Chapter 4: Unapologetic Celebratory Soccer
Mrs. Hanson gives me an apologetic look and suggests for me to wait for the other girls to finish changing so I can change in the empty locker room. With my spine straight, and my face masked, I quickly jog back to the locker room. When the last girl leaves, I quickly take off all my shirts except my tank top, and all my leggings, but keep on my undergarments, obviously. Stifling my emotion, I pull on the smaller gym shirt and shorts I have in my locker just in case I needed another pair of clothes. Uncomfortable but not showing it, I walk out slowly.
As I walk into the gym, everyone stares at me. Some stare at my legs and figure while others stare at my biceps, calves, and other visible muscles that were toned and lean, but I have even more muscle beneath the surface. God knows what they would do if they saw a glimpse of my triceps, abs, or obliques. Noah and a couple of other boys even let out a few whistles before Mrs. Hanson shushes them. I quickly go to my spot and sit down, trying not to gather any more attention. Belle gives me a look, but, seeing my tightly fisted hands, she sends me a thumbs up, and I send one back to reassure her that I would be fine. Mrs. Hanson continues roll call while I look around the gym, distracting myself from the stares.
The gym has a very tall ceiling, probably around twenty to thirty feet, and the walls are painted the same beige colors as everywhere else. There are three exits, one for every wall in the corners, and the entry door to the gym is in the front. The gym floor is this brown squishy material that breaks your fall, but it is also firm enough for you to play. There are four basketball hoops that can be lowered from the control panel by the entrance, and there is a large curtain in the middle of the gym, currently rolled up, that acts as a divider when there are two different games going on.
"Okay, today, as our last day, we are going to play celebratory soccer!" Mrs. Hanson exclaims, and the whole class erupts into cheers. We aren't playing any old soccer; we're playing celebratory soccer. My lips twitch, and even though I want to leap for joy, I keep my face stoic. Everyone loves celebratory soccer, but as it is a little over-competitive, we can't play it as often. This soccer we get to play outside, instead of inside with the small goals, and the whole class would be split in half on the semi wet grass. The goals would be the big posts with a net stretched over them, and after every goal, each team would choose one person to play a one-on-one game for an extra point, and the players had three minutes to get a goal or the game would go back to half and half. Everyone gets competitive. There is also the rule that the same person cannot be picked more than twice, so it lets everyone have a chance at fun.
I usually hold back in this game, but today I'm going to let out all my frustration that's been pent up for this school year. I'm sending caution down the drain. I mean, I did promise myself not to reveal anything until my senior year, but it is almost the end of school, and I already broke that rule when I had to change. Mrs. Hanson leads us outside after talking about the pass for this class, and I go and stand by Belle.
"Let yourself out today," Belle murmurs to me, sympathy in her eyes. "Even in the laps."
"You sure?" I asked; Belle can't run a lot, she stays behind, so I usually keep pace with her. She nods, a steely look in her eyes, and I know that today she truly won't mind. I look at the wet, green grass. It's a very large field with a track in the middle, and there are soccer and football posts at the ends of the track. Around the field are many trees that give us shade and act as a barrier for the school property. We all line up in anticipation after Mrs. Hanson tells us to do a lap around the whole field, not just the track. The track is a quarter of a mile, and the perimeter of the whole field is one mile. She walks back into the gym right after giving the signal. I take off, quickly leaving everyone in the dust. Noah, the one who usually leads, gapes in shock and begins to push himself more. But I am just getting started. I run faster and faster, controlling my breath, and feel the air through my hair, which has come loose.
I am three-quarters of the way done when I look back and see that Alex has overtaken Noah since he pushed himself too hard at the beginning. I smirk and push myself to half my limit, finishing the lap at where we started. I scan the others again, seeing that Noah has taken over again, then Alex, a couple of other boys, then the girls, and I am proud of Belle, who was keeping in the middle of the girls. The group is about three quarters of the way to the end. Mrs. Hanson comes back out of the gym, and there is only a bit of surprise on her face before she called out.
"You're giving it your all today?" I smile with my eyes and nod, and she sends a small smile my way. I tie my hair back again and tuck it in my shirt before anyone else can see it in the almost nonexistent sun. My breath only hitched a little during the run, so it's very quiet compared to the heaving and panting of those who just finished the lap. Noah, Alex, and the rest of the boys tried to catch their breath and put their hands on their knees to stay up. The girls, a little less flustered, soon finished also. Belle comes toward me, smiling.
"Well, at least you showed them what you are capable of," she says, hands on her hips. Half of what I'm capable of, my mind whispers, but the thought doesn't escape my lips. I nod, then we turn around to the middle of the field, where Mrs. Hanson is setting up the goals and the others are beginning to pick out their teams. I stay with Belle and we get a mixed team; some really good players and some players who we'd keep on defense. Among our team are a few people that I think good of, like Haley, Alex, and Emma. Theo is also on our team, but Noah, Sophie, Matt (a guy with black hair and black eyes who was held back a year), and, regrettably, Julie are a few of the people I knew on the other team. The rest are people in different classes, so I don't really know them well.
We set up, and I put myself on offense. I am directly facing Noah across the field, who looks furious. Mrs. Hanson blows the whistle, and Haley captures the ball. She kicks it around a couple of kids before passing it to Emma, who fumbles and loses the ball to Sophie. I quickly run behind her before kicking and capturing the ball, then passing it to Belle, who crept on the other side of the field. She then runs and loses the ball to Noah, who makes it past Haley, Emma, and a couple others before Alex steps in front of him, kicking the ball out of his grasp. Noah is close to the goal, but before he can re-capture the ball, I run to it and kick it across the field again to Belle.
I look her in the eyes, and she understands. She inches it backwards toward our side of the field before kicking it across to my position, halfway to the goal. Quickly, I capture it and slide it gracefully around the other team before Noah stands in my way, blocking the goal. I fake a move, and he lunges to the left, caught off guard. Then, he rights himself before tripping over. I'm a little surprised but I keep the ball in my grasp. I kick it a little way from me, and when Noah goes for it, as I assumed, I capture the ball in a quick move around his legs and he trips, getting a mouthful of grass. I quickly kick the ball into the goal with a powerful kick that makes a boom before Julie, the goalie, can even attempt to reach for it. Cheers come from my side of the field, and, though my expression remains cold, I pump a fist in the air. Mrs. Hanson blows the whistle and calls for a one-minute group chat to decide the players for the one-on-one game.
We quickly decide that, since we already have a point, we should let Belle represent us, saving me and Alex for later, when we needed another point. Belle is also good at defense, so she could defend our goal a lot better. The other team chooses Sophie, who looks mad, like someone stole her title of queen bee. I'm not too worried; Belle is fit while Sophie is very thin in terms of muscle and has some athletic capability, but not much training. The two face off, the ball in between them, waiting for the whistle. Right before Mrs. Hanson blows it, Sophie whispers something to Belle that makes her face go white. I get worried as Mrs. Hanson blows the whistle and Sophie captures the ball, running to our goal. When Belle sees Sophie halfway to the goal, she snaps out of whatever trance she was in before stealing the ball and pushing herself to the opposite side of the field. On the outskirts we watch, tensed, as Sophie gains on Belle. The stopwatch hits the two-minute mark quickly.
Right before Sophie steals the ball, Belle takes a chance and kicks the ball towards the goal. Everyone is quiet, shocked, and the ball seems to glide across the few meters in slow motion. Even the wind and the rest of nature is quiet, as if everything was holding its breath. Over the quiet, I can hear my heart thumping hard, so hard that I almost thought others could hear it too. Sophie lunges, right after the ball goes into the goal.