Finding Your Person

Chapter 4

The music was blasting, and everyone was getting ready. I got to my locker that was right next to Gabby's and Scotty's. It was nice being on varsity since my freshman year. We always were able to get the bigger lockers. Compared to the lockers everyone else had, our lockers were twice the size. I opened my locker and started undressing. Unlike most days before a game where everyone was talking about their days or other nonsense going on in their lives, it seemed like everyone was really focused.
I began putting on our white uniform; we always wore white when we played at home. Our red uniforms had been for away games. I loved our uniforms this year. Our coach was always amazing about getting us new uniforms every two years. Of course we always did a lot of fundraising, but no one really cared because we always got the best of the best when it came to our equipment and uniforms. Our coach also made sure we had nice sweatsuits to warm up in. This year our uniforms matched the women's U.S. soccer team. Both the shorts and jersey were white with a black stripe going down each of my sides. The jersey had short sleeves, and at the very end was solid black that faded up into the white jersey with little black speckles. The same was done at the bottom of my shorts. On the front of the jersey it had the school logo at the top right and in the middle of the jersey was my number in red. On the back my number had been bigger in red as well. Unlike club soccer, where I was number two, for high school soccer, I was number 8. My freshman year, a junior had the number 2, which I had always loved because that was my dad's number, so I decided to go with number 8, which was my mom's favorite number.
Once I was dressed with my jersey and shorts, I made my way over to the benches where we would wait for our coach. I sat right in front of Scotty, and Gabby was right next to me to my right. I began putting on my shin guards and socks. Most of the girls were talking among themselves, and Gabby leaned over, hitting me with her shoulder.  I looked up and smiled at her. She leaned her head forward, as if to say look. I looked up and Scotty was laying across the bench. We both just laughed.
After I finished putting on my shin guards, I began putting on my socks. They were white and had the same black stripe that went down the outside of my leg, just like my jersey and shorts. Putting on socks had always been a struggle because of my shin guards.
"Hey, is everyone almost ready?" Scotty said sitting up.
Alexa who was half dressed peeked her head out from behind the lockers yelling, "No!"
"Okay, well hurry up!" Scotty replied, loudly laughing.
I heard others around me making small talk about the game, but I couldn't find myself wanting to jump in. It all felt so unreal, I couldn't believe that if we lost today that would be it. 
I began to put my cleats on. They were white with red bottoms and across the side had my last name embroidered on them. They had black laces. I loved the fact that they matched my uniforms. I used to get bright blue or neon shoes, but I really loved these. My dad had them specially made for me my freshman year when I had made varsity. Even though they were a few years old, I tried to clean them after every game. It didn't help they were white, though, but again, I didn't mind because I loved them.
I took my time lacing up my shoes and making sure the shoelaces were as tight as possible before I began to tie them. I always hated having to untie them after every game because I would double knot them, and since the laces usually were covered in dirt, they would get all stiff. This made it seem pretty impossible to untie.
Just as I had finally finished getting ready, our team song came on. It was funny it hadn't been a crazy rap song or upbeat song. It was Miley Cyrus' 'The Climb' that made us all stand up holding on to each other, singing at the top of our lungs. It was moments like this I knew no matter what happened in life, I would always cherish this time with the girls that had become my family and my sisters. Everything about this song really spoke to me.
As I screamed, holding hands with Scotty and one arm around Gabby who was holding on to me, I had to wonder if anyone here could really sing or if they were all just as tone deaf as me.
The song made its way to the end. As we all held out the last note, our assistant coach walked in and said that our head coach was ready for us in the health classroom. We all grabbed our bags and headed out the locker room doors, of course taking the speakers with us. We walked down the hallway screaming a Jay Z song that was playing. Once we entered the classroom, however, we turned the music off and all sat down ready for our coach's speech.
Coach Meyers was one of the best coaches I had ever known, next to my dad of course. She was only six years older than me. She was able to get this job right after graduating college. She had also been one of the school's all star players some time ago, alongside her, assistant coach Hayes. Hayes held the record for most goals ever scored, and Meyers had the record for most assists. They were quite a duo, and after graduating high school, they went on to play college together. They were actually best friends since they were five years old, and I had never seen a relationship between two girls as close as theirs. I guess I could compare it to Brady and Liam.
As we all got comfortable, Meyer's stood up and began.
"There are no words to express how proud I am of you girls. You are my first team, and this is the first time this school has been to the semi-finals in fifteen years. And that's truly something to be proud of. I've been telling you girls that 'hard work beats talent when talent isn't working hard enough.' Well the truth is, heart outweighs all of it, because the heart is the thing that makes you keep working, keep pushing and keep digging when you think you have nothing left to give. When every rational thought in your brain is telling you to give up or to quit, your heart won't let you. To all the people out there and even to your own thoughts in your brain saying 'you can't' or 'it's impossible,' don't listen. The only thing I want you to focus on is the love you have for the game, and the love you have for each other. Just play with your heart. This team has more heart than any other team I've ever played for or have witnessed. And I've never seen a bond like this before. You girls are the epitome of a true family. When you guys go out there today, I want you to put all the bullshit of relationships, school, and and whatever other crappy things are happening in life, aside and focus on the love you have for this game and the love you have for each other. I want you to give every bit and ounce of energy you have and leave it all out there on the field, because when they blow that final whistle, I want you to know that you did everything you could for yourself and for your team. I don't want you to walk away with any regrets." She paused for a brief moment. We all sat in silence. I felt a tear roll down my face. My eyes were glued to her. As she continued, her voice began to crack, "I love you girls, and no matter what, I am so beyond proud of you. Not just for being amazing athletes, I'm proud of you for being kind, genuine people. And as time goes by, this season and, more importantly, this team will always stick out to me whether or not we win or lose. We are a team and a family. Now... who's ready?"
We all cheered and hollered. Quickly we all stood up in a huge huddle, putting our hands in the circle.
I began the chant, screaming, "Team on Three! One, Two, Three!"
Everyone joined in, "TEAM!"
We lined up at the door in two lines, all of us pairing off.  Scotty and I were the front of the two lines since we were the captains. As we began to exit the door leading to the two doors that led us outside, my nerves began to kick in.
I couldn't believe this could really be it, right here. Just like that, we could be going to the finals or our season could reach its final game and be completely done. I took a big breath in and exhaled, as I pushed open the doors to head outside.