Kickstart My Heart

XII: Turning the Tables

"Marissa! Over here!"

I was sprinting, as hard and as fast as my legs would carry me. The sky was overcast but no rain had fallen yet thankfully, it was cold enough already without the freezing droplets plastering our skin. My sister glanced at me and kicked the ball in my direction, but there had been a flicker of hesitation. I had seen it clear as day and to my dismay a player from the other team got between me and the passed ball.

The East High girls drove the ball down the field and scored a goal in no time. Seconds after they did so, the half was over. Our girls huddled at the sideline next to our coach, all of us waiting for the onslaught of words.

"Well girls you must not want it bad enough," he said with a frown, his arms folded tightly.

I glanced over my shoulder at the scoreboard, the glowing red numbers bringing a stab of humiliation. 5-2. We had never been this far behind, not once the whole season. Matter of factly we had never trailed in a game all season either. Now glancing over at the bleachers I saw my dad, holding my baby sister on his shoulders and smiling in my direction. But I didn't see her... Lila was nowhere to be seen.

"Girls you need to be focused. I know this is a big rivalry game for us but you can do this I know you can!"

My attention returned to the coach and his attempt at a pep talk.

"Well if Logan hadn't let the ball get away there we wouldn't be losing as bad," Marissa grumbled, clearly thinking no one had heard her.

"Excuse me," I snapped, advancing towards her a little bit.

"Woah, easy there you two. No pointing fingers, keep your heads," the coach warned, taking his own step towards my sister and I.

"Look we need to go out there and give this everything we've got. We win as a team, we lose as a team! Let's go turn this thing around," I cried with fierce determination.

I still hadn't fully pushed aside my sister's accusatory comment but I was a team captain, I couldn't let any negativity bleed into the attitude of the team. All the girls raised their fists and gave confident cries of determination. Half time was up so we were back on the field and the temperature had considerably dropped. The lights above us had flickered on as the sky had darkened. As much as I really didn't want to, my sister needed to learn something.

To win we needed to play as a team, and her hogging the ball constantly was not helping us win this game. After really thinking it over for a few minutes I had figured it out - she had been greedy with passing the ball the whole first half. The only two goals we had were her's and they had been lucky shots. East High's team was targeting my sister after catching on - from that point on we would only pass to my sister if she was truly open. It was a harsh lesson but she was going to need to learn. A few quick passes later, we drove the ball to their goal and scored with ease - my sister hadn't touched the ball once.

Once we were about half way through the second half the score was all tied up: 6-6. It hadn't been easy, but we'd caught up. 2 of the last 4 goals we had scored were mine, while the other two each belonged to a different girl. Neither of which being Marissa. Coach called a timeout to let us catch our breath after the quick rally. As we got to the sideline I grabbed my water bottle and sprayed a stream of ice cold water in my face before gulping some down. I let my eyes wander to the bleachers again and my heart nearly leapt out of my chest. Lila Masters was standing next to the bleachers, her arms folded and a focused look on her beautiful face. As soon as her gaze met mine I smiled, earning a soft smirk in return. When I raised my arm to wave at her, I was suddenly shoved hard enough I nearly toppled over.