Goals

"There's always next year."

Two months later.

Kelly pulls her dad's red sedan into the driveway and sticks her head out the window. She's wearing Ray-Bans, and her new nose piercing glints in the sunlight.

"Get in, loser, we're going to be late."

I hop in the backseat, carefully preventing my slung arm from hitting anything. Tobin grins when she sees me and leans over to kiss my cheek.

I point at her brace. "You look pretty hot in that."

She smirks and motions towards my useless arm. "Hottest couple at Diamond Bar High, remember?"

Kelly glances at us in the rearview mirror. "Keep the flirting PG. I don't want my innocence corrupted."

I scoff and hit her shoulder. "What innocence? You called me last night to tell me that you finally hooked up with-"

She cuts me off with an alarmed shhh. "That's confidential information, Morgan."

I roll my eyes. "It's not a secret that you two are into each other."

Kelly doesn't say anything, and I know her silence can be attributed to her reluctance to admit that she actually has feelings for another human being. She's always been scared of giving someone that kind of power, though I highly doubt the person she's currently interested in would ever take advantage of her devotion and endearment.

Kelly pulls into the student parking lot and parks right next to Ali's hatchback. We hop out of the vehicle and head into the quad, where we find the rest of the team hanging out by the library.

Pinoe is the first to notice us. "Hey, our favorite cripples."

Ali thumps her in the back of the head, causing her to wince and rethink her choice of words.

"I mean, our favorite couple. When are you guys going to be back on the feild?"

Tobin shakes her head. "I'll be stuck in this brace for another month."

"And I probably won't be able to play for the rest of the season either." I smile apologetically. "The doctor said my shoulder won't be completely healed until summer."

I may have managed to clear Tobin's name by proving that her attack on Servando was justified, but the football player still found a way to ruin our season. The firemen that arrived at the school's parking lot on that rainy night two months ago immediately recognized that there was no fire to extinguish. Upon seeing Tobin and I hobbling out of the E wing, they concluded that something very disturbing had taken place and called an ambulance immediately.

The EMTs immobilized our wounded appendages and shipped us to the emergency room. I was reluctant to let go of Tobin's hand when some nurses directed us down different halls, but my favorite midfielder assured me that she would come find me as soon as possible, and I understood that she would be safe, that I didn't have to protect her anymore.

My mom showed up after they finished X-raying my shoulder. She was still in her scrubs; she would later tell me that she was helping with a surgery when her boss informed her that I had been brought in. Leaving in the middle of an operation is unwarrentable, so she had to wait until the patient was stitched up before checking on me. The image of my shattered bone hung on the wall like a mosaic, and my mom took a moment to study it when she entered the room.

"You know, the last time you were in the hospital, the doctor's were worried that you would slip into a coma. Which makes a broken shoulder seem not so bad."

I had laughed at the time. "Way to look at the bright side, Mom."

Mrs. Heath showed up shortly after my own mother. Legally, she was still Tobin's gaurdian, and it was standard protocol for the hospital's staff to call her and inform her of what had happened to her daughter. I only knew of her presence because the door to my room was slightly ajar, and I saw her walk by in what I assume were her pajamas. My stomach dropped at the sight of her, but I remained glued to the hospital bed. She didn't look angry; she looked genuinely concerned. Her eyes were red and puffy, as though she had been crying, and her steps were concise and purposeful. For a breif moment, I see her as not as a monster, but as a mother.