He Calls Me Lu

Chapter Thirty-Seven

“Good luck, baby,” I said, standing on my tiptoes to kiss Brenden. “Stay focused on the game, you got this.” He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close, resting his chin on my shoulder.

“You too, Lu.” He pulled back and kissed me on the forehead. “Be safe. It kills me that I can’t be there.”

“No.” I grabbed both of Brenden’s hands in mine. “Stop worrying. We have important games to play and we can’t be focused on him or any of that garbage.”

“Okay, fine. I’ll do the best I can. Call me immediately after your game, okay? I want to hear how it goes.”

“I love you,” I said, leaning up to kiss him again. He kissed me back and wrapped his arms tightly around my waist.

“I love you, too. I’ll see you tonight.”

_____

I scanned the crowd once again before turning back to my team. Trevor was seated at the top of the stands with a full view of everything and I couldn’t see any sign of Jackson.

“Alright, girls. We have an entire half left of this game and we’re only up by one. Anything can happen.” We were playing well, but the other team wasn’t bad either. “We need to win this game. Let’s give it all we’ve got.”

The game picked up quickly, and we had the advantage over our opponents. Ashtyn and our other strikers kept the ball down by the other net continually. With ten minutes left in the half, there was a slip somewhere in our midfield. Their strikers got the ball to our defense and the refs made a crap call against me. They got a penalty kick and they scored. The game was tied.

I ran up to Ashtyn while the clock was still stopped. “This is it. We need this goal. You can do it.” She nodded at me and squeezed my hand, looking intense.

The game continued and time was passing quickly. Ashtyn dribbled the ball towards the goal and passed it off before running to the edge of the goal box. The ball was sent into the goalmouth from near the corner. Ashtyn sprinted toward the goal in time to head the ball into the net. There was one minute left on the clock. As the other team kicked off, the time started ticking. With only seconds left, we gained possession of the ball again. I watched as the clock changed 3, 2, 1. The buzzer went off signaling the end of the game and the crowd went wild.

“Ash! We won!” I gripped her tightly in celebration, the rest of the team piling around us and tackling us to the ground. The screams were deafening and I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face.

Once things had settled a little, the announcer called all members of both teams to line up for awards. We were awarded with the state title and given a trophy, a plaque, and the game ball.  Ashtyn and I were named to the All-Star team along with our goalie and two members of the other team.

We went into the locker room that was provided so we could shower and change for our ride home. I was the last of us to leave the locker room after dispersing the awards so I didn’t have to carry them. I had just stepped out of the locker room and I was grabbed, a hand closing over my mouth so I couldn’t make a sound. I flailed my body and struggled against whoever had me, but it did no good. I was physically exhausted from the game.