More Than Friends?

Chapter 1

"And our final senior for the night is number 3, Tanner Barlow! Tanner has been captain for the past two years and has been on varsity for four. Tonight, she is being accompanied by her two parents, Dr. Rick Barlow and Mrs. Julie Barlow." The announcer says.

I glance the crowd for my parents but they are nowhere to be found. Times wasting so I decide to head to the center of the field without them. Suddenly I hear a commotion behind me. Before I can turn to see what's going on someone has linked their arm in mine and we are heading down the field.

"Umm...correction. It looks like Tanner is being accompanied by a friend." I glance up at the person next to me.

"What the hell are you doing?" I say between closed teeth as I smile for the crowd. Next to me is my best friend Mark, and he's about to get a lot of shit for this.

"I’m saving your ass so you don't look like a total loser." He says calmly, smiling and waving at the cheering crowd.

The girls soccer team at our school is a huge deal, like high school football in America. Practically the entire school comes to all of our games and we are damn good, heading to the championships good. Tonight's senior night and as expected the stands are packed.

"Congratulations to all our seniors. We thank you for the hard work you put in on the field every day. Good luck ladies. Let's get this game started!" The announcer says and the crowd cheers in response.

"We will talk about this later." I say sternly to Mark as I hand him the flowers my coach presented me and jog to my side line. Now is not the time to worry about him. I have a game to win.

An hour later, my sweaty, exhausted body tackled to the ground after I score. With one second left I shot the most beautiful shot off a cross pass and now we're going to the championship. This has by far been the most grueling game I have ever played. It doesn't take long for the stands to empty and my school mates to rush the field. This is huge! But I'm exhausted and can barely stand, some of the boys on the school ice hockey team lift me up in the air as the celebration continues.

"Tanner!" I look over and see my coach standing on the side line with a man in a suite.

"Chris! Let me down!" I say to my friend who has me on his shoulders.

"You okay?" He looks concerned when he sets me on the ground.

"Oh yeah. I'll be right back!" I say gesturing towards the sideline before jogging over to my coach.

"Tanner this is John Herdman. He's the c-"

"Coach for Canada's women’s national team. I know who he is." I say cutting off my coach. The two of them laugh.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Tanner. You played a great game."

"Oh thank you." I say and I can feel my cheeks flush.

"Honestly, you're extremely talented and from what your coach says, you work harder than anyone I've ever seen at your age. Listen, we have some spots opening up and we'd love to have you come play with us. Here's my card. I'll be in contact with you." I can feel my jaw hit the floor.

"Wow thank you so much! I look forward to hearing from you." I manage to choke out as I shake his hand.

"You have potential kid. Now go on and celebrate. You'll be back at the hard work tomorrow." He says as my coach leads him towards the parking lot.

I stand at the sideline staring at his card for a while. It's always been a dream of mine to play on the national team but I never thought it would actually happen.

"Who was that?" A familiar voice says behind me. I turn and see Mark smiling.

"I'm really not in the mood to talk to you right now." I say, my mood changing.

"What? Why? What did I do?" He questions, playing dumb.

"Are you serious!? Mark, you made a huge scene. It was kind of humiliating." I practically yell. Luckily everyone is too occupied taking pictures and cheering to even notice.

"I humiliated you?!? Tanner I saved your ass! It would have been worse if you walked by yourself. And where are your parents anyway, huh? Tonight was supposed to be your night and I don't see them anywhere!" Mark is mad. We don't usually fight, we bicker but that’s different. I'm not used to seeing this side of him.

"They're probably still at work. You know how busy they are." My dad is a doctor and my mom is a lawyer so they usually miss most of my events, but I get it. They just want what's best for me and to be able to provide for me.

"They probably forgot." He says coldly. This hurts and I'm about to walk away from him when Craig and his parents run up.

"Congrats kiddo!" Craig yells as he picks me up and spins me around. This makes me laugh and instantly puts a smile on my face.

"We are so proud of you!" Don says as he pulls me into a hug.

I've know the McMorriss for years. My parents and I moved into the house next to them when I was in fifth grade. I'm a couple years younger than Mark but we clicked instantly and became best friends, while Craig looked out for me, he made sure none of the older boys in our neighborhood picked on me. I practically spend every day at their house since my parents aren't home much. And Cindy and Don are basically my second parents.

"I'm sorry your parents couldn't make it. Something must have come up." Cindy says reassuringly. I glance at Mark and can see the annoyance on his face.

"No yeah it's fine, I'm glad you were all able to make it!" I cheer as I flash a big smile in Cindy's direction.

"Well do you want to come over and celebrate? I can make my baked macaroni." She says trying to read my face and see if I'm really okay.

"That sounds amazing! I'll probably be out of here in the next 30 minutes or so. Can I just meet you at the house?" I ask thinking that if I shower in the locker room I won't have to stop off at home.

"I think I'll stay and catch a ride with Tanner." Mark chimes in. Great.

"No. I need your help with something." Cindy says simply. It looks like Mark is about to protest but he glances at his dad and changes his mind.

"Yes ma'am."

"We'll see you soon!" Don says before they all give me quick hugs and head towards the parking lot.

A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed chapter 1! Comment and like to let me know, happy reading xx.