Learned how to play 7 Nation Army on the piano, I'm kind of a boss at it B)
Oh, and we're 96 views away from TEN THOUSAND. I remember when I thought a hundred was a lot. 10k is insane!
Reviews!
MoonTheMagical: LOL, that's a great story. I'm sure you were an amazing player.
SomeRandomRobo: Awww, I love those types of rabbits! I also love pizza pops. One time, I burned my finger making one because I left it in the microwave for too long. That wasn't fun, considering I write with my fingers.
Qxr: Yeah, that's probably correct. Who needs children when you can have a rabbit?
Trigger warning: for homophobia. Basically high school dudes being jerks.
Enjoy!
Chapter 58
G-O-O-O-A-A-A-AL!
Water bottle? Check.
Bottle of orange flavoured Crocade? Check.
Shin pads and cleats? Check.
Book of cool soccer plays? Check.
Hair elastic for keeping gray-brown hair that hadn't gotten a good haircut in five months? Check.
Josh threw all of said items into his tan backpack, making sure to triple-check his list of four items. He pulled on his mustard-yellow hoodie, their team's colour, and slung the backpack over his shoulder. He pulled open the door, exiting his navy blue room, and took the stairs two at a time to reach their kitchen.
His mother and Tulisa were sitting at their dining table in the sage-green kitchen, eating healthy granola cereal and watching some 90's rom-com. Josh went over to the cabinet and pulled out two energy bars from a brightly coloured cardboard box. His mother noticed him and grinned.
"Hey, big-shot soccer player! I made you some fried eggs so you'll have energy for the big game today. Dad's at the station, but he said he might be able to catch the last bit of the game."
She pointed to a plate with two sunny yolks sitting in a circle of white. A strip of bacon was below it, curved up to make it look like a funny face. Josh smiled and took a seat at the polished wood table, stabbing a fork into the center of the egg to make it run down like lava from a volcano.
Tulisa checked her purple watch, rolling up the sleeve of her pastel rainbow hoodie. "We'd better hurry. We've gotta pick Ruby up and make it to school early so we can help set up."
Josh nodded through a mouthful of salty egg, scooping more into his mouth. Their mother rolled her cobalt blue eyes. "Slow down, you don't want to choke on your big day!"
Josh grumbled, but slowed down his chewing.
After he and Tulisa had finished, they said their goodbyes to their mother and headed out to the garage and into Destiny, Josh taking shotgun.
Tulisa grinned. "So, how's the team? Made any friends?" She pressed the button to open the garage door.
"Who are you, Mom?" Josh scoffed.
Tulisa raised an eyebrow. He sighed.
"Uh, they're fine, I guess. There's a kid named Cody who's pretty cool."
"It's so awesome that you get to play with all the seniors," Tulisa continued as she pulled out of their driveway. "You're like, the only junior there."
"Don't remind me," Josh muttered. The other seniors there, especially Matt, had made fun of him for being weak and skinny. Even though he was one of the fastest players on their team! It was dumb.
They drove down the street, passing people walking big dogs, people walking small dogs, and people walking children, who Josh sometimes classified as animals. Pigs were as smart as a three-year-old, and there were apes that were smarter than some eleven-year-olds. Apparently there was a chicken that could count to five, though Josh figured it was less about the counting and more about 'peck four times and we give you seeds'.
They turned down a street, driving past big, posh, fancy houses until they got to the end, where Ruby's new mansion was. It was a lovely place, the colour of coffee with cream with lots of big bay windows. A turquoise pool resided in the emerald green, perfectly trimmed backyard. Sprinklers rained water down on the front lawn, with colourful flowers dotting the sides.
Tulisa parked the van beside the sidewalk, and the two of them unbuckled their seatbelts, hopping out through the car doors to wait for Ruby.
Josh bounced from one foot to the other, craning his neck to look through windows. "Where is she? Ruby's usually pretty early to meet us here."
Suddenly, the front doors swung open dramatically, Ruby running out at absolute top speed like she was a track star. Buttered toast in her mouth, backpack over one shoulder, and her red hair messy and unkempt. She skidded to a halt, panting, and ripped the slice of toast out of her mouth.
"Sorry! So, so sorry! Rylie was having a tantrum, and then Cindy threw up on my boots, and then I had to change the litter box and THEN I had to make pancakes for Rylie because she wouldn't calm down without them...it was a very chaotic morning. Also my hair looks like crap." Ruby ran her fingers through the thick mane, but did not prevail. She sighed and hopped into the backseat, throwing her backpack to the side. "But at least I remembered the team colours!" She zipped down her jacket, revealing a yellow shirt with a bee on it, their mascot.
