Hhhhrrrrrrnnnnngggg!
The crowds rose from the metal bleachers and cheered as the buzzer went off. Ian Hecox, the goalie, looked up from his position on his stomach at the scoreboard. It's still 2-1, he thought, smiling. As he realized what he had done for his team, they ran over from all over the field, chest-bumping each other and cheering for Ian. They picked him up and carried him to the side of the field, where their coach was waiting with a grin on his face.
"Nice save, Hecox!" he exclaimed, patting Ian on the shoulder.
"Thanks, Coach," Ian beamed. His teammates continued to pat him on the back and give him congratulations.
"Nice job, Ian!" his friend David called. As Ian walked towards him, they high-fived each other. "Oh, by the way, Anthony said he'd meet you near the flagpole.
"Thanks," Ian nodded. "Could you grab my bag for me?" he asked.
"Sure thing," David replied, and within a moment, his dark green duffel bag was tossed towards him.
Anthony paced nervously between the flagpole and the nearby trash can. His mind was racing with worst-case scenarios and horrible thoughts.
What if he says no? What if he rejects me? God, today could be the worst day of my life.
His thoughts were interrupted, however, by Ian calling his name. Now or never, he thought, and he ran over to Ian and high-fived him.
"Nice job, man! That was great!" Anthony congratulated.
"Thanks, man! That means a lot coming from you," Ian replied.
Anthony blushed and squealed inwardly. Well, he thought, this might not go as bad as I thought.
"We're still spending the night at your house, right?" he asked.
"Yeah, but my mom won't be here for a few minutes," Ian replied.
"Good. I need to talk to you about something, Ian," Anthony said, sitting in the cool grass in front of the school.
"That's right, you told me you needed to tell me something," Ian said, joining his friend on the ground. "What is it?"
Anthony took a deep breath and pushed his dark brown hair out of his eyes. Oh, geez, this is actually happening, he thought.
"Well, this has been on my mind for a while now, and I was scared to tell you, but... I like you. A lot."
Ian looked into Anthony's chocolate eyes, his mouth wide open in shock. "L-like that?" he stammered.
Anthony nodded, on the verge of tears. He looked down and screwed his eyes shut. Tears started to trickle down his face. All of the bad thoughts that had run through his head earlier came back. Turndowns, rejections, and worst of all, the fear of losing Ian's friendship, all of it crossed his mind again. He was considering just leaving, deeming the situation a lost cause, when-
"Anthony," Ian said, almost a whisper, and lifted his friend's chin with his hand. Anthony's eyes, gleaming with tears, met Ian's strong blue ones.
Suddenly, Ian's eyes seemed to be getting closer to Anthony's face, and neither one of them knew what was happening until their lips locked in a tender kiss. The world seemed to disappear around them as they both realized that this was right, this is home.
Goal, Anthony thought, as he smiled into the kiss.
