(Hey everyone! This is a new story that's been kicking around in my head for a bit. It's going to be different from the other works I've done. It's an AU, set with JJ as a Junior in High School. Most of the team will be making appearances, just not as their wonderful FBI selves. There will be some triggers later on in the piece, I will change the rating and trigger warning as necessary. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this weird new venture I'm making, please leave a comment and tell me what you think.)
"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on." Robert Frost
Forward (association football/soccer): 'Forwards are the players on an association football team who play nearest to the opposing team's goal, and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals.
Their advanced position and limited defensive responsibilities mean forwards normally score more goals on behalf of their team than other players.'
It was surely impossible that it was already time for school to start. It seemed like just yesterday that I had been hugging my best friend Kate goodbye on the steps of the school. Everyone was rejoicing that summer had officially begun, but to me it meant the end of the world as I knew it. Kate was my only close friend. Sure, there were a few people I chatted with during class and a couple girls on the soccer team who would ask if I wanted to grab pizza after games. But I had known Kate since preschool. And now she was gone for good.
Kate's dad had gotten a new job in Sacramento, meaning they had packed the moving truck the last week of classes and left early the morning after school ended. Kate quickly settled into California and her text messages were soon full of details about hanging at the beach and meeting cute guys. I on the other hand had shuttled back and forth between local tournaments and weeks away at all star camps, wishing I had something more exciting to reply with.
When Hell Week started on Monday, I had promised myself that I would be more outgoing. After all, I was going to be doing two-a-day soccer practices with these girls, surely one of them could help fill Kate's void. But I had been so exhausted from the hours of running and drills that I had turned down the offers to hang out. Instead, I had dragged my tired body to the bus stop, staring out the window on the way to my mom's house.
It was my house too, of course, but it still didn't quit feel that way. The neighborhood was so clean, so quiet. It was nothing like the noisy block I had grown up on. The houses there were small and close together. I shared a bedroom with my older sister Rosalind, and we would stay up into the early hours of the night giggling. Kate lived across the alley, also in a house overrun with children. Afternoons were spent racing bikes up and down the street and the sticky, sweaty kids spraying each other with garden hoses to cool down. The gravel street is where I had first honed my soccer skills. On hot summer nights, all of the kids would divide up into teams; boys played with girls, and there were no age cutoffs. I was always on Ros's team and we would play until long after the streetlights had come on. I had countless skinned knees and elbows but the love for the sport had bloomed ferociously.
Then Ros died. And my parents split up. My dad moved into an apartment on the edge of town. My brother Travis graduated from high school and moved away for college. Then my mom met Mark, and before I could wrap my head around what was happening, I was wearing a purple bridesmaid's dress next to a girl who was supposedly my new sister, Lindsay ("Not that anyone could ever replace, Ros, honey.") and then I was living in a new house that didn't quite smell right, in a room that was too big and too white. When I told my mom as much, she had offered to repaint but that's not what I really meant and it didn't matter anyway.
My sister was gone, my house was gone, and now Kate was gone. I really didn't know how I was supposed to survive the next two years of high school. But ready or not, it was here. I rested my head on my hand, swirling my spoon through the milk in the bowl.
"JJ, honey, you're going to be late for your first day of Junior year! And please stop scuffing your shoes, you'll hurt the floors." I reluctantly brought the bowl over to the sink. Mom poured her coffee from her ceramic mug into a travel cup. "Did you grab your lunch check from the fridge?"
I nodded and held it up as proof. "Why don't you just pay it online? They have a portal set up."
She threw a hand vaguely towards the ceiling as she dug through her cavernous purse. "I don't know, I guess I like killing trees." She takes a drink from her cup then sees the time on the stainless steel stove. "Oh God! JJ You're going to make me late. Grab your stuff, I'm headed to the car."I retrieved my backpack and duffel bag from the bottom of the stairs and followed her out the door. Once she had the car backed out of the driveway, she began to go through her daily to-do list.
"... I have that meeting with the Anderson's at 2, and you have soccer practice after school, right? Until 5? I won't be home until probably 6, so when you get home from practice please take the meat out of the freezer and put it on the counter so it'll have time to defrost. Mark wants meatloaf for dinner, with mashed potatoes and green beans. Doesn't that sound good?"
"Mm hm." I mindlessly acquiesced, staring out the window.
"JJ… she sighed, "Jen you have to cheer up, honey. Now I know it has to feel weird having Kate gone, but look at it this way, now you can make new friends! It's a chance for you to try new things and discover yourself."
"You'd know all about that wouldn't you…" I mumbled.
Out of the corner of my eye, I can see her hands tighten on the steering wheel. "Jennifer we are not having that fight right now. I can't and won't. Now can you please lose the attitude?" She managed to keep her tone cool and measured but I knew she was upset. She pulled in front of the main entrance and I pushed open the door, shouldering my bags.
"JJ?"
I shifted my weight before meeting her eyes. "Yeah, Mom?"
"I… Try to have a good day, okay? I know it's hard, but please try. I love you."
Shame slinks it's way into my stomach for acting like such a brat. "I love you, too." Then I shut the door and she drove away. I turned to face the building. Creekside High, home of the Blue Jays. Ready or not, school was here again.