The Referee

Chapter 5

When I met you in the summer

To my heartbeat sound

We fell in lo-ove

As the leaves turned brown

I belted out the lyrics to Calvin Harris' "Summer" as I drove to the soccer field.

It was almost time for the game. I had shown up early and was walking onto the field. I felt good in my new referee uniform. It was a black Adidas uniform with white accents. It looked good on my petite frame. I was extremely happy about that since my last uniform was two sizes too big and the shorts were so poofy that it looked like had balloons stuffed in the back. (new uniform on the side. ref on the side is Ana Minic)

As I walked by the away teams bench (Kaleton Cougars) I heard wolf whistles and calls of "what's your number" and "she could give me a red card any day."

I rolled my eyes. Wait till they saw me ref.

As the teams warmed up the other two refs arrived. One was Joe Milford, (the middle ref) a respected ref in his late fifties. Everyone liked Joe, he made good calls and treated players, coaches, spectators and his assistant referees with respect. When he was younger he reffed in the World Cup. We knew each other well since he was good friends with my dad. He asked me to collect the team sheets while he checked the field for anything unsafe.

The other ref (assistant referee #2) was Mark Wheedleburg. No one liked him. He was one of those refs who called every little foul and every little technicality. They must've had a last minute cancellation, because usually people requested not to have him ref their games. He was that bad. Mark was also around 22 years old and tried hitting on anything in a skirt. Or female referees uniform. Today was no different.

"Hey cutie, how about I give you an assessment at my place after the game." He said while he unashamedly stated at my chest. I rolled my eyes and stalked away from him, resisting the urge to punch him in his disgusting face. I walked to the away teams bench and asked the coach in a confident voice for his team sheets. I was only confident when I was reffing. I had no problem talking to coaches and players. He looked at me with a surprised face.

"Are you sure you're at the right game sweetheart?" He said with a smirk.

I narrowed my eyes at him and replied in an obviously fake voice. "Yes sir, but I hope you'll go easy on me, I get scared when people yell at me." I smirked right back at him and turned on my heel after he gave me the team sheets. I was starting to get a little sick of the sexist coaches who didn't think I would be a good ref for the sole reason that I was young and a girl. As I approached the home team's bench I saw Jason staring at me. I had to admit he looked good in his red jersey.

"What?" I asked him. He smiled.

"Nothing" he laughed "it's just that your so different on the soccer field than you are at school."

I shrugged and went to ask the coach for the team sheet and a game ball.

A few moments later it was time for an equipment check. The players on the home team lined up in front of me, while the away team stood before Mark. Joe talked to the coaches reviewing the rules with them.

"Hey Nicole!"

Peter Mellendez, the goalie was first in line. A nice guy, he was friends with Jamie and my brother so i knew him pretty well.

"Cleats?" I asked him. He turned around and lifted his feet. After seeing they had no dangerous studs I checked he was wearing shin pads and no jewellery.

"Alright you're good." I smiled and started to check to move to the next player until he stopped me.

"These guys made a ref cry last week. Don't let them get to you." He warned me.