Chapter 16

The First Soccer Game

ZEKE POV -

The persistent ringing of the phone wakes me up. It has to be the third or fourth call, and when I finally crack open my eye to look at the clock, the light is like shards of glass in my retina. It is 10:00 a.m. on a Saturday. Why did I pick such an obnoxious ringtone? Why didn't I put my phone on silent last night? Who on earth would be calling me at this ungodly hour? I reach out and fumble on the nightstand for the phone before it can ring again and squint at the screen. Four. Of course it's Four, that dude never sleeps, does he? I swipe my finger across the screen to answer and clear my throat before croaking, "Dude, this had better be good! What do you want, man?"

"Zeke, wake up. It's already 10:00 o'clock. Get up, the girls first game is today. Get up and come with me, let's surprise them."

I groan and flop back down on his pillow, "The girls?"

"Yeah Zeke, the first soccer game. The girls first game. I'm going to watch Tris, you should come with me and cheer on Shauna."

"Come with you?"

"DUDE!" Four shouts, without mercy, "Wake up! It's the first game. Lets go surprise the girls."

"Ok, ok. No need to shout, man! That is rude and you know it. Just give me a minute to process. I don't wake up in a snap like you do! OK, so what time is the game?"

My head is pounding and my ears are ringing. My mouth feels like I chewed up and swallowed a roll of paper towels. I stare at the ceiling and try to remember what Uriah and I got up to last night. We were at the game and then the party at the Pit. I must have had a few too many beers last night to feel this bad. Four is still babbling on about the soccer game.

"Wait, what did you say, Four?"

"Were you listening to anything I said? The first game is at 11:00 a.m. We've got an hour. I will pick you up in thirty minutes. If you aren't dressed and downstairs waiting on me, I will leave your ass where you are. Got it?"

"Yeah, yeah... I got it. I'll see you out front in an hour."

"Thirty minutes, Zeke. The game starts in an hour."

FOUR POV

Thirty minutes later, I pull up to the Pedrad house with a black coffee, a cheeseburger, and a soft white teddy bear.

Zeke is ready and walks out to the car when he sees me pull up. Zeke still looks only half awake; good thing I brought coffee. He might also be hungover; good thing I brought the cheeseburger.

Zeke opens the door and sees the coffee and cheeseburger. With a dramatic sigh he says, "You're a lifesaver. I could kiss you man! How do you think of these things? I mean, is that a teddy bear? Why would I need a teddy bear Four?"

"The bear is for Tris, you ass."

Zeke wastes no time unwrapping the cheeseburger and taking a huge bite. Around a half chewed mouthful of burger, Zeke asks, "What for?"

I shrug. "For however the game goes. If they win, it's a celebration bear. If they lose, it's a consolation bear. If she doesn't get to play, it's an 'I am proud of you anyway' bear."

Zeke looks at me out of the corner of his eye and concedes, "You're scary good at this man. I can't believe you've never been a boyfriend before. You need to slow this down though or she will expect big gestures like this all the time."

I scoff. "A teddy bear is a big gesture?"

"The principle of the matter is what I'm getting at. You don't want to set a precedent that you can't always live up to."

"I can live up to this. I am not going to set the bar intentionally low just so I can keep Tris happy without effort. I'd rather make her legitimately happy, Zeke."

Zeke considers me as he carefully opens the lid to the very hot coffee, "You're in pretty deep aren't you? It's only been a couple of weeks, you know."

"I know that. You've known Shauna for years, what is taking you so long?"

Zeke shrugs and looks out the opposite window, "I think that is what is holding me back. It isn't so easy when it matters this much."

"I don't have anything to compare it to, but being with Tris is the easiest thing in the world."

"What if she hadn't wanted to go out with you?"

"Then we'd be friends and I'd just pine for her the way you do for Shauna. Lucky for me she did want to, and you will never know if you don't ask. So make a move already!"

Zeke is quiet the rest of the way to the soccer fields. He has finished eating the burger, and is just sipping his coffee.

