A/N
Yo! How's it going?
That's all I have to say so...here's the chapter.
Enjoy!
"Ella! You missed practice, again!" Jody calls to me, jogging down the hall.
"I know. I was doing memory tests at the hospital," I apologize.
"No problem. Just hope you haven't forgotten your midfielder moves, or Coach'll be livid," she says.
"Yeah, see you at the game!" I say.
"Bye!" she yells over her shoulder, still running. That girl. My phone rings.
"You have soccer today, right?" Nolan asks. The nurses had been a bit stricter with him since he escaped yesterday. He couldn't be alone in his room now.
"Yeah, 4.30," I reply, shoving my books in my locker.
"4.30? Okay. I'll see you there," he says. I stop mid-shove.
"You're coming?" I exclaim.
"Yep. Doctors orders. I need fresh air. And time with my friends, to, and I quote, 'burn off the sarcasm'." I snort.
"Good luck with that. See you then!"
"See you," he hangs up. I bounce to my next class, a.k.a science. The block had been renovated for the first half of the year, so this is my first class. When I arrive, the teacher is assigning lab partners.
"Ella, there you are. You can work with Daniela," she says. I grin, and head over to my assigned table. Daniela sits down next to me with a grunt.
"How you doing?" I ask.
"Crap. My cousins blaming me for Drake breaking up with her. She's a witch, honestly," she says.
"What if he did like you instead of her?" she snorts.
"No way in hell he would. Like I said, I'm not interested in dating," she says.
"If someone asked you out, though, would you say yes?"
"If they were nice enough, maybe. Why?" she asks suspiciously.
"No reason," I reply cheerfully. After nearly blowing up the lab, I race to the locker rooms, snagging my P.E. bag on the way. I pull on my red and black uniform, and lace up my sneakers. Showtime. I jog out onto the pitch and start warming up.
"Hey, Ella! Over here!" Jody calls. She's stretching with Myra and Maren.
"Hey guys, who are we playing today?" I question. Their expressions harden.
"Mogador Academy. Our biggest rivals," Maren says darkly.
"Great time for me to be making a comeback," I mutter.
"Hey, you'll do great. You're the best midfield we've had in years," Myra says encouragingly.
"That's true," Maren says. Jody nods. Well, if Maren and Myra think so, that must mean something.
"Fresh meat, eh?" A girl with long black braids walks over, eyeing me.
"Piss off, Phiri. You're just upset cause we replaced Diana," Myra retorts. Phiri walks up to me.
"Be careful, little girl. Things get rough out on the pitch," she hisses. I nod thoughtfully.
"Well, I've got a nurse that knows me pretty well, so I doubt that'll be a problem," I shoot back. Her eyes narrow, and she stalks away.
"You showed her," Jody says approvingly.
"Yo, Phiri! How's the head?" a voice yells. Phiri's head snaps up. She pulls the finger at the person, then struts off to her team. I turn my head and see a wheelchair coming towards me, along with Nurse O'Connell.
"C'mon, miss, I don't need you pushing me, its embarrassing," Nolan groans. I stifle a laugh. Maren and Myra don't bother.
"Hey, Nolan! How you doing?" Myra calls out. He scowls.
"I'm great. Amazing. Being pushed around by a nurse is just my idea of fun!" he exclaims.
"I see what you meant about burning off the sarcasm," I observe. He scowls again
"Don't take her side! That'll just encourage her," he moans.
"So, you're playing Mogador again?" he asks. We all nod.
"Try attack B. I think their wondering who the hell Ella is. And Phiri's pretty worked up," he says seriously. The other three look like they understand. Nolan looks at me.
"Pretty much just kick their ankles when their not looking. You'll pick up on the rest." I nod. I have no idea what I'm getting into.
"Captains! Shake hands!" Coach yells. Phiri strides to the centre of the pitch. Maren walks over calmly, and stands opposite Phiri. Neither offer their hands.
