Sameen watched the ball sail into the goal. She'd done it. She'd scored the winning goal and Bishop High was going to the Championship Finals. Sameen turned around to look at her team and something rammed into her, knocking her onto her back. Laughing, she tried to push Joss off, but Zoe jumped on them, and then the rest of the team. She stared up at the bright stadium lights. She realized she was screaming, then realized everyone was screaming.

Finally, the team started moving away and Joss helped Sameen to her feet, immediately wrapping an arm around her. They headed for the center of the field to high-five the other team. Sameen looked at the bleachers to her family's normal spot. Root was easy to spot, jumping up and down between John and Lionel.

Sameen got into their line, high-fiving the other team as they passed. She hit the last hand and sprinted to the locker rooms, eager to get changed so they could get to dinner. Joss pushed her from behind as they burst into the locker room. It was loud, the other girls all talking excitedly.

"We won!" Joss cheered, throwing her arms in the air.

Sameen pushed past her, yanking her shirt over her head. "We still have one more game."

Zoe rolled her eyes and opened her locker. "Cheer up, Shaw. You're always a downer."

"I'm looking forward to winning the Championship," Sameen sat on a bench, and started unlacing her cleats, "but I'm not counting my eggs before they hatch."

"Hey, Winners!" Root called, running into the locker room.

"Root!" Zoe screamed, running topless across the locker room to jump into Root's arms.

Root stumbled backwards, laughing. She awkwardly patted Zoe's back, staring at Sameen with wide eyes.

Sameen chuckled, dropping her cleats on the floor and sliding off her shin guards. "Zoe, leave the poor lesbian alone."

Zoe looked over her shoulder at Sameen, not letting go. "I'm helping her! She likes this. Right, Root?"

Root shrugged, face red. "Um…"

"I'm just teasing," Zoe laughed, moving back to her locker. "Women's bodies are beautiful."

Sameen caught a look between Joss and Zoe, but decided not to ask. She rolled her eyes and started to get dressed. Root appeared at her side and sat on the bench.

"That was really great, Sameen," Root said, smiling at her. "You're going to take them to Championships every year."

"We still need to win this year," Sameen said, buttoning her shorts. "One step at a time."

Root looked over at Joss. "Seriously?"

"Don't get me started," Joss said, buttoning her shirt. "Our constant struggle. We'll get her excited about something."

"I'll be excited tomorrow if we win."

"When we win!" Zoe corrected her. "When we win."

Sameen shut her locker and turned to Root. "I can deal with your peppiness, but these losers are too much. Let's go."

Root laughed and stood up, following Sameen out of the locker room. It was dark outside, but the streetlights illuminated the parking lot. Sameen heard yelling up ahead. She saw Mrs. Reese struggling with someone and ran over, Root at her heels.

Mrs. Reese, Principal McCarthy, and Mrs. Hendricks were arguing with a brunette woman who was definitely drunk. Sameen had never seen this woman before. She didn't think the town was big enough for that to be possible, but she didn't recognize the hysterical woman at all. She actually looked kind of like…Root.

Sameen turned to look at Root. Root was frozen, her face white. She looked terrified, like her entire world was crashing around her. Her eyes were wide and it didn't look like she was breathing. Sameen stepped towards her.

"Root?" she reached out to touch her arm, "are you ok?"

Root looked at her, licking her lips. "That's my mom."

Sameen looked back at the screaming woman, surprised. She had only seen Root's house before and after the hurricane, but she hadn't met her mom at all. Sameen wasn't sure what she'd been expecting. Mrs. Reese had told her that Root's mom was an alcoholic, but Sameen hadn't realized just how bad that was.

Root was poor, she knew that, but it hadn't occurred to her that she could be living in an abusive situation. Sameen thought Root slept over all the time because her house was awful, not because her mother was. Root didn't talk about her that much, just enough that Sameen knew they weren't that close. She suddenly realized that she didn't know that much about Root's life.

Root's mother spotted them, her eyes filling with hatred.