I don't push the subject of Shauna any further. Zeke doesn't razz me too much about things that I don't want to talk about, so I will drop this for now. It's just that I know that Zeke and Shauna like each other, and I want my friends to be happy too. Maybe Zeke has a point; with them having such a long friendship, there is more at risk for them than there is for me and Tris.

Pulling into the lot behind a long line of cars, parents arriving to watch the game too. I park his Jeep in the back row, where there will be a little shade by the end of the game, and we walk over toward the bleachers to find seats. I didn't tell Tris last night that I was planning to come to the game, just in case I didn't make it for some reason. This morning I am hoping she will appreciate the surprise cheering section. As we walk, I am trying to decide what to say to her when I see her, but in typical Pedrad fashion, Zeke lets out a loud "Whoop whoop!" to announce our arrival to anyone in this half of the county. My ears and cheeks are tinged pink as we change direction and walk over to the girls bench to officially say hello and wish them a good game.

Shauna couldn't help but hear Zeke over the mix of conversations. She swivels her head around until she sees us walking across the grass toward the bench. There are bleachers, but most of the soccer parents are in folding camp chairs up the side of the field with coolers and a few pop tents here and there. You can tell the seasoned families versus the first time player parents. She breaks into a wide grin when she sees me with Zeke. We are her two best guy friends, and we have never come to one of her games before. Judging by the smirk on her face, she has a strong suspicion that this was my idea and that she wasn't the only draw for us to come to the game today. I can't keep my eyes off Tris as we approach the bench.

Tris didn't recognize Zeke's battle cry and was startled when I touch her shoulder. She was grim and focused watching the other team warming up but now she has a big grin on her face as she hugs me. "Hi! Oh my gosh, what are you doing here? You didn't tell me you were coming today! What a nice surprise." She gushes and launches herself into a hug. I blush a little at her excitement, but catch her on the fly and hold her off the ground for two or three heartbeats.

I take a deep breath and hold her, squeeze her once with my arms and then set her down gently on the grass and put my hands in my pockets. "Yeah, I wanted it to be a surprise, and I didn't want to disappoint you if I couldn't come for some reason."

"Ah, but you are here and that is awesome. Thank you. My dad and brother are here, too. They're over in the bleachers if you want to sit with them." She points to the set of aluminum bleachers in the opposite direction of all the pop tents and lawn chairs. I turn and see Mr. Prior looking in our direction. He waves and nudges the teenage boy next to him and waves again. The boy must be Tris' brother, Caleb. I wave back and when Zeke finishes his conversation with Shauna, I reach out to squeeze Tris' hands, kiss her cheek and wish her luck in the game, then we make our way over to find seats in the bleachers.

I introduce Zeke to Mr. Prior, he introduces Caleb to us. Mr. Prior has a huge smile on his face and insists that we sit with them for the game. Zeke and I settle on the bench in front of the Priors to watch the game that is about to start.

"Four," Mr. Prior clears his throat and leans down toward us, "I didn't know you were coming today. You didn't mention it last night, or I'd have offered to pick you and Zeke up for the game."

Caleb had been staring off into the middle distance of the soccer field, when his father's voice brought everything back into focus. "Your name is really Four? Is it short for something?" he blurts, almost rudely.

I want to give Tris' brother the benefit of the doubt, so I answer Caleb without elaborating, "No, it's just a nickname." Then I turn to Mr. Prior to explain. "I didn't know for sure last night that I would be able to come today, so I didn't bring it up. I didn't want to disappoint Tris if I couldn't be here."

"I have to say Four, at the risk of repeating myself from last night, I really had a wonderful evening with you and Tris. It felt like a real family night again. I haven't had that in a while and it meant a lot to me. I sincerely hope that we can do it again sometime, though Natalie scolded me for butting into your evening with Tris. It was very thoughtful of you to come to the game today. I am sure Tris was surprised."

"She's not the only one…" Caleb mutters under his breath, but I ignore him. Caleb has been watching my interaction with his dad with an increasingly sour expression. What is his problem?

"So, how do you know my sister?" Caleb starts in again.

Mr. Prior answers before I have a chance to respond, "Four drives her to and from school. His father and I work together at Hollind, Prophet and Sawyer."

Caleb's eyes focus on the new information, "I see, so she was convenient."

