Marked

Chapter One// Ball and Game

CHAPTER ONE// Ball and Game

Haven Falls, Maine.

December 1, 2014.

 

“Come on, Mckenzie, speed it up!”

Bex opened her eyes and glanced over to see Coach Reemer shouting at her from the side lines, his game clipboard resting on top of his large pot belly. He motioned wildly with one hand for her to run farther down the lacrosse field, the other hand tightening his thick winter coat around his round body until it appeared that the buttons might just pop off. Small white snowflakes fell and rested on top of his nose, which was consistently an angry red, even without the biting cold. “Its the last game of the season, so show me what you’ve got!” he yelled.

Bex’s teeth clenched tightly into her mouth guard. Coach had interrupted her train of thought, yet again. Nudging her braid over her shoulder and out of the way, she nodded at the coach to show that she heard him. Following his orders, she begrudgingly raced down the field where the other team’s offense was narrowing in on their goalie, feeling as if she wasn’t as prepared as she wanted to be.

Before getting into the game, Bex always liked to stand back and make a plan of action. All she had to do was close her eyes and picture herself doing what was needed—scoring the goal in the right corner where the goalie’s reflexes were weakest; switching stick hand exactly five feet before the defender to throw her off; performing the perfect check and catching the falling ball before it even touched the ground. Carrying everything out afterwards was the easy part after she had already performed it in her mind. It was what made her the best female player in the state. She liked to think of it like a movie; first you write the script, but then you get to act it out.

And, boy, this plan was Oscar worthy.

That is, if it worked.

The ball was currently in the stick of a small, thin blonde from the other school; her eyes were wide behind her protection mask as two defensive players—Bex recognized the girls as Lucy and Savannah by their ponytails—began to double-team her expertly. It was all the poor girl could do to keep the ball within her stick as they pressured her farther and farther away from the goal.

“I’m open! I’m open!”

The blonde’s eyes flicked to the fiery red head to her left. The larger girl waved her stick while shouting that she was free for a pass. Her face was scrunched up, reminding Bex of an angry bulldog. Every time she spoke, her voice was muffled by her neon pink mouth guard, a little bit of spit flying out and onto the field.

Classy, Bex thought.

But the red head wasn’t truly as open as she thought she was. What the girl didn’t take into consideration was Bex waiting patiently three feet behind her, anticipating an interception.

It only took eleven seconds.

The instant the blonde set the ball in motion towards the red head, Bex was on the move. Cold sweat dripped down her spine and the freezing air caused her eyelashes to freeze, but she hardly noticed as she maneuvered around the larger girl to get in position to catch. She was two steps, one step away...Swish! The ball landed smoothly in her stick’s pocket.

The other team let out a cry of alarm, but it was lost in the falling snow as Bex was already running thirty meters down the field.

When she had first joined the sport as a Freshman, her coach had his doubts—she’d tried out on the whim of a friend without an idea as to what a lacrosse stick was, much less how to play the game. Heck, she didn’t even look like a player with her petite frame and thin arms and legs. Standing a head shorter than the other girls, she didn’t seem to have a chance.