It's been a week since my date with Madison and as of now we have become really good friends. We have class together and she came into The Horseshoe with Sherry and Brooke for drink a couple nights ago. Ashley has been M.I.A. lately. I haven't really had the chance to talk to her since that night.
I have my first game tonight. I'm excited and can't wait to show this town what I can do. I make my way to the girls' locker room and notice the cheerleaders already getting ready for the game. Madison is in the corner with Sherry and they are putting their make up on. I don't see Ashley around.
I put my stuff down and make my back out of the locker room and towards the coaches' office.
I knock on the door. "Coach?"
"Carlin. Good. Here's your uniform." He says handing me a box. "You have a choice to make. For away games you can either ride with the rest of the team or on the cheerleaders bus. It's really up to you. We won't be discussing the game on the ride up there. I just want that time for everybody to start to get their focus." He says while look at me from behind his desk.
"It doesn't matter sir. If you don't mind I will ride with the cheerleaders so I can walk with them to and from the lockers rooms before and after games."
"That's fine Carlin. I'll let Jill know, the cheer coach. Okay well go get ready. We load the buses in 30 minutes."
With that I'm off back to the locker room to change into my uniform. I only put on my leg pads and my pants a white tee on top. I don't need to put my shoulder pads and jersey on until we get to the stadium. Tonight is going to be a special night I can just feel it.
I grab my backpack, shoulder pads and jersey and do a quick sweep around the locker room and see if I'm missing anything. I think I'm good. I walk over towards the buses and notice the cheer bus right behind the football bus.
"Coach Jill?"
"Yes, you must be Spencer? Nice to meet you."
"Good to meet you too Coach. I hope you don't mind me riding with your girls?"
"No, it's okay. I wouldn't want to ride with a bunch of stinky boys either. Go ahead and load we'll be taking off in a few." She says while checking my name off the list attached to the clipboard.
"Thanks." I say before hopping on the bus. I look around and don't see anybody I know on the bus so I take the first available seat. After a while I take out my ipod from my backpack and I'm lost in the sounds of Adele.
Suddenly I feel my seat sink. I look over and it's Ashley. She's sitting there with a smile on her face. I see her saying something but I can't hear.
She reaches over and takes a headphone out of my ear. "Is this seat taken?" she asks.
"Sorry." I say taking out the other headphone and holding it up so she knows why I'm saying sorry. "And no this seat isn't taken."
"So Madison isn't sitting here?" She asks and I look at her confused.
"No, why would she?" I say right before the bus starts up and gets ready to leave the school.
"Well I just thought after your um date…" she says shyly.
"She didn't tell you?" I ask confused as to why Madison hadn't told her we just decided to be friends.
"Tell me what? I haven't really spoken to Madison much this past week. I've been busy with…school." Ashley answers.
"Well after our date Friday we decided it was best just to stay friends." I say looking out the window watching all the cars pass the bus by.
"Oh." She says. She looks like she's in thought. "So are you nervous about tonight?"
"Yeah I am. It's hard being a girl and playing this game. But I wanted to see if I could do it."
"You're gonna do fine Spence. And every time you go do you're little kicky thingy I will be cheering you on." She says trying to cover a blush.
"Kicky thingy? Really Ash? But thanks it's nice to have my own personal cheerleader."
"Well you can count on me. I'll be on the sideline with my pom poms screaming lets go Spencer ha ha." She says while pretending she has her poms poms in her hands and fake cheers. "And I don't know the name for the kicky thingy so I just call it kicky thingy." She says with a slight blush while I laugh.
The rest of the bus ride we had light chit chat. We've finally arrived to the visitor's stadium. I gather up all my stuff to make my way off the bus. I'm so nervous.
"Good luck Spence. I'll be cheering for you."
"Thanks Ash." I say shyly.
"Hey what's your number so I can look for you out on the field?"
"I'm sure I won't be hard to spot. Just look for the player with the blond hair sticking out of their helmet doing the kicky thingy." I say with a laugh. Aww she's bright red after I've said that. Too cute… "But incase you can't find me, my number is 12."
She nods gives me that nose crinkling smiles I've grown to love so much.
"Alright so I've got to meet up with the rest of the team. Save me a seat after the game?" I ask.
"You got it." She says while I'm making my way off the bus and towards my teammates.
Talk about a great bus ride. Ashley and I have finally started talking more. I like this side of her. She's sweet and cute. Okay Spencer clear your head you have a game to play. I make my way towards the team.
"About time you join the team, princess." One of my teammate says, while the others chuckle.
"Okay that's enough. We've got a game to get ready for. Let's get to the field for warm ups." Coach tells us.
We all run towards our side of field and drop our equipment. After everybody is ready we line up on the yard lines and start our warm up drills. During warms up I see the stadium start to fill up. The closer to game time the more nervous I am getting. I look around our side of the stadium to see if I can spot Glen. He always seems to settle my nerves just by being there.
