Chapter Twenty-eight Summer
Chapter Twenty-eight
Summer
On Friday, the team travels to Pacific. MJ is still the only one talking to me. It’s been a long week, but Coach has me back in the starting lineup today, and I’m determined to push everything else aside and play well.
As we pull up to Pacific High School, Coach stands at the front of the bus.
“We’re a few minutes behind schedule so change quickly and get out on the field for warm-ups.
Pacific is big and aggressive. I expect them to come out hard on defense from the start.
They’ll want to rattle you and see if they can’t take advantage of the fact we lost the last game.
Do not let them break your focus or shake your confidence.
We’re still the team to beat this season. ”
The bus comes to a stop. The mood has shifted. A few of the girls are bobbing their heads along, others are standing eagerly. I feel the same anticipation, but I linger and wait for everyone else to get off the bus first before I move.
“Are you ready?” Coach asks me as I pass by.
I let out a long breath. “Definitely.”
“Good. We’re going to need you.”
I don’t think the team would agree with her, but I nod anyway.
In the locker room, I change and then walk over to Amanda.
She glances up as she zips her warm-up jacket over her jersey. When she sees me approaching, she lifts both brows in challenge.
“I’m sorry.” I doubt she’s going to let me say much, so I don’t wait for acknowledgment before I continue. “I shouldn’t have gotten involved in your relationship with Rowan. It was none of my business.”
There’s a flash of something in her expression—surprise maybe.
“I love soccer and being a part of this team. I may not have chosen it, but the longer I’ve been here, the more it’s felt right.
Like maybe there’s a reason all this happened to bring us together for one magical season.
We’re good. Really good. I wouldn’t have thrown that away for anything.
Not even my friends back in Oakley. In fact, they’d be just as pissed at me if I pulled something like that.
I let the team down last weekend. I know that.
I have to live with it. But I didn’t do it on purpose.
I want to win, and I want to win with this team. ”
I force myself to stop talking and wait for a response that doesn’t come. Amanda’s face softens, then hardens again before she brushes past me.
* * *
As Coach predicted, Pacific pressures us from the jump. They have mostly seniors, and what they lack in talent, they make up for in hustle. They’ve been close to the playoffs the past two years, and they’re desperate to make it this season.
I’m locked in. Focused. Ready.
Two defenders run at Amanda, trying to trap her on the sideline. I yell to let her know I’m open, but she attempts a pass to Sophie on the other side instead. It’s picked off and I bolt down the field to get back on defense.
It goes that way for most of the first half. With only a few seconds left, Pacific scores. MJ’s expression is pure fire.
“Fuck,” she mutters under her breath as I jog up to her.
“You got this. Embrace the pressure, right?”
Her mouth pulls into a tight line. “Right.”
I offer her my fist, and she bumps hers hard against mine. I laugh off the bite of pain from her knuckles and we head off the field for halftime.
Coach’s pep talk sounds a whole lot like the one before the game. Keep our heads up, take our time, don’t let them take us out of our game.
I’m winded and my legs are tired. For as little as I touched the ball in the first half, I feel like I ran a marathon. Judging by the look on my teammates’ faces and the slow way we walk onto the field to start the second half, we’re all feeling it.
Our only saving grace is that the other team is tired too.
There’s a lot of back-and-forth as we find our rhythm.
I’m trying to stay patient, but the only time I touch the ball is when I strip it from the other team.
I’m hesitant to pass even when I see Amanda ahead of me.
I take a chance, pass, then cut. I’m wide open and I know she sees me, but she dribbles farther into the defenders and eventually loses it.
“I was open!” I yell at her, running behind her back to the other side of the field.
“I didn’t see you.”
My anger gets the best of me. “Bullshit.”
MJ makes a save and I sigh with relief. Still, I glare at Amanda. The only way we’re going to win today is playing together as a team. She knows it too. She’s just too stubborn to admit it.
On the next play, Sophie gets off a long shot that goes high, just out of reach of Pacific’s goalie. Amanda and the rest of the team crowd around and congratulate her. I hang back slightly.
