Playing for Keeps

Black and Blue

The smell of fresh cut grass invaded my nostrils. There’s something about that earthy smell that’s always calming before a game. But nothing could relax me now. I was one ball of tight nerves that was so wound up that I at one wrong movement I could just fall apart. The fact that I couldn't fall apart made it worse.

We're playing Trenton today. The very definition of nervous was this moment. Trenton high school doesn't have nice turf field like the rest of the schools in our district. They had a muddy field that was full of holes and bumps. So their crappy field plus their dangerously amazing skills made them lethal. I needed to focus for my teams sake, but my mind was clouded offer the fight Bryce and I had. What was I hoping would come of my confession?

I sat on my teams bench and slipped off my sandals. Reaching for my cleats, i pulled them out of my bad and pulled them on my feet. I let out a sigh, looking at the sky which was beginning to darken. Another bad omen. Great.

I stretched out my muscles, trying hard to focus on the challenge faced before me. We, as a team, needed this win. I could see it on all of my teammate’s faces. Not one held a smile. Not one held a single glimmer of hope. In most situations we wouldn’t be in this sort of funk, but with the lack of ref interference on the field leads us to believe that Trenton won't hold back.

I glanced up to see how much time was still on the clock. Thirty seconds seemed to tick by slowly. The tension among the team is so thick I could cut it with a knife. I wish I could somehow cheer my team up. It’s never good to go into a game like this.

I glanced around the field to see that same tall and tan girl who has been to all of our games. Like all of the other games, she was talking to the refs. I was beginning to get suspicious of this girl. I had a feeling that she had something to do with the refs being shitty at call the teams out on their crap.

The refs whistle blew, indicating that we had to send up team captains to flip a coin. Clair and I walked up and faced the Trenton girls as the ref held out his hand in front of us with the quarter in the palm of his hand. “Call it.” He said gruffly.

“Heads.” One of the Trenton girls said.

“Heads it is.” They ref said.

“Of course it is.” I said under my breath.

Clair and I returned to our teams bench. If I was going to provide any words of encouragement, now would be the time.

“Guys, we can do this. We’ve beat Trenton before, they just put up more of a fight. Just think, if we beat these guys we’re one step closer to going to state.” I told them.

The girls looked at each other. They knew what I said was true, but that covered by the fact that they’re going to murder us on the field. I’m not going to lie, I was just as terrified as the rest of them.

They all tried to smile as we walked onto the field, immediately trying to put on a fierce ‘I’m not scared of you’ face. Never show your opponent that you’re afraid of them. If anything, try to psych them out. If they saw how terrified we really were, that would just give them an advantage over us.

The game started out kind of slow. After the whistle blew we were able to get the ball back almost immediately. Within the first 3 minutes we had scored a goal. Something was fishy about this. Trenton wasn’t putting up a fight, and that was most definitely NOT normal.

We scored about 6 more goals by the time halftime arrived. We were all happy about the goals we scored, but we were hesitant as to what Trenton’s intentions were. I glanced over at the other side of the field where the Trenton team was sitting. They were joking and laughing, which only made me more suspicious.

The refs blew the whistle again. We walked back onto the field, getting into our normal 2 4 4. I stood at midfield with Clair, waiting for Trenton to walk out. They talked with their coach for a few more seconds before I noticed that tall and tan girl talking with them. I saw them nod before they stepped out onto the field. The three girls they had playing forward had and evil grin on their face.

The game started and Clair ran to steal the ball from one of the Trenton girls, when one of them came out of nowhere and knocked her off her feet. She slammed into the ground with a hard thump. She had a pained look on her face as she rubbed the back of her head. The refs just stood there, doing nothing. I ran to Clair’s side, offering her a hand. She took it graciously, but stumbled a bit. “REF!? CALL IT!” I yelled.

The refs blew their whistle, as one walked over to me. “Yellow card on number 14!”

They gave me a yellow card?! For what!? I opened my mouth to yell at the ref when Clair slapped her hand over my mouth and dragged me over to midfield.

“That was fucking stupid!” I told her, once she removed her hand from my mouth.

“I know, but we can’t tell them that, or they’ll punish us.” Clair said.

I shook my head angrily. “How’s your head?”

“Uhh, it’s okay. It throbs a bit. But I can still play.”  She told me.

I glanced back at my team. They were just as pissed off as I was. And we could take our frustrations out on Trenton. If it’s a fight they want, it’s a fight they’ll get.


~*~*~


There was only five minutes left of the game. We were tied with Trenton with a score of 7 to 7. We haven’t been able to score once since the first half of the game. In addition to Clair’s injury, 4 others have been injured. All which were knocked off their feet when they had the ball.
I was beyond mad. I was fuming! I wasn’t going to let Trenton score another goal. There was time to score one more goal, and that’s what I was going to do.

When the whistle blew I immediately attacked the ball. I dribbled it between multiple players, watching for any of those who would try to come attack me. I was running faster than I ever had before.  Clair was keeping up with me, just in case I would have to pass it too her. I was about 5 yards from the goal when I saw them coming. I passed the ball to Clair just as it happened. One girl kicked and one ran into my side causing me to fly forward.

It all happened so fast, but seemed to last forever. I tried to cushion my fall with my hands which was a big mistake. A sickening crack came from my wrist as a landed. My head it the ground hard, sending little black dots to dance around my vision. As I rolled to a stop the pain started. But I wasn’t cautious long enough for it to really set in.

The last thing I remember is the blow of the whistle, and the sound of my name.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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