I am shocked by Caleb's implication, "Excuse me?"

Zeke is sitting right next to him and can't help but hear the conversation. Even though he isn't really involved, he feels the need to set the record straight, "No, Caleb, it's nothing like that. Yes they were thrown together at first, but they hit it off on their own right away. They're great together."

Caleb isn't satisfied. He turns to his father and adopts a superior tone, "Dad, I am surprised you would permit Beatrice to date a stranger, especially an upperclassman. You can't possibly know anything about him!"

Andrew shakes his head, dismissing the false concern, "What nonsense Caleb. Four is a fine upstanding young man. He is on the baseball team, and the paper, and has been nothing but generous with his time and courteous to both me and your sister. They have several common interests and we had a lovely family dinner and game night last night. I couldn't be happier they are spending some of their free time together."

Caleb turns back to me asking, "It's been what, two weeks?"

I just nod, wishing that Caleb would just drop the subject. The game is about to start and I want to be able to pay attention. My answer is short, but still polite, "Something like that."

Mr. Prior has been drawn into conversation by another set of parents that have clambered up into the bleachers and he doesn't hear Caleb mutter under his breath to me, "Sounds like you have made yourself right at home, then."

Further conversion will have to wait, because the starting players for the home team are being announced. Everyone grows quiet as they listen to see if their daughter/sister/friend will be announced in the starting lineup.

Tris isn't in the starting lineup, but about fifteen minutes into play, Shauna gets elbowed in the eye and has to come out of the game to get checked by the medic. Coach Bullock subs Tris in for her and Zeke is beside himself. I see how upset Zeke is, obviously worried about Shauna, but am distracted by watching Tris on the field.

She looks so much smaller and more fragile than the girls on the other team. I know that isn't really the case, though. She may be smaller, but my girlfriend is tough as nails.

The very next play, as soon as the whistle blows she is off and racing toward the opposing team's player who is dribbling the ball down the sideline toward the goal she is defending. I watch and think about how I have always wondered why she played defense instead of forward, but now it is easy to see the strategy. The opposing player underestimates Tris, by her size, or for some other reason and misjudges how fast she is. The player goes to cross the ball toward the center to her teammate, who is planning to take a shot on our goal, but Tris is faster than she expects and deflects the ball to one of our own forwards who reverses direction and is heading down the field toward the other goal.

The entire sequence took only seconds and the crowd can't believe it. Lauren, the team captain, has the ball now and she easily feints to the left and crosses to the right to her teammate Amanda, who shoots and gets the ball just inside the upper corner of the goal. The score is 1-0 and we are winning. Tris is grinning while she jogs back to her position ahead of the goalie at quarter field, ready to do it all again.

I realize now, in the time I have spent with Tris, when we talk about her soccer practices, I haven't really asked her much about how she plays. I had no idea she was so fearless, so determined, so aggressive on the field. I am stunned and cannot help myself, but turn to ask her father, "Has she always played like this? I had no idea!"

I look back over my shoulder, because Mr. Prior hasn't answered me. I think maybe he didn't hear me, but when I look I see he and Caleb are just as stunned as I am. "No. She has always been fast, but that expression of determined pursuit is new. I have never seen this dauntless side of her before! I wish her mother was here to see her play."

He turned to Caleb and asked him to change the settings on his cell phone to take a high quality video that could be sent to Mrs. Prior in a text or email., "Sure dad, but if you want real video quality you need to get an actual video camera. Even a GoPro would work better than your phone."

"I'll keep that in mind, Caleb. Could you please just change the settings for video and record the next time that your sister makes a play like that?"

"Sure thing Dad. Who knows if she will though, I mean that was crazy. These girls are crazy! I wouldn't go up against them if I had a ball they wanted."

Zeke hears the comment and can't resist closing the door on the trap that Caleb doesn't even realize he has set for himself. He stands up to walk to the sideline with Caleb, slaps him on the back and says, "Don't worry Caleb, you don't."