“Nice shot,” I say to her.
“Thanks.” She looks toward me but not directly at me.
For the next thirty-five minutes, neither team scores. Coach subs us in and out to keep everyone fresh, but it’s only sort of working. We’re tired, and Pacific is doing just enough to stop us from scoring again.
Amanda dribbles down the field, passes to Sophie, then the ball moves to Rina.
Rina looks to me, hesitates, then passes.
That second of indecision costs her, and the Pacific defender intercepts.
I’m already anticipating it and manage to clip a tiny piece of the ball.
It’s just enough to get it away from her.
I head toward the goal. All the defenders have shifted toward me, so I send it back to Amanda.
She’s open and has a clean look. She takes the shot.
It goes just wide. Frustration bleeds out of her.
I turn to head back, but as I do, movement catches my eye and I look just in time to see one of the girls on the other team elbow Amanda in the face.
It’s deliberate and has my teammate keeling over immediately.
The Pacific defender sprints down the field like nothing happened.
The referees are watching the action at the other end and don’t see it. I race toward Amanda. Her hands are up covering her mouth, and her eyes are wide with panic.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
She lets her hands drop just enough that I can see the blood pouring down her chin.
“Oh my god.” I look over at Coach and wave to her.
By this time, other people have noticed, including the referees. Amanda heads slowly to the sideline, dripping red as she goes. I stay by her until Coach jogs over. Then I look for the girl who elbowed her. She’s standing at the centerline, hands on her hips.
I walk straight for her. There’s a hint of a smirk on her face until I get close.
“You did that on purpose.” I shout.
“It was an accident,” the girl claims.
I’m seething. I start to take another step forward, but Sophie appears in front of me.
“Don’t do it. It isn’t worth it,” she says, putting her tall, lanky body between me and the other team. She walks forward, forcing me back.
I know she’s right, but I still think shoving that Pacific girl will make me feel better.
Time-out is called, and Sophie and I head to our bench to check on Amanda. She has a rag to her mouth, but it’s already soaked through.
“I’m fine,” she says as we all look in on her.
“She needs a stitch, but she’ll be okay,” Coach Bradley says.
The referees confer, and whether they actually saw it or not, they seem to decide it was intentional. The Pacific crowd is pissed, but it feels like a small vindication for Amanda.
“Okay. We still have a game to win,” Coach Bradley says. “Who’s going to take the penalty kick for Amanda?”
There are murmurs and everyone looks to one another.
“Summer should do it,” Amanda says. The words come out a bit jumbled from her injured mouth, and I stare at her like maybe I didn’t hear her correctly.
Then everyone looks to me.
“You want it?” Coach asks.
I’m nodding even before she finishes asking the question.
“She favors her left side,” MJ tells me as she lowers her forehead to mine.
“Got it,” I say.
My heart is hammering in my chest but as I walk out onto the field, a calm resolve spreads through me. I get in position and wait for the referee. He blows the whistle and hand signals for me to take my shot.
My stare flicks up to the Pacific goalie. She shifts her weight from side to side as she watches me. Inhaling, I run forward and kick the ball hard to the right of the goalie and pray MJ is right.
Everything slows down as the ball soars toward the net. The goalie lunges, hands outstretched, but she’s a second too late. The ball flies past her. I stare, a little stunned, until the cheers of my teammates break through my haze.
“You did it!” Rina is the first one to hug me. Others pile on until I can’t tell who is who. We move in a big huddle toward the sideline.
Coach wears a pleased smile as my teammates scatter around me. “Nice job, Summer.”
“Thanks, Coach.”
As soon as the game is over, Amanda’s parents take her to get stitched up.
The bus ride back to Frost Lake is loud and happy.
MJ and Rina ask me to play cards, but I just want to sit back and soak it all in.
I don’t know if the camaraderie will continue, but for tonight, I feel like part of the team.
When we arrive back at school, I help the managers take the gear to the locker room. The rest of the team is already gone by the time we’re done.
Coach’s office door is open and the light is on. She looks up as I appear in the doorway.
“You’re still here,” she notes.
