The Elf on the Soccer Team And the Girl Hidden in Shadow

Chapter 3- Elf can Play

Chaaya had never been to a sporting event before. She didn't dislike sports, she just never cared much for the highschool version. On TV, though, she'd watch baseball, soccer, football, hockey, and Olympics. One of the few things her family would get together for, like an unofficial family get together, was the Olympics. She'd always wanted to play, but that was one of the rare times when her ability to fade into the background worked against her. People would forget to pick her for a team, coaches would forget to put her on the roaster, and she'd inevitably lose heart before the season would ever start.

But some form of energy filled her as she filed into the stadium, family members of players surrounding her. She was surprised to see they charged admission for entrance to a highschool level sporting event, but she simply stepped through the gate, unnoticed as always. She headed straight towards the metal bleachers, climbing the metal stairs until she reached the very back, and from there found a nice, dark corner at the very back to sit in. Nobody had noticed her. She had an analogy for herself,

I'm like an actor up on a stage who plays a tree. I'm there, but I'm not a real character, and only my parents ever even glance at me. For everybody else, they'd be hard-pressed to even remember that there was a tree in the performance at all. 

And yet, there he was. Down upon the lined soccer field, Auris sat on the sideline closest to the bleachers, his full attention upon her. And he glowed with excitement.

"Chaaya! I wasn't sure you'd actually show!" He bounced on his feet, waving both hands as if she could possibly have a hard time picking him out. But she obliged, turning her head around as if unsure of the location of the voice, pausing and feigning a gasp as she locked eyes with him. She also realized in that moment that people were glancing back at her, shocked to find that Auris had actually been calling to a person. Perhaps they were surprised that she was back there, void of there notice until he'd called back to her, but she suspected that they were surprised somebody had shown up to watch him.

"Hey, it's supposed to get down to 40 degrees before the game's over! If you get cold, you can come get my keys. I have a letterman jacket in my car." He hollered up. Chaaya hated the cold, and regularly carried a small wardrobe in the trunk of her old beamer, but...

It would be nice to wear a guy's jacket. But she wouldn't let him in on this fact just yet. "Focus on your game, goofball." She taunted down at him, waving a hand to shoo him off. He complied, giving her one last dazzling smile before heading towards a goal where the rest of the team dribbled soccer balls around and took shots at the goal. 

She noticed that Auris didn't display his incredible skill anymore. He lifted and juggled the ball a few times, but never with the extent of skill he showed earlier. His shots were without question the most powerful on the team, hitting amazing top-corner shots from the penalty arc. The blazing 88 number on his jersey was accompanied by a C armband, an armband symbolizing his status as Captain, and he definitely performed as such. A referee blew a whistle, and Auris headed towards midfield. 

He stopped, chatting inaudibly with the ref, then the other team's captain, and then the two shoot hands. The ref tossed a coin, and the other team's captain clapped a show of victory, likely having won the call for opening possession of the ball. Chaaya realized she guessed wrong as Auris's teammates claimed the opening kickoff. Auris played center midfield, a position she recognized as the most versatile. Able to play up and take shots on goal, and play defense on the backend if needed, the center midfield position was the king of positions. They didn't get the recognition of the forwards he took regular shots on the goal, or recognizable as a monument of team stability as the goalie was, but they were the true heroes of a soccer team.