Lacrosse My Heart, Hope To Die

it's really over | Nina

"I'm really not feeling practice today," I sighed to Josie, who was gearing up beside me, behind the bleachers.

"I'm not, either. I've been up all night, thinking about tomorrow's rivalry game against East Portland," Josie explained, pulling on her shinguards. The goalie was the toughest position on the field, no matter which way you swung it.

"I'm ready to take down some Emu ass!" I exclaimed, then laughed. Having a hurricane as a mascot might be lame, but an Emu was way worse.

"Of course you are, it's just because you love a good penalty. I like having you, Christy, and Sarai as down-low, it makes me more comfortable," Josie admitted.

"Thanks, Jos. You're an amazing goalie, but you don't need me to tell you," I said, and we ran out to the field with the rest of the team.

"What took you so long?" Hayden, a brunette attack player, sneered at me. I wasn't about to ask what stick was up her butt today.

"What does it matter? I was chatting."

"That's what I thought."

"Hey, shut up! Coach Schrute is out sick today, so I'm your head coach," Coach Anna, the JV Coach laughed, "So gear up, take four laps, and get in line drills," she said, despite the protests of my teammates.

-

After practice, I drove to Tom Morton's, my favorite Portland coffee shop, to meet George.

"Hey, babe!" he said, when I came in.

"You even manage to make post-practice look beautiful," he grinned. He noticed my slight shivering, so he wrapped his warm Patagonia around my shoulders, for warmth.

"The forecast said it was supposed to snow all night," I yawned, sitting in the booth next to George, and snuggling closer to him.

"I have a hunch that the game might get cancelled. I know it's the rivalry game and everyone's stoked, but you might just be forced to come over and spend the night with me," he laughed, wrapping his arm around me.

His muscles were defined, no doubt from playing on the varsity soccer and guy's lacrosse teams. George himself was quite a savior, because he'd been willing to wait for sex, he was a perfect gentleman, and he actually cared about me. Which equated to basically the opposite of the guys I'd dated before him, trying to fill the void that had been opened by Jess' disappearance, and the drifting apart we'd all gone through.

At the beginning of Junior year we'd shown a united front, and in turn, reclaimed our top spot on the social pyramid. We were popular during Freshman and Sophomore year, then came back twice as strong Junior year.

Soon, a rush of memory came back to me, flooding all of my senses at once.

"I hope you know that I never wanted this to happen. You should've never come here, especially now," Elaine had mumbled as we all entered her house for the very first time. Up until that point, which was midway through freshman year, all of our gatherings had been held at the rest of our houses.

She rushed through an introduction of her siblings to us, and then we'd gone upstairs to her and Eden's shared room. Thankfully, Eden had been downstairs, so we could shut the door and converse with ease.

"Wow, Elaine. Your house is really, um, rustic," I said, nicely.

"More like rusty," Josie laughed. Elaine turned around and began to adjust the pens on her desk, surely regretting inviting us over in the first place.

"Wait a second, where's Jess?" Lila asked, tapping her foot against the blue floor rug.

"Oh my god, did she run off again? Someone go look for her," Josie sighed, and I followed Elaine down the stairs.

"Hey Evan, have you seen-" Elaine began, but then, she caught a glimpse of Jess standing a little too close to Evan.

"Hey! I don't know if I told you, but I had Art 1 with Evan last semester," Jess said, standing next to Evan. Then, he swung his arm around her shoulders, playfully.

"Wow, yeah, I had no idea. Jess, are you ready to go upstairs?" Elaine asked, now becoming nervous at the fact that her brother and her best friend were a little too cozy for her liking.

And then, just as quickly as it began, the memory ended, my phone buzzing with a text.

"Ugh. Tomorrow's game was just cancelled, so it looks like I'm free in the afternoon," I told George.

"What about a date? Maybe a fancy restaurant. We can dress up, split a plate of caviar?" he suggested.

"Of course, you dork!" I teased.

After we'd finished our coffee, I offered to drive George the half-mile home, since he'd walked to Tom's.

"Thanks for the ride, babe. I'll see you tomorrow," George said, kissing me quickly on the lips before heading inside.

BRRRING, BRRRING

"Josie, what's up?" I asked, holding my phone to my ear.

"I need you to come over, right now. I just broke up with Max," she said, plainly. It didn't sound like she was too torn up about it, but then again, she barely ever showed any emotion.

"Omigod, of course, I'll be right there. Do you want me to call the girls for you?"

"No, I've got it, thanks."

On the way, I stopped at a gas station, grabbing a pint of strawberry ice cream; Josie's favorite.

"Hey, Neens. You're the first one here. No one else's home, so we can just sit down here and talk," Josie said, calmly. Her brown hair was laying down in waves, and she was wearing a tan sleep-romper we'd found on one of our last trips to Mercantile Portland.

Soon after I sat down on one of the plush white settees, Lila and Elaine came in, since Lila had most likely picked up Elaine. She was the only one out of us that didn't have a car.

"Here, I brought you this," I said, handing over the ice cream, "so tell us, what happened with Max?"

"He was being such an asshole. I asked him if he wanted any Ex, and he started freaking out, telling me how I was 'ruining my life.' So, that's over. Mom and dad will be upset, he was rich and handsome," Josie laughed bitterly, sitting down on the couch next to me, "it's not like I care, anyways. He was so pushy and never wanted to do anything fun."

"I think we should go clubbing this weekend, to get your mind off of it," Elaine suggested, hyper-focused on peeling off a piece of her blue nail polish.

"That's a good idea, but our overnight trip to Newport is over the weekend, and we'll be too busy, unless you want to sneak out and party there. Which might be a bit too risky, even for us," Lila explained.

"Well, what about tonight?"