Keep Fighting for Hope

Chapter 7: I'm Not Ready

Morgan's POV

The next morning, I hitched a ride with Julie to the field for training before our game tonight. We stopped by Starbucks, Julie's norm, then headed on. Once we arrived, I slung my back over my shoulder and began walking in side by side with Jules, my coffee in one hand, Silver's in the other. We giggled about how I had "complimented" Julie on her singing, then we parted ways once we were on the field. Sylvia ran over and I gave her the coffee, we hugged, then simply began small chat. "So I was thinking, you know how tonight is last game before the holidays?" I asked, sitting down on the bench as I began to take off my vans, to put on my cleats. "Yeah?" She asked, also sitting down next to me to do the same. "And you know how we have that Christmas party, right?" I continued, now beginning to tie the laces of my left cleat. "Mmhm." She replied once more, also doing the same. "Well I mean, if you want, you could join the family and I for Christmas. So you don't have to spend it alone." I told her, looking over at her as I moved on to the next cleat. At the beginning of our friendship, maybe about three months in, I had asked her what her plans were for Thanksgiving. She told me that she didn't know, because she was on her own that year. I asked her what she had meant, and it turned out she had lost her siblings in a car accident. So the past year she had spent the holidays with just her parents, and I guess it hadn't gone that well. "Well, would you like me to go with you?" I offered, glancing over. She returned the gaze, eyes slightly widened at my suggestion. "Don't you want to spend it with your family?" She asked, and we finished tying our cleats. "I see them all the time. Something new will be nice." I replied with a smirk. We hugged, then went on for practice.

Coach Ellis called us over for a group, and we were discussing lineups. "I think we're gonna give Jade a break and let her continue with her role tonight and be a striker. It will be a 3 4 3 formation, Ashlyn will be the keeper. I want Becky and Krieger in the back with Julie as the center back. O'Hara will be on right field, Heath on left, with Lloyd and Brian in center field. Then we'll have Press left striker, Morgan right striker, and Jade middle." As she explained, I got that anticipation of adding another cap to my name, along with the starting role. We broke for warmups, and I jogged with Sylvia as we high fived each other.

Sylvia's POV
Later that day, we gathered on the bus on the way to the stadium to play. I was sitting in the middle behind Kelley, who was playing Uno with Christen and Meghan Kling. Morgan sat beside of me, Julie and Crystal behind us, Alex and Tobin beside us. I sat with back to the window. I had an earbud in, listening to Titanium by Sia. Morgan's head was leaning against my thigh, my legs curled up in my seat.