Josh pumped his fist. "Nice! Our name doesn't even make sense though. 'Lakeview Bees'. The nearest lake is that poisonous one in New Harmony, and the mascot Bees sounds kind of lame. Not even Hornets."
Tulisa gasped. "Hey! Bees are the most important animal on the planet, don't even try to dishonor their name."
"Sheesh, sorry. Didn't know you were such a bee fanatic." Josh mumbled.
They drove past some more buildings, a gas station, and a small park with children running around, swinging sticks and branches at each other as if in a ferocious duel.
Josh smiled. He remembered playing with his sister like that, where the two of them would pretend to slay fearsome beasts together, or make up fantastical stories about warriors and princesses and evil trolls or ogres. But now Tulisa was closer to Ruby than she was to him, and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't at least a little bit jealous. Sure, Ruby was his best friend too, and she was great and all, but did the two of them really have to rub it in his face that they were friends? It just seemed like they had a new inside joke every minute, a new addition to their handshake every second.
And yeah, Josh had a few other friends. Ducky was hilarious, and Cody was pretty fun too. But neither of them he considered his best friends...that role belonged to Tulisa.
But do I fill hers?
Josh knew the answer. And the answer started with the letter R and ended with u-b-y.
Eventually, the van reached the school, which was bustling with excited students awaiting the big game. Tulisa was forced to park in a gas station parking lot because of the packed school. They hopped out, grabbed their stuff from the back, and crossed the street to the school (making sure to look both ways, of course).
Josh squeezed through a crowd of girls, catching a bit of gossip thrown out as he passed them. He waved furiously at Cody, who was standing with two other guys on the team, Darrel and Parker. Cody noticed him and waved back, his ginger hair easy to spot in a crowd. Josh ran over, accidentally bumping into a few people, and finally reached his teammates.
Darrel grinned.
"Hey, man! Coach said to meet us in front of the changerooms when we've got everybody. He's got Booker, Wally, Gus, and Hunter with him, now we're just waiting on Matt and Ryder." Darrel explained, his hands moving wildly.
Josh nodded, throwing his beige backpack over one shoulder. "Cool. So when's Capricorn High comin' here?"
Parker shrugged. "'Dunno. They should be here soon. You guys think we're going to win?"
They exchanged glances. Cody frowned.
"I'm not sure. They've got some pretty good players on their team. Did you guys see that one kid who's brother was in the Olympics last year? He's huge, and he's got these gigantic muscles. I broke my arm playing against him." Cody shivered.
Darrel shoved him. "Dude, you ran into a fence."
Josh chuckled, feeling more at ease. This was nice. These guys seemed nice, maybe one of them could be his new best friend?
Suddenly, he was shoved to the floor by a large hand. His backpack was flung onto the sidewalk, skidding into a wall. Josh scrambled to his feet, brushing off the dirt and scrapes, and grabbed his backpack. When he turned around, there he saw Matt Weld, captain of the soccer team and a massive jerk.
Stupid Matt. He was always the one to make fun of Josh for being skinny, or weak, or whatever he deemed a good thing to call him. Stupid Matt, with his golden locks, tanned skin, ocean eyes, and defined jawline that earned him about a gazillion thirsty twelve-year-old fangirls on any social media app. Josh didn't get any thirsty simps. Not that he wanted any, of course.
Besides, Josh was already dashingly handsome. Except for the dumb red pimple that had decided to show up today of all days, in the center of his forehead. He managed to cover it up with his bangs, but it still stung like hell.
Josh glared at him. "Hey, what was that for?"
Matt glanced at him airily, dragging his bottom lip behind his teeth in a stupid gesture that seriously ticked Josh off. Like, how was he supposed to take that? Was he supposed to feel intimidated? Maybe that worked on his teenage fangirls, but not on him.
"Sorry, Abbott. Didn't see you there. 'Sup, Parker, how's it going? Catch up on the new update yet?"
Matt, his friend Ryder, and the other three boys dove into conversation about the game, other kids at their school, and a new update to some random shooter game.
Josh sighed and examined his backpack. Nothing seems to be damaged, luckily.
There was suddenly a rapid tapping on his shoulder. Josh turned around to face the tapper, who turned out to be Ducky. Ducky grinned and clapped his hands.