I laugh at Zeke's joke and Caleb scowls at me in response as his face turns red around his ears. I don't press though, remembering that Mr. Prior is sitting right behind me and I don't want to pick a fight with Tris' brother. That isn't why I am here. I clear my throat, ignoring the beaming smile on Zeke's face and respond to Caleb, "That is basically the point though, isn't it? Their best defense is a great offense! Tris is a defender and even she went on the attack last play. I wonder if there is an angle here for an article for the paper. I need to talk to her about it and see if the coach will let someone write it or if it would be releasing too much strategy."

The game continued with no further injuries. Shauna was sidelined with an ice pack and a quickly bruising shiner. Tris played about half of the game and the final score was 4-1, a resounding victory.

There was about an hour break between the end of Tris' game and the start of the JV game this afternoon, so many of the players grab quick showers as their families gather up their stuff and slowly migrate to the parking lot.

The four of us on the bleachers stand and begin to make our way bench by bench to the grass. When we are all on solid ground, Mr. Prior turns to me and exclaims, "Oh, I have an idea! Four, would you mind helping us out with a project at the house? How are you with hand tools and basic power tools?"

He must have been thinking about it for a little while before he brought it up. I am sure he wanted to sound like the idea had only just occurred to him, but the tone of his voice said otherwise.

Caleb looks at his father sharply and says, "Dad, you don't need to ask him. I said I'd come back on the weekends that I can get away from school and help."

I ignore Caleb entirely and address Mr. Prior. "I am pretty handy, Sir. What would you like help with?"

Mr. Prior looks at his teenage son, mildly disappointed at the way he has been behaving today. "Yes, you said that Caleb, but if Four helps too then we can get the deck finished earlier and if you can't make it home we won't lose a weekend of work." He then turns back to Four, "Would you be willing to help us build a small deck onto the back of the house?"

I look at Caleb briefly, and see the sour look on his face. Smiling, I turn back to Mr. Prior, "Of course Sir, I'd be happy to help."

Zeke hasn't said much since he saw Shauna knocked to the ground fifteen minutes into the game, but he pipes up, "If you want more hands on deck Mr. Prior…. Ha, no pun intended, sorry! My brother Uriah and I can help, too. Our dad has all the carpentry tools you would need, so you don't have to rent anything. My dad is on base most of the time, but I will ask him if we can use them. I am sure he won't mind as long as we are careful and put them all back when we are finished."

"Thank you Zeke, that is so generous of you to offer! Let me have your dad's phone number and I will call him and talk to him about the project so he knows what his tools will be used for. If they were mine, I would appreciate the call."

Zeke smiles and shrugs, "Sure no problem, Mr. Prior." He writes his dad's name and number down in a small notepad Mr. Prior had in his pocket.

Mr. Prior smiles and turns to his son as he tucks the notepad away, "See Caleb, you were worried for nothing, it seems. If you can't get away from school the next couple of weekends we can still get the deck finished easily thanks to Beatrice's boyfriend and her school friends."

Caleb's words are polite, but his tone is the opposite. "Yes, that is fortunate."

I say goodbye to Mr. Prior and assure him that I will be happy to help with the deck whenever he is ready to start, tell Caleb it was nice to meet him, even though I am not sure that is the honest truth. How could he be so different from his sister?

I turn to my left and find that Zeke is gone. I turn in a full circle and realize he has left to go and check on Shauna. She is still holding an ice-pack to her face, but at least she has a smile now. Zeke is laughing and talking with his hands while he has her game bag slung across one of his shoulders. Even at this distance I can imagine him telling some crazy story to make her laugh and smile. Zeke can always be counted on to cheer a person up. I really wish they'd just admit they are crazy about each other.

I look down the bench from Shauna and see Tris talking to her coach and a couple of other teammates. Coach Bullock smiles and pats her on her shoulder before turning and walking away to the locker rooms. She turns and her dad and brother are waiting to congratulate her. I want to congratulate her too, but I hang back by the bleachers still. She should be with her family. I will get my chance soon enough. She catches my eye between the shoulders of her dad and brother and I wave to let her know I know that she saw me. Before I put my hand down, I point over my shoulder toward the parking lot where my jeep is and she nods. I am not sure how exactly we managed to communicate across a field without words and only one gesture, but I know that she will be meeting me at my car before too long.