"Get off!" Beca screamed as the whistle was blown. She had tripped over a girl who seemed to have anger problems and tackled the brunette to the ground. The score was 0-0, neither of the teams being able to get a shot off.
As the referee held up a yellow card, the girl was pulled off by her teammate. If it hadn't been for Stacie pulling Beca back, she would have went after her.
"You promised Chloe and we need you," the blonde reminded her friend and she calmed down with a nod.
Beca looked over in the bleachers to find her friends, Katherine and her dad all sitting together. The redhead blew a kiss her way which caused Beca to smile. Chloe's brother, Christian, had wanted to come to the game so the redhead brought him. He was actually a soccer fan and played back in his school days which allowed Beca to warm up with him a little more.
They set up for the penalty which Beca took but to Barden's dismay, the goalie smacked it with her hands. The striker groaned as she rested her hands on her knees to take a breath. This was not going good for either team which only made it more aggravating. Barden high's girl's soccer team did a wonderful job at winning every game, but some of the girls had little faith they would win. It was hard for Beca to stay positive when she was as irritated as she was.
"Someone needs to get an opening," Emily said when she jogged over to the other brunette who stood up straight.
"I know but their defense is too good," she sighed. "I'm afraid we'll have to start pushing harder."
"Why are you afraid of that?" Ashley asked. Her and Jessica made it to the three other players while the other team procrastinated by talking to the ref.
"Because when Beca starts pushing, she usually ends up in a fight," Stacie said knowingly.
"You just need to breathe and take it slowly," Jessica said. "It's not like they're trying to kill us." The blonde looked up which made the other four girls followed her gaze. "Although number 10 looks like she wants to."
"Let's start pushing," Beca said when the whistle blew. "Lets kick their sorry asses."
"There's our captain!" Stacie screamed as they all got into position.
As soon as the other teamed kicked it off, they all immediately ran all over the place, Beca's cleats digging into the turf as she ran. Both teams were running, tackling, and dribbling more than ever. It made for a great game for the spectators- even the one's who had no other choice but to come regardless if they enjoyed soccer or not.
Emily slid in and tackled the ball, quickly passing it to Stacie who ran it down the field, past defenders as both teams chased her. She was way too fast for the other team, but when she went in for the goal, it hit the top of the post, sending it straight back.
Both Ashley and a few girls jump up to hit it, but as soon as they did, the other girl had managed to clip the brunette's boot with her hand as she went up which sent her flipping through the air before landing in an awkward position. Ashley's screams halted the game, Jessica and Beca running to their friend and teammate who was lying on her stomach, reaching for her arm that had been twisted.
"Are you okay?" Jessica asked kneeling beside her friend with a hand on her back. The brunette just shook her head prompting Beca to run over to their coach.
"What happened?" Jesse asked and the brunette looked up.
"Her arm looks broke," Beca said before turning around.
"I'm sorry," number 10 said just as Beca got back to them with their coach.
"I bet you are," she replied moving to push the girl out of reflexes but Stacie pulled her away.
Beca looked up at the blonde who had fixed her blonde pony tail. "She didn't mean to, Bec," she said. "It's a rough sport just let it go."
The brunette nodded and walked back over to their injured friend who was now lying on her back, cradling her arm.
"Is it broke?"
"Definitely," the team doctor said and helped Ashley up before leaving the pitch.
The coach turned to the captain and asked, "Any particular player you want?"
Beca turned to look at the benched players before telling him to bring out Madison. The girl was good, she just never got to play because there were far better players on the team like the Unholy Trinity and Jessica and Ashley. She never started and was often subbed in for one of the other girls but she didn't get enough play time.
The game started right after Madison was subbed in and the girls played even harder at defending but also their offense as well. They all worked great together which allowed for Beca to win the ball before sending it flying down the pitch.
As far as Beca kicked it, it came right back after being kicked back by the other team. The brunette inhaled as she hit it up with the top of her head before one of her own teammates hit it back up. It was like no one could get it back down so Emily finally "accidentally" ran into the opponent before stopping the ball and dribbling it down the pitch, Beca and Stacie hot on her tail.
