The Boy And The Ball

17. The End

Whilst Marrisa slumped home, she knew that there was absolutely nothing else to do. She felt worthless and without a purpose. This was her downfall, had finally given up.

Everything had been sucked into a massive black hole and she was not getting any of it back.

What she didn't understand was how someone could be so cruel as to ruin her future and budding career. It was despicable.

Marrisa couldn't bring herself to do anything but crash on the couch when she got home.
Her mum tried to tempt her with cookies but that didn't even make Marrisa feel better. Cookies always worked. It was time to get some reinforcements.

Tori was Marrisa's last hope, she always knew what to say in any situation.

Tori found Marrisa on the couch, gorging on some crisps and dip that her mum had brought out for her. The tv was on but Marrisa wasn't paying attention to the documentary that was playing on it. She was simply staring into space.

"Hey soldier, how you holding up?"

"Ok."

Marrisa's brown eyes were lifeless and cold. Tori could tell that Marrisa was going to be a hard egg to crack.

"What happened?"

"The coach dropped me from the team."

"That sucks I bet."

Marrisa eyes flamed and grew some warmth all of a sudden.

"No! It's shit, I literally have nothing to do or anyone to talk to apart from you and that's not enough. I've become too use to having more than one friend. What sucks the most is that I can't even play football properly anymore. It's all gone!"

The only thing tori did was stand there with her arms crossed. Marrisa waited for her reaction but Tori didn't say or do anything, until she finally had something to say:

"Do you know how stupid you sound? You are telling me all your shitty problems and you're not doing anything about it. That's what sucks."

Marrisa was shocked, nevertheless she could see some truth in Tori's harsh but wise words. She had been sitting on the couch doing nothing and letting life go by. She needed to see Seb.

***

Once again, Marrisa was knocking on his door, hoping he would answer. Zac (Seb's younger brother) opened the door.

"Can I come in?"
Marrisa hoped that Zac would be more welcoming than his eldest brother was the last time she turned up at Seb's house.

"Seb's not in."

"What?! Where is he?"

"He's playing a match."

Marrisa couldn't remember the coach ever mentioning a match before he dismissed her. Of course he hadn't told her, that would of been like rubbing the fact that she wasn't in the team anymore.

She left Zac clueless as she ran in the direction of the pitch. She needed to explain Seb that she still loved him and she didn't care whether she wasn't on the football team if he did too.

It pained her to observe Pinewood playing against her ex-team. She should of been up there. Her team was being thrashed by Pinewood without Marrisa. They were desperately losing and finding it hard to keep up with Seb zigzagging between them.

The coach spotted her and gulped, scared that she was going to throw up a fuss after he had heard about her previous history of 'violence'. He knew that it was his job to interfere before she did anything stupid. Like usual. However, before he could get anywhere near her, he was distracted by the game suddenly grinding to a halt. The source of the pause was Seb. He had exited the game and had gone over to talk with the coach.

What on earth did he think he was doing? Marrisa thought worryingly. This was obviously going to turn out wrong.
It was hard for Marrisa to tell what he was saying to the coach from where she stood. All she could see was the Coach's face drop with disappointment as he listened to whatever news Seb had just told him.
They exchanged a few words and then Seb left the pitch.

Marrisa struggled to choose whether to run after Seb but have the risk of being rejected or she finding out what had happened by asking the coach.

She wistfully sprinted to catch up with her lover.

"Seb!"

She shouted to him, hoping he would hear her or at least acknowledge her. He whipped around to face her and started to stride towards her.

"I told the coach that when you punched me, you were just defending yourself. He believed me and said you could have your place on the team back." He confessed.

Marrisa was speechless, devastated even. He had sacrificed his reputation in his football career for her and she had recently treated him like shit. What had she done to deserve a guy like him that she couldn't even hold onto long enough to appreciate?

"I- can't believe you did that for me. I thought you didn't care about me anymore."

"I do care and I still love you."

A tear slithered down Marrisa's cheek as she realized what an idiot she had been. She had made all this bullshit happen.

He stepped forward and cupped her damp cheeks in his hands and said:

"I will never stop loving you."

"But- ."

Marrisa was interrupted as he swept her off her feet and kissed her gently but firmly while he cradled her in his arms. No words could describe the happiness that burst and bubbled inside her.

He was her purpose.