It was a somewhat gloomy day at Barden High. Students, families, and spectators all gathered wound in the bleachers as they watched the girl's soccer team play in the pouring rain.
"We got this," Stacie, the team's right midfielder said as she pat Beca's back.
She was one of the striker's very few friend's she let into her life aside from Jesse, Benji and Emily- who speaking of was the team's forward.
Although Emily was the last to join and the youngest of the group taking her spot as the sophomore, they all saw her as their little sister- especially Beca. Maybe that was due to the fact that they've practically grown up together seeing as their parents were pretty close themselves.
"This rain is getting on my nerves," Beca groaned fixing her pony tail and walking over to the sidelines with Stacie.
"Alright girls," their coach said as they huddled together. "We're down by two and there's only twenty minutes left in the game."
"I can't get an opening," the striker said and ever one looked at the short brunette. "They're all blocking me."
The man looked at Beca fore few seconds before Emily spoke up, blinking the rain from her eyes in attempt to see better.
"I have an idea," she said and Beca had looked up to look directly at Chloe, a redhead sitting with her best friend, Aubrey.
She's only seen her around school but has never actually spoke to the senior herself although everyone always talks about how sweet and smart she is. Chloe happened to look down and made eye contact with the soccer player who quickly looked away.
"Break!" They all yelled which broke Beca out of her trance as the girls ran back out to the field.
"Emily!" she yelled at the taller girl who turned around. "What's the plan?"
The younger brunette laughed at her close friend in disbelief as she shook her head. "Just keep your eyes on me."
Beds nodded and watched as Emily walked away and got in position, her doing the same soon after. The seventeen year old looked at her teammates before looking straight at one particular girl who seemed to be staring at Emily the whole game.
Noticing the blatant staring, number eight- Beca had refused to acknowledge her as anymore than her jersey number, had turned to look at the much smaller girl. Unlike her interaction with Chloe, Beca stared right back with narrowed eyes attempting to send a message.
The whistle was blown and they had kicked off the ball, Beca's feet moving immediately to reach the speed she desired. Despite her height, she was one of the fastest players on the team, right next to Stacie and Emily.
The school knew them as the Unholy Trinity, something the soccer team had made up due to the fact that when the three of them were on the field, they were unstoppable; not to mention their close relationship.
The rain continued to beat down on their skin as the two teams fought for the ball. Beca cursed herself for not paying attention while they discussed their plan but she trusted the fifteen year old with her life so she watched as Stacie passed the ball to Emily who easily ran past the defenders.
Beca had some trouble getting past her own defenders but eventually did and followed Emily as they ran down the pitch, leaving players in their dust
The taller player had made eye contact with Beca who knew what was going to happen. With a hard kick, Emily had successfully passed it to the other player who was quick on her feet and followed the ball as she kicked it straight into the right comer of the net
The crowd erupted into cheers as the team celebrated their own way. Emily had ran over to Beca and hugged the girl. "That was incredible!" she shouted and hugged Be. once more. "Thanks to you the striker complimented and the girls made it back to the team.
Stacie had high-feed both girls followed by the other team players in congratulations to the girls who scored the goal. Now the score was 3-2 Barden down.
"Great work girls!" Coach Howard yelled clapping along with the crowd.
Be. turned to Emily and warned her about the girl who seemed to have it out for her on the other team and they kicked the ball off. The other girls seemed to have started playing dirty within the last ten minutes of the game, causing dirty fouls to happen every other play.
"I swear to God," Beca groaned when number eight had tripped her while attempting to get the ball.
The referee blew his whistle and ran over to pull out a yellow card and Kyle, the forward for Bender, helped Beca up.
"Don't let her get to you," she said and Beca nodded her head as she got ready for the penalty kick.
The field went quiet and she inhaled, feeling the rain drops hitting her already wet skin. As she let out her breath, she ran up to the ball and sent it flying past the defenders and the goalkeeper's hands and right into the back of the net causing everyone to scream and her team to tackle her in hugs.
The team headed back to the sidelines for one last timeout to try and find a play that'll get them the winning point before time ran out.
"They're playing dirty so I want you to play even dirtier," Coach Howard said which Beca was glad for seeing as she was ready to punch number eight. "But in addition to that, I want you girls to be smarter about it."
The eleven girls nodded and the coach began talking again.
"Every single one of you are wonderful players but our strongest are Beca, Stacie and Emily so as long as you get it to either one of the three, it'll be good."
But why can't I take the shot?" Madison asked who was the left midfielder and to say jealous of the three stars of the team was an understatement.
"The game is too close to risk anything," he said sympathetically and she scoffed.
