Testing My Feelings

Chapter 23

Class was finally over. It was time to head to the locker room to change for the soccer game. I made sure to be the first one to the locker room. When I got there, I unlocked my locker and shifted through the things in there. I pulled out the outfit I was to wear today.

"Belden FallsNumber thirteen," I read aloud to myself, as I stood there holding the light green, emerald colored, jersey in my hand.

I stripped off all of Andre's outfit that he kindly gave me to wear at school today and replaced it with my green uniform. I slid on my compression shorts followed by my shorts, socks, and jersey. I shoved my shin guards into my socks, fixing them in place and pulling my socks up over them. I slid my slides on and shoved my cleats and home uniform (just in case), into my Adidas sports bag.

I took the bright yellow armband out of my locker and held it my hand.

"This is it. Time to prove my worth," I said to myself, crushing the armband in my grip.

"Captain," I read off it.

"Well that's not exactly accurate," I said to myself.

I took a deep breath. I stretched the armband out and slid it over my left arm.

"Captain!" a voice called out.

I turned around and saw that it was Lukas Romero, one of the three freshman that made it on the JV team. He was young, being only fourteen years old, but Dylan was younger, as he was only thirteen. Lukas, however was only a substitute unlike Dylan. He didnt see nearly as much play time as some of the other players.

"Oh. Hi Lukas. You ready for today's game?" I asked the blue-eyed boy.

"Just call me Luke. And yes. I'm pumped!" I exclaimed.

"Good. Bring your 'A' game today!" I shouted excitedly at him.

"Obviously!"

"Captain Neely," someone else called to me as Luke went on to change for the game.

I turned and saw a light blonde haired boy smiling at me.

"Um. Jude, right?" I said to him, unsure of his name.

"Yes Captain. I am Jude Lopez. Age, fifteen. Sophomore. Jersey number nineteen. Substitute for midfield and striker. Sir," he barked at me like he was some sort of soldier.

"Jude, there's no need to be so formal," I chuckled at him.

"Oh. Of course Captain," he replied.

"I guess it's something we'll have to work on," I laughed.

Someone had called Jude over and distracted him.

"Well if it isn't the 'Acting-Captain,'" Aiden snarked from across the room.

"Save it for the field Valez," I ordered.

"Sure. Sure. It'll be interesting to see how this game goes, thats for sure," he sarcastically conceded as he walked away.

"Chop, chop, boys. Its a pretty decent drive to Central Valley. We dont want to be late because someone put their shirt on backwards," I announced as I grabbed my things and headed for the bus.

Outside, sat parked a big yellow school bus. Marked on the sides were the words 'Belden Falls Regional High School.'

I took another deep breath and boarded the bus. I decided to sit in a three-seater towards the middle of the school bus.

"Hi there Drew," Andre called to me as he climbed on board the bus.

"Let me guess, you're going to want to sit with me?" I sarcastically said to him.

"Yuppers," he confirmed.

He squished his way into the seat, sitting next to the window.

"So are you pumped for the game?!" he asked me, full of excitement.

"Yea. Of course I am!" I responded with even more energy than him.

"Though I do have my worries," I had confessed.

"Andrew!" Connor called out.

"Yes, you can sit with me," I said before he even had a chance to ask.

He came over and sat in the aisle seat of our three-seater. Connor then turned and looked at Alexzandre and acknowledge him saying, "Alex."

"Connor," Andre acknowledged.

Great. I was stuck right in the middle between two bitter teenage boys and one of them had a crush on me. This was going to be a great forty-five-minute bus ride.

We sat there, talking about the upcoming game and our expectations while we waited for the rest of the team to get on the bus. After about fifteen minutes everyone was on board and Coach Lillian did the final attendance call. Dale Swartz and Arron Jackson, both seniors, were the only two boys that didn't show up. After that, we were off. I sat there on the bus, contemplating many things. How was I going to tell Connor how I really felt? How was this game going to go? Do I deserve this armband? How is Connor going to react?

All I could do was focus on the here and now, the game against Central Valley Charter School.