I don't seem him.
A whistle is blown. "Okay let's head towards the field box" Coach yells.
We all take off at a slow jog towards the field box. While we are making our way I spot Ashley and the other cheerleaders warming up. They are wearing their uniforms now. Cute. Sexy. Oh God.
"Watch it Carlin." I guess I stopped jogging and Aiden ran into me.
"Sorry Aiden, I guess I got sidetracked." I say. He laughs.
"More like distracted." He chuckles and looks over towards the cheerleaders. "Come on, let's get our heads straight for this game."
We are slowly jogging into the field box and the rest of the team is standing around waiting for coach to talk.
"Take a knee." Coach says. We all do what we are told. "Tonight we play with our hearts. We leave everything out on the field. And we play with everything we have. Because we are fighters and fighters don't stop fighting until the very end." He pauses. "So tonight we play like champions and we act like champions. Aiden leads out with Victory on 3."
"Okay bring it in everybody." Aiden says. "Victory on 3. 1…2…3…"
"VICTORY." The team shouts out together.
After our talk we all put on our jerseys over our shoulder pads and make our ways towards the field. I notice there is a big blow up helmet that the team is lining up underneath. And the cheerleaders are lined up on the outside of it.
"And the visiting team is the Fighting Cobras of King." The announcer says.
My team beings to run through the blow up helmet and loud applause can be heard on our side of the stadium. As I'm running through I see Ashley lined up waving her pom poms and lock eyes and smile at each other.
Yeah all my training and making this team was so worth it. I feel like she's only cheering for me.
After we walked out onto the field the home team, the lions, made their way out onto the field. The national anthem was played and kick off was set. The home team won the coin toss and choose to receive first. So I'm about to make my way on to the field for my first kick off. I'm slightly nervous. I'm warming up my leg on the side line when I'm pulled out of my concentration.
"Spencer."
I look up and see Glen in the stands. "You made it." I smile.
"Of course baby sis I'm not going to miss your first game. Hell I'm not going to miss any game." He smiles. "I just wanted to wish you luck before you started."
"Thanks Glen."
"Now go make me proud." He says and I nod at him while running towards the field.
We are lined up in position for the kick off. The umpire sets the ball on the kicking tee. I take my calculated steps. I nod to my guys on my left. They nod back. I nod to the guys on my right. They nod. We're all ready. The umpire blows his whistle and with that I run up to the ball and kick it. All my guys take off towards the ball.
A guy from the other team calls for a fair catch in the end zone. I did good. They weren't able to get any good yardage out of that.
"Good kick Carlin." Coach says. I nod and take a seat on the bench.
I look around and take in my surroundings. I see Kyla with her big camera taking pictures on the sideline for the school newspaper. I see Ashley, Madison and the rest of the cheerleaders doing cheer and flips. And other things cheerleaders do. I can't really see beyond the skirt Ashley is wearing. Hot.
The defense is on the field while the offense is away with a coach going over a game plan. And I take a quick look into the stands and see Glen watching the game intently. I love it here. This is home and I couldn't be any happier.
Before I know it there is a minutes left on the clock and we trail by 2 points. Aiden is trying to get the team as far down the field as the possibly can without letting too much time go off the lock.
"Carlin start warming up." Coach screams from the front of the sideline.
"Got it coach." I reply before I start making my way to the practice kicking net. I set the ball up and kick it up about 6 times. When I'm done I make my way over to the coach. I look at the clock and notice there are only 10 seconds left on the clock.
"Timeout." Coach tells a referee. I turn to look at the clock there are only 4 seconds now left on the clock.
"Okay Carlin, Let's get this field goal and make our way home with a victory."
"Yes coach." I say bringing my helmet up and putting it on.
I jog onto the field. I'm going for a 45 yard field goal try. I can do this. I've done them before. 50 yards is where it starts to get a little hard for me. My team is getting into formation. I take my steps. I pause and looks towards Ashley. She locks eyes right before she nods and mouths "go spencer." I smile at her and nod. She nods too.
I direct my attention back towards the Aiden, my holder. I give him a nod and the ball is snapped to him and sets it in position. I run up to ball and kick it.
"And it's good." The announcer says. "The Cobras win the game. The final score is Cobras 17 Lions 15."
I'm in complete shock. I just won the game. As we are running back towards the field box my teammates are patting me on the back as they jog by. I guess I've finally earned some respect and it feels great. I make my way in to the field box to listen to what the coach has to say for us.
"Great game tonight guys. We still have a lot of work before our next game. Tonight the game ball goes to…Carlin. Without that kick we would have lost this game." He says while throwing me the ball.
I catch the ball and say "Thanks" and the guys all start hooting and hollering.
"Okay guys let's load up the bus and get out of here."
With that I take off my jersey and shoulder pads. I take off my cleats and put on my regular tennis shoes. I head to the bus still full adrenalin; I hope Ashley saved me a seat.