"It's always give it to those three though!" she said louder than expected which took everyone by surprise and a few of the spectators-including Chloe and Aubrey, looked down.
"Maybe if you could shoot better, you'd be able to," Emily stated much to the left midfielder's disapproval.
The two girls had a stare off before Madison stepped toward her classmate and Beca was quick to step in front of her.
"I'd think twice about your next move, Steggler," she said lowly and the coach intervened. "Alright, we're all riled up," he said. "Just take it to the field." The girls continued their stare off while the rest of the team ran out onto the field, Stacie having to pull her best friend away.
For the next three minutes, the ball went back and forth between the two teams and it wasn't until the whistle was blown after another foul-this time on Barden, that emotions became known.
"Don't foul me again!" number eight had yelled at Emily who only rolled her eyes.
"Just be happy you get a corner kick," she said and turned to walk away but was shoved which caused her to run into another girl on their team.
From a few yards away, Beca had new the action take place and didn't hesitate to rush over.
"Hey!" she shouted grabbing the perpetrator's shoulder before delivering a mean left hook right to the gid's jaw.
The crowd was filled with gasps and the referee blew his whistle once more which didn't help. Beca's actions only caused a fight to breakout between both teams and before anyone knew it, they witnessed the first fight of the season.
"What the fuck!" Number eight yelled and launched herself at Beca which ended in Stacie pushing her away causing another girl from the other team to punch her.
"Are you okay?" Beca turned to Emily who nodded her head but before she could say anything, the shorter brunette was knocked to the ground, receiving a few hard punches to the face.
Hower Beca was quick to turn them over and give one good punch before being yanked off. Two of the other team's members had grabbed each of her arms as number eight had punched her right in the stomach and Beca hunched over out of breath.
One more punch to her ribcage was delivered before Emily had punched back, her and Madison both going after the girl as the other girls were either pushing the opposite team away or standing off to the side, not really knowing what to do.
"Bitch," Beca heard before she was pushed to the ground harshly and kicked once more leaving it even harder for her to breathe.
Seconds later, the brawl had stopped and the other team backed off leaving Barden surrounding their striker who was writhing on the ground.
"Come on, Bec," Stacie said as the team doctor ran over to check on her.
"Can you breathe?" she asked and Beca shook her head, grabbing onto her ribcage.
"Give her room," the doctor shouted and everyone backed up to allow her to assess Beca's injuries.
From the bleachers, Beca's dad and Emily's mother watched in suspense worried about the soccer player. When she went down, Chloe grabbed Aubrey's hand in worry, not knowing what happened in soccer games. The whole time, her eyes were trained on the small brunette.
"Can I lift your jersey up?" the doctor asked knowing something had happened to the girl.
Beca nodded her head and her stomach was immediately hit with rain when the item was lifted up just enough so the doctor could see the damage.
"Oh my God," Emily barely got out as tears welled up in her eyes and Stacie pulled her in a hug.
"Beca, honey," she informed. "Your ribs have a little bruising so we need to take you over to the side, okay?"
Taking in a very small breath, she nodded her head and just seconds later she was helped up off the ground.
The seventeen year old grabbed onto her ribs as they slowly walked over to the side where she was helped out of her jersey and left in her sports bra.
"Are they broke?" she was finally able to ask as the doctor gently touched the area.
She shook her head. "No, just bruised thank God."
Beca let out a breath of relief and looked up at her dad who had made his way over on the bleachers.
"Are you okay?" he asked and she nodded her head.
"Yeah, I'm good," she said and he nodded his head before leaving and Beca had once again made eye contact with Chloe who offered a friendly smile.
Instead of smiling back, Beca reached for her jersey and pulled it back
"I'm assuming I got a red card," she asked her closest teammate who happened to be a freshman who reluctantly nodded her head.
Beca sighed and grabbed her water bottle and plopped down on the bench, watching as the last seven minutes of the game played out.
It was played in suspense, but in the last ten seconds, Stacie had made a goal which ended the game 4-3.
The rest of the team except Beca ran out on the pitch, her choosing to walk due to her injury.
"You did it!" Beca yelled when she finally made it over to them.
"Madison might not be a great shooter, but she can give one hell of a pass," Stacie acknowledged throwing her a smile.
"Way to go, girls!" Coach Howard said when they made it back to him. "That was an unbelievable game."
The team congregated fore while before heading back to the locker room and taking showers before getting dressed.
"Beca out," she laughed and grabbed her soccer bag before walking out soon followed by Emily and Stacie.
"I can't believe you punched that girl," Emily said with a smile."I was surprised."
