The Final Season

Chapter 16

Note: Sorry that I'm taking forever to update but tryouts just started Monday and end Saturday so I'm so exhausted by the time I get home. I'll keep trying to update sooner but please bare with me(:  Thanks for all of your comments and votes! Comment, Vote, Fan(:

Song on side is Over by Blake Shelton--->

Chapter Sixteen

I grunted as I searched for my phone that was blaring with the alarm I set the night before. I finally found it on the ground beside my bed and checked the time to see that it was seven thirty. Seven freaking thirty in the morning. This is ridiculous. I should be sleeping for hours longer. It was a Saturday after all, Saturdays are meant to be sleep-ins not early rising.


Unfortunately for me I had to get ready for the festival that would begin in two hours. Basically, a bunch of soccer fanatics all gather up and greet each other. There are six fields at the Harrison park so teams are called down to face each other. In the end, teams receive trophies that stand for their ranking in the games. Our boys' team and girls' team were invited to participate at the festival. There was going to be four guys' teams, four adult, and four girls'.


Some people show up for the music and entertainment all around the park. The organization of the festival was sensational, and it was surreal to see an abundant amount of people with similar interests as me. The only thing I wasn't very fond of was that it just begins way too earlier in the freaking morning. I mean nine in the morning? Really? Really?

I looked to my side to see Sarah knocked out on my bed. Most of her hair cascaded over her face as she slept with her mouth wide open. I chuckled to myself. She wanted me to wake her so she could come with me to the park. I shook her over and over again but she wouldn't budge. She was a heavy sleeper so this was expected of her.

I begrudgingly stood up from the warmth of my bed and headed towards my bathroom to take a shower and prepare for the day ahead. I wrote Sarah a note reminding her to go to the park when she woke up. By the time I put my uniform on and braided my hair, it was nearly nine. I grabbed my bag and put the straps on both shoulders as I trudged down the stairs. My parents were still sleeping so I left them a post it reminding them where I was going to be, in case they wanted to come see me play, for once. I didn't even bother asking them because I knew it wasn't in their interests to see me running down a field for god knows how long. They'd probably get bored out of their minds.


By the time I made it to the park, a bunch of cars were already in the parking space. I was fortunate enough to find a spot, though it wasn't close to the entrance, at least I didn't have to park in another lot across the street or on the side of the road. As time elapsed, all of these parking lots would be filled with cars from the festival.


I walked in and took in my surroundings. Immediately, my grumpy and irritated mood subsided as handsome soccer players were in every direction of me. Some were wearing Adidas track pants that were tight at the ankles, some were in their uniformed shorts, and others were shirtless. If I could choose my own heaven when it was my time to go, this would be it. I would gladly go to the light at the end of the tunnel if I knew that once I got there, I'd be surrounding by testosterone crazed soccer hunks. Oh yes, I'd go to that light with no hesitation at all.


Ignoring the presence of all the gorgeous men, I analyzed the rest of my surroundings. Like last year, there was a stage on one side of the park where the musicians would perform and people would dance in front of. Two bouncy houses were placed side by side, farther from the stage and under a few trees. Some kids were already in there filling the park with laughter as they played. There were four fields in my direct sight, all in close proximity from each other but still with enough distance between them. I knew that the two other fields were down a slight hill.


I looked around to see if any of the girls arrived yet but my eyes stopped at a guy fifty yards from me. He was in a uniform so I assumed he'd be playing today. I examined the red and black of his uniform, noting that it was slightly similar to mine when I realized I knew who it was. Now looking closely at him, it was obvious. His dirty blonde, nearly brown tousled hair, and pale skin gave it away. I nearly skipped over to him and then covered his eyes with my hands. I felt him slightly jump in surprise but then his hands went to mine, trying to figure out who temporarily blinded him.


"Who is it?" He questioned.


"Guess," I responded in a low, manly voice, attempting to not give it away.


