The Weekenders: Bad Soccer, Good Summer
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters that appeared in the Weekenders cartoon, nor Bahia Bay and Campo Fields (Disney owns them). However, Coach Romano IS my own character and thus is owned by me.
Chapter 1: Soccer Pressure
It was a nice early evening in Bahia Bay; the Sun was still hanging in the sky and there was a soft, cool breeze in the air to take the edge off the heat. Perhaps more importantly there was a soccer match going on at Bahia Bay High School. On the sidelines we're a number of spectators, two of the more recognisable we're Tino Tonitini and Tish Katsufrakus, cheering on the team. Where we're Carver Descartes and Lor McQuarrie? They we're both in the team; Lor on the left wing and Carver playing off the striker. Tino turns around to acknowledge us all.
"Hey, it's Tino here. Long time no see everyone, last time I saw you lot was...when I went on that blimp trip with my dad when I was twelve." Tino stood silent for a few moments in deep thought. "Wow, been about four years. Anyway, there's a lot to catch up on but that can wait until later, what's happening right now is that Bahia Bay High School's soccer team is working overtime to score an equalising goal against Campo Fields' side that will make us the league champions this year! Check it, Lor has been the best player in the team the whole season and if we are gonna win, Lor will have to be involved in some way." Tino pointed to Lor who had just received the ball from Carver.
On the pitch, Lor was moving the ball down the left wing using every trick in the book to avoid tackles and beat defenders. When she made it to the corner flag she whipped the ball in low and hard, hoping that somehow one of her teammates would be able to get on the end of it. However, it never got that far as Carver, anticipating Lor's cross was hacked to the ground by one of Campo Fields' attackers, who just happened to be Laird Princeton, who had come back to defend. When the tackle hit Carver, both Tish and Tino winced.
"That's got to hurt!" Tino said through gritted teeth.
"SEND HIM OFF REF! THAT WAS A DELIBERATE HACK! LAIRD'S TRYING TO INJURE CARVER!" Tish shouted making Tino cover his ears.
"Ow! Do you have to shout that loud when you're standing right next to me?" Tino whined.
"Sorry."
The resulting foul meant a penalty had been awarded to Bahia Bay, a yellow card for Laird and a sore ankle and back for Carver, the latter for landing on the ground in an unceremonious fashion.
"This is the big moment. Penalty to Bahia Bay at the start of injury time and Lor will be taking this one. She's got a perfect conversion rate this season but something tells me the drama isn't over yet." Tino commented.
"COME ON LOR! YOU CAN DO IT!" Tish shouted at the top of her voice, causing people around her to wince and cover their ears with poor Tino again getting a lot of it right in his ear.
Lor glanced back over at her two friends on the sidelines and then over to Carver who had managed to pick himself up and dust himself off. She picked up the ball and walked over to the penalty spot and set the ball down.
"You can do this Lor, we believe in you." Carver whispered as he placed a hand on Lor's shoulder. Lor tensed up as she started to feel the pressure.
'This is like the basketball competition all over again.' Lor moaned in thought as the awful thoughts filled her mind again.
"See? Lor's got all tense and I'd bet every dollar I own, which admittedly isn't much, that she's thinking of the basketball incident for that $10,000 prize right now. Lor hasn't had a great record in handling these high pressure situations in the past..." Tino began.
"Tino!" Tish slapped Tino's arm.
"Hey! Let me finish! Erm...right, she hasn't had a great record in the past but you never know, she could succeed this time right?" Tino finished off while glaring at Tish for interrupting and slapping him.
Tish looked at Tino a little sheepishly before yelling some more encouragement to Lor.
Lor closed her eyes and forced herself to slow her breathing to a calm rate.
'Okay, I can do this. It's just like every other penalty I've taken this season. Except for the fact that if we equalise we win the title. If I miss, we are bound to finish second all because of me. Everyone is counting on me to score and I will...but...what if I miss? I'll be dubbed a loser and a failure!' Lor began to worry a little too much.
She took a few paces back and began to bite her lower lip as her heart rate began to increase rapidly. The referee blew his whistle to signal the game had begun again so Lor began her run up. Time seemed to slow down as she swung her right leg at the ball, connecting with it true and the ball shot forwards and began to rise as well.
Everyone watched as the ball flew towards the top right hand corner of the goal, the goalkeeper well beaten as he was going the wrong way...only for the ball to smash into the crossbar and fly high up into the air.
In that moment, Lor's confidence was destroyed and she slumped to the ground in shock. Everyone else on the pitch ignored her, save the referee and his two linesmen keeping an eye on her to see if she would interfere with play should the ball come her way again.
The ball came down as a couple of Campo Fields and Bahia Bay players vied to latch onto it. It bounced and was headed on by Diego, one of the centre backs for Bahia Bay, and it fell kindly for Carver who volleyed it towards goal. The goalkeeper got a hand to it but couldn't divert it past the post as the ball came back off the post, hit his back and went in the goal.
The Bahia Bay players, except Lor who was still slightly out of it, all started celebrating and ran over to Carver to congratulate him.
"And there it is! The equaliser for Bahia Bay! We've just got to see out these last couple of minutes and we'll be champions, amazingly thanks to Carver's sweetly struck volley!" Tino cheered before sighing. "And Lor will feel bad because she missed the penalty and will feel like a flop despite the fact she's our best player."
Tish simply nodded in agreement with Tino as they watched Lor get to her feet and sigh, they assumed in either relief or depression, before she congratulated Carver.