"Alright, so my sister Heather came over yesterday, and she was singing Runaway by Aurora? And she was bragging about how good she was and stuff. My next-door neighbors liked it so much they threw a lamp through the window."
Josh burst out laughing. "Seriously?! A whole lamp?"
Ducky nodded, grinning wildly. He brushed a purple curl out of his eyes. "I know, right? I'm starting to think they're like, government spies or something. I was going for a walk one day, and I had the WiFi options up, theirs was named CallMeDaddy. I kid you not. There's no way these people are real."
Josh snorted.
"Yeah, probably. I'll see you at the game?"
Ducky winked. "Oh, you'll see me all right. You'll definitely see me. AHAHAHAHAHÆHAHAHAHA!" He backed away, melting into the crowd, still cackling maniacally.
Josh smiled, turning back to his teammates, who were all staring at him judgmentally.
Ryder raised his eyebrows, adjusting his baseball cap, which was on backwards with a tuft of dark hair sticking out the ponytail hole. "So is he a friend of yours?"
Josh blinked. "Uh, yeah. Why are you asking?"
Ryder smirked, sharing a mischievous look with the other guys. "I don't know. Isn't he like, a gay, or something?"
(why did I laugh-)
Josh was starting to get a bad feeling about this. "I'm not sure, I haven't asked. It's really none of your business, though. Unless you're into him?" Josh batted his eyelashes innocently.
The guys punched him jokingly, and Ryder laughed. "Ew, no! Gah, he's literally wearing a skirt, did you see? Like some weird anime school girl or somethin'."
Matt snorted. "I know, right? It's so dumb. And he keeps hanging around you, Abbott, it's kind of creepy. He's obsessed."
Josh sighed, stuffing his hands in his pockets. He was extremely uncomfortable with the energy of this very very offensive conversation.
"Guys, it's whatever. Let's just leave it alone, okay? We should probably head to the changerooms now."
Matt wiggled his eyebrows and rubbed his tanned hands together. "O-kayyy. If you're sure."
Something told him this conversation was unfortunately not over.
Josh dipped his head and started to walk inside with the other kids rushing to their lockers and chatting with friends. He navigated through the clustered white-brick hallways, past countless inspirational posters and peanut allergy stickers. A left at the library, a right at the bathrooms. Finally, he reached the boy's change room, where the team headed in.
Their Coach, Mr Barnes, and a couple other teammates were chilling there waiting for them. Josh took a seat on a nearby bench and crossed his legs. He examined the bench with disgust. Ew, there were stains on this. The auburn wood planks were chipped and stained, with a couple metal coat hooks missing. Josh had always thought the hooks looked exactly like octopuses flexing.
Coach stood up and clapped his hands in a rhythm. The other boys reluctantly copied with half-hearted claps.
"Alright, Bees, listen up! The Sea Goats have an advantage on us in that they've, well, they've got Luca Ramirez on their team."
Oh no. Luca Ramirez was a legend in Hurricane soccer. Despite being Josh's age, he was insanely talented, smashing through lines of defense like a bull and kicking the ball like it killed his father.
Oh yeah. Did he mention Luca was 6'7 and built like a professional bodybuilder?
This did not bode well for their team. Distressed murmurs broke out among the group, anxiety seeping in.
The coach clapped his hands for attention. "OI! None of y'all better be talkin' bad about our team. Listen, what I was going to say is, they may have that chunk of testosterone on their team, but we're quick and fast. We can easily outwit them! C'mon, who's with me?!" The coach put a fist in the air, his bald pink head sticky with sweat.
The team shrugged, murmuring amongst themselves. The air around them was filled with mediocrity.
"I mean sure, why not." Matt replied airily. He ran a hand through his ruffled blond hair.
The coach grinned, revealing a mouthful of silver fillings. "THAT'S THE SPIRIT! Now change into your outfits and meet me outside for the game plan."
Coach headed outside, muttering various motivational quotes under his breath as he left. The team stood up, rummaging through their bags and pulling out bright golden jerseys, chatting aimlessly about school and friends to each other.
Josh reached into his bag and pulled out his daffodil-coloured jersey, made of a light material that was soft like silk. He pulled up his shirt and began to change into it.
Matt wandered up to him, wearing simple black board shorts. Damn, that was a nice six-pack, Josh thought to himself. His habit of hiding inside and playing video games could never.
"So, what's the deal with Quacker back there? Are you guys dating or something?" Matt laughed, leaning on one of the teal lockers nailed to the white chipped walls.