Once we got off the bus, we were walking through the stone walkway, pulling our luggage to the locker room. There were multiple fans behind roles, cheering and waving for us. "I LOVE YOU TOBIN!" A girl screamed, I just so happened to be walking to the right or Tobs, with Alex to her left. I chuckled, as she simply shook her head. "SHE LOVES YOU TOO." I yelled back, and then a group of girls squealed and we began to laugh. Tobin shoved me, a bit too hard, and I almost face planted, but was able to catch myself. More laughs erupted now from Carli and Ash, along with Julie and Alex. "Come in Tobes, SHOW YOUR LOVE." I yelled, which resulted in an amusing death stare from Heath. "Oh I'll show you love. COME HERE." With that, I took off sprinting down the hall, Tobin sprinting after me. I let out a screech, but also knew I was faster then her. I took a glance back, not noticing Alex racing after us. "I GOT YOU JADE." She laughed, grabbing the back of Tobin's track jacket. This resulted in Tobin shaking her jacket, Alex getting flipped over her, and me trying to catch the forward. She landed in my arms but I was back brought down, more laughs exploding.
We got back to the field after we changed, stood through the national anthems for both us and China, then broke up for some quick warmups. I ran over and began juggling a ball with Kelley. The song "Roar" by Katy Perry came on, personally I hated the song because of how much I listened to it as a younger girl. But the way Kelley was dancing made me enjoy it.
Soon, the game was starting up, and it was Carli wearing the arm band. The whistle blew, with China getting the call first. A midfielder passed it back towards their center back, I found a slot for a good tackle right off the bat and slid down, kicking the call towards Carli. The China defender tripped over me a bit, but I quickly got up and ran back into action. Carli ran in, a midfielder sprinting and practically knocking into her. Carli got the ball into the air, Alex there to try and head it down, but found herself also getting knocked into. She was also taken to the ground, the ball loose. I sprinted in and quickly sided the ball to Morgan since there was no whistle, but their center back slid in. Her cleats slammed into my own, the force knocking my legs from under me. I was air born for a moment before flipping on my back, a whistle blowing. Alex was still down too, as I was slow to get up. Morgan and Carli jogged over, giving me a hand up and a pat to my back as I let out a deep breath, shaking off the uncomfortable feeling in my ankles. Alex also got up, and I have her a hand up as we began to line up for Tobin to take the free kick. I hooked arms with Press, Chinese players pushing around is as they grabbed at my jersey to try and move me. Suddenly I took a harsh shove forward, almost bringing me down. I turned around and have the striker a cold glare and began to advance, but Christen stopped me. I let out a huff, giving Press a side glance as if to say "They're pushing it" then turned for the kick. It was a beautiful ball in to the right but curved just enough. Julie ran forward and headed it just enough to the bottom, an easy hat trick. My arms shot up as hers did too, along with Kelley and Horan. I ran at JJ and jumped on her back, wrapping my arms her as the rest of the team began to jump on us. We gave hugs around, then got back to work. I jogged side by side with Alex to my position. "You good?" I asked her, looking at her for a second. She nodded, then replied. "Yeah. I think they're being a bit aggressive." Making me smirk. "You think?" I call out, before jogging down field a bit. Becky was 1 v 1ing a striker, and the ball flew up. Kelley downed it and took it down field, letting me get a good run. Kelley passed it in for Morgan who was struck from behind as she was parrying the ball to Press. The hit was enough to send Morgan to the ground, she slid a bit. I threw my hands up, and thankfully the whistle blew. The opposing midfielder now received the yellow card, and Morgan stood to take the free kick. I stood in the middle, just beside the line of the box. I gave her a small hand signal as if to say go for it, then she kicked. I jumped up and did a slight turn to head it in, but found myself getting slammed into midair by the goalie. The ball zoomed straight past both of us, into the goal, but I hit the ground hard. Under the weight of the goalie. I grit my teeth, the force of the impact really knocking the breath out of me. It took a minute for the goalie to get up, a whistle blowing. I couldn't get up, I was struggling to breathe. A hand rested on my back, but I kept face down in the turf with my eyes closed. I gave a grunt as I pushed my hands under me in attempt to push myself up, but I didn't have the strength. I collapsed back down, this time letting out a pained yelp. "Hey guys give her some space." I heard Carli say, and the few hands on me let up except for one. "I'm alright." I let out, slowly shifting onto my side. My breathing was still shallow and rigid, but I felt okay. Just needed a second. "Are you sure? You can take a second." The voice of Morgan said, and as I opened my eyes, I was greeted with a concerned gaze. I gave a nod, then lay on my back for a moment as I rubbed my hands over my face. Morgan remained at my side as I took the chance to really calm down. Carli was standing not too far with Julie, Alex, and Tobin all looking at me. "That was a hard hit. Are you sure you don't want to take a second to recover?" Morgan said, resting her hand on my right arm. I nodded slowly, before sitting up. "Just knocked the air out of me." I said, before Carli walked over and helped me up. "I'm alright." I insisted, stretching slightly before walking back to my spot, Alex jogging to catch up with me. "Dude, that looked like it hurt." She told me, resting a hand on my shoulder. "It did." I replied simply, before I got ready for a next play. It still was hard for me to breath, but I'd be fine. I don't want to leave. I don't want to.