Game day

The football team was gathered in the locker room. Saree egged them on, and explained the strategy of today's game. Thea, Dabria, and Amber, were all there. They had been cleared by the hospital staff to play this game if they managed to have a full cardio practice without feeling sick or lightheaded. It had been five days since the fire, and they were all happy to have something else on their mind.

Outside on the field, other students gathered at the benches, getting ready for the match. They were meeting another school today, and the high school rivalry was as strong as ever. No one even knew why they wanted to be better than the other school, they just knew they were supposed to. Bree, Sel, and even Katkin sat down on a bench between the others. The rain fell heavy, and several people had brought umbrellas. Sel and Bree each sported a rain coat, while Katkin was simply wearing a hoodie.

"You are going to get cold Katkin. It doesn't seem ideal since you left the hospital yesterday." Bree worried and offered Katkin her still folded umbrella.

"I have been inside for five days, I am going to enjoy being outside no matter the weather." Katkin smiled and looked up to let the water hit her face.

"If I hear the slightest shiver from you I'm giving you my jacket." Bree decided.

They watched as both the teams entered the court, and stood on two lines to greet each other. Both teams had a little team chant that they sang, egging each other up more. They had to scream pretty loud so that everyone could hear them over the raindrops that smattered against their different plastic covers. The teams split up, and went to their respective sides of the field, and to their own side benches. Saree shouted some last instructions, and then the referee blew the whistle.

Both Thea and Dabria started on the field. Their friends screamed their names at the top of their lungs each time any of them had the ball, and cheered wildly when they managed to dribble away an opponent or got a good kick in. The, who played forward, ran up and down the longer side of the court, attacking when she had the ball, or meeting it up when it was passed to her from their defense line. Dabria, who was part of that defense line, backed her up perfectly. Thea didn't have to worry about losing the ball because the second she did, Dabria had it and sent it away to another teammate. The game was pretty even, and both teams had scored one goal each when the referee called for half time.

They all huddle together close to be able to hear Saree. The wind was picking up now, and it was almost getting impossible to hear anything out on the field.

"You're doing a great job ladies! Keep this up and you will tire them down this next half!" She shouted, with a big smile on her face.

She almost had to close her eyes when she looked on her players, since the rain fell so aggressively.

"I don't know if we can keep it up in this weather!" One of the midfield players said.

"As long as there's no lightning, we're fine!" Thea shouted back, trying to be encouraging.

Dabria looked over to the supporters. Half of them had left already, but a cheerful bunch was still there.

"If they can stay to watch us play, then we can stay to play!" She said and held out her hand in the middle of the group. "Come on team, we can do this!"

The rest of the team put their hands on hers, and they all screamed as they raised them to the sky. They jogged back out on the court when the referee blew the whistle again. Thea ran past Dabria, and smacked her arm.

"Good job captain!"

The game started again, and they played for just about ten more minutes, before a rumbling sound was heard from above. The referee immediately blew the game of again and went to consult with the coaches. They were not going to continue the game if there was thunder and lightning incoming. The team gathered together by their goal, waiting for the result. They tried to keep up their warm and jumped around and stretched to not get too stiff in the cold downpour.

"You cursed it Thea!" Amber shouted as she jumped up and down on her toes.

"I don't believe in curses!" She shouted back and reached out her tongue at her.

"Doesn't make you immune to them!" Dabria alsoe shouted from where she was reaching for her feet to stretch out her back.

Saree made her way up to them and gathered them close again.

"We will not continue the game!" she said and was met with a groan."But we will make sure to have a winner. We will do penalties, five at a time, until one team wins."

The team cheered, and Saree pointed out five of them that was going to take the shots.

"What is happening now?" Sel asked Bree and Katkin.

"Th-th-they're doing p-p-penalties." Katkin answered between her shaking teeth.

"That's it, you're getting to cold." Bree said and took of her jacket.

She pulled Katkin a bit closer, and wrapped the jacket around her. She closed the zipper and pulled up the hood. She unfolded her umbrella and held it above the three of them. Katkin let it happen, and actually felt a bit warmer as the direct exposure of the wind and water. She smiled and buried her lower face in the neck of the jacket. When she inhaled she realised it smelled like Bree. She didn't know when she learned what Bree's smell was like, but now that she noticed it, she liked it.

Each team was supposed to fire five shots each. The one who scored the most won, simple as that. If they scored the same amount, they restarted with five more turns. Thea and Dabria were both chosen to try, and they were last and second to last. The first three of their team missed, and one of the other team hit. Thea went first. She stood a few meters from the ball and looked at the goalkeeper, trying to figure out her movement. The whistle cut through the air, and she started to run towards the ball. She pretended to aim towards the left of the cage, but just as she reached the ball she changed her weight and shot straight forward. The goalkeeper realised what she did, but had no time to stop the motion her body was already in, and fell to her left, with the ball flying into the cage above her. Everyone cheered as the ball got caught in the net, and bounced on the grass. They ran up to her and hugged her short and hard, before moving to the side for the other team to try their last shot. They watched in silence, as the player got ready, and then started to take aim when the whistle blew. They saw her take aim for the left as well, but the home teams goalkeeper was smarter than that. She stood completely still, and as the shot was made, she caught it clean between her hands. Everyone screamed excitedly again. Now all Dabra needed to do was to score.

She walked up to the spot, put down her ball, and looked up at the goal. She backed up a few steps, not taking quite as much space to charge like the others. She raised her face to the sky, and let the rain pour over her face. She smiled, took a deep breath, and looked down again. The whistle was blown for the last time, and Dabria ran three steps forward and hit the ball as hard as she could. It went to the left, ironically, and the goalkeeper followed. She reached the ball, but wasn't prepared for the speed it had, and it breached right between her hands. As the ball hit the back of the net, a lightning struck down close by. It wasn't on the field, but the thunder that followed was barely a second behind. Everyone went dead silent in shock. Thea was the first to move, and she ran up to her sister, and grabbed her by the waist. She lifted her a decimeter or two of the ground, and screamed out. Dabria flung out her arms as she joined her victorious cheering. The rest of the team followed, and the crowd cheered as well.

"Okay, now let's get everyone inside before someone is actually hit!" Saree shouted and waved her arms for both the players and the crowd to get inside.