A.N. Unpredictability. Apparently that's the motto of life. Go figure. Either way, enjoy the football. Lol.
Chapter XX
Showtime
The sweet smell of fall was in the air, and with the excited chatter that filled the hallway since the first bus had arrived signaled the biggest day of the entire school year. Today, as the whole town knew, was the biggest game of the season, another chance to put Stone Canyon in their rightful place, kissing the ground beneath Angel Grove's feet.
The football team patrolled the halls with the air of professionals, all the girls drooling in their impressive shadows. The cheerleaders, too, flounced among the regular kids, wearing their tiny little skirts and glitter painted on their cheeks. From every corner people were showing off their school support, splashes of purple and yellow so bright it was blinding.
The competition between the two schools was so fierce and spread that no one had bothered to chastise anyone for the ragged cardinal that someone had sewed together and strung from the ceiling, spewing confetti whenever someone smacked it.
But if the excitement was infectious, it had nearly stopped the clock in its tracks; the day seemed to drag on and on, almost enough to damper their spirits.
And then, at last, the final bell rang out, and with the usual whoop and holler that was customary on every Friday afternoon, the rabid fans spewed out of the building, hurrying to get whatever it was teenagers thought had to be done before the game started at seven.
The teachers, too, were ready for the day to be over, many of them were working the game as well as coming to watch it. Lilly grabbed her pullover as she swung her bag over one shoulder, checking to make sure she had everything before she headed out for the weekend, swiping the list of assignments in the corner of her board as she left.
A few loose students continued to wander the halls, band kids mostly, slowly making their way to the band room for the last practice before they had to perform tonight, not that they got any of the notoriety like the athletes.
Lilly stepped out the door closest to her classroom, taking a deep breath of the cooler air before picking her way through the buses and speeding cars to her own clunky piece of junk that sat rusting in the parking lot. She sneered at the mud splattered over the fading maroon paint job before yanking the passenger side door open and chucking her things into the seat. While she quickly got distracted looking to see if she had enough money to pay for a quick trip to the car wash, Jess was making her way to her own car, sitting just three empty spots down.
She looked up at the approaching footsteps, tossing up her hand in a half wave before diving back into the pocket full of change at the front of her car.
"Why don't we ever carpool?" Lilly asked suddenly, a few seconds later.
"'Cause we're never ready at the same time," Jess offered, pulling her door closed and rolling down the window.
The other nodded at that, "Fair enough. Going to the car wash, see you later."
"Later." And with that the little teal car joined the thinning traffic, before hitting the main road and disappearing around the corner.
Lilly pulled another silver coin out and examined it, sighing when it was just a particularly smashed nickel. "No wax then," she breathed, starting her car up with a sleepy groan and a hiccup. "You can't die on me, baby," she continued. She paused to pat the dash softly before backing out of the parking lot.
o.O.o
Traffic grew more awful in town as it got nearer and nearer to seven. People were lined up for blocks, trying to find decent parking spots, not that there were any left this late in the day. Their own cars were parked in a jagged line in the gravel behind the actual school, much to Cain's disapproval. Not that they were listening to him complain about dust and dirt on his shiny car.
The air was comfortable still, even with darkness encroaching from the horizon, the lightest of breezes floating through the air around them, but they'd brought extra equipment just in case, piling in the bleachers on the home side, towards the bottom.
Time ticked ever closer to kickoff, until, with only a dozen minutes left to spare, their happy bunch of teens came to the bottom of the bleachers, just as excited as any of the others, and then they vanished, making another trip around the worn pavement and disappearing into the crowd.
o.O.o
The five of them wandered among the scurrying spectators that were hurrying to find seats, or get food, or whatever it was they were doing before the timer on the scoreboard signaled the beginning of the game.
Running around at a normal high school football game like normal teenagers felt nice, they'd been working their butts off trying to balance life with being rangers. It was tough work, and left them with very little free time.
They rounded one of the corners, pulling closer to the fence as they tried to pick Ian out of the crowd of yellow and purple. "Ian!" Logan shouted when he spotted him, earning their little group a collective glare from the coaches for disrupting the pre-game practice.
Still, Ian waved back at them, before continuing on with his stretches. Their venture successful, they continued on the never ending path, passing under the watchful eyes of the people from Stone Canyon, and the disgruntled teachers that were working the gates.
"God I hope we win."
"We need to crush them after regionals last year," Logan agreed, scowling.
"Hey! My cousins play on that team!" Ellie said, smacking him on the arm.
"Mine too," Jaime added, nodding back towards the stands. "On the band at least."
Spike just trailed behind them, not taking either side on the matter.
"Yeah, well, we still need this win."
They were silent for a moment as the players stomped off the field, heading back into the locker rooms for a quick pep talk before the actual game got underway.
o.O.o
"I don't understand the point of this game," Cain complained from the bench below her. Del laughed, and Jess shook her head, rolling her eyes at him once more. "What exactly is going on?"
Lilly, feeling a bit sorry for his lack of knowledge, slid off her own seat and moved quickly to the bench below, making sure there was enough comfort space between them in their new seating arrangement. "The game just did start; they've only been playing for three minutes."
Cain eyed her warily, but said nothing.
She huffed before doing her best to explain a game she loved, but generally only knew the basics about. "It's mostly simple," she started, "they're just trying to get the ball from one side of the field to the other."
"I got that much," he scoffed, although when he turned back to the game a second later, Cain seemed a little more appreciative.