“Heading out now.” I point to the locker room doors.
“Do you have a minute?”
“Sure.” I step fully into her office. She sits behind her desk and motions for me to take the chair in front.
“I know I lost my temper out there today. I shouldn’t have confronted the Pacific player.”
“No, probably not. If the referees had seen you, it would have cost us the penalty kick.”
I swallow down my shame at the thought.
“But that isn’t what I wanted to talk to you about.” She smiles, a small curl of her lips. “Coach Endrews from FLU called this week.”
My stomach flips and twists. “I can’t imagine she had a lot of good things to say after the game last weekend.”
“It wasn’t a good showcase of your talent, but luckily for you, she understands that young players like you are still working things out. She wanted me to pass on her contact information.”
“Seriously?” My entire body lights up, and I sit forward.
Her smile curves higher. “Mm-hmm.”
“I don’t know what to say. Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. You did it. You’re a great player, Summer. One of the best I’ve had the pleasure of coaching.”
“I…” I can’t even think straight. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” She stands. “Now get out of here and enjoy what’s left of your weekend.”
“I will. You too, Coach.”
As I stumble back into the locker room, I’m in a haze. Coach Endrews wants to talk to me. It’s so surreal.
The slam of a metal locker makes me look up. Amanda turns, bag on her shoulder, then slows when she sees me.
“You’re back already,” I say, focusing on her mouth. Her jaw and bottom lip are swollen, but otherwise she looks okay. She has an ice pack in one hand.
“Two stitches. We were in and out.” She grimaces and puts the ice to her face. “Why are you still here?”
“I was helping with the equipment.” I hitch my thumb over my shoulder. Then we stand there awkwardly. I don’t feel any animosity from her, but we aren’t friends, so neither of us seems to know what to say.
“You looked like you were going to punch that Pacific girl,” she says finally.
“I might have if it weren’t for Sophie.” Tonight could have ended a lot differently if she hadn’t intervened, but I’m not sure I would have been sorry.
Amanda drops the ice to her side again. “Thank you.”
“I didn’t do anything,” I say, confused.
“You had my back even though I haven’t had yours.”
“Oh.” That. “Believe it or not, I haven’t been secretly wishing you’d get knocked in the face.”
She laughs, then winces.
“Sorry.” I eye her swollen lower lip. “Does it hurt?”
“Like a bitch.” She lets out another small chuckle, then we fall quiet.
I’m about to make my excuse to leave when she surprises me by saying, “I was jealous.”
I open my mouth to speak, but only a small squeak comes out.
“Of you and Rowan,” she clarifies. “He was different with you. The guy I always wanted him to be, you know?”
I don’t but nod slowly.
“But also, I was jealous of you.”
“Me?”
“Yeah.” The look on her face tells me she hates admitting it.
“This was finally my year to lead the team. Then you showed up, and everyone was looking at you that first day with so much awe like you were the answer to us finally having a winning season. I didn’t want to hold it against you, but I think I did. ”
I’m dumbstruck.
“And they were right,” she says. “I’m sorry that I let it get in the way of the team.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything. We don’t have to be, like, besties or anything; I just wanted you to know we’re good.”
The idea of me and Amanda being best friends is almost weirder than this conversation.
“Are you going to Boone’s house tonight?” she asks, shifting toward the door.
“Oh, uh…”
“The whole team will be there. You should come. We wouldn’t have won without you.”
“I might need you to repeat that about a dozen times,” I joke. I can’t quite believe she’s being so nice to me.
“You’ve got it. So I’ll see you there?” She takes another step toward the door.
“No. I…” My words trail off.
Amanda nods her head like she understands.
I’m sure she knows exactly why I’m resisting.
The team might have stopped hating me for the moment, but the rest of the school hasn’t forgotten yet.
I can’t take another night of guys teasing me or watching Rowan have fun and party with his friends like nothing happened.
Even thinking about him has my chest squeezing. School was torture this week. I don’t know how to be his friend or exist in a world where we aren’t a couple—even a fake one.
“If you change your mind, I owe you a drink.” She smiles and then heads out of the locker room.