Bend It Like Becker

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Chapter 33 - FINAL FRIDAY FRENZY

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Becker didn't get a chance to see Jess for the rest of the day. The inventory took all afternoon, with them barely finishing before five. Of course, it might've gone faster if Becker's mind hadn't constantly been wandering, thinking alternately of his upcoming date with Jess and the fact that she was still unclear on the concept that it WAS one. Luckily, he was saved from Matt's mockery by the fact that Emily had volunteered to help them with their task, so Matt was also a bit distracted. Becker was thankful for Emily's presence for another reason as well, for they probably wouldn't have finished on-time without her assistance.

On the drive to practice, Becker decided it was probably best if he sat out again today. While his ankle was feeling fine, he didn't want to risk re-injuring it right before the game, and by sitting on the sidelines again he'd actually be able to coach the others, which had worked well yesterday. When he arrived at the park, Jess met him with the exact same suggestion, so at least they were on the same page about that, even if they still seemed to be miscommunicating about their date.

Everyone was extremely restless today, no doubt a combination of it being both Friday and the day before the match. It took ages to get people settled enough to do their warm-ups, and afterwards Jess handed out the red team shirts to everyone.

"Red shirts? Really?" Connor asked, warily taking his. "As if I didn't already have a target on my back."

Ignoring his Star Trek superstitions, she explained to the others, "I had to guess at sizes, so hopefully they'll all fit."

When she got to Emily, however, the former Victorian promptly handed the shirt back to her without even checking the size.

"I don't need it," Emily insisted.

Becker gave a frustrated sigh as Jess quickly explained, "But they're our uniforms for the match, Emily, so we'll look like a team."

"But I'm not supposed to match," Emily said. "The keeper is required to wear different colours to distinguish herself from the other players. I researched it."

"She's right," Ghani stepped in. "The keeper has to look different from the others, since different rules apply to her."

"But don't worry," Emily said. "I purchased a proper keeper jersey to wear."

Of course she did, Becker thought, rolling his eyes.

Jess, however, handed the shirt back to her friend. "You should keep this anyway. To wear after the match."

Once the rest of the uniforms were all sorted, Becker gave everyone directions to the pitch where they'd be playing tomorrow. "The match doesn't start till 1400, but everyone should be there by 1300 so we can warm up," he instructed. "The Recreation Ground is all the way out in Hillingdon, which means it's a bit of a drive for many of you, so plan accordingly." Glancing around the assembled, he turned to Ghani. "Speaking of, wasn't Chas planning on joining us tonight?"

"I thought so," she replied. "He didn't mention anything about being late."

"I hope he's okay," Jess said, sounding worried.

Ghani shrugged. "I'm sure he's fine. Sometimes work keeps him late."

Becker frowned. "I'd rather not start without him." It helped to have a ref, especially now that they were really playing like a team.

"Perhaps we should focus on starting then," Jess said. When Becker raised a questioning eyebrow, she explained, "The kick-off at the start and restarts of the game - there's all those rules about where people can be and who can touch the ball and everything. Maybe you could go over that with everyone, Neela, since we haven't really been doing that."

Becker realised Jess was right - because they'd only been scrimmaging against each other and playing on half the field, there were a lot of rules that they simply hadn't been following. So Ghani gathered everyone around to go over what was expected.

"As Jess said, the kick-off is the way a football match is started or restarted, so it occurs at the beginning of the game, at the start of the second half, and each time after a goal has been scored. The ball is placed in the centre of the field, and all the players must be in their own half, with their opponents outside the 10m centre circle. Normally the referee will blow his whistle to indicate they're ready for the kick-off-"

"Which we can have Chas do when he gets here so we can practice," Jess jumped in.

Ghani nodded. "The ball is in play when it's kicked and moved forward. Note that the two-touch rule applies here."

Connor raised his hand. "Um...what's that again?"

Becker rolled his eyes, but Ghani patiently explained, "A player can't touch the ball twice in a row when putting the ball in play. It applies everywhere, not just at kick-offs - you'll also see it on corner kicks or direct and indirect kicks. It even applies to throw-ins - you can't throw the ball in and then kick it; someone else much touch it first."

Connor nodded, but Becker could tell it hadn't really sunk in.

"Shall we try practicing the kick-offs?" Jess suggested, looking to Becker for approval.

He nodded. "Let's have everyone out in the field as if we were doing this for real."

Everyone ran out to their positions, and Ghani demonstrated various strategies on how to do the kick-offs...and how to defend them. Becker felt a bit left out over on the sidelines, but he was glad that they were covering this today instead of messing it up tomorrow.