From a distance, she could see one of the defenders refusing to move so when she went to pass it to Stacie, she was elbowed right in the face which sent her hitting the ground hard. Beca was too close to both girls to stop, so she ended up trying to side step to keep from steeping on Emily and ended up running straight into the defender, sending them both to the ground.
A whistle was blown and a yellow card was shown to the opponent before pulling out a red card, sending her off the pitch.
"Em, are you okay?" Beca asked immediately crawling over to the girl who was grabbing at her eye. "Let me see."
As soon as she lifted her eye, stacie had jumped over the two and went after the opponent who was already making her way off the pitch.
"Stacie, no!" Beca yelled as she quickly got up to pull her best friend back. She used more force then she thought and sent the girl a few feet back. "You're the one who told me it wasn't worth it. A promise was made."
"You promised Chloe you wouldn't get into a fight," she huffed. "I didn't."
"We can't lose both Ashley and you!" the brunette screamed as she pushed her back once more. "Let's just make sure Emily's alright."
The blonde nodded and the two dropped down by their youngest friend who had gathered an audience. Beca didn't get a good look at her step sister's eye, but from what she did see, it wasn't bleeding from a cut.
"Just take a minute," Stacie said, her hand resting on the girl's stomach as she rolled around.
Katherine and Dr. Mitchell both made their way onto the pitch despite the coach telling them not to. When they reached the group of girls surrounding Emily, they stepped back to make way for her parents.
"Emily, sweetie," Katherine said bending down beside Stacie who moved over to let her in. "Can you see?"
Slowly removing her hand from her face, Emily nodded her head before slowly sitting up. "Yeah, I'm good. It just hurts."
"Can you still play?" Dr. Mitchell asked worried for his step daughter's health, not the match.
"Yeah," she sniffled and stood up with the help of her mother. "You can go back to your seats. I'll be good."
"Are you sure?" Dr. Mitchell asked just to make sure but left with his fiancé as soon as Emily reaffirmed once more.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Beca whispered with her arm around the taller girl's waist.
"Yeah, just get open for the corner kick," she said stepping back. "I'll need to ice it when we get home, though that's for sure."
Beca nodded and they all got ready for the corner kick. Emily blinked a few times before rubbing at her eye but gave a good kick which went straight to Madison who took her chances and went for a shot only to miss by a few feet.
"Call a timeout," Stacie told Beca who immediately motioned to her coach who called it.
Both teams went to each side of the field as they began to strategize for better plays.
"First Ashley and now you," Coach Howard shook his head. "Are you okay?"
The brunette nodded her head. "I'll live but if we don't do something, we're going to lose."
Beca walked over to her bag to grab her water bottle, looking up at her girlfriend when she did so. The redhead didn't notice her from talking with Benji so Beca carefully climbed on the outside of the bleachers and whistled.
"Hey, cutie," she smiled which grabbed her girlfriend's attention.
Chloe stood up and made her way over to the edge, grabbing onto Beca out of instinct to make sure she wouldn't fall. After all, it was a long drop.
"You guys are insane," she exclaimed after getting a kiss first. "Is Em okay?"
"She said she is, but she'll probably have a bruised eye in the morning." Beca took in a breath. "This game isn't looking good."
"Yeah, we know," the senior acknowledged. "Just try your hardest."
"Aye aye, captain," Beca said with a wink before her name was called. "I gotta go, but give me a good luck kiss?"
"You're goofy," the older woman laughed but leaned down to attach their lips anyway before watching the soccer player jump down and make her way over to her team.
"We can't substitute any more players and we can't afford to lose any more," the coach said. "We still have thirty minutes left in the game and we need every minute we can get."
"They're fouling big time," Jessica announced.
"Let them foul," he added. "Fake an injury if you have to, we just need to get the upper hand here."
"Should we switch up the play?" Beca asked with her hands on her hips as she rotated her head.