"Iris." He said and I gasped and retracted my hands and he turned to face me with a smirk on his face.


"How'd you know?" I demanded. Surely my man voice is not that bad.


"I'm just that good." He replied smugly. I gave him an expectant look, waiting for a valid explanation. "You suck at sounding like a guy." He said and I pouted. I think I should be happy at the revelation but I was a bit bummed. Now I could never disguise my voice, because I apparently suck at that. "And I could smell you." he added. I felt the heat rush to my cheeks. He knew my scent? If anyone else told me that, I would have probably called the police on them.


"You memorized my scent?" I teased.


"I didn't have to. You were practically throwing yourself at me on our date." I gasped and hit him in the shoulder.


"Austin!" I rolled my eyes as he laughed at me. I definitely did not throw myself at him. In fact, I recall him being the one practically jumping at me for a kiss. A kiss that I couldn't stop smiling about that night. Reminiscing about it made a blush creep on my face and caused Austin to tease me further. I turned away from him stubbornly and crossed my arms over my chest. Maybe not looking at him will make the bright red color on my cheeks disappear. His arm wrapped around my shoulders unexpectedly and pulled me towards him. I felt the heat rush back to my cheeks at the thought of our close proximity.


I then noticed Beth and Val walk into the park together. Beth had her hair tied in a high ponytail while Val puts hers up in a messy bun probably until it was time to play. They spotted me after looking around the place(mostly at the guys.) I nearly groaned when I realized that I would never hear the end of them teasing me for Austin and the arm that was embracing me. They walked towards our direction and then stood in front of us, staring. Austin cleared his throat and withdrew his arm.


"Hi guys!" Beth chirped and Austin and I smiled back at her. Beth was always a morning person. I honestly think that the earlier she wakes up, the more delighted she gets. It's unbearable, especially when she sleeps over. I can't even put a number on the amount of times she woke up at the same time the sun decided to rise. It's like they had a deep connection with each other. I would be fine with that connection and her early mornings if she didn't have to drag me into them by waking me up.


Most of the team arrived already and we were seated at one of the many picnic tables around the park. Valerie was in the middle of one of her ridiculous but equally hilarious stories when she stopped mid sentance. I gave her a questioning look when she peered over us. I looked over my shoulder and knew exactly who Val was gawking at. Davis. Right beside him, in all her beautiful glory, Meg walked along holding onto his hand.


"I knew she'd be hot." Val remarked as she leaned her cheek against her cheek and stared enviously at the tall, creamy paled skinned, girlfriend of her coach. Hot she was. Her curly red hair resembled that of Anne Hathaway's, and I wished my hair could possess such a quality. The lack of sun on her skin went well with the red locks of her hair. Her smile seemed to be contagious because Davis smiled back, just as wide. Her laugh was loud, not the annoying, unbearable loud that made people's eardrums want to pop.


Davis's eyes met mine and he smiled and headed toward us. He must be in a good mood. What about me ever makes him smile? When he reached us, the whole team was gawking at the human being beside him. Her eyes roamed over everyone and then reached me and she smiled.


"Hi," I said smiling.


"Iris right?" She asked looking up as if she was deep in thought.


"Yup, Meg right?" I asked and she smiled and nodded. I scratched my neck awkwardly when I realized the whole team was glaring at me in an accusing manner. I can already imagine their thoughts. They are probably upset that I knew that the theory of Davis having a girlfriend was true, and refrained from telling them. I didn't exactly keep it to myself on purpose, I just didn't think it was my business to shout to the whole world about Davis's personal life, and I didnt necessarily want to tell them about how I met her. I wanted to forget that night.


"Okay guys, so this is my girlfriend Meg," Davis spoke to the team, "and these are my girls," he told Meg. His girls? Is that what he thought of us? I never knew that we meant that much to him. I think I was the only one who found his sentence possessive. He did give up months of his life each year for us, and he was the one always there for us, even if we didn't want him there(me in particular.) I guess his statement was accurate to a degree then, as much as I didn't want to admit it, we were like his girls.


