph,"
"It's okay," she shrugs, "I'm use to it,"
"That almost makes it worse," she frowns
"How are you holding up?"
Madison shrugs, "Good. My mom and I baked all of Sunday, Veronica came over on Saturday,"
"Oh? And?"
"And we're cool. She asked how you were,"
Sophie follows Madison to the gym, raising a brow.
"She asked about me?"

Madison nods.
"Why?"
"She wanted to make sure you were okay,"
"Again, why?"
"Because she's trying to be less of an asshole, okay? And she's going through a lot right now, so please, be easy on her,"
Sophie raises her hands in defense, "Hey, as long as she isn't being a bitch, we don't have a problem,"
The two girls walk into the gym, both coaches and the rest of the team are seated on benches near the speaking podium.
Madison takes a deep breath, nodding at both coaches before she sits the closest to the podium, feeling the flash cards in her pocket.
She had gotten the phone call early Sunday morning from Coach Brian, informing her that she would be asked to speak during the assembly.
She stared at the cards, her cursive writing beginning to look like scribbles as her head continued to spin.
Madison glances over, spotting her father and another officer standing by, the two briefly make eye contact, but Madison tears her eyes away.
Principal Granger stands at the podium, all the chatter quiets down as he begins to speak.
"Hello students and faculty. It's unfortunate that we are gathered here under such, unfortunate circumstances,"
Madison takes in a shallow breath, fiddling with the sleeves of her jacket.

"Today, we are here to discuss the murders of two of our very own Twilight Owl's players, Laura Matthews and Elizabeth Jenson,"
Sophie places her hand on Madison's leg, Madison places hers over top, feeling the cool metal of Sophie's silver rings.
Principal Granger continued talking, it wasn't until he said Madison's name she had snapped out of whatever daze she had been in.
She hesitantly stands, her hands shake as the flash cards stare daggers at her.
She swallowed thickly, standing at the podium, all eyes were on her.
"Hi, uh, as many of you know, I'm Maddie, the team's captain. I got the pleasure of having both girls on the team, even if it was only for a short period of time," she begins, trying to stop her voice from shaking.
"I would first like to talk about Laura Matthews, who I only got to know for a little bit as she was a freshmen," she takes another breath, blinking the tears back. "Laura Matthews was a bright, positive girl. She was an amazing soccer player, one who always made things interesting on the field, but unfortunately, she never got to play a game with us as her life was taken far too soon. Both Laura Matthews and Liz Jenson's lives ended before they even began," tears were streaming down her face, but she didn't bother wiping them.

Even when they dropped onto her cards, smudging the pretty black cursive writing.
"Liz Jenson only had two years of high school left before her life truly began. She was an upbeat, fun girl who I considered a good friend. What is so crazy is, it hasn't even fully sunk in yet. I still expect to see them when I walk into the locker room, I still expected to see Laura when I gave my pep talk before our game, and I expect to see Liz the next time we have a team gathering but they're gone. They had so much life to live and it was taken away in the blink of an eye, so please you guys,"
She glances over at Sophie, the shaggy blonde offers her a small smile, nodding at her.
"Please, as cliche as it may sound, just be nice to each other. You never know what the last words you say to someone will be and what your last interaction could be. And please, be careful, thank you," she says, stepping down, sitting back down.
"Thank you, Madison, very strong, inspiring words from the team captain. Now, we have some officers here to explain safety precautions and what measures to take,"
Madison looks at her dad before briefly looking at Sophie, who has the heels of her palms buried in her eyes, the bright lights clearly getting to her.
Madison gently rubs her back, cringing as Sophie jumps at the initial contact, but untenses when she realizes it was Maddison.
Madison watches as her father steps to the podium, clearing his throat.