Out of her stepmom's shadow

The first game and other drama

(Greyson POV)

   I roll out of bed at the realization that today is game day, my first varsity game with this school. I settled with jeans and my black two-star long sleeve uswnt shirt. I grab my bags and slide on my black vans before starting the walk to school. After school, the team ran down to the locker room after grabbing our uniforms. 

After warmups, I slid on my all-black goalie uniform, taped my hands, stuck my gloves in my shorts waistband. I walk out and the captains do their thing after the anthem. I grab my rag and the water bottle that was given to me and head over to my goal. I jump up and down to get rid of the nerves. I look around for a second and a certain brunette catches my eye, I smile and then focus back on the game. 

The first half of the game ends with us in the lead 1-0, I was making pretty good saves the whole time. After we have our talk at halftime and play the rest of the game, we won 3-0, me having my first clean sheet of the season, on the first game of the season. I go and shower and then change and make my way back onto the pitch to look for the person I caught a glimpse of before the game. My bags slung over my shoulders and my wet hair on my back, I spot the goalkeeper and walk up to her. 

"Hey" 

"Hey kiddo, nice clean sheet today" 

"Thanks" 

"You ready to go? I told your dad that I'd bring you home after because he was called back into work" 

"Super ready". When we get to the house, Hope grabs my school bag and opens the front door for me. I take my other bag from Hope and run it to my room before walking back to the living room and see her sitting beside my dad on the love seat. I go and lay down on the couch and let out a content sigh of approval 

"That feels good" I say as I stretch out as far as my body would let me. Looking up, I see that both of them are looking up at me. I lift up one of my hands and wave as they laugh at my antics.

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I walk into the school doors, both bags draped over my shoulders and see some of the team sitting at the table. At practice, we went over set pieces and then scrimmaged. 

I got out of the locker room and started the walk home. 

I was suddenly pinned to one of the school walls by my neck. My eyes met one of the senior boys' that was trying to get into my pants.

 I gasp, needing more air, as he lets go of my neck, he swipes my feet out from under me. 

I hit the ground with a hard thud. After him hitting and kicking me for what felt like hours, he started trying to pull down my pants. 

I found the energy inside me to take his feet out from under him. I went to stand up but he grabbed my foot, pulled me back, and flipped me over. He picked up his hand and connected his fist with my eye. 

I heard a car door open, and I scream again, trying to get that person to hear me and come over. That's what ended up happening.

 A person came and threw him off of me. I pull my knees up to my chest and bury my head into them.

 "Greyson, he's gone now. It's just me and you here kid" 

"Hope?" I look up and she nods. Standing up, I jump into her arms, wrap my legs around her waist, and bury my head into her neck. 

She bends over for a second, grabbing my bags, then walking to her car. She opens the backseat and sits down with me still hanging onto her. 

"I'm here Grey. I'm not going anywhere. You can let it out now baby" A tear streams down my face until I open my mouth and a muffled sob escapes. 

Then, the full crying, making the older keeper's shirt wet, but neither of us cared at the moment. I grabbed the back of her shirt with both of my fists, clenching them as hard as I could, turning them whiter. She started to run her fingers through my hair, her other hand still wrapped around my back. 

The car came to a stop and the doors opened before Hope got out. The other person leaves to go and do something that they needed to do. The front door opens, and the house is quiet, making me think that dad is at work still. 

"I'm going to set you on the kitchen counter to look at your face, okay?" 

"mmhmm" She sets me down and I look up at her, the one eye swollen, with a handprint around my neck and probably lots of other bruises. She turns around and opens the freezer to grab ice bags out. 

She grabs two rags before returning to me. She holds them in one hand and opens her arms for me. 

She takes me over to the couch and sits down before setting me in the middle of her lap. I lean into her chest as she holds one ice bag to my eye while I hold the other to my neck. 

"Don't leave me. Please" 

"I wouldn't dream of that Grey" After a while of sitting there, the swelling of my eye goes down. She gets up, still with me in her arms, and puts the ice away. 

She carries me up to my room and sets me on the foot of my bed. She takes my shoes off and then gets me clothes. I take the clothes and then go and shower. By the time I was done, Hope was back in my room in a different t-shirt and shorts. I sit down next to her on my bed. She ends up laying down under the covers and I shift so I'm under them too, laying with my head on her chest. After a while of her running her fingers through my hair, my eyes got heavy, a while later I was asleep.