"No, and I have no interest in him. I'm ace and aro, remember?" Josh replied stiffly, rummaging through his bag. He was very much done with this conversation.
Parker chuckled, elbowing Ryder and turning his brown gaze onto Josh. "Oh, so you two are hooking up then. I see."
Cody shoved his friend. "Dude, are you mentally ill? Josh doesn't do that. Weren't you listening?"
Matt burst out laughing, slapping his thigh. "Is that what that means? I thought you were kidding. Ooh, or joshing. See what I did there?" He jeered, giving him a punch on the shoulder.
Anger flared deep inside him, coiling up and baring it's poisonous fangs like a fiery phoenix snake in his belly. "Guys, shut up. Can we just focus on other stuff?"
Matt leaned in closer, a mocking smirk on his face. Josh kept his ground, staring back with a cloudy blue flame.
"Like what? Like the fact that you were blatantly checking me out? I know I'm hot, but Jesus Christ, you perv. Honestly, you and Quacker freak me out. It's a wonder you're allowed to be a part of this sports team, you both are such disgusting f-"
And then the snake struck.
Crack!
As if it had mind of its own, Josh's fist flew through the air and made contact with Matt's big ugly nose with the sharp sound of a baseball hitting a bat.
A collective gasp rang out from the crowd of boys, hushed murmurs sweeping the room. A stream of vermillion liquid flowed from Matt's nostril and he wiped it away with one hand, smearing the side of his thumb. He turned his rage-filled gaze onto Josh, who still had his fists up, heart pounding. His mouth was dry.
Matt glared, disgust lacing his stare. He spat words with utmost hatred.
"You fucking prick."
And then Matt was leaping forward, kicking Josh on his shin, digging soil-filled nails into skin, punching him in the chest and knocking the wind out of him. Josh snarled and spat crimson blood on the floor, running into him with the force of a star quarterback. Matt fell to the floor, and Josh pounced on him like a ravenous cougar onto a deer. He drove his fist into his rock-hard stomach, over and over and over again. The boys on the side pumped their fists and chanted fight fight fight, and Matt and Josh did, as a battle of honor and rights and all the pent-up rage and sadness and emotions Josh had felt over the past few weeks. He raised his fist, black and blue and knuckles rubbed red, about to deal a good blow, when-
He was cut off by the door slamming open and a very angry looking Coach walking through the door frame, taking in the violent sight in front of him.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN HERE?!"
The room fell silent, except for the scuffle still going on on the floor. Josh's face stung from the harsh blows. Coach was talking, he knew that, but it was all but a mosquito-like hum in his ears. Then he was being dragged off by the collar of his shirt, thrown to his feet and facing a furious Coach. Coach turned to the audience, who was looking anywhere but in front of them.
"Can someone here tell me who started this?" He asked, voice deathly calm.
Everyone simultaneously pointed to Josh, who looked at his feet. Matt smirked at the sight and stuck out his tongue from behind their coach's back.
Coach nodded and put an arm around his shoulder, the weight resting there in what looked like a comforting gesture but was probably meant to be more like a chokehold.
"I'll be back to speak with you too, Matt. The rest of you change and wait here. I need to have a word with him."
Josh's palms were sweaty. His face hurt. Coach led him outside the changerooms and into the empty hallway, taking his arm off his shoulder and crossing them together.
"Now you'd better explain yourself, Joshua, because I have half a mind to throw you off this team and have you suspended." He growled, his amber gaze boring through him.
Josh stared at the ceiling. He counted the tiles.
"When I say now, I mean right now. Look, I want to get both sides of the story, and I can't do that if you don't say anything. I know you, Josh, and this isn't like you. Something must have happened. So come on, spit it out."
Josh fiddled with the hem of his shorts. "I dunno, he was making fun of a friend, I guess…"
Coach nodded. "Uh-huh. Keep going."
"Well, he just kept making these stupid homophobic comments! Not just towards my friend, but me too, even though I'm not even gay. And he's such a jerk, he insults me for being skinny and stuff...he just really pisses me off. I guess that was the breaking point." Josh ranted.
Coach sighed, looking down the hallway.
"Listen, kid, I know how that feels. I had a buddy, John, when I was, oh, fourteen or so. He had a problem with his leg and needed to use a crutch, but I didn't care. We'd been the best of friends since before we were even born, if you can believe it! But then there was this one guy, Drake. God, he was the worst. Makin' fun of anyone who dared cross his path. So one day, me and John were goin' to science class, and Drake comes up to us. He starts talking smack about John, callin' him slurs and insults and stuff I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. So I hit him in his stomach, and it felt good. So I keep doing it, and do you know what happened?"
