There's More to Soccer Then That

Chapter 3

My alarm went off at 4, I was outside in the cold dark morning by 4:15. My black hair was pulled back into a ponytail except for my bangs that lay messily over my left eye, and I'm dressed in black tight yoga pants, a crystal blue nike hoodie, with matching cleats. I had jogged about 2 miles, then I started practicing my 1 on 1 moves. Like roll and cuts, lunges, fakes, and my favorite. The double 360. I had just balanced the ball on my head when a voice rang from just past the field. It was a familiar voice, but I couldn't really place it.

"Why is a soccer player good at math?" The voice asked.

"Uhh... I'm not very good at math. But why?" I say with a chuckle, continuing to balance the ball on my head.

"They use their head. HA!" I knew it was Kelley now, that laugh and the joke definitely made it clear.

I dropped the ball, and couldn't help but laugh at the stupidity of the joke. "Oh goodness. The corn coming off that joke. Were you STALKING me?" I say back, lifting up my right eye brow with a goofy smile to see if she got it.

"OOOOHHHH!!!!" She yelled, running up to me and giving me a chest bump as we both laughed.

"I'm Scarlet Jade. Feel free to call me whatever." I say, holding out a hand as I smile brightly. To my surprise, I'm embraced in a tight hug.

"You know me, I'm Kelley. And you should also know I don't do formal greetings. I'm a hugger." She giggled, which brought another smile to my face as I hugged her back.

For a while, we simply goofed off. I was keeping the ball away from her as we told stupid jokes, and probably laughed more than either of us have in a while. After about 30 minutes, the wind had picked up pretty well, and the team had come out to greet us. There were only 8 of us out there total, the rest were inside because they didn't want to come out in the cold yet. So we played 4 on 4. Hope, Carli, Ali and I against Ashlyn, Alex, Tobin and Kelley. 

Alex started with the ball, who then quickly passed it back to Kelley. Kelley darted down field, as I sprinted in to catch up with her. We exchanged small laughs as I attacked her, trying to get at the ball. I then backed off, I had simply wanted to make her laugh which I succeeded in. Krieger came in for the real attack as Carli and I sprinted down field. Ali sent Lloyd the ball, who then headed it to me. I let it hit against my chest before kicking it straight in the air, then I quickly jumped and did a 360, kicking the ball past Ashlyn. I did a small 'yes' gesture with my arm before jogging back to midfield, high fiving Ali and Carli. The game continued, the score was 5-3, we were winning. The wind blew hard, and the rattling of the large metal goal post towering over Hope was heard. I glanced back at it, just in time to watch it slowly start to tip in a large gust of wind. "HOPE WATCH OUT!" I scream, sprinting as fast as my legs could carry me. I gentle knocked into Hope, to get her out of the way as the large metal collided with my shoulders. I let out a grunt as I struggle to hold it up, digging my cleats into the turf as the weight continued to try and push me down. "Help....!" I let out between gritted teeth, continuing to slide. Thankfully, I was able to jump back just as the goal post dropped from my grip. I breathed heavily as I took Hope's hand, pulling her off the ground as everyone else came to see if we were alright. 

"You two okay?!" Carli asked, placing a hand on both of our shoulders. Hope and I exchanged glances before we both nodded.

"Yeah, thanks to Jade... God she saved my life." Hope said, out of breath as she draped an arm over my shoulders. I smiled brightly as I wrapped my arm around her waist in a hug, when all of a sudden Ali screamed.

"GUYS! THE WIND IS TRYING TO STEAL MY JACKET!" We all turned to watch Kriegy attempt to jump for her track jacket that was being carried away in a gust of wind. We all let out laughs, then I decided to step in.

"I got it!" I chirped, before starting to jog after it. Once I locked my eyesight in on the jacket, I picked up speed. Before long I was sprinting down field, with the jacket just out of reach. I quickly leaped up, grabbing the sleeve before to my surprise my feet got caught on something, and I flipped straight over it and landed hard on my back. "Gyah!" I let out as I hit the ground, groaning softly as my vision stopped spinning. I then realized when I jumped, my feet got caught on the small wall that boxed in the field, and I had completely front flipped over it. I put my hand over my face as I burst into laughter, hearing voices calling from the field.

"Jade! Are you alright?!" Alex asked, running up to the side of the fence along with Tobin, Kelley and Hope.

"Hahaha y-yeah! I'm alright!" I said through laughs, slowly sitting up. 

"Nice fall Scar." Kelley said as she laughed with me.

"Fall? I didn't fall. I attacked the ground!" I said, standing up with more laughs coming from everyone.

"You attacked the ground backwards?" Hope giggled, jumping the fence to brush off my hoodie from dirt and grass.

"Hehe, what can I say? I'm talented!" I laughed, and soon everyone was over and we were all laughing together.