Playing With the Boys

Score 1-0

"Hey, Eddie!" I called out over the green. Cody and I were sitting down and eating the usual breakfast of dry cereal.

"Hey!" he shouted back, blushing lightly. He had taken off his glasses, which was my advice, and put in contacts instead. It made him look real good.

He sat down with us and took a sandwich out of a satchel he had.

"Being a lone wolf?" I asked him, giggling in my mind at the "Hangover" joke I made.

"Oh, ha ha," Eddie said sarcastically.

We had become friends after Eddie overheard me talking to Cody saying I love playstation 3. He told me he had brought is and I had spent many hours over in his room, killing aliens and running over the opposite team in awesome cars.

"Can I steal Cody for a few minutes?" he asked.

"Sure!" I said, and lay back on the grass.

"Okay, cool." Him and Cody stood up and walked off on the green. I closed my eyes and thought about how lucky I was.

"Hi."

I groaned. It was Nathan.

What did that guy have against me? Okay, sure, I squashed my lasagna into his shirt. But still, why didn't he just leave me alone?

"I just wanna say I am sorry about last night."

I was silent and hoped he would walk away but instead he sat down beside me. I squeezed my eyes closed as hard as I could.

"I just wonder, why you picked Cody over me."

I stiffened. Why did I pick Cody over anyone else, not exactly Nathan?

"He kissed me first."

He was my first kiss, actually. Being 14 and never kissed was quite odd back home. Actually, most of the girls in my year had gone much further than just a kiss. So I never mentioned it to anyone here.

"So what? If I kissed you first, would you have gone out with me?"

He already knew my answer to that. I was silent but I could feel my cheeks getting hot.

"Yes, you would have. You would yave gone out with anyone at this cam who kissed you first. But what about who kisses you second?"

I sat up and opened my eyes. Nathan was watching me with a slight smile on his lips.

"Don't you dare, Nathan," I warned him. But he just smiled even bigger and got up.

"Trainings about to start."

**************

The kick off was between Scott and Benny. Both sides were staring at the ball, the tension high.

Scott passed it to Benny, who immediately passed it to Eddie. He just stared at the ball rolling towards him, so I intervened and took the ball. I ran with it forward.

"Pass!" Nathan was running beside me. I ignored him, running even faster, curving around this person and that.

"Pass!" he yelled at me, and I did. Chad was right in front of me, and Mrs. Greene put him on the opposite team.

Nathan ran with the ball and when Scott came near him, they passed it back and forth. I ran back a bit, near Eddie.

"I didn't even wanna come here," he told me. "I hate soccer."

I gave him a 'sorry' smile and watched the ball, which was speeding back here. Nathan had accidentally passed it to a guy on the other team.

He was fast, but not faster than me. I ran up in front of him, and quickly cut the ball from him. He paused for a second, and then realized the ball was gone.

I was running up the green again, and my heart was stuck in my dry throat. Scott was in front of me, and I kicked the ball to him. He turned around and gave an almighty kick of the ball towards the goals.

The goalie jumped up, trying to wrap his arms around the fast moving ball, but he was too late. The ball hit the net at the back.

****************

We sat around a table: Cody, Eddie, Benny and I, eating our dinner in the cafeteria.

"Salad rules!" I was telling Benny, who thought salad sucked. I loved salads!

"Whatever!" he scoffed and sucked down his cheeseburger.

"So, are you guys looking forward to home?" Eddie asked as he squeezed a bottle of ketchup above his french fries.

"Yeah!" I squealed, almost bouncing in my seat. "I can't wait to see my friends!"

"Wont you miss me?" Cody asked jokingly, but we all knew there was real sadness behind the line.

"You can come visit!" I said, thinking up different ideas.

"Too far away."

"You could catch a bus?"

Cody shook his head.

"You could... You could..."

"Move to Nashville!" Eddie butted in. I nodded enthusiastically.

"Maybe," Cody said, though his face said something else.

"So these may be the last few days I see you guys?"

Cody and Eddie nodded, but Eddie shook his head.

"I live in Tennessee too, but not Nashville."

"Cool," I said. I didn't really care for Benny, he was just a guy you would hang out with if you were bored to death.

"I got to go," I said, pushing out from my table. Cody got up too but I ran out before he knew where I was going.

I ran down the field, feeling tears well up for the 50th time this week. I tried to blink them away, but they wouldn't.

I banged right into Nathan, who wrapped his arms around me silently.

"Let go off me!" I protested weakly but he wouldn't. He just kept me in his arms.

We stood there for a while, me in his arms, until I stopped sobbing. Then, Nathan let go of me and walked away. I stared after him in amazement.

"Beep beep." My phone went off in my pocket. I pulled it out, still both shocked and depressed.

"Camp closes in a week," it read. "Cant wait to see you!"

It was from Mom.

I fell onto my butt and sat on the cold earth with my head in my hands. Nobody had told me camp ended so soon!

I shoved the phone back in my pocket.

"You okay?"

I looked up to see Eddie. I shook my egad and he sat beside me.

"Whats up?"

"Camp is over soon, like you said. But I'm gonna miss everyone."

Eddie nodded. "But Cody the most."

I didn't move but looked at Eddie's face through the darkness.

"I thought I had a chance with you," he said out of the blue.

"Why?"

"Because I was the first one you talked to." He smiled and looked at me. "But I never did, did I?"

I shook my head. He looked away and got up. Extending an arm for help, I got up too.

"Cody is looking for you." Eddie stopped and sighed. "Make the most of your time together, will you?"

I nodded and we walked back to the building.

"Oh, and Callie?"

"Yeah?"

"Next time your upset, don't run so far."