The Bad Boy's Snowflake

Chapter 9: Inspirational Speeches

As we pull into the parking lot, Sadie shakes me awake. I can tell she is nervous because she has a look of anxiety and excitement mixed together. She tells me to hurry up, and she, Macy, and the freshman help me down the bus stairs. We head toward the locker room, but I can see the field. It is AstroTurf and it looks freshly painted. I have the sudden urge to run on the field. Unfortunately, I can't.

We walk into the locker room, and everybody else begins to get changed. I already have my uniform on, and, obviously, I don't need to put cleats on. Once everybody is changed and ready, they all look to me. I am the captain, so I need to say something.

"Um," I begin. Then I come up with a very inspirational speech. "Obviously I'm hurt. The formation will change a bit, but that doesn't change anything. We are still a better team than them, and we are going to win this. Remember, Mackenzie is no longer their goalie, and there is no way this new one is going to be as good. We can do this as long as we stay focused. Now, let's do this!"

My team heads out onto the field. There, they do some warm-up drills, and Coach also gives a speech. Mine was way more inspirational, though. They call for captains, so I hobble over to the referee as quickly as I can. The opposing captain, Skyler I think her name is, looks at me in disbelief, but she has a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

"Captains please shake hands," the ref says. We do for half a second. The referee clears his throat and turns to me. "Chaston, you are the visitors. Please call it in the air."

He throws the quarter into the air, as I call out, "Heads."

It lands on heads.

"Chaston, you have the ball first," he dismisses us. I hobble back to my team.

"Who's ball?" Coach Maxson asks.

"Ours," I answer proudly.

She smiles at me. "Even on crutches, you're the best caller we've had."

I smile proudly, and Coach calls the starters. They jog onto the field just as Colton starts to jog onto the field. Macy and a senior named Emma are standing at the center mark. The referees walk out, holding a blue and gold Nike ball. They set it on the mark and blow the whistle.

Macy passes it to Emma who turns around and passes it to Sadie at center midfield. Sadie looks out wide and sees a sophomore, Kinsely, open to the right. She passes it to her. Kinsely carries it down the wing and does a scissors around a girl on the other team. Kinsely carries it all the way down to the corner before crossing it. The cross is perfect, and it goes straight to Paisley, a striker. She heads the ball and it goes into the bottom left corner of the goal. Everybody begins to cheer and hug her, and I get the feeling that this is going to be a good game for us.

At half time, the score is still 1-0. Everybody heads into the locker room. The players are all panting, but smiling. We have had some great shots and chances to score, but this new goalie is better than we anticipated. She's not as good as Mackenzie, but she's pretty damn close. Coach comes into the locker room to make another speech.

"All right, girls," she starts in a low voice. "This is what it all comes down to. The team that wins is going to be the team that plays better the first fifteen minutes of this next half. We are up by one goal. That doesn't mean anything. I want you to play like we are down one goal. Do you hear me?"

"Yes, sir!" we all yell.

"Good," she continues in her low voice. She sure is dramatic. "Then let's go kick their asses!"

The entire team starts cheering and running out of the locker room to the field. I wait for everybody to pass before exiting because I don't want to get trampled. I begin to crutch down to the field, when someone calls my name.