The Girl in Cleats

⚽️Chapter 31⚽️

{Kiera POV}

"Dad, I'm scared. I don't know if I can do this." I say, looking at my cleats.

Today is the day of my first game with the boys. I don't know why I'm so nervous, I've played soccer with boys more than I have girls. Maybe I'm scared of the attention, maybe I'm scared of messing up in front of my team. 

"Look at me." My dad says in a soft but commanding tone, "You are ready. And between you and me, you're one of the best players on the team. Don't play for them, or for me. Play for yourself. Go out there and play your hardest, have as much fun as possible. Coach orders." He winks at me and pats me on the back. "You'll do great." 

"Thanks, Da- I mean Coach." I smile at him and find my place on the bench. The game starts in five minutes and the boys are out on the field, shooting goals. I watch Cameron, he lines the ball up and takes a step back. He puts his hands on his hips and looks from the goal to the ball a couple times. Finally, he charges at the ball, places his left foot next to it, and swings his foot back as far as it can go. There's a loud noise of cleat hitting soccer ball and the ball goes flying. For a moment it looks as if it won't go in, it's too high. But at the last moment, it drops dead and makes it. He turns around with an accomplished grin and we make eye contact for a brief moment before I look away. I can't have feelings for him. 

Sometimes I wish I wasn't so stubborn and arrogant. 

The ref blows the whistle and we all run to the field, standing in our assigned positions. I wanted to play forward but Coach wanted me to stay back as a defense for now. I'll get up to forward soon enough. 

The ball is given to the other team and the ref blows the whistle once again. Suddenly I turn into soccer mode, it doesn't matter that these are all boys. I'm stronger than some of them, and my team is here to back me up. I glance at my dad and he gives me a thumbs-up. He knows I'm gonna play to win. 

Cameron has the ball now, I don't know how he got it. I move up with my other defender, Morgan. He's a short, muscular kid that is really good at his position. He's a completely different person on the field and off the field. Off the field, he's the class clown, always making jokes. Most of them are pretty funny, but there's no time for joking around on the field unless it's practice. 

Cameron passes it to Justin, and his curls bounce as he runs. He fakes a tall guy out and shoots, but the goalie blocks it. Both  Cameron and Justin sprint back to try and gain the ball before the other team does. 

The goalie drop kicks it and it goes so high that I can't see it for a second because of the sun. It lands at the feet of my opponent, the other team's forward. He looks at me and smirks, as if this is too easy for him. This angers me. I run at him and take him by surprise, stealing the ball as I do so. His jaw drops- my favorite reaction. I'm met by two mid-fielders, both who are taller and stronger than me. This is a fight I cannot win, yet. I decide to pass the ball to Justin, who is mistakingly left wide open by the other team. He gives it a solid bicycle kick and the ball flies straight to the goalie. I'm disappointed because I'm certain the goalie will catch it. Everything is in slow motion as the ball sails through the air. Justin lands on his back and turns around to see if it's going in. Morgan is watching with his eyes fixed on the ball, not moving a muscle. Just as the goalie starts to jump to get it, he shies away. The ball flies in and is caught by the net. Then, chaos. Every one of my teammates, including me, run to embrace Justin. He's still staring at the goal in complete disbelief. Then he realizes that all his teammates are charging towards him and he braces himself for the impact. In mere seconds, there's a dog pile with Justin on the bottom. After a few minutes, we all get up and walk back to our positions.