"It's nice to meet you guys," Meg commented genuinely. "I've heard so much about you all. Some more than others," she added with a laugh and her eyes drifted over to me. I narrowed my eyes at Davis. What was he telling her about me? That I was a spoiled teenager that had no respect for the people older than her? That I make him want to jump off a bridge or claw his eyes out every time he has to be near me? It can't be anything remotely nice. Davis does not have any nice thoughts regarding me. I know that for a fact.


"Well I better go check what field we're on first," Davis told us and we nodded. He looked over at Meg who was now talking to Zoey and Maggie about something, and it must have been funny because the two were laughing hysterically. Davis smiled at her(for like the thousandth time now) and then walked over to one of the tables where men with orange shirts with the word staff on them, sat.


I wanted to know what was so funny so I went over to that side of the table like most of the girls. Everyone listened intently as Meg spoke. I took note of her flawless skin, her big green eyes, and her full pink lips. Her bottom lip was slightly fuller than her top. She was very pretty. My biased point of view would ask why on earth would she choose to be with Davis, but putting all bias aside, I knew why. Discarding all of my previous accusations regarding his looks, I knew that he was good looking. He was better than good looking. He was what you call, jaw-dropping, drool worthy, six feet of stone hard perfection. So of course Meg would want him, and of course most of the school would, but I wouldn't.


I looked past Davis's looks and only saw a devil in disguise. Who wants to be in an exclusive relationship with the devil? What good will that do anyone when he's made out of pure evil? Then again, Meg does know him best. She must have saw something in him that I never did, and probably never will. There must be some valid reason to why she stays with him, other than his physical characteristics. She doesn't seem like she's that shallow.


I held onto the locket around my neck as I listened to her tell us embarrassing stories about our lovely coach. She also told us that he's a good singer and guitar player. I would have never pinned Davis as a singer type. I'd give money to see that.


"Can he cook?" Val asked. Yes, I thought to myself remembering the time he made us something to eat. Well, at least he can cook pasta, I'm not sure if he can cook anything else. The envious look Val gave Meg was still there, but it was slowly fading away as Meg continued to talk.


"I think so, but he's never cooked for me." She admitted and I was taken back by the statement. How has he never cooked for her? It seemed like they've been together for a while and he hasn't cooked for her, but he has for me. Pasta is hardly cooking Iris, my conscious mocked me. I mentally pushed it aside, telling it to shut up, and let another feeling course through me. I wasn't sure what this feeling was, I've never felt it when regarding anything about Davis, it felt similar to smugness, but slightly more than that.


"Wow he sucks," Valerie remarked and Meg laughed.


"Who sucks?" Davis questioned as he returned to the group. I glanced over at him. He was in a tight grey Nike t-shirt. I could somewhat see the outline of his abdomen through it. He had on a pair of black Nike track paints and his feet were covered by a pair of red and black Nike running shoes.


"You," Meg replied playfully while she walked over to him and looped one of her arms over his.


"Why?" Davis asked genuinely. I almost laughed. He couldn't think of one reason as to why he would suck, where as I had lists and lists in my mind but refrained from saying the contents of them out loud. He probably would have sat me out for the entire day, and then he'd ask me who sucks at the end. I'd still reply that he does though, just because I'd be fuming by the end of the day.


"Because you never cook for me," Meg retorted as she gazed up at her boyfriend while he rolled his eyes.


"That's because we go out to dinner instead, and you never asked me to." He reasoned. I never asked you either, and you still cooked for me. I grabbed my bottle of water and gulped half of it down. I must be dehydrated right now because I'm not thinking properly and I'm definitely not being myself right now. Maybe I need my conscious back to mock me and set me straight again. I looked over at Davis once more. Yes, I thought to myself. I need my conscious to yell at me constantly and bring me to reality.