"Whore!" she screamed at Root, "Fucking slut! You come here right now!"

Root took a step backwards, shaking. Sameen put an arm around her as the adults tried to calm Mrs. Groves down. Sameen turned Root around so her back was to her mother.

"Root," Sameen said, trying to catch her eyes, "look at me."

Root shook her head, eyes filling with tears. "I don't want you to see this."

Sameen pulled Root into a hug, standing on her toes so Root could rest her head on Sameen's shoulders. "I don't care about your mother. I care about you."

Root sobbed into her shoulder as her mother continued to yell at them. Mrs. Groves broke out of Principal McCarthy's grip and came out them. Pushing Root behind her, Sameen pulled herself as tall as she could, hands clenched into fists.

"Move," Mrs. Groves ordered her, smelling like vomit and alcohol. "I need to speak to my daughter."

Sameen watched her sway on her feet and glared at her. "No."

Mrs. Groves looked passed Sameen to Root and growled. "Is this who you've been fucking?"

"You need to go," Sameen said, as clear as possible. "Leave her alone."

Root's mother glared at her, but focused again on Root. "This is why your father left, because you're a fucking whore and a goddamn dyke."

"You need to go," Sameen repeated, itching to punch her and barely holding herself back.

"You have no right to come between me and her." Mrs. Groves raised an arm to slap her, but Mrs. Reese rushed to her and caught it. Mrs. Groves stared at her, shocked.

"If you lay one hand on my daughter," Mrs. Reese ground out through clenched teeth, "I will take yours from you."

Sameen stared at her wide-eyed. She'd never seen her adopted mother so angry before. It was scary and Sameen's respect for her sky-rocketed.

She felt Root's hands grasp the back of her shirt and turned around, letting Root hug her again. This must be humiliating. Almost the entire town of Bishop had come to Kingsville to watch the game. Since their sports teams were usually awful, it was a big deal for the high school girls' soccer team to have made it to the Championships.

Now, the crowd that had watched the soccer game was watching them. Everyone would hear about how Root's mom showed up drunk and called her names in public. John and Lionel were standing with Joss and Zoe by the building, looking worried. Sameen looked over her shoulder at the adults.

Mrs. Hendricks was quietly talking to Mrs. Groves calming her down. Once she was breathing normally, Principal McCarthy came over to talk to Sameen and Root.

"I'm sorry about this," she said, glancing at Root wrapped in Sameen's arms. "Grace is going to take her home."

Root pulled away from Sameen, wiping her eyes. "I should go with her."

"No, Sam," Principal McCarthy laid a hand on Root's shoulder, looking surprised that Root was almost as tall as she was, "you can stay here with us."

"What?" Root asked, watching Mrs. Hendricks lead her mother away, "I can stay? No, I should take care of her."

"Sam," Mrs. Reese said, coming over, "That's not your job. You shouldn't have to care for your parents."

"But if I don't," Root looked at them with tear-filled eyes, "who will?"

Principal McCarthy and Mrs. Reese shared a glanced. Mrs. Reese reached out to hold Root's hand.

"I'll tell you what," she said, smiling kindly, "I'm going to send your mom away, to a rehab, and you can stay with me while she's gone."

Sameen looked at her surprised. "Root can stay with us?"

Mrs. Reese rolled her eyes. "Honey, she already lives with us."

Root threw herself at Mrs. Reese, crying again. "Thank you so much!"

"It's only full time until your mom comes back, ok?" Mrs. Reese said, arms around Root's back.

Root nodded, pulling away. "I know." She turned to Sameen. "We're going to live together!"

Sameen rolled her eyes. "Great. Together 24/7." She smiled at Root to show her she was kidding.

Mrs. Reese reached into her back pocket and pulled out her wallet. She handed Sameen some money.

"Why don't you two go to the 7-Eleven down the street and we'll get this all sorted?"

Sameen nodded and took the money. She took Root's hand and led them away. They walked the three blocks to the corner store in silence. Sameen watched Root along the way, wary that she might cry again. She didn't, but Sameen could tell she wasn't feeling well.