"I think everyone was surprised," Stacie laughed and wrapped her arm around Beca's shoulders. "What'd the doc say about your ribs?"
"They're just bruised," she said and they continued to walk until they made it to Stance car.
As she unlocked the car, she fumed around and said, "We should go out and celebrate."
"I'm tired and can barely breathe as it is," Beca laughed. "Maybe next time."
"I have homework," Emily admitted with a sigh.
Stacie nodded and opened the driver's door. "Alright, I'll see you guys tomorrow."
They all said their goodbyes before Stacie left and Emily and Beca were left to walk. "Thank you, Bec." The older one of the two furrowed her eyebrows. "For what?" she asked looking up. "For sticking up for me," Emily said. "Both Madison and the other girl."
Beca smiled and grabbed her hand. "No need to thank me. I should be the one thanking you; you punched her back for me when I couldn't so thank you."
"Anything for you," Emily said and they finished the walk to Emily's mother's car since she wasn't old enough together license yet
"I'll see you tomorrow, Em," Beca said before walking to her car.
By now the school was almost deserted other than a few cars and stragglers. It were longer walk to her car, but she loved the semi quiet walk. That was until she heard what sounded like an argument.
"I'm serious, Nate," she heard and tried to ignore it the best she could as she threw her bag in the trunk of her car.
"Come on, Chloe,' his voice began to get louder with every word. "No," she said lower before saying, "Don't touch me!" Beca sighed and turned around after shutting the trunk and watched as a taller guy grabbed the girl's hands which made the brunette angry.
"Excuse me," she said making it over to the pair knowing good and well this was none of her business. Normally she wouldn't intervene but something told her to and she couldn't shake that feeling.
"What do you want?" he asked looking down at her harshly and shejust raised an eyebrow.
"If she said not to touch her," Beca started and gently grabbed his wrists. "Then you should probably listen to her."
To say the redhead was surprised by Beca's actions was an understatement. The younger girl had easily got him to remove his hands but pissed him off.
"Who are you?" he asked viciously.
Beca, being the sarcastic smart ass she is, looked around before looking at him with a hand on her chest. "Who, me?"
The man known as Nate had raised an eyebrow with a nod that annoyed the soccer player.
"Oh, Im nobody but you should leave."
"Then get the fuck away," he said and went back to Chloe, ignoring the small junior. "Come on, Chloe. Lets leave."
Beca watched her reaction which wasn't a very good one. The redhead stepped back and pulled her arm away before he grabbed it hard which caused Chloe to cry out in pain. Almost immediately, Beca grabbed his arm and pulled it away, shoving him back the best she could.
"I said, leave her alone," she said much like she did when she got in Madison's face.
"Whatever, pussy licker," he said and she nodded her head. "We're over," he said to the redhead and walked back to his truck. "Have fun getting home, bitch."
Beca sighed a breath of relief and turned to the senior. "Are you okay?"
She nodded and said, "Thank you, by the way."
"Don't worry about it," Beca replied and began to walk away but stopped in her tracks remembering what Nate had said. "Hey, you need a ride home?"
"Oh, I don't want to-" Chloe started but Beca cut her off.
"I never do anything remotely close to this, but I'm not going to ask again."
Beca finally got the chance to look into the other girl's eyes and her heart skipped a beat when she realized just how blue they were.
"Are you sure it's okay?" she asked.
"I wouldn't have asked if it wasn't," Because cracked a smile which only really happened around her friends mostly because everybody annoyed her. "Now come on."
Chloe smiled and followed the younger girl to her car and got in the passenger seat before Beca got in the driver's seat.
The first few minutes of the drive was filled with silence before Chloe spoke up. "Take this left."
Beca did as told and decided to try and start a conversation which was uncharacteristic of her.
"You're a senior, right?" she asked and Chloe nodded her head.
"Yeah, I can't believe it's my last year here," she said looked out of the window. "It went by so fast."
They were engulfed in silence once more before Chloe spoke up again.
"What happened on the pitch?" she asked and Beca looked over at her quickly before looking back at the road. "If you don't mind me asking."
"They were playing dirty and shoved a friend of mine so I wasn't going to let her get away with it and you saw the rest."
"Is your side okay?" The redhead asked and Beca rolled her eyes.
"You sure do have a lot of questions, don't you?"
Chloe opened her mouth and looked at the younger girl. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bother you."
Beca didn't say anything else, instead finished the drive in complete silence leaving the two of them to their own thoughts.
"Thanks again for the ride, Beca," Chloe offered a smile and Beca returned it before she got out.
For some unknown reason to her, Beca stayed and made sure Chloe got in her house safe before driving herself home.