"Go for 4-2-3-1," he said and a whistle was blown to signal their timeout was over. "You girls got this. I believe in you."
The players ran back out on the pitch, the crowd cheering as they did so and they all fought for the ball for several minutes before another whistle was called, this time having Madison rolling around on the ground as she held onto her ankle. Lucky for Barden, she was good at faking injuries.
The girl was carded and they continued the game, the other team seeming to get frustrated at getting called on all their fouls.
"Fuck you!" a girl yelled out at Stacie who winked at her.
"I bet you'd love to," she called out smugly as she walked backwards. "Bitch."
The Barden girls were side stepping a maneuvering in ways that they never had to until tonight. Right as she looked up, Beca ran right into Stacie which made them both fall back a few feet with the amount of force both girls produced with their speed.
"Shit," Stacie groaned as she rolled over on her side to find the brunette doing the same. "You okay?"
"Peachy," the striker said getting up. The referee had blew his whistle, way too eager to hand one of them a yellow card until the two players assured him it wasn't purposeful.
There was one minute left on the clock which prompted all players to play even harder, not wanting to go into overtime.
Emily had scored the ball and dribbled it straight down the pitch before looking for any of her teammates to pass it to. From a distance, she spotted Beca running down the right side as she scissored through her defenders. The younger girl somehow seemed to know exactly where she was head so she kicked the ball straight down the middle before stopping. Beca had managed to run so fast, no one else could catch up to her which left it between her and the goalie as she went in. Every single girl other than Beca collectively stopped, too tired to chase after the striker.
It was like everything went into slow motion; Beca tipped the ball off before kicking it with her left foot, curving the ball right into the top left corner of the net, the keeper diving to the opposite end and the crowd went wild. Beca jumped in the air in celebration before running the entire field with her arms held up in the air. Her teammates eventually caught up to her and tackled her into a dog pile while they all celebrated their advancement to the championship match.
"You did it!" They screamed as they all got up except for Beca who sat on her knees, as she took in the moment.
The crowd was screaming and chanting her name while her friends and family made their way down the bleachers. She finally got up and started walking to the group of people headed her way. Much like she did the previous day, Chloe ran to Beca and jumped in her arms before kissing the shit out of her.
"I'm so proud of you," she beamed. "You took them to the finals."
The brunette smiled as she kissed her girlfriend once more before spinning around. "I can't believe it."
Beca sat Chloe down so she could grab her face, managing to kiss her more passionately before they were interrupted.
"We're all going out to celebrate," Dr. Mitchell said motioning to all his daughter's friends. "Em and Stacie are already in the locker room getting ready so get in there so we won't be late."
Beca nodded as she looked at all her friends before kissing Chloe one last time. She was one of the last girls to take a shower due to her being late, but they all waited on her to congratulate her one last time before collectively chanting her name.
The striker relished in the feeling of winning the semi-finals as she let the warm water run over her body. She took longer than usual, but she still made it out in time that she wouldn't get ridiculed for the amount of time she took; either that or they were all too happy to care.
"That's what I call teamwork," Jesse said high fiving his three friends as they walked over. "You girls are everything."
"Thanks, Jess," Beca laughed and looked at Emily. "How's your eye?"
The brunette looked up with a smile and shrugged. "It's throbbing." She turned to everybody and asked, "Do any of you have any Advil?"
"I do," Aubrey said reaching into her purse. "I carry a small bottle with me just in case."
"Thank you," Emily replied as she stuck the pill on her tongue before taking Chloe's water that was offered out to her.
"Are you guys hungry?" Katherine asked with a smile and they all nodded. "Let's head out."
They chose to take as minimal cars as they could so Chloe, Aubrey, and Jesse all got in the brunette's car while Emily, Benji and Stacie went with Katherine and Dr. Mitchell.
Christian agreed on going but only if he took his own car. He didn't know everybody all that well except for Aubrey, so if things got crazy, he wanted to be able to leave.