Starting Over

Chapter One ; Black Out

Here I am, in the middle of the soccer field, it was just me and the ball. This was it, it was the most important game in my soccer career and it was down to these last few seconds. I could no longer hear the crowd all the sounds around me were muted. It was like time had frozen around me. Taking in one last deep breath, I lined myself up and sent the ball flying towards the net.

"HE SHOOTS, AND HE SCORES. THE TITANS ARE YOUR 2016 STATE CHAMPIONS!"

The voice boomed over the loud speaker and the buzz from the crowd erupted around me. "We did it!" Trace yelled as he launched himself at me, his body colliding with mine. The rush of the win washed over me as we were greeted by our class mates who began taking the field in celebration. This was the best feeling I had ever experienced in my life at least in public. This was my senior year, I was team captain and we had taken the championship title in the last few seconds of the game. Life couldn't get any better than this, I thought to myself as my friends and classmates patted my back and tackled me with hugs. This caused for a celebration and we were going to do it right. I rushed off to the locker room with my team mates and we began to plan out the rest of our evening.

"I think we need to head down to Foster's Field and have a bonfire." Kade mentioned as I dried off from my shower. "What do you think, Cole? I mean you are the captain." He joked, nudging me with his elbow. Kade had been my best friend since grade school, we spent most of the time at each other's houses. Our parents just kind of accepted each of us into their family. "I think that would be great. Who is bringing the drinks?" I tugged my shirt on over my head, running my hands through my messy wet hair as I looked around the locker room at the other guys. "I'll get my brother to get it, he's in from school." Trace pipes up. We all take out our money and pass it down to him before he heads out of the locker room. Trace's brother just turned 21 and was always willing to hook us up when he was in town. I wouldn't be surprised if he came down and hung out for a bit, he might be older than us but he was still like one of the gang.

I took a seat on the bench and pulled my phone out, scrolling through the large amount of new texts from our friends and classmates. A lot of them were from random girls sending compliments on my looks and soccer skills usually followed by a ton of obnoxious emojis. Shaking my head, I slipped my phone into the pocket of my hoodie and rested my head against the lockers. The cool metal felt refreshing again my warm skin. I ignored all the sounds around me, letting my body relax for a few minutes, I could still feel the adrenalin rushing through my veins. That feeling was indescribable to me, the intense rush made my head spin.

"Dude you alright?" Kade asked, flopping onto the bench beside me. I nodded slowly, leaving my eyes shut and my head against the lockers. "Yeah, just enjoying the rush is all. You ready to head out?" I asked, peeking out of one eye at him. A huge grin spread across his face as he jumped up off the bench. "Fuck yeah dude, I am meeting Emily at the field. Tonight, is going to be the night." He laughed as he grabbed my hand and yanked me towards the door.

We decided we would grab a bunch of pizza, knowing we probably needed something in our stomachs before we devoured the amount of alcohol we had planned. We picked up ten pizzas' before heading down to Foster's where we met up with the rest of our team who had begun stacking wood for the bon fire. It wasn't long before cars began pulling in left and right, filling the field with people. Word must have spread fast because by the time we had started the fire there were over a hundred-people roaming the field; several already intoxicated. When Trace and his brother arrived with our bottles I grabbed mine and climbed onto the hood of my car and began downing my bottle of tequila.

It didn't take long before Evaline showed up beside me, clinging to me like a fly on shit. "What do you want Ev?" I mumbled as I took another swig of tequila. Evaline didn't have the best reputation, in fact she had already gone through half of the soccer team this year. She batted her eyelashes, as she leaned in closer. "I just wanted to congratulate you on such a good game. You were amazing out there." The thick smell of vodka overtook me as she got closer to my face. "Uh..thanks?" I turned away from her, resting my arms on my knees. "Come on, Cole. Why don't we go for a walk, I promise to make it worth your while?" Her words made my stomach turn, I know I didn't have the best reputation either but I wasn't about to lower my standards for a little action. "Nah, I'm good." Before she could react to my answer I slid down off my car and headed across the field. I needed to get away from her as soon as possible.

I set out to look for Katie, she was one of the more well-known girls in our senior class. She was absolutely stunning, which is good because she lacked in almost every other department. The only reason she was even passing any of her classes was because she talked poor girls into doing her work for a chance at her lunch table. That was okay with me, I wasn't looking for girlfriend material just someone to have some fun with. She had been texting me most of the night, so I had a feeling my chances were pretty good.

// 2:00 AM //

"Collllle! We are out of drinks, we are heading out want to come with us?" Trace yelled from the passenger side of his brother's car. I hadn't found Katie and had spent the last few hours finishing off my tequila and hanging out with random people from our school. "Ye-aa...why the hell not?" I shouted as I clumsily climbed into the back seat, laying myself out across the cool leather seats. They had the windows down, sending waves of cool air through the car and loud music blocking out any other sound. My level of intoxication along with the music and cold air sent me into almost a dream like state. The ride seemed like it was taking forever but it was probably because I was too wasted to understand the concept of time right now.

As I steadied my arms on the back seat to sit up, I was blinded by headlights and then a loud crunch filled the cabin of the vehicle. When I came to my vision was blurry and all I could see were flashing red and blue lights. There were people everywhere, I could hear voices all around me, but I couldn't understand what they were saying. All I could hear was the loud thumping of my pulse in my ears. What was happening? I tried to get up and a wave of nausea hit me like a brick wall and a man pushed me back to the ground. Panic began to bubble deep in my stomach as reality began to break through, we had been in an accident. I tried to move again and the pain ripped through my body; I could hear a loud groan escape my mouth and then everything went black.