The Story That Never Happened

Chapter 15

We were well in to second semester and I have been busy with the soccer season. In my down time, I have been typically hanging out with Monica, Jeremy, and Kaeden. I have seen Todd around in the hallways and heard the odd rumor, but I try to stay clear of him as much as possible.

It was the finals of our high school soccer playoffs tonight and everyone was coming to watch. We were hosting, and playing our school rivals, so of course it was a big deal. The coached named Rebecca and I as captains this season. We went for the coin toss and decided who got first ball. Once we did our team cheer, the game was on.

It was half time and we were still tied 0-0. The game was riveting. There was slide tackling, shirt grabbing and shin kicking left, right, and centre. I took a moment to look at the stands and it was as if the whole school had our back. Teachers, family, friends, students from all grades were there. Even the janitor. It's probably the second most attended game of the year, after the homecoming football game. Everyone was there, even Todd.

Time ticks its way through second half and I could feel the tension behind the saying, "every second counts". Each time the ball went out, I would sprint to save as much time as possible. The whole team was in full on game mode. Everybody was giving it their all. It felt like there was only 5 minutes left in the game and Rebecca was sent on a breakaway. She was just outside the 18-yard box when this massive 6'0 centre back body checks her. She flies to the ground and the ref didn't even hesitate to blow the whistle. I ran over to help her up.

"Hey, you good dude?" I ask.

"Yeah I'm fine. Kind of stupid move if you ask me."

"Tell me about it."

The ref gestures the ball towards us so we can set up for a free kick. It is in the sweet spot. Rebecca places the ball on the ground then whispers to me, "I'll run over and you shoot."

"Okay." We ask for ten yards and we share the same look. Top left. The ref then steps back and blows his whistle. All sound disappears and everything moves in slow motion. Rebecca runs over the ball, faking a shot, then veers left. I take a deep breath and motion forward. I strike the ball with the most perfect arch. Everyone watches as the ball sores, not even the slightest gasp could be heard. Then, all of a sudden, the ball reaches back to top speed and the first sound I hear is the ball colliding with the netting. It hit top left, to inch perfection. Screams fill my ear drums as everyone is running at me. The ball went in. After our celebratory huddle, I do my signature handshake with Rebecca. The teams reset at half and the ref blows his whistle again. It isn't long until he blows the final call and the game is over. A huge mob floods the field. The whole team sprints to our goalie and all the students gather around us creating a huge jumping circle. I manage to peel away to go shake hands with their captain and the refs. After all the screaming and hugging, our coach gathers us for a team photo. When everyone was taking their stuff off, Chelsea pulls me aside.

"I just wanted to say, that was a wicked shot." She exclaims.

"Thanks." I say reluctantly.

"I also wanted to apologize for making a move on your man. I was stupid drunk and it got the best of me." She seemed genuine enough.

"I appreciate your apology." We hug it out, then I make my way to my parents.

After dinner, Kaeden took me out for frozen yogurt to celebrate like always. We were sitting back at the field, admiring the history that was just made a couple of hours ago.

"That was on hell of a shot." He asserts.

"Thanks. I've been practicing." I respond.

"And now you guys are regional champions. That's insane, and really good rep for the school. You're doing us all a favour."

"Hopefully we can get a good result at provies."

"You will. You've got incredibly good captains." He smirks. Was he flirting with me? I can't tell. It's been a while since I've needed to try and figure out a guy's mind. Once you start dating, it's no longer a puzzle to solve. They just tell you everything. They're such sobs.

"Please," I break the ice, "we have an incredibly good team." There was a slight pause as we both were taking bites out of our frozen yogurt.

"You know what I was thinking." He remarks.

"What?"

"This tradition started way back in Freshman year when we aced that socials project."

"You remembered that?"

"Of course! How could I forget?"

"And to think, you wanted to do the project on the Trudeau's" I tease.

"Hey, there's nothing wrongwith a father-son political bond." We both laugh and the night seems to fadeaway as we talked about almost anything.