Undeterred, Lilly pointed to the line of yellow clad boys, "Ian's there, number 54."
The man nodded, leaning forward slightly as the ball was snapped and the action started up again.
After only a few more seconds however the Tigers lost the ball and the game was turned in favor of the other team. Soon the Cardinals were dashing up the field, securing the first seven points for themselves, and fiercely keeping the home team from making it more than a few yards before they were brought down.
Then, halfway through the second quarter they got a lucky break, grabbing a touchdown, but that still left a fourteen point gap between the scores. The afternoon high was quickly becoming a nasty well of nerves. The boys on the field were feeling the pressure too, upping their game but making several stupid mistakes that ended up costing them yet another score for Stone Canyon.
When the buzzer finally announced the start of halftime, the crowd let out an anxious breath. The two teams went their separate ways, marching off to the locker rooms for their twenty minute break. Most of the crowd emptied out of the bleachers to form the ridiculous line that always happened during the breaks at the bathrooms and concession stands, but for those that were left, the band marched out onto the field, hoisting their instruments.
But something wasn't quite right, there was no precision to the marching, their motions were jerky and uneven, and with only the drummers beating out a steady rhythm not unlike that of a heartbeat, they were painting an eerie picture.
Then, dashing through the hoard, sparking in a tiny white and silver outfit came a slip of a girl, a lone majorette, tossing a baton as she flitted among the others.
"Is that..?"
"Oh god."
"Kalina!"
The four of the jumped to their feet, not that there was much they could do. The other spectators were giving them odd looks, already a bit put off by the happenings on the field below them. They shrugged off the confusion, stepping off the bleachers and heading along the track to try to get in closer, all the while searching for their little heroes.
o.O.o
Kalina tossed her baton back into the air, the small piece growing as it flipped, falling back to the ground under its own weight, where she caught the staff easily, and the bright lights on the field making the polished metal shine.
She grinned, slamming the end of her magic staff into the ground, making the illusion fade away, leaving what had once been a copy of the band as a field full of the icy Nippies. Kalina tossed her blood red hair over one shoulder, searching the crowd lazily for someone to oppose her. The crowd panicked, screaming as they tried to leave, only to be frozen in place with a wave of the staff.
"Won't someone come and play with me?" she called.
And as if to answer her, there was a rattle of the chain link fence as the six rangers climbed over onto the football field. Four of them marched out to meet the threat, quickly followed by Ian and Spike, once the latter had been removed from the fence.
Alex seemed to crack her neck before returning, loud enough for the people in the stands to hear, "We'd like to play." You could hear the smirk in her voice.
o.O.o
The battle was little more than a show, Kalina had the kids tripping and dancing over each other, struggling to chase her off. It was a relentless game, and the young rangers had no chance at beating her at her own game, not with the witch's magic and superb agility.
It was like watching a cat play with a baby mouse.
The Nippies fell, of course, but the girl kept coming at them. The rangers were making fools out of themselves, but they tried anyway with unrelenting determination.
And then, just as suddenly as she had appeared, Kalina struck the ground with her giant staff and vanished with a bright flash, leaving everyone confused, just for a moment before the buzzer struck zero, and the unsuspecting football players charged back onto the field.
o.O.o
Still disappointed and on edge from the impromptu halftime show, the team drug themselves out of the locker room, a few of the boys tugging at the straps on their helmets or adjusting their pads. Their coaches loomed from all around, just as tense, but with the bigger concern over the safety of everyone involved, only Rocky seemed to realize that they were one member short.
But after just a minute of scrambling, Ian came into view, poking out from around the locker room doors, tugging on his cleats.
"Taylor! Where have you been?" the head coach shouted as Ian made it onto the sidelines a moment later, helmet off and one sock hanging limply around his ankle.
Ian looked between his coaches, eyes lingering momentarily on Rocky before he shifted back to the man addressing him. "Uh... Bathroom."
The man gave him a disapproving look before growling, "Well go! Get in there!"
He nodded quickly, ramming the thick helmet down over his head and jogging out onto the turf, switching places with his back up. They got into position, ready to give it another go.
How he managed to get stranded near the end zone was anyone's guess, but the Cardinals' boy was charging down the field, so he had followed, just three steps behind his opponent, waiting for the inevitable throw.
o.O.o
The ball flew over both of the teams, spiraling towards the end zone. Two boys stood towards that end, both launched into the air as they tried desperately to catch the flying ball. The boy from Stone Canyon caught it in one hand, fumbled, and went rolling across the turf. Ian landed on his feet at that very second, snatching the football from the ground and tucking it under one arm in an effort to protect it. Then he ran like a bat out of hell.
10 yards, 15, 20… He just kept going. Both sides of the field were holding their collective breaths, the home side was on their feet, leaning over the fence, watching the impossible come to life. And suddenly everyone was shouting. Ian crossed the last line, tumbling head first as he tried to stop, landing on his backside where he held up the ball in one hand, his other one clutched in a fist above his head.
The cannon exploded again from the edge of the field as the new score was added to the scoreboard.
Fueled with a new wave of passion, the next twelve minutes went by quickly, the score climbing higher and higher for the Tigers, leaving the boys panting and dripping sweat when the game was finally over, grinning from ear to ear. The crowd had long shouted themself hoarse, they had done it, they'd taken down Stone Canyon by a landslide, 56 to a measly 28.
Not such a bad night for Angel Grove.