Chapter 32: First game

I looked at the faces of each girl as we sat in the locker room huddled up before the game. The coach took us for warm-ups beforehand and now we are stuck here waiting to go out there. Nobody looked ready for this game, they were either sitting scrolling through their phone, reading a book, or making jokes. I was worried.

How can any College scout us if our team is sitting at the bottom of the log?

"Okay, girls. Well, it's that time again." The coach said walking into the locker room with her logbook. "Remember what I taught you. Keep the ball as close as possible to your stick and strikers use your speed. The more possession we have, the less they have a chance to score." Everyone agreed and stood up. Is that it? I too got up and followed them out the field.

I looked at the bleachers, they were empty. Well, definitely our side of the bleachers. It was so empty that I saw Brandon and Daphne waving at me. I nodded at them and continued making my way. I then looked at the sky and noticed that the rain was joining us soon.

I, Andrea, and Melissa made ourselves comfortable on the bench facing the field. The referee tossed the coin and the rivalry team had the first touch of the ball. It's okay, we still have 70 minutes to get our hand on the ball. I tried to watch the game without getting excited.

I was standing next to the field with the coach watching the girls play. Their passes were accurate, their speed up to point and the spaces between teammates were perfect to send and receive the ball. Then why the hell were they not scoring?

45 minutes into the game and we haven't scored a goal. We were behind as the other team already scored. "Frack." I muttered pacing up and down. The rain soon joined us, it fell hard around us and I wondered if they were going to stop the game but the girls went ahead and play.

Even though it was difficult to handle the ball and getting possession, somehow Brian intercepted the ball and passed it down to Nicole who passed it down to Casey. I watched in awe as the girls finally reached the other team's defensive line. "Dammit, Casey pass the ball. Briana is wide open!" I grumbled.

I watched in shock as Casey held onto the ball and when she tried to go for goal, she lost the ball as the other team stole it back. "That's was a waste of Briana's time." I mumbled. Briana looked pretty pissed as she walked up to Casey, but Casey pushed her away. Briana looked over to where I and the coach stood, I frowned when her eyes lingered on me before getting back into the game.

Casey tried to go for the ball again, but Briana was there and took it from her, she made a run. The team following her, Casey yelled for the ball, but Briana ignored her and passed it off to Nicole before she met the ground. I looked with wide eyes at the scene as she tripped over the other player's hockey stick and met the ground instantly.

She didn't get back up. She stayed down, cupping her ankle. She was injured. The referee blew the whistle, pausing the game to give us time to get Briana off of the field. I jogged over with the coach to look at the injury. "It's bad, coach." The girls commented.

They helped Briana up and helped her off the field. I looked at the bleachers and watched as everyone started to leave. Brandon followed my stare and pulled his shoulders up in a questioning manner. "I will take her spot." The team turned to me including the coach. "What?" Casey asked not agreeing.

"You are my replacement." Casey growled. "That maybe, but I can play any position." The girls looked at me with different expressions. "You want to beat them with speed, good for you. But, your communicating skills suck." I told Casey who looked taken back with my reply.

"You are on, Adams." The coach said to which I nodded. "You take Casey's spot and Andrea takes Briana's spot." The coach instructed.

"What?!" Casey shrieked, anger visible. "I won't be replaced by a freak." There was no time for this. "I already made up my mind. Do you hear me?" The coach asked looking at Casey. "Nobody is replacing you." She then motioned for me and the team to go.

Andrea followed me with wide eyes. "Take a deep breath. Focus solemnly on getting the ball and get it out as fast as possible." Andrea nodded. "We can do this." I muttered. I looked in the direction where Brandon was seated, he nodded at me and it gave me hope.

I took my position and waited for the ball. It was chaotic when the ball got knocked off. The other team was faster than I imagined, they were focused and they played like a team. I couldn't even get to the ball without almost getting knocked off my feet.

I took a deep breath and pushed myself faster and harder. Without giving the other team a chance to go for a goal, I was there receiving the ball from Torri. (Our goalkeeper.) She blocked the strike from the other team and passed the ball towards me which I received successfully.

I turned with a swift move and slammed the ball off between the girls. No one responded except for the other team and me. I pushed my legs, I passed the girls as I ran after the ball. Before anyone thought about getting the ball, I got there first and went for a goal. I struck the ball and it went flying past the goalkeeper and slammed into the net.

My team didn't say a word, I only heard faintly Brandon's cheer following by Daphne's. The team just looked at me, they were fatigue but still going. The rain finally stopped and gave us an equal chance to beat these girls. "I get that none of you approve of my presence. But, I am one hundred percent certain that each of you has a dream and that is to win. Or get a fair chance at College." The girls nodded. "Well, girls. Let's start by getting another few points on the board. We have 10 minutes left on the clock to make a point."

"Who's with me?" The girls each nodded. "Awesome. Let's go kick some ass." And did we. We may have only scored two more goals, and we may have lost this game, but there were at least numbers on the scoreboard instead of a zero.

"Sasha-lee Adams." I looked to my side when I heard my name being said. "Lucinda Daniels." I greeted and shook her hand. "How long has it been?" She asked. "Five years." I answered. She nodded. "Good to see you out of the field again. Still rocking it as ever."

"Not yet, completely." She chuckled. "You'll get there. You always do." I nodded. "Congrats on your win." She beamed. "Good game." She replied. I then motioned for the girls to shook hands with the team. It was out of respect to congratulate them.

"See you around, Adams." She started to walk off. We slowly walked up to the coach and Casey. "What the hell was that? That was not part of the plan." Casey sneered. The coach held up her hand to silence her. "We finally have points on the board." Nicole said. "Yeah, so?" Casey replied with more attitude than normal.

She then looked over at Briana who was sitting with an ice pack pressed against her ankle. "Just stop pretending that you are hurt." Briana threw the ice pack aside and stood up. "What the hell, Briana?" Casey spat. "I wanted to give Sasha a chance. Why do we always have to pick on her? It's not the team's motto. Each person is here to play and get a chance to be scouted for. But who will scout us when we are on the bottom of the log?"

"We want to start winning, Casey. And, look what Sasha did for us." Nicole said.

"End of discussion." Casey said and then walked away. The girls dropped their heads and followed her to the locker room.

"They weren't lying when they said you have leadership skills and that you were one of the best players." I ignored the coach. "Your team is turning on each other and you are here complimenting my skills? I was the best five years ago. Now, I'm just the next girl who wants to work at becoming the best again. The same as all of them."

"You can help me to inspire them."

"That's bullshit and you know it." She didn't say anything about me swearing.

"I've heard that you are the best coach in town. Your players have earned spots because of you turning them into warriors. But, where is teaching them to be a team? They are selfish. They don't pass the ball because they can't because they want all the glory for themselves. It's not the captain's fault that the team is not inspired. That's on you coach." With that said, I walked away towards Brandon and Daphne who was waiting for me.