"Whatever," Meg retorted. I turned around and searched for more attractive soccer players. I didn't have to look far, there was a team on the grass near one field and they consumed my time as I looked at each and every guy, noting that they were all fairly attractive. One guy caught me in the act and smirked and I flushed in embarrassment and averted my eyes in another direction. Okay, no more looking at hot guys, or do it subtly the next time you do, I told myself.

~

"Alright lets go! Lets go!" Davis clapped his hands as he kneeled down at the side of the field watching us. He told us to have fun as we played but to also keep in mind that sectionals are soon. How could we forget that sectionals were soon? He's beat it into our brains for the past two weeks.


While a substitution was being made during a dead ball, I rolled my ankle around trying to get rid of some of the pain that decided to randomly smother my ankle. I leaned off of it slightly hoping to alleviate some of the pain but I still felt the throbbing of it. I looked over to Davis. Maybe I should just ask him for a sub and to sit out. It's just a game for fun, it's not going to count for anything. I saw Austin sitting a few feet away from the field with other spectators and he smiled at me. What would he think if I got out of the game so early? I bit my lip and refrained from asking for a sub for the the rest of the game. At least the game was shortened to twenty five minutes each half.


By the time it ended, my ankle was unbearable. It was getting worse and worse as weeks passed by and Davis's hell boot camps that he likes to call practices were not helping it at all. We managed to score two goals against the other team that were goalless. I walked over to my bag and grabbed my water bottle. I tried focusing on anything but my ankle. We had forty minutes until our next scheduled game so I could rest it then.


"You did good!" Austin commented as I grabbed my stuff. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders as we walked over to a vacant spot under a tree.


"I'm so sweaty right now how can you put your arm around me?" I questioned as I sat down and leaned against the tree and he sat beside me.


"It's not that bad. I'm use to sweat and I like a girl who works hard," he replied as he winked at me. I rolled my eyes, but couldn't help but smile. I kicked my cleat off of my right ankle and let out a breath. It relieved some of the pain but most of it was still there. "You okay?" Austin asked as he eyed my cleat-less ankle. I twisted it in a circle slightly, as I debated whether I should tell him or not.


"Oh yeah, I'm fine. I've just been dealing with my ankle for the past year and on but it's manageable."


He nodded slightly, "how'd you hurt it?"


"Honestly I ask myself that question all the time. I wish I knew." I wish that my ankle injury was explainable. It was terrible not knowing what I did to aggravate it and what caused the pain that was overwhelming me right now.


Austin had a game five minutes after mine ended so I went to sit by the field he was stationed at until it was time for me to go. He said that I made a funny face while I played, so I looked for any distinguishable things as he played. There wasn't really anything that stood out to me. He kind of looked angry as he played, but his face was probably just contorted in concentration. He was aggressive on the field. He wasn't a dirty player, and he wasn't the first to throw out an elbow or shoulder, but he didn't back down when someone else did.


A midfielder that I recognized to be a guy from our Calculus class, Zach, crossed the ball over to Austin who settled it with his instep and then proceeded to run in the direction of the other goal. Austin crossed out each player that charged in his direction and in a matter of seconds the bell was in the back of the net. I jumped up and cupped my hands around my mouth as I cheered his name. He looked over at me and winked and I rolled my eyes, way too smug for his own good.


By the time all of the games ended, we managed to win first place against the other girls, nearly. We scored a goal in the last five minutes of our final game that put us up top. I'm not sure if the boys got up top too but I expect them to. The other teams that were invited today weren't as good as I thought they would be. I walked over to Sarah who managed to show up during my second game. She was only staying here until tomorrow because school started for her on Monday, which was two days away. She told me that she was able to leave for four days because testing was going on for people who have yet to pass the mandatory tests so she didn't have to go to school until it was over. Luckily my birthday came up at the same time.