Sameen's parents had been kind while they were alive. They'd known she was different and accepted her no matter what. Her life had been nice and Sameen almost missed it sometimes. Root had no idea what that was like.

When they got to the 7-Eleven, Sameen dropped Root's hand and pulled the door open. Root walked inside, still sniffling. Sameen sighed, following behind and letting the door swing closed. There had to be a way to cheer her up. Sameen wasn't ever sad, so she wasn't sure how to make Root happy.

Root wandered over to the Slurpee machine and Sameen headed down the aisles. She tried to remember those dumb chick flicks Root liked. What did those girls do after breakups? Sameen spotted a giant jar of Nutella and shrugged.

Chocolate was good. She couldn't buy wine, but she could buy chocolate. Sameen grabbed a banana and a plastic spoon and headed to the register. Root put two large Slurpees on the counter, one red and one blue.

Sameen smiled and paid for their snacks. Of course Root liked the teeth-staining flavors. She grabbed her things off the counter and headed out of the store.

"Let's sit on that wall over there," Sameen said, nodding to a half wall next to the store.

She put the Nutella, banana, and spoon onto the wall and hoisted herself up. Dropping onto with a huff, she pushed her hair out of her face and reached down to give Root a boost. When they were settled, she pulled one leg up, turning to face Root. Root sipped the blue Slurpee and stared up at the sky, kicking her heels against the wall.

"It's harder to see the stars in the city," Root mumbled around her straw.

Sameen glanced up. "Yeah, I miss the hill."

"We should go whenever we come back from college."

"Thinking about college already?" Sameen chuckled, eyebrow raised. "You're always so forward thinking."

"I have to be," Root shrugged, "I can't stay in Bishop forever."

Sameen watched her, opening the Nutella tub and taking a spoonful. She ate it, mouth instantly watering. As a rule, she didn't talk about her past pre-Bishop. It was uncomfortable and she knew she would seem crazy if she was too dispassionate about her parents' deaths.

"My father died in a car crash," Sameen said, pulling the spoon out of her mouth. "We were driving back from the store when something, I don't know what, happened and the car started flipping."

Root didn't look at her as she talked and Sameen found it comforting. She scooped another spoonful of Nutella.

"I sat in that car for a while, listening to the Cicadas chirp. Fire Rescue came eventually and pulled me out. They wouldn't tell me about my father right away and I knew something was wrong. I was only eleven, but I knew about death."

Sameen scrapped the chocolate off the spoon with her teeth, taking her time. Root was still staring at the sky. Any other time and Sameen knew that Root would be asking a million questions. Now, Root was thinking about the future, about her mother going away, about staying with Sameen.

"Later, I was sitting in the back of an ambulance, eating a sandwich, and a fireman told me my father was dead. I knew what that meant, that I'd never see him again, but I…wasn't upset. Or sad, or angry, or anything that was normal. I could tell the fireman was unnerved, but I couldn't do anything about it. I was hungry first and sad second."

Root finally looked at her, but still didn't say anything. Sameen ran her eyes over Root's face, taking in her quiet resignation. Root looked older when she was sad, like she was already exhausted by life.

"When my mom showed up, she was hysterical. She was crying and screaming in Farsi. I had to translate for her so the firemen could explain what happened. I don't think she heard anything I said. Eventually, she just put me in her car and drove me home."

"Was she ok?" Root asked. "I mean, after a while?"

Sameen shrugged, sighing. She passed the spoon to Root and picked up the red Slurpee. She took a long drag, feeling the cold spread through her chest, refreshing against the hot April air. She was approaching her word limit for the day, but her distraction seemed to be working. Root put a spoon of chocolate in her mouth, smiling slightly.

"She never really got over it. She died two years later. I heard someone at the funeral say she died of a broken heart, but that's not medically possible. I've checked."

Root let out a sharp laugh, shaking her head. "It's an expression, Sameen. It means she was so sad, she died."