"Captains, shake hands," Coach repeats. Still, neither does. I can see their mouths moving.
"Girls, don't make me come over there!" He yells. Maren retorts to something Phiri said, and she lunges forward. Maren stands there calmly.
"Don't cross me," she spits, then holds out her hand. Maren shakes it.
"Okay. Garde High won the toss, so they'll be starting," Coach puts the ball in front of Maren. I remember most of the tactics from trainings, but I missed a lot of those.
"Garde! Two slam, three in the gutter. Go!" Maren yells. And then I'm running forward, toward the middle of the pitch. Myra gets there first, and Maren boots the ball to her. I slow down, and creep down the side of the pitch. A tall blonde girl is hacking violently at Myra's feet. Yikes. She kicks the ball to Jody, who passes to someone else I don't know. Beth, or Britney, I think. She panics as one girl stomps right in front of her feet, and kicks wildly. The ball comes to a halt a little bit in front of me. I don't hesitate. I run forward and dribble towards the goal. I feel a stud drive its way into my knee. I gasp and drop to the ground, but not before sending the ball flying with a blind kick. I collapse, and stare at my knee. Blood is dripping down it, but I don't care. My thirst for victory just went up. They wanna play dirty? I'll show them bloody dirty. In all meanings of the word. Maren has the ball again. She dodges an attacker, then flicks it to another girl, Alicia, I'm pretty sure, and she dribbles it up the field. I sprint toward the goal, coming up on Alicia's left side. I 'accidentally' kick a girl in the calf as I run past. She swears, and bends over to hold it. I grin.
"Alicia!" I call. She passes to me, and I dribble it. The goal is right in front of me. If I could just-I yell as something hits my back, hard. Again, I can feel blood seeping through my shirt. This isn't keeping me from scoring. I aim my foot, then boot the ball into the air. Silence. And jostling. The ball flies through the air. The goalie rises. I hold my breath. And then Phiri's there, leaping, saving the goal. I gape. Oh, this is war. I rush at her, and kick at the ball, also her legs. I stomp on her foot, then take possession of the ball again. I kick it again, and it hits the goalie in the stomach. As she bends over, I give it a light tip, and it bounces neatly into the goal. My teammates stare at me. And stare.
"Nice kick, Ella!" Nolan yells from the side lines. I can tell he's talking about Phiri. Myra snaps out of her daze first.
"HOLY CRAP ELLA, THAT WAS EPIC!" She shouts, high fiving me. She looks at her hand.
"Oh my God. You're bleeding?" She asks in horror. I show her my calf, and then lift up the back of my shirt. Maren sees, and looks murderous.
"Ref! How is that not a foul?" She demands. The ref gives her some answer she doesn't like.
"They're never this bad," Jody mutters.
"Are you alright to play?" Myra asks concerned.
"Just a little cut, is all. I'll be fine," I reply. The game goes on in a similar way. I guess their ganging up on me since I'm the newbie. But I'll show them. Its the final minute, and the scores 3 all. Maren currently has the ball. She scored the other two goals. She's awesome at soccer.
"Ella!" She yells. Oh no. Not again. I rush forward to receive the pass, and chest it to the ground. I can barely see through my black eye, from where I fell over and got kicked. I dribble right up to the goal, and kick. I score! Uh, no. That's not how my life works. I get a boot right in my already bleeding calf. I scream. I feel the flesh tear. The whistle blows.
"Golden goal! This will begin after a five minute break," the ref says, eyeing me sceptically. My teammates crowd around me.
"Ella, can you keep playing? We have no subs, but we can forfeit if-"
"No," I say forcefully, standing up.
"If those bitches want a fight, they'll get one." Maren holds out her hand. I shake it.
"Welcome fully to the team, Ella," she says.
"Thanks," I reply.
"So what's the plan?" Jody asks.
"Bull rush. Run straight at them, and Ella will go to the front. Myra and Jody will get the ball up past the middle, while I'll go up and support Ella. Cool?" Maren asks.
