Are you mine?

Chapter 40

Ten minutes into the third quarter, the Northside Vipers have possession of the ball, and at this point I'm praying to every superior being I can think of that they'll fumble. Thankfully, they haven't managed to score any more points during this quarter, but the clock is ticking and we're still down by 13 points.

One minute is left and I'm concentrating more on the scoreboard and the clock than on the actual game, my index and middle fingers turning purple from crossing them with all the strength that I have.

The players line up in their designated position and the Viper's QB shouts something inaudible before receiving the ball from one of his teammates, taking two steps back to launch a forward pass to his wide receiver. The ball flies through the air and is intercepted by Jackson before it can reach its intended receiver. I stand up abruptly as our team regains possession of the ball and I shout "RUN!" at the top of my lungs, same as most of the people watching from the stands with me.

With mere seconds left on the clock, my heart is racing as Jackson runs at full speed down the field, snaking through and dodging as his teammates manage to get the Vipers out of his way. He crosses the line to the endzone successfully, right as the clock runs out and I jump from joy, hugging the person next to me and immediately letting them go as I realise he's a fifty-something-year-old man that I've never seen before in my life. I mumble a quick sorry before going back to cheering and clapping for our team. 6 points are added to the Jaguars on the scoreboard and we're back on track, needing only 7 more to tie with the Vipers.

After a short break, which the teams use to regroup and discuss their strategy, the Jaguars and the Vipers take back to the football field, our offense ready and determined to bring this win home.

The play starts with the center hiking the ball to Noah. He decides to pass it to a runningback, who makes it five yards down the field before getting tackled to the ground by the opponent.

The Jaguars struggle to push past the Viper's defence, which puts up a hell of a fight during the next few plays, but thankfully make it to the 10 yard line by their third down and are awarded four more. Time is running out and the chances to turn the game around become slimmer by the second, making my palms sweat nervously and my heart beat hard in my chest.

The ball is in the Viper's 20 yard line at the beginning of the next play, which means we're only 20 yards away from the endzone. Noah receives the ball from the center and throws a forward pass with full force, which flies down the field before being caught successfully by Tyler who runs it into the endzone avoiding the Viper's defense and scoring our team another touchdown.

I cheer for the collective effort of two of the most important people in the world to me, as our team almost catches up, giving me hope that with the little time we have left on the clock, we'll take the lead. The Jaguars are offered the chance of extra points, giving them the opportunity to choose between kicking the ball through the upright posts for one more point, or running an offensive play for an extra two points.

Strategically, the first option makes more sense, since the second one has a lower success rate, but in this case it's our last chance to win the game. Noah is the one who has to make the call, and I can practically see him weighing out his options in his head from where I'm standing. He stands still for a moment, before turning to the coach on the sidelines who just gives him a silent nod, right before Noah decides to go for another play.

The players line up in their positions, hopefully for the last time tonight, and both on the field and in the crowd emotions are running high. The tension is palpable in the air and we all seem to be holding our breath as the ball is hiked back to Noah, who looks around for someone to pass it to but finds all his teammates being blocked by the Viper's defense, so he decides to make a run for it himself.

Holding on to the ball for dear life, Noah charges forward at full speed, but his movements seem to be playing in slow motion in my head as I bite down on the knuckle of my index finger, hoping he can pull this off. I see one of the Vipers right on Noah's heels and he launches forward a moment too late, managing to tackle Noah just a mere second after the nose of the ball crosses the endzone, scoring the 2 points we needed and making the Jaguars the winners of the game.

The clock runs out and the crowd erupts into a deafening roar as the winning team lifts their quarterback up on their shoulders. The people in the stands, including me, run down into the field, and I get lost in the mass of bodies crashing against each other as I try to find Noah. I stand on my tiptoes and see that he's being lowered back down a few feet away from me, and I make my way to him as quickly as I can.

As he comes into my line of vision, I see him take off his helmet and shake his head as he does so, his hair drenched in sweat, a huge smile on his face. He looks up just in time to see me charging towards him, his smile growing even wider and his arms opening to catch me as I jump into them. I wrap my legs around his waist as he embraces me tightly, spinning us around in celebration.

"You did it, you did it, you did it!" I say as I shower his face with kisses, "Oh my god that was amazing, I'm so proud of you!" I wrap my arms around his neck and he tilts his head up to connect his lips to mine as he puts me down.

"You look worried, what's wrong?" I ask.

"I mean, yeah I'm super happy that we won the game, but what if it wasn't enough for the scout?"

"Are you kidding? That was super impressive. That guy would be lucky to have you on his team and if he doesn't realise that, it's his loss."

"Actually, it's my loss, because I won't be getting into college if that happens."

"You can't think about that right now. The game is over and you did everything you could."

"I just hope that was enough."

"For now, and until you get that acceptance letter, we're going to have to assume it was. Can you do that?" I ask, "For me?" I bat my lashes and he laughs, nodding. "Good," I peck him on the lips, "Now go take a shower, 'cause I'm taking you out for a celebratory dinner, my treat. And also because you kind of stink a bit."

He grabs me, holding me tightly to his chest and I struggle to free myself, laughing as he shakes his hair, making his sweat rain down on me. "STOP!" I yell between giggles and he lets me go, staring at me with a beautiful smile on his face. "Meet me in my car in ten?" I ask, holding his hands.

"Make that fifteen," he says, pulling me in for a quick kiss before jogging back to the showers.

I stand in the field as it empties out, looking around for Syd to congratulate her on her performance at the halftime show, and I find her by the water coolers, hugging Tyler tightly. I smile, wishing I could join in, and without even noticing I take a step towards them, but right as I do so, they let go of each other and Tyler starts towards the parking lot.

I see Syd walking towards me in my peripheral, but my eyes are fixed on Tyler as he turns, giving me a clear look of the right side of his face, where he has a swollen gash on his cheekbone and noticeable bruising around his eyes. I cover my mouth with my hand at the sight and I feel all my blood travelling down from my head to my toes.

"We won!" Syd says excitedly as she hugs me from the side. I stay stiff as a board and she pulls away, "Maddie, are you okay? What's wrong?" she asks, but my eyes stay fixated on Tyler as his shape becomes blurry in the distance.

"What happened to Ty?" I ask.

"Oh, he told me he got hurt during the game." She says, absentmindedly chewing a piece of gum as she scrolls through her phone. But how is that even possible if he had his helmet on this entire time? I didn't even see him go down once. Noah was tackled several times and he's completely fine.

A knot starts tightening in my throat as I get the feeling that there's more to that fight than I've been told.

***

Hi! Author here. Just wanted to say that I did a lot of research for this chapter, but I'm not american and it was really hard for me to understand football. So if you think this doesn't make sense, or there's something wrong please kindly let me know so I can fix it. Thank you!