"Oh," Sameen took another gulp of her Slurpee, "I don't get that, but it makes sense. She had been so kind before, and gentle. She never tried to get me to be anyone I wasn't, but after my dad's death…" Sameen shrugged, "she was different."

Root watched her with quiet eyes, the spoon hanging from her mouth. "Yeah?" she asked softly.

"Yeah." Sameen nodded, putting the Slurpee down and picking up the banana. "She…It wasn't that she was mean, but she was…less patient with me. If I didn't get upset about something, that was a fight. If I didn't get excited about something, that was a fight. I came home one day and found her dead in her bed. Like she'd laid down for a nap." Sameen took the spoon from Root. "I'm sorry about your mom."

Root watched her scoop Nutella from the jar and smear it on the end of the banana. Sameen bit into the banana, smiling slightly. Root picked up her Slurpee again and chewed on the end of her straw.

"Do you still want to be friends?" Root asked, almost whispering.

"What?" Sameen asked, mouth full of chocolate and banana. "Of course. It would be awkward if I spurned you just before you moved in."

Root rolled her eyes. "But seriously?"

"Seriously," Sameen smirked. "It'd be awkward."

Root smiled despite herself and sipped her drink. Sameen ate the banana until there was one small piece left. She spooned on some Nutella and reached out, letting Root eat it from her fingers.

"Your lips and tongue are blue," Sameen said. "So gross."

"You're just jealous," Root said around the food. "Red doesn't stain you."

"Oh yeah, because blue lips are so attractive. I'm so into that asphyxia," Sameen snarked, rolling her eyes.

"Hey!" Zoe's voice called from behind Sameen.

She turned to see Zoe and Joss coming towards them. She waved them over. They jogged up, stopping in front of them. Joss reached up to take Sameen's Slurpee.

"That's mine," Sameen said, yanking it back. She wiped the straw off. "What's up?"

Zoe took a spoon of Nutella from Root. "We were sent to bring you back. It's bedtime."

Sameen sighed and nodded. She slid down and took the food as Root handed it down. She passed the food to Joss and reached up to put her hands on Root's hips and help her down off the wall. Root and Zoe started back and Sameen and Joss followed further back.

"She ok?" Joss asked Sameen quietly. "That was hard to watch."

Sameen shrugged. "I think she'll be ok. I didn't know her mom was that bad."

Joss nodded and handed Sameen her Slurpee. "She's terrible. A few years ago, her mother showed up at our middle school in the middle of the day, just drunk beyond belief. Someone called Root's dad and he showed up and took her home."

Sameen chewed on her straw, watching Root and Zoe talk to each other up ahead. "What was her dad like?"

"We didn't see too much of him," Joss answered, bouncing the Nutella jar in her hand. "He was absent, I think. I don't remember seeing him at any school functions. Didn't think it was worth it."

"Wow," Sameen shook her head, "That's harsh."

They stopped in front of the hotel, a block from the soccer field. Sameen followed the girls inside and they made their way up to their room. All the adults were asleep, so they tiptoed down the hall as quietly as possible. Zoe unlocked to door and let them in.

The girls got dressed in silence, exhausted from the evening. Joss and Zoe had the bed by the window. Root and Sameen's was near the bathroom. Sameen crawled into bed and threw herself down, her face smashing into the pillows. She breathed in the smell of hotel linens and sighed happily.

She felt the bed dip next to her and turned her head to look at Root. Someone had turned the lights off, but from this close, she could see that Root looked better than she had an hour ago. They both got under the blankets. Sameen lifted her head to look over Root at the other bed.

Joss and Zoe were cuddled up, only their hair visible above the blankets. Sameen rolled her eyes and dropped back down. She wondered if they were trying to give them privacy. Root was watching her.

"Ready for sleep?" Sameen whispered.

Root nodded and opened her arms for Sameen to move closer. Sameen tucked her head under Root's chin like she did almost every night and sighed, wondering when she became a cuddler.

"Sameen," Root whispered from above her. "You're going to win tomorrow."

"Of course we are," Sameen answered her. "I'm on the team."