"Cool," we chorus. She grins, and puts out her hand.
"Garde on three. One, two, three-"
"GARDE!" We yell, then do a complicated clapping stomping thing. We line up along the field. Myra successfully brings up the ball. Then Phiri steals it. She dribbles down the field, right past me. Oh hell no. I race after her. I already know I won't make it. I launch myself off the ground, my foot out, and I hit her back, with the tip of my cleat. Phiri pauses, and that's all I need. I grab the ball, and dribble. I see Myra standing by the goal. I pass to her, and she kicks it in. Goal. The whistle blows. Cheers sound from our side of the bleachers. Boo's from Mogador. I look down at my leg. For the zillionth time that month, because I have a pretty low pain tolerance, I guess, I pass out.
The beeping noise.
"Ugh. That noise is getting really old," I groan.
"You ripped a muscle. How'd you do that?" Nurse O'Connell asks.
"Soccer. Two studs in it," I answer.
"How did that happen?" she asks.
"We had a really bad ref," I smile weakly.
"Well, I'm a little sick of you, and I mean that in the nicest possible way," she says. I grin.
"I'm sure you're used to this by now, so I'll just send them in." My team comes in.
"Ella, thank God you're okay. That was a vicious game," Maren says.
"Yeah, they're not normally like that," Beth says.
"I think I know why." They stare. "I used to go to Mogador." Silence.
"You came from there? And aren't a bitch?" Myra questions. I nod.
"My respect for you just went up," Jody says solemnly.
"Are you feeling okay?" Alicia asks.
"I guess. I'm gonna be in here for a while. And I'll have to do more memory tests. Ugh," I reply.
"Well, good luck. Hope you remember stuff," Alicia says. I wave as they walk out.
"Okay, Ella, todays session will be in here. How are you feeling?" Dr Haol asks. I'm sweating by the end of the exercises.
"Do you remember anything?"
"I...yeah. At school...I remember my friends yelling at each other. I also remembered something, the other day," I tell him.
"What was that?"
"Someone screamed, then I remembered someone screaming at school. I remembered about a minute before and after that," I explain. He looks thoughtful.
"I have an idea for tomorrow. You get some rest." I do so gratefully. The next morning, Damien and the twins accompany Dr Haol into my room.
"We have an idea on how to jog your memory," the twins tell me.
"Okay, you know what to do. I'll be in the office if you need me," Dr Haol leaves.
"Okay," Matt claps his hands together.
"We're gonna try re-enact a conversation from the day, or something like that. Did you get a haircut?" David asks. I reach around to touch my hair.
"No, I- crap, I lost my hair-tie!" I exclaim.
"I have a rubber band if you wanna use that," Matt offers. I look at it sceptically.
"You know that is literally the most painful thing you can do to a girl," I say. The others exchange glances.
"What?" I ask.
"Well, we cant really do the next part of the convo. So, it didn't work?" David asks. I shake my head.
"Damn. Okay, I think it only works if it's snippets that are randomly brought up," Damien says. They try for another ten minutes. Nada.
"Well, at least you tried," I grumble.
"We're gonna try it with Nolan next," David says. I snort.
"Good luck with that. He's way worse than me."
"We know. The docs forcing us. But maybe its his lucky day," Matt says hopefully. His twin shakes his head.
"Well, bye!" Damien says.
"Yeah, see you at school tomorrow. Look for the massive cast," I point to my leg. They wince.
"Yeesh, Phiri really is evil." I turn on the TV. Dora the Explorer. Ah, what the hell. There's only that or Antiques Roadshow, and I'm not stooping that low yet. Dora tells me to close my eyes. I do so, for the hell of it.
"Open your eyes!" she exclaims. Mine snap open.
"That's why I remembered Nolan's face," I murmur. "Because he told me to open my eyes!"
And that's a great place to end it! Peace out,
HV