"Good job girl!" She patted me on the shoulder as I laid beside her on the grass not caring about the people around me. I could fall asleep right now. The band on the stage cooed the song Over by Blake Shelton into my ears which sent me into a further daze.

So tell me what I gotta do to win you over
You'll never have to wonder if you need another
You'll never have to wonder if I understand
And every time you reach for me you'll find a hand out.

"Is that your coach's girlfriend?" Sarah asked me. I didn't even bother looking up because I knew it would be Meg beside him. She was at all our games, cheering us on, and going to the concession stand when Davis needed something. I replied yes to Sarah while I kept my head buried in the curve of my elbow. "Hm, not bad." Not bad at all. "Are you jealous?"


My head shot up as I stared at Sarah in disbelief. Had she gone stupid since she left for Texas? Me being jealous of Davis? Jealous of Davis having a girlfriend? Why on earth would I have any ounce of jealousy in my body for that? If anything, it's better that he does have one because she probably keeps him in better moods so I wouldn't have to deal with a grumpy Davis. At least not all of the time. Sarah raised her eyebrow in my direction, my silence might have just clarified her stupid suspicions of jealously when in reality I was I was still shocked that she would ask a stupid question like that.


"I should smack you for asking such a stupid question." I told her and she laughed.


"I'm sorry! He's hot I would have thought that you'd be into him since you have to spend so much time with him." My hand went to my neck to grab ahold of my locket but all I felt was flesh. I looked down and noticed that the silver locket that was suppose to be rested on my chest was nowhere to be seen. I immediately panicked as I turned my head and scanned the grass surrounding me, looking for any piece of silver sticking out at me. "What?" Sarah questioned.


"I can't find my locket," I breathed. "It was around my neck and and I can't find it. I can't lose it oh my god I've lost it." I panicked. "How could I have lost it?" Tears welled in my eyes at the thought. That was the only item I had directly linked to my grandmother. It was the only thing that kept me from crying at nights at the loss of her, and now I didn't have it anymore. It's like I've lost her all over again.


"It's okay we'll find it," Sarah said trying to reassure me as she stood up and began looking around. "It's okay," she repeated as I blinked back tears.


"It's not okay! How can we find it with hundreds of people here?" I shut my eyes trying to relieve the migraine that was building up in my head. I grabbed my bag and dumped all of the contents out and looked through everything numerous times in hopes that I put it in there and just couldn't remember.


"I'll go check by the field you were just at." Sarah said. I ran my hands through my hair as I kneeled down in the grass. How could I be so stupid? I didn't know how to take care of anything. That was the most valuable thing to me and I lost it so easily.


"Grey, what's wrong?" Davis asked as he kneeled down beside me. I looked up at him and noticed he was by himself.


"I lost my locket,
I'm so stupid. I can't believe--" I couldn't even finish the sentence. I rubbed my eyes with my palms and groaned in frustration. So far, my senior year is complete and utter crap. I thought this year was going to be the time of my life, after all I'm a senior, and seniors get privileges, but turns out it was the complete opposite. I just want it to end.


"Grey," Davis said chuckling slightly.


I nearly slapped him for finding any sort of humor in this situation. Sure he doesn't know the importance of that locket and he probably thinks I'm just a materialistic teenager crying over a piece of jewelry, but still, he shouldn't laugh.


"Grey you gave me the locket to hold during the first game." He told me as he reached in his pocket and surely enough pulled out my silver locket. "What's the deal with it anyway?" He asked.


I took the locket from him and ran my fingers across it before I opened it and looked at the picture inside it, causing me to smile immediately. A new sheet of tears were ready to spill out my eyes as I glanced at the picture of my grandmother. Soccer helped me avoid the fact that she was no longer here with me, but now she was staring back at me as she held the little version of me and I couldn't help but miss her.


"It's was my grandmother's. It's the only thing I have from her." I told him as I brushed hair from my face. "Thank you," I added.


I couldn't help but notice that I've been thanking Davis a lot this year.