Eventually Ghani felt they had a good grasp and concluded, "And that should cover most of what you need to know," just as Chas came running past Becker onto the field.

"Sorry I'm late," he panted, obviously having sprinted from the carpark.

Ghani hurried over and gave her boyfriend a quick peck on the lips. "You okay?" Becker heard her ask.

Chas nodded. "Yeah, of course. I'm fine. Everything's fine. Just running late."

Becker glanced at his watch - it was even later than he'd thought. "Okay, everyone, let's get back in our scrimmage positions and get started."

Because the sooner they started, the sooner practice would be over,

And the sooner Becker and Jess would be on their date.

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Jess was pleased at how well practice had gone. Becker had taken her suggestion and opted to sit out again tonight, which gave her one less thing to worry about.

The rest of the team had played well today, despite their nervous energy. They weren't a real football club by any stretch of the imagination, but they were fumbling through together, truly working as a team, which was really the entire point of this exercise anyway. Jess was actually looking forward to the match tomorrow, giving them a chance to show off how hard they'd worked together over the past fortnight. Unfortunately, once it was over, Jess wouldn't be seeing Becker quite as often, but she was okay with that. And at least they were having dinner together tonight.

After cool-down, as the team began to disperse, Jess went over to Chas, who had seemed somewhat distracted all practice.

"You okay?" she asked, concerned. "Did something happen? Where were you?"

Chas nervously looked around before taking a step closer to her. "Follow me," he whispered in her ear, and, grabbing her hand, quickly led her away from the other players. Jess wasn't sure where he was taking her, but despite his odd behaviour, she had a gut instinct that nothing was really wrong. He led her towards a car which she guessed was his when the lights flashed and the doors unlocked as they approached.

"Get in," he said, once again glancing about cautiously before climbing in the driver's seat.

Jess shut the passenger door behind her and was about to ask what was going on when he leant across her and opened up the glovebox. She watched as he took out a small jewelry box and, holding it low to prevent any passers-by from seeing it, explained, "I was late because I had to pick this up." He opened the box to reveal a simple diamond engagement ring inside.

Jess's eyes bugged. "You're proposing to Neela?" Before he could even nod his reply, she leant across the seats and gave him a huge hug. "Omigod, I'm so happy for you! When?"

Chas gulped nervously. "Tomorrow evening. I told her I wanted to take her out for a celebratory dinner after the match so she wouldn't suspect anything. But I don't know, Jess - now that the moment's here, I'm so nervous."

"Why? Neela's crazy for you. I'm sure she'll say yes."

"It's not so much her as her parents that I'm worried about," Chas confessed. "It took them ages to finally come around to the idea of me as her boyfriend, but boyfriend and fiance, not to mention husband, are all very different things."

Jess shook her head. "I'm sure they'll be fine with it. They like you, yeah? And clearly Neela loves you. My bet is they'll want to see her happy, even if that means their daughter won't be marrying a Hindi."

"I hope so." He glanced down at the ring, and Jess noticed his hands were shaking. "Do you think she'll like it?" he asked nervously. "I didn't have anyone to help me pick it out."

Jess put her hands on his to steady them and took a good look at the ring. It was a small diamond solitaire in white gold, simple yet elegant, just perfect for the athletic soldier. "She'll love it," Jess said, feeling her eyes tear up. "Oh, I'm so happy for you!" she said, giving him another friendly hug and a peck on the cheek.

"Dammit! Here she comes!" Chas said as they pulled apart from their embrace. He frantically snapped the box closed, but in doing so fumbled and dropped it into the passenger footwell. He and Jess both blindly scrambled for it, the open glovebox blocking their view. Finally Jess felt it beneath her fingers and closed her hand around it, tossing it into the glovebox as Chas slammed it closed behind her. She quickly opened the passenger door and hurried out of the car and over to the bushes off the carpark, hoping that Neela hadn't seen her, since she didn't want Chas's surprise to be ruined. Once she was at a safe distance, Jess turned around and practically ran smack into Becker.

"Oh!" she exclaimed as she steadied herself. "I didn't see you there."

"Obviously."

Jess instantly noticed his sharp tone, but of course he had a lot on his mind, what with the game tomorrow. She hoped, however, that he'd be able to relax and have fun tonight. "So, are you ready for dinner?" she asked cheerfully, her mouth already starting to salivate in anticipation of the chocolate souffle.

But Becker didn't return her smile. Instead he stared at her a moment, frowning, before snapping, "You're unbelievable!" and storming off across the field.

...

to be continued