Be with Me

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Maya's P.O.V

"Does everyone know which role they're playing?" Gabe asked.

He was also part of the football team, playing as the left tackle. His job was to protect the quarterback's blindside, which was Ethan, to prevent him from getting tackled. Being almost 6'5" tall, everyone referred to him as the mountain.

His hair was an unusual mix between a light brown and dirty blonde, slightly ruffled, but he didn't look like he cared. Gabe was reasonably quiet compared to the rest of the team, always did his own thing and minded his own business. He was one of the bearable ones.

"We can't win if our team is unsynchronized. Everyone needs to know precisely what they're doing." He repeats.

The team nods as he goes over the roles of each person again, probably for the fifth time now. Once he's done, he huddles us close together for a final pep talk before the real thing begins.

"The New England Patriots wouldn't have been able to win so many games if their team didn't know what they were doing. Everyone has a specific role that they need to perform. So do it."

I tried not to cringe at his failed attempt at a motivational speech. Out of all the pep talks I've come across, I must admit, this might be the worst one so far.

We all disperse into our assigned areas around the territory with two other boys and me staying at the back. Since every team needed someone to defend their flag while the faster people sprint towards the other team's territory, I automatically knew I belonged in the far back, guarding the flag, where all the action wasn't taking place.

Ethan, Gabe and one other guy were standing fairly to the front as they were the sprinters. Being the fastest members in our team, it would only make sense to use them wisely.

In my head, I was trying to formulate a plan of action on how to survive this game without getting knocked down or injured.

It was midafternoon, but the warm sun was still beating down above our heads and onto my exposed skin as I mentally cursed at myself for not putting on any sunscreen. Despite being a fan of sunny days, the lack of clouds was not helping.

As we lined up face to face on opposite sides to begin our battle to capture the flag, I took that as my cue to follow along.

There was white chalk line that was roughly drawn to separate both territories. Connor was standing in the middle of the field, explaining the instructions.

"To win the game, bring back the opponents flag to your territory."

The rules were pretty self-explanatory after Ethan explained them to me for the nth time.

I lifted my head to compensate for my lack of confidence as everyone else is bellowing out loud noises and slamming against their chest like animals.

Okay. I took a deep breath. I had to keep cool.

I glanced around, and in the distance, I could feel Leighton staring at me, hard. I kept my face angled down to avoid any possible eye contact. Whatever anxiousness, I thought I suppressed has now doubled as I closed my eyes and tried to think of peaceful thoughts.

Ethan noticed that I looked a bit dazed and thankfully came over to give me the much-needed reassurance while Connor continued to explain the rules out loud for everyone. He linked his fingers with mine and gave them a hard squeeze.

With just one simple action, the sinking dread that was forming in the pit of my stomach seems to completely disappear as I'm now trying to carefully control my blood pressure before it ends up sky-rocketing through the roof.