Broken

Chapter 16

With my gear on and my curls in braids I was ready for the game. I practiced some drills and ran some plays in my head. Khalil was busy talking to the coach, as she was captain.

Looking out on the stands, I didn't really see anything out of the ordinary. Other than my dad and Ryder talking on the bleachers with Anri on the other side of my dad. Is that what he meant by looking out for my dad?

Weird.

But is my dad actually laughing?

Crazy.

Anyways.

I finished stretching one last time before the announcer announced the start of the game. We met the other team at the middle of the field and someone from chorus sang the national anthem.

We put our hands on our hearts and I just wanted to start already. Since it's a small town and in general, not a lot of people in the school, we didn't have any subs. I haven't played a full game since sophomore year. But it's alright. Practices have been rough all week and I've been running in the morning and at night to prepare for this.

Extra prepared because even though Anri is "supposed" to be the weakest, he sure is a fast runner and gives me a run for my money.

We won the coin toss which means we start with the ball first. The beginning of the game was like a flash. Khalil managed to get a breakaway and shot into the goal giving us a score of 1-0. I screamed and ran towards her, giving her a hug. She laughed and we restarted.

It wasn't long for our mid fielders to win control of the ball that they passed it up to Khalil. I managed to outrun the defender causing Khalil to kick the ball over to me. With the ball at my feet and my eyes on the goal, I put everything into the kick sending it to the top left corner.

It made it in and I felt a familiar sense of pride and happiness when Khalil wrapped me into a hug.

The game ended with us winning at 3-2. Our families met us at the fence and it felt nice to have won our first game. Well my first game.

Dad gave me a large hug before making a gagging sound. "You reek."

"I think you meant to say that I played amazingly." I said with a laugh and watched him smile.

"I like your friend Ryder there." He said pointing to Ryder who was congratulating Khalil first, none of her family came to see her. I turned back towards dad and saw he was watching the look on my face. "Interesting."

"Whatever dad." I said rolling my eyes and stepped away. "Meet you at home?"

"More like see you tomorrow, I have another night shift. But your friend Ryder said he'll bring you and Anri home, so." Dad said giving me one last kiss on the forehead.

"And stop saying friend like that!" I yelled before he left. I moved over to Khalil's side and pointed at Khalil.

The others must have been scattered around because I don't see them.

"Isn't she amazing!" I yelled and noticed that Ryder had some distance between us. He gave me a look that said we'll talk in a bit. Anri gestured towards the team and we noticed that they were walking away. "I'm starving, we should eat somewhere after."

With that Khalil and I walked into the locker room, talking with the rest of the team about celebration plans. They seemed surprised when I suggested we go eat, especially since the group is very exclusive.

Khalil pulled me to the side when everyone practically rejected the offer saying they have to get home. "It's okay, we'll go out to eat with the group. Just get showered and dressed, so we can go."