Too Young To Fall In Love

State

Evie

I sit in the locker room of this unfamiliar stadium. I knot my cleats again before looking over to Amanda. We've played rugby together since the ninth grade, she plays eight-man and I play the scrum half. Numbers eight and nine.

I can tell by the way she's sitting that Amanda is anxious for the game to start. We all are, we're close to having a nearly prefect high school career. We're the best of the best. She comes over to me as I tape my piercing lined ears.

"Nervous?" She wonders.

"Nah, I'll be fine." I says, trying to convince myself.

I'm not worried about the game so much as I am about who's watching. Scouts for national teams, college coaches. Tommy and the rest of the band had made a huge deal about coming to this game, they pulled Ava out of school and followed the bus up here.

Even with all of this, I'm still fighting this uneasy feeling that I can't explain. Part of my brain is telling me that if I fake sick I won't be played. Like at my subconscious is scared. I want to play, I want to win.

"You ready?" I smirk at her.

"Beyond it." Amanda smirks at me.

I pull my mouth guard from my bag, I had painted fangs on it. I hold it between my teeth and smile at my friend.

"Let's go kick some Catholic ass." I say behind my mouthpiece.

"Aren't you Catholic?" She laughs.

"Yeah, why?" I wonder.

"Nothing." Amanda laughs. "Lead the way."

The team walks into the hallway and continue on with our tradition of sorts. We scream lyrics to Jerry Lee Louis' Great Balls of Fire. The song echoes off the cement walls and floor as we head up to the pitch. I run my hand along my braid to make sure it's tight and we go out the door to the sunshine and freshly cut grass.

We make it to our coach and he tells Amanda and I to go out to the centre for the coin toss while the rest of the team circles up.

Nikki

We all sit on uncomfortable blue plastic benches at this stadium where state is being held. I sit in between Tommy and Vince.

We watch as Evie and Amanda run out to the middle to the coin toss. I can't tell who won but they run back to their team, into the circle the team created. They watch as the opposite team does their cheer as loud as they can. Their team starts their cheer louder.

"I don't care what's been said! Ruggers Rock! Full speed ahead! Give me guff, I'm in your face! Ruggers rule the human race!" The team yells.

"Sound off!" Amanda and Evie yell.

"One two! Three four! One two, three four!" The team yells as we laugh.

"Haven't changed that cheer in a few years." Vince laughs.

"Why change it, it works for them." Ava adds.

Just for the record, let me get it straight.

I have no idea what's going on. I know it's violent, I know that one girl has already been knocked out, and I know that Ava is telling me that Evie and Amanda are winning. That's it.

The game I think is in its second half and it's almost over. Our girls are winning so that's important. There's a break down close to the (Evie will murder me for calling it this) end zone. Some of the forwards ruck over the breakdown and Evie grabs the ball.

She grabs the ball and runs for the end zone. She's really fucking fast. Off the other team's bench this big brute of a girl runs out at Evie. She tackles Evie at the knee and she goes flying over this girl. Evie is able to place the ball in the zone on the ground but she holds her knee.

Like communicating without talking, the five of us mutter 'Evie' before making our way to the pitch. Amanda, the coach, and the trainer crowd around Evie, who is still on the ground favouring the knee. She's hurt it bad. Tommy looks ready to run out onto the field but Vince grabs a hold of his arm.

"You can't run out there." He tells Tommy, he fights those big brother instincts.

Ava fights back tears as the coach and the trainer carry her twin off the field. Ava runs onto the field and over to her sister. The trainer carries Evie over toward the ambulance that was on standby. We follow her over.

"No, no, no, no way I'm going to the doctor." Evie says matter of factly.

"Evie, you gotta. You just blew out your knee. You need to get it fixed." Ava tells her twin. "I'll be right there with you."

"Evie, I'm right behind the ambulance." Tommy assures her.

Evie doesn't look convinced but they load her into the back of the ambulance, Ava goes in with her. We go out to the parking lot and load into the car.

"Evie hates the doctors." Tommy half mutters. "This is going to be fun."

It takes us nearly an hour to get to the hospital, the longest hour I've ever lived through. Tommy is a wreck, worrying about Evie to the point where he can't drive. I'm worried about her to, we all are.

When we finally get to the hospital we have no idea where we're going. We wander around until we find a nurse (that takes close to another hour). The part that is really scaring Tommy is that no one knows where Evie is. When we asked emergency, they said that they already sent her for testing. We went to testing, they said they sent her to day surgery.

We finally see Ava in a waiting room, she looks as out of it as Tommy. She jumps when we come up behind her. Ava explains how they sent her for surgery already and that's where she is now. She had left a message for their parents explaining to them what was going on.

"So what happened?" Mick wonders.

"She torn her ACL, badly at that."  Ava explains.

"What does it mean for rugby?" Vince wonders.

"She might never play again." She admits quietly.

"Evie will kill, she can't live without it. It's like breathing for her." Tommy says and starts cursing under his breathe.

We talk for a while before Amanda comes in with Evie's bag and medal. At least they won. We catch her up on everything and about an hour later a nurse comes in and says she's in recovery, she says we can see Evie.

Somebody has to be in there at all times. If she wakes up, she'll completely freak out. Evie plays the roughest sport known to man and she's scared of doctors. It's my turn to wait in the room with her, it's rounding six o'clock.

Evie's leg is wrapped and suspended in the air. Her black hair is spread across the pillow and her blue eyes are closed. I lightly hold onto her hand like we've all been doing. Jesus, it's going to kill her if she can't play anymore. Her hand then wraps around mine and I look up.

Her blue eyes are opened but glazed over. She's still drugged an insane amount. But through the veil of drugs, Evie smiles at me. I smile back at her.

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty." I say quietly.

"Hey, Nikki." Evie says before looking at her leg. "I'm scared."

I almost missed it, it was quiet and I didn't believe it but she said it. She's scared. I'd be to, to be honest. She might never play again. I smile, trying to reassure her. I kiss her head.

"Everything will be fine. Just go back to sleep." I say and she nods.

Before I know it, Evie is gone again. Back into a drug induced sleep. Her grip is still tight around my hand and I don't let go. I'm crazy about her, I realize it now more than ever.