Match

27: Damp Match

Trickles of rain flake the damp earth. As soon as June introduced itself, rain didn't come short of its season. In the far distance, sinister grey patches of clouds inch closer to the valley. That's gotta be the storm, Cole thinks. And yet, to his surprise, the coach didn't cancel the game. He gets startled by his phone alerting directions.

"IN TWO HUNDRED METRES YOUR DESTINATION IS TO YOUR LEFT."

Dakota and Lily stand at the edge of a driveway, waving their arms to flag him down. The house is placed at the far back of a cul-de-sac. Among the others, it's the smallest, resembling a beach cottage. No other cars are in the driveway. As he pulls up beside them, he glances at the haphazard attempt he made shifting all his soccer gear to a tight corner. He unlocks the doors for the two to climb in.

"Heya Cole," Dakota beams in delight.

"Hi," he says while lowering the stereo volume. "Do you guys have coats?"

Lily nods, holding out her large purse. "Yup. Some snacks, extra towels to lay down on..."

"Well prepared," he laughs, then starts driving once they both click on their seatbelts. "What have you been up to in the past week?"

Dakota adjusts the seatbelt strap. "We went to some parks, then had some dinner with my aunt at Boston Pizza. Oh and we went camping too!"

Cole raises an eyebrow while keeping his eyes on the road. "Camping?"

"Yeah," Lily chimes in. "We could only do one night though. The camp grounds are packed with so many reservations."

"Damn."

Droplets tap on the car windows. Dakota makes themself comfortable in their seat, hugging a hoodie to their body. Lily plants a tender hand on their cheek.

"Are you cold hun?"

Dakota shakes their head. "Not super cold."

"Sorry I don't have seat warmers in this car," Cole says. "It's an oldie."

"Aw it's fine!" They flash a wide, giddy grin. "I don't think we've ever been in this car before. Is it new?"

"You could call it that, I guess."

The conversation stops there. Only the rumbling of the car and rain smacking the windshield is heard. Cole rotates a setting to slow the windshield wipers once they scrape a dryer surface. Surprisingly, the closer they get to the field location, the lighter the rainfall. That doesn't stop Cole's awareness a storm is going to roll in. He half listens to the low hum of music on the radio station, half wondering about Dakota and Lily's inaudible mumbling between each other.

———————————

Fweeet!

The screeching whistle alerts everyone it's halftime. Jonah jogs beside teammates Jason and Hunter. Beads of sweat drip down his nape and under his armpits. Despite the weather cooling, he's ran hard for the first half without substitutes.

Coach John claps. "Good play so far, guys."

Jonah grabs his travel mug and takes in a large gulp of water. Something catches his eye on the ground. A match. He picks it up and inspects its condition. Other than the fact that it's wet, it's in perfect condition. He slides it safely into a pocket on the side of his bag, then nods at a couple teammates passing by.

"Good start so far," he says.

His team is in the lead by two points. He drops his gaze to the wet ground. His cleats are smothered in dirt and grass, while the back of his socks are soaked. Suddenly, a loud rumble pierces through the sky above. Everyone glances up. A large deep grey cloud is looming closer to the field. Not long after, rain begins to downpour.

A referee strolls up to the coach, carrying a board to cover her head.

"Excuse me, sir," she says.

Coach John turns to her. "I'm guessing..."

She nods. "There's a severe weather warning closing in. I talked with my staff and we agree it's safest to cancel the match."

"What?" Tate frowns.

"Cancel it?!" Jason chimes in.

Ben nods at them both. "Hey, it's better safe than sorry."

The coach scratches at his beard. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea."

The referee nods, then makes her way to tell the news to the other team. On the opposite end of the field, most of what little crowd that arrived has already left. Jonah takes another sip of his water before scrambling to zip up his bag. He's disappointed, since he never got to perfect his shot, but knows that if they kept playing it would turn into a soccer swampland. Ben passes by him, covering his wet hair with a spare shirt.

"Good game," he says, then sprints off the field with his jingling car keys.

Everyone races to get off the field and into their dry cars. Jonah catches a flash of lightning. Its bright vein-like structure cracks through the atmosphere, with a low growl of thunder following not long after.

"Fuck," Jonah digs through his pocket for his car keys.

He unlocks the car and tosses his bag onto the back seats, not even bothering to shove it in the trunk. He just wants to dry off. He slips into his car and turns on the engine. Immediately he changes the air conditioning into a warmer flow of air. He rubs his hands together and leaves them splayed over an air vent. Another lightning flash crackles right in front of him. Jonah cusses in a shocked response. As he's about to drive out of the parking lot, his phone buzzes from an incoming call. He reaches into his pocket to see who's calling him.

The Caller ID says 'Cole'.