Mixtape For The End of the World

29. Pete wins a soccer game.

29. Pete wins a soccer game.

I showed up at the soccer field right on time, but somehow, all of my teammates had gotten there first. They all glared at me as I ran in with my bright yellow uniform on. "You're late, Pete," one of my teammates said.

"Give him a break, Craig," his friend said. "Pete was probably just late because he was trying to figure out whether his girl jeans still fit." The entire team burst into laughter, reminding me why I had decided not to play professionally. I didn't care what other people thought of me, but I didn't want to put up with this my whole life either.

Coach Lisa called us over, and she gave us a long speech about why we needed to win this game. "I need all of you to play your hardest today," she said. "We'll be conference champions if we win this game, and with so many of our best players going off to college after this season, we might not get a chance like this for another few years. I expect every single one of you to give it your all, and if you do that, then I know that we can win. Those people out in the stands will remember you for centuries. Go Shermer!"

"Go Shermer!" we all repeated. After hearing Coach Lisa's speech, I felt a pang of guilt. Throwing the game would betray Coach Lisa and my team, but it would let Gabe live. I had been playing soccer for almost my whole life, and this was the last chance that the other seniors and I would get to feel the glory of winning. However, it was more important that I stopped the world from ending. If my teammates knew about the visions, they would surely understand what I was about to do.

Coach Lisa then told us the starting lineup, and I was starting off as a midfielder. I ran to my position, along with everyone else who was in the starting lineup, and I looked toward the stands, searching for one person in particular. I grinned when I saw that he was there - Patrick was sitting in the front row of the stands, right next to Gabe. My parents were sitting a few rows above them, along with my younger siblings, who clearly did not want to be there. "Let's go, Pete!" Patrick shouted, and when I heard that, I felt like a champion. I could do anything.

"You know, if you and Pete don't work out, I'd be more than happy to take his place..." Gabe said, while Patrick just rolled his eyes.

"This conversation's been dead on arrival," Patrick said, and Gabe finally shut up.

The game began, and as soon as I saw the opposing team's captain pass the ball, I knew that they were awful at soccer. I could have easily taken the ball, but I held myself back. I had to make sure that Shermer lost, so I had to somehow play even worse than the other team, and at that moment, the worst thing that I could do was just stand there.

My teammates chased after the ball, taking it from the other team and kicking it toward the goal. "Pete's open!" one of them shouted, and he kicked it in my direction. I ran away from the ball, letting it roll out of bounds. "Pete, what is wrong with you?" my teammate asked. "You could have gotten that."

I shrugged, and the game went on. However, it seemed that no matter how badly I played, the other team somehow played worse. By the end of the first half, the score was 3-0. We were winning, and I knew that I had to change that. Desperate times called for desperate measures, and by the time halftime was over, I knew exactly what I had to do.

When the second half started, I immediately took the ball and kicked it toward our goal. "Pete, what are you doing?" one of my teammates shouted, but I didn't listen. I shot the ball right into our goal, and it was a perfect shot, too fast for the goalie to catch. The score was now 3-1.

My team hated me, but I didn't care. Gabe was going to live, and that was all that mattered. I could deal with my teammates later, as long as I knew that Gabe wouldn't die and the apocalypse wouldn't come. We started to play again, and I took the ball as soon as I could. "You'd better redeem yourself, Pete," one of my teammates told me as he passed me the ball, but I pulled the exact same trick that I had last time. I shot the ball into our goal, and I scored again, making the score 3-2.