"Alright everyone! Keep it together now and focus! I don't want us to lose the title now that we are moments away from winning it!" The Bahia Bay coach, a Brazilian born retired soccer player, Luis Da Silva Romano shouted to the team.
"Coach Romano has done a good job with the team hasn't he?" Tish commented.
"Yeah, he's like coach Colson but you never see him in just a towel." Tino shuddered at the horrible memories of coach Colson answering the door when Tino and the others had knocked on his door for various reasons a few times.
A few minutes later, there was joy for the home team and fans, nearly all of them that is, as the final whistle went and Bahia Bay High School was crowned the league champions for the first time in their history. Tino turned to face us again.
"Well, there we have it, the end of the season and Bahia Bay now officially rules California in soccer for a whole year. It's been a great season for the team but I sense that in the coming weeks Lor is going to be pretty cut up about missing that penalty and Carver's head will swell to such a big size over his volley that he won't physically be able to get out of his room." Tino chuckled as Tish joined him.
"I guess we'll have to spend a large portion of the summer holiday trying to cheer Lor up and finding an adequate supply of pins to pop Carver's head every time it expands whenever he thinks about this match." Tish added to Tino's prediction.
"A fair deduction, my friend, and one I am inclined to agree with. Let's get started on Lor shall we?" Tino suggested as Lor walked over to them.
"Hey guys." Lor greeted miserably.
"Lor, you we're amazing out there today; as you have been all season! Don't get cut up about missing one penalty kick, it was going to happen sooner or later because you are human. Lady Luck was on our side today and really the team, especially you, deserved to be champions." Tino said trying to make Lor feel better.
'Hmm, I wonder if saying she was going to miss one sooner or later wasn't the right thing to say?' Tino wondered.
"Tino has a point there Lor. You've been brilliant all season with the goals you've scored, the assists you've got the red cards...you...got...erm..." Tish trailed off embarrassed about bringing up the fact that Lor had been sent off three times this season.
"Uh-huh, thanks for that fantastic display of backing me up there Tish." Tino glared at Tish. "Okay Lor, the red cards...we'll forget about them and you certainly earned every bit of praise you've got. Ask anyone on the team, any fan who watched, and they will all say that you we're the reason Bahia Bay won."
Ironically the next thing the three heard was a few of the Bahia Bay team say to Carver the following: "That strike was amazing Carver! You are without a shadow of a doubt the main reason why we won the league!"
'Why does something like that always happen? Is dramatic irony stuck to us like wallpaper paste?' Tino mentally asked himself allowing a frown to form on his face.
"You see guys; they couldn't have done it without Carver, not me. I screwed up big time, just like that basketball competition those years ago." Lor moaned as she brushed past Tino to get her kit bag from the changing rooms.
"Lor, you're over-reacting." Tino called after her.
"Somehow I don't think this will be a very easy task." Tish sighed.
"What up guys? See that superb volley I scored to win us the title? Am I the man or what?" Carver asked rhetorically as he came up to Tino and Tish.
"I'd go with the 'or what' on that personally." Tino joked.
Carver glared at Tino as Tish giggled which only made Carver growl at them.
"Seriously Carv, Lor's down about that penalty miss and she's gonna think that she ain't cut out for soccer." Tino explained.
"That miss? C'mon, we all knew she was gonna miss it. That girl can't handle a high pressure situation for love nor money." Carver replied, clearly talking before thinking.
Tino and Tish both gave him shocked expressions.
"What? Was it something I said or do I have something on my face?" Carver was perplexed by his friends' expressions.
"That wasn't a particularly nice thing to say about Lor, Carver!" Tish exclaimed.
"Oh, I guess I didn't mean to say that...well actually I did but just in a nicer way. But come on guys, she's just not reliable in those situations." Carver tried to reason.
"Carver!" Tino and Tish both scolded him as the two noticed Lor approaching them from behind Carver.
"What? What did I say wrong this time?"
Tino was about to speak when Lor's voice came from behind Carver, making him freeze with regret and shock.
"You said I'm hopeless in pressure situations and I can't handle it." Lor said as she stood to one side of her friends with all of them in her view.
Carver slapped a hand across his forehead and mentally scolded himself for putting himself in a mess.
"I-I'm sorry Lor, it sounded worse than I meant it to be." Carver tried to apologise.
"I oughta whack you one for that crack...but you're right. I can't handle these pressure situations that I get into. Maybe it's time I hung up my boots and concentrated on something easier." Lor said sadly as she turned around and walked off. "I'm gonna go home." She called.
"Oh man what have I done?" Carver asked.
"Made her feel even worse? Smooth move there Carver." Tino said sarcastically.
"I said I was sorry." Carver defended.
"Stop bickering you two. I'm going to head over to Lor's house and try and speak to her. I'll see you guys tomorrow okay? Funville at 10?" Tish asked.
"Sure, good luck Tish, call me later and tell me how it went okay?" Tino asked back.
"Okay, later guys." Tish waved to her two male friends as she walked off after Lor.
"I'm gonna go as well Carv. I'll call you after Tish has called me and give you an update. Maybe mom or Dixon will be able to give me some advice on this situation too." Tino said thoughtfully.
"Okay man, I'll go and celebrate with the team some more. I'll see you tomorrow."
Carver left Tino by himself. Tino sighed heavily before turning around to acknowledge us again.
"Well, you all saw it. Lor is officially down in the dumps and Carver didn't help things. Some things don't really change do they? I'm kind of referring to Carver on that one. Anyway, I'll see you all tomorrow and let you know what has happened and I'll give you all a short recap of the last four years. So, later days."
To Be Continued...