"Great game tonight Spencer."
"Thanks Coach Jill." I say while loading the bus.
I look around for Ashley and notice she's in the same exact seat we rode in on the way over here. "Is this seat taken?" I ask her while taking a seat
"Yeah actually it's saved for this hot football player." She says while the bus starts up and moves pulls away from the stadium.
"Oh well I guess I'll find somewhere else to sit." I jokingly say getting up but she grabs my hand and pulls me back down.
"Sit down. I wanted to congratulate you on your game tonight." She says while looking in my eyes and still holding on to my hand. "We're all going to The Horseshoe for drinks when we get back, you up for it?"
I look down at our hands. "Yeah I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."
"Good." She says right before she intertwines our fingers.
"Hey Ash?"
"Yeah Spence?"
"Will you go out with me tomorrow night?" I don't know what overcame me to just ask her out. Maybe it was still the adrenalin running through my blood with the night I've had. I'm looking at her waiting for her answer. The way the moonlight is reflecting off her face she looks absolutely stunning.
"I'd love too." She says blushing.
"Really?" I ask timidly.
"Don't look so surprised Spence. Of course I want nothing more than get to know you better." She says.
I give her the biggest smile I could muster up.
Before long we are approaching the school. I shower, get changed and head to The Horseshoe. I plan on celebrating tonight.
As soon as I walk into the bar the crowd goes wild and is filled with screams and claps congratulating me on the winning kick. I make my way over to the bar.
"Charlie, can I get a beer?"
"No problem Spence. And also a shot of patron as well." He says
"Huh?" I ask confused.
"Hey," he holds his hands up "I'm just doing what I was told." He says while looking for her shoulder down the bar. A large group is sitting consisting of Ashley, Madison, Brooke, Sherry, Kyla, Aiden and few of my teammates.
I grab my shot and beer and walk over to the group. They all cheer when I make my way towards them.
"On behalf of me and the football team, you're drinks are on us tonight." Aiden says. "With that we are getting you wasted." Aiden says entirely too loud.
I laugh. And make my way towards Ashley.
"Hi." She says.
"Hey." I say back.
"Okay enough of that. Take the shot!" Kyla screams.
"Shot, shot, shot…" the bar erupts
Here goes nothing…I hold the shot up in the air and bring it up to my lips and throw my head back. Woooooo!
-X-X-X-
WTF! Why is my head pounding? Wait. Where the hell am I? I look around, well thank god I'm in bed alone and still dressed in last nights clothes. But I'm not in my bed. I sit up and grab my head. I look over on the nightstand and notice there is some aspirin, a water bottle and a note.
Spence,
Take the aspirin and drink some water.
Whenever you're ready to get up, I'll be in the living room.
Ashley
I slowly get up and make my way towards the in suite bathroom. I at least need to be presentable when I face Ashley this morning. I don't want the first thing she sees this morning is the disaster that is my hair. When I'm finally presentable I make my way towards the living room.
"Hey." I tell her. She's sitting at the kitchen table reading the paper. She's full of surprises.
"Morning. There is some breakfast on the stove and juice in the fridge." She says motion towards the kitchen.
"What happened last night?" I ask moving to take a seat in front of her at the table.
She chuckles. "Well Aiden kept buying you shots and even after you told him no, you just kept taking them." She laughs again. "Well next thing I know you said you wanted to go home but Glen hadn't showed up yet so Kyla suggested I bring you back to our house and she'd let Glen know where you were."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to put you out." I say.
"Don't worry about it. I slept in Kyla's bed thinking we'd share…."
"Wait…where is Kyla?" I ask
"Well last I checked I got a text from her saying she wasn't coming home."
"Glen." We both say at the same time. And start to laugh uncontrollably.
Just as the laughter is dying down the front door swings open. "SPENCER?"
"Ouch Kyla I'm right here you don't have to yell." I say while holding my head.
"Well excuse me Miss I'm the Queen of the World." She says and both her and Ashley burst out laughing.
I stare at them confused.
"Sorry Spence. But that's what you were saying when we put you in Ashley mustang last night and you thought being in a convertible was like being on the Titanic. So while Ashley was driving away you stood up and shouted…"
I cringe. "I get it. I get it. Well at least it was just you too." They laugh again.
I look and them and groan. "Who else?"
"Just our whole group from last night." Kyla says laughing. Oh god. I'm not going to live this down.
"Anywho, I was coming in to tell you Glen is waiting outside for you. And we got your car back to your house already." Kyla says.
"Okay, well thanks for last night Ashley." I tell her.
"No problem, Spencer."
"uuh Ash?" I say right before walking out of her house. She looks at me. "Are we still on for tonight?"
She nods and smiles.
"Great. I'll pick you up at 8pm?" I ask.
"Sounds good. See you then Spence." I smile and walk out the door and towards Glen's car.