Chapter 11
Mariana finds herself jogging slightly towards the back door of the school in a vain attempt at catching up with her brothers.
"Guys! Come on, you said you'd wait for me!" Mariana calls after them, mentally noting that she needs to up her cardio for dance.
"Yea but not twenty minutes!" Jesus calls back, not even bothering to turn around, "Why do girls always take so long in the bathroom anyway?"
Before Mariana can even reply the door slams shut behind them, leaving her alone in the empty corridor.
"I could kill him," Mariana mutters under her breath, gritting her teeth as she speeds up. She doesn't want to miss kick off.
The humid air surrounds the pitch as Mariana finally walks up to her twin, digging her elbow into his side in revenge. Stef goes to intervene but stops when Jesus laughs and walks over to Brandon.
Today is the San Diego soccer final and all bets are on Anchor Beach to win by a landslide. This confidence in their team is causing the home supporters to go wild on the sidelines, which is a sea of homemade banners and signs. As the players of both teams make their way out of the changing rooms, the volume around them increases almost exponentially causing Lena to grimace slightly.
"Come on grandma," Stef half-yells into her wife's ear with a smug grin, "Let your hair down." Lena turns and says something inaudible as the marching band begins their pre-game entertainment.
"Right ladies, I want 110% from all of you out there today." Coach Masters faces the team with a wide grin across his rounded face, "And before you say anything, Jess, I know that in your math class that's impossible but not on that soccer pitch." This earns him a laugh from the girls. Jess, the resident math geek at Anchor Beach, goes to respond but thinks better of it – not wanting to start the game on the bench like last time.
As everyone busies themselves with shin guards and a final check of shoe-laces, Ali takes a seat beside Rachel on the bench.
"You'll be great out there." Ali smiles at the redness forming on Rachel's cheeks.
"No one will even remember me if you do your job and score." Rachel bumps shoulders with Ali playfully as they get up and walk towards the pitch.
"Hey, it's easy to score a goal. It's harder to prevent one." Ali begins to yell as they part and head to their starting positions.
The first half passes by uneventfully with neither team even getting close to their respective nets. An exhausted team almost collapse onto the side of the pitch at half-time, gulping down water eagerly as it's handed to them by fellow teammates.
"Now I know they're proving to be a better team than we'd anticipated," Coach Masters speaks with confidence, one hand balled into a fist while the other wipes sweat from his brow, "But I know that we can win this if we throw everything we've got at it."
The girls grumble in agreement, all heads nodding.
"We need to make a few changes though to keep them on their feet so," Coach Masters reaches for his clipboard and examines his notes. Everyone shuffles anxiously, no one wanting to come off in the final, "Alex you come on for Jess and Louise can take Rachel's place."
Alex and Louise jump up from the bench and begin to take off their bibs. Jess and Rachel slowly make their way over to the bench and sit down, finding the wood still warm from its previous occupiers. Ali smiles weakly over to them as she jogs back onto the pitch with a roar from the crowd.
As the game moves into its final ten minutes, Ali receives the ball and makes a bee-line down the left-hand side, distinctly hearing her moms as she approaches the net. Glancing across she finds Alex who has broken free of her defender and quickly crosses the ball to her. Alex intercepts the ball and slots it into the back of the net, securing Anchor Beach the first goal of the match.
Everyone is on their feet, jumping up and down while Ali runs towards Alex and pulls her into a huge hug. As she releases her teammate, she looks over to where she heard her moms and finds her whole family grinning back at her.
The referee blows his whistle, putting an end to their celebrations. As play continues, Anchor Beach retain their advantage and keep possession of the ball.
Alex glides almost effortlessly down the right-hand side, her confidence growing with every passing minute. Ali moves with her, careful to stay on-side. Alex fires the ball into the box. Ali jumps into the air intending to head the ball into the net, her eyes closing on impact. Suddenly, pain shoots through her temple, causing Ali to let out a scream as her body slams into the ground face first. Then everything goes black.
The crowd falls silent as the blood-curdling scream penetrates their ears. Rachel is on her feet, being held back by Jess as they straddle the white line. They watch helplessly as the on-call medic makes his way over to Ali's lifeless body and signals for the board.
The referee blows his whistle, calling a momentary pause in the game. Lena and Stef take a chance and run onto the field but no one dares to force them away.
"Come on Ali," Stef whispers as she kneels down beside her daughter, "Wake up. Please wake up."
Lena wraps her arm around Stef tightly, feeling a lump form in her own throat, her tears already threatening to overflow. Everyone watches as Ali is slowly moved onto the board and carried off the pitch, leaving a pool of bright red blood in her wake. They stop briefly as the ambulance door is swung open and the paramedics slide Ali inside with ease.
"Sorry, there's only room for one." The young paramedic says uneasily as Lena and Stef look towards one another.
"You go," Lena whispers, her voice finally making itself heard. Stef goes to argue but feels Lena applying pressure on her lower back, "I'll get the kids and we'll meet you at the hospital."
Lena watches the ambulance tears away from the parking lot, sirens blaring. She wipes away a few stray tears as she turns back towards the soccer pitch but something is blocking her way. Squinting slightly, her vision blared with tears, she finds Rachel shaking despite the baking afternoon sun.
"Oh honey," Lena opens her arms and motions for Rachel to join her, which she does on unsteady legs. They cling to one another as they begin to walk forward, "Let's get you home."
Rachel's body stiffens at those words, "No, please, I can't leave her." She whispers through ragged breaths.
"Hey, you're ok. Breathe. Just Breathe." Lena soothes her, slightly dragging the younger girl to the car and breathing a sigh of relief herself when she finds her other three kids waiting anxiously for her.
"Mama, is she going to be alright?" Mariana whispers, clinging to Jesus' side – their petty fight earlier long forgotten about.
"Mom's gone with Ali to the hospital. We'll meet them there." Lena forces a small smile, not really fooling anyone but they go along with it, fully aware that she hasn't answered Mariana's question.
