Match

7: Kick

"Fifty!"

Jonah launches the ball high into the air, then catches it in his hands. He breathes heavily as his teammates, Liam and Ben, surround him in surprise.

"Why'd you stop?" Liam says.

Jonah reaches into his bag and grabs his water. "My knee hurts."

Ben kneels beside him to get a closer look. "Is it acting up again?"

He pulls down his left sock a bit to uncover a beat red knee. A large white 'I' shape reveals itself over the red skin. Jonah shakes his head and sighs.

"Whoa, what the hell is that?"

"Dirt bike accident a few years ago," Jonah says. "Slipped over a damn rock and got nasty road rash."

"Shit man," Ben plops on his butt and places the ball on his thigh.

"Eh," he shrugs. "It's healed up a lot since then, so, that's all that's left of it. Now I only get the odd day where I can't use this knee too much."

"Use your other knee, then," Liam says, shoving his shoulder lightly.

"Yeah, bud, biking accidents are no joke," Ben chimes in. "I broke my arm after trying to do a trick over a concrete wall."

"How high up was it?"

He spins the ball while holding it with his index finger. "Like a good fifteen feet. I had a helmet on, if you were wondering."

"That's still a ballsy stupid move."

"Yeah no shit. You do dumb shit when you're young."

Jonah takes a big gulp of water and looks behind him to the other field. Nobody's on it this evening. He stretches out his legs and feels the wavering pain begin to fade.

"Fifty kicks is still a lot," Ben says, undoing the velcro strap on his gloves. "Are you going for over one hundred, Jone?"

"As many as I can," Jonah says. "I'm trying to beat my old record, I think I got to like eighty."

"Psh," Liam cracks a smirk. "My highest was around ninety."

"Look at you, Liam," Jonah says in a raised sarcastic tone. "Trying to be the next Messi."

"Me? Bro, no chance in hell."

They all laugh as Liam grabs a fistful of grass and chucks it at Jonah. Jonah does the same, but before he can throw it Liam gets a head-start and sprints away like a rabbit. Ben chases after him instead with a wide Joker grin and two fists full of dried turf, to which Liam dekes him a couple times. Jonah sits and watches the two tackle at each other - Ben shoving grass under Liam's shirt, Liam trying to do the same thing back. He lifts his water bottle to his lips, then stops mid-sip. Something catches the corner of his eye.

He watches as a group of three people walk across the parking lot to the side of a faculty building. A gut feeling tells him the bunch are up to no good. He squints to see what they're doing, but can only make them out as blurry blobs. From behind, Jonah can hear the two walk back.

"Yo, guys," Jonah says.

"Hm?"

He points with a water bottle cap to the group. "Do you recognize any of them?"

Ben catches his breath, then cups a hand over his forehead to get a better look. "Delinquents."

"Or maybe some teens looking for somewhere to get high," Liam says.

"Bro, out in the open?"

Liam looks at Ben and shrugs.

Jonah's eyes are glued to the group. He sees one of them pull out something from a pocket.