Falling With Style {Chris Evans}

seven

The banquet was less than fabulous. Mila wasn't really into the fancy attire and over the top etiquette. Did she really need to pass the salt counter-clockwise to meet the standards of banquet etiquette if the person was just to the left of her? It was all a little too much for the girl who was used to seafood boils with gloves and bibs.

Nonetheless, she wore a simple dress. It was her favorite color, a royal blue made of satin material. It had sleeves that came to her elbow and it was paired with an equally bright red bow above her hips, nearly the size of her waist with how fluffy it was. It emphasized an hour-glass shape for whoever wore the dress no matter the body type they had. The dress ended above her knees which was modest compared to the length of some of the dresses worn at the banquet.

If she knew there wouldn't be pictures involved, she would've worn something much more casual without further question, but every team took pictures with their coaches and every time someone won an award, their picture would be taken again.

The clinking and clattering of silverware against the plates were challenged by soft inside voices of all the teams and state sponsors that conversed amongst themselves. Mila was friendly with the entire team and very familiar with each and every one of them, but she just didn't talk much at events like these. She was sat between Shelby and a woman named Felicity who was one of the few people on the team that was her age. She was also the modest team captain who was firm on the field and easygoing off the field. Felicity didn't talk much in general, but Shelby did the most talking at the table.

By the end of the night, she had won three medals and two trophies. Her medals included a silver as a defensive middie, a silver in trick shots, and a gold in last-second scoring. One trophy was given as a most valuable teammate, which one other person on her team received as well, and another for most valuable midfielder. The medals had lacrosse goggles and sticks with balls on them whereas the trophies had a woman lacrosse player on top that was in the process of running with the ball.

She couldn't wipe the smile from her face even after the pictures were taken. Mila felt so flattered to be recognized in something she only played for fun and because she was decent at it.

The announcer asked for a drumroll as the two teams would momentarily be declared as who would get to go to nationals. The banquet hall filled with roars from people hitting the table or stomping their feet.

"Congratulations to the dukes of Middle Georgia State University and the blazes of the Valdosta State University! You're going to nationals!"

Everyone at Mila's table, including her, leapt up from their seats and cheered before hugging whoever was closest to them. Felicity and Shelby pulled Mila into a group hug before they ran up to the stage along with MGSU to claim the trophy that would be displayed in the sports atrium of their school. They took pictures with the MGSU team and socialized for the next hour, buzzing with excitement.

It seemed to roll by too quickly because before long, they were back in their rooms packing up for the three hour trip home. The bus would leave at midnight and since Mila was already packed thanks to a checklist of every single thing she packed, she took the time to rest in the fluffy duvet.

That rest didn't last long, for she had been removed from her daydreams thanks to a phone call.

"Hi Chris," she tried not to sound grumpy. Her sleep schedule was slowly but surely returning to normal, but this late night roadtrip back to the dorm would further hinder it.

"I hear congratulations are in order," he hinted. How on Earth could he have known that her team was going to nationals? She reminded herself that it was a quick Google search away and was also being broadcasted live when the games took place, but she never would have expected him to gone out of his way to find out the standings. Confirming her suspicions, he added, "I looked up who won Georgia's women's college lacrosse tournament, so what?"