"What?" Josh asked, invested in the tale.
Coach laughed. "I was expelled. Had to go to a different school across town. So I do get where you're coming from, but I've learned my own lesson. Violence is never the answer."
Josh nodded. "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry, I just got caught up in the heat of the moment. I should really get ready though, that goalie mask is hard to get on."
Coach exhaled. "Josh, you're not playing in the game. Neither is Matt."
"What?! But- but I thought I was in the clear! I thought you knew how I felt!" Josh yelled.
"While I can relate to you, I am also an authority figure. I need to give you a punishment, and I feel that this is fair. I will also be contacting your parents after today." Coach explained calmly.
Josh sighed, slumping down. His parents would not be pleased. "Fine. Can I go out to the bleachers now?"
Coach nodded. "Yep. I'll be talking to Matt now, you may head out to the field."
Josh grumbled, wandering back into the changeroom to grab his backpack. He ignored the stares and whispers of his teammates. Matt leaned against the lockers mockingly. Josh noticed with a pang of satisfaction that his nose was purplish and swollen.
"So, what happened? Didya tattle?" Matt jeered, his sunny blond hair standing on end from the static.
Josh just ignored him, putting his black-and-white water bottle back into his bag. Matt frowned, walking up to him and poking his side.
"Hey, I'm talking to you! Don't think we're all good, Abbott. You and your strange friend better know what's coming after school today."
Josh turned to him, feeling tired. "Matt, why do you feel the need to be such a massive dickhead all the time? Like seriously. Is it some deep-rooted psychological thing? Do you not have a good home life? Are you jealous of me? Or do you just project your own insecurities onto me and anyone else you deem 'strange'."
Matt snorted. "Jeez, you don't have to be such a goody-two-shoes. You're starting to sound like one of those dumb motivational videos the teachers show us that make us think that problems can be solved with words. Well, they can't. You use your fists."
Josh sighed.
"And how does that make things better? Like yeah, it's a good stress reliever, but it doesn't solve any of your problems."
"Matt! Can you please see me out here?" Coach called from the doorway.
Josh shot him a smile. "I think that's your cue. How about you try and use fists on Coach? See how well that goes for you."
Matt leaned over and gave him a shove meant to push him over, but Josh caught himself, keeping eye contact. Matt rolled his eyes.
"Whatever. You're still really freaky, Abbott." He turned away and headed outside.
Over the PA system, their principal called everyone outside to the soccer field.
Josh exhaled, throwing his tan backpack over his shoulder. He headed outside, brushing past Matt and a very stern-looking Coach on his way out. He may as well go meet Tulisa and the others at the bleachers.
Hopefully his story would go over well with them...
~lll~
"That self-absorbed asshole! I'm going to rip out his spine and beat him over the head with it!" Ruby snarled, her hands moving in vicious directions. She was clearly thirsty for a certain tall blond jerk's blood. Myah winced, her black eyes wide. Ducky looked kind of shocked. And Tulisa was not impressed.
"Sounds like Josh already did that for you," Tulisa muttered darkly. She cast her worried blue gaze, so much like his own, onto him. "What were you thinking, Josh? You could've been hurt more than you already were! You could've gotten in so much more trouble. You could've been EXPELLED! What would we have done? You know we can't have you going to Capricorn! And...and I would have missed you so much." Tulisa admitted.
Josh looked at his feet, shame radiating off of him in waves. "I know. And I'm really sorry, Lisey. It's like my hand moved on its own accord, and then everything kind of escalated from there."
Tulisa sniffled, her cheeks and nose a rosy red colour.
"You're my best friend, Josh. I don't want you to get hurt!" She wrapped him up in a warm hug, the kind only siblings could accomplish, pressing her face into his right shoulder.
"..."
I'm her best friend?
Josh patted his sister on the back a bit awkwardly, still amazed. That was...that was nice to hear. And even if Ruby was still her best friend, maybe that meant that they could share the renowned spot of Tulisa's Best Friend!
Myah held out a plastic container filled with small black berries.
"I picked some blackberries last month, do you want some?" She asked, smiling. Josh nodded and took a few out.
"Careful not to get them on your clothes. One time I stained my white blouse, and my mom freaked out!" Myah warned him, rolling up the sleeves of her camel-brown chunky-knit sweater she had paired with a brown plaid miniskirt. Her hair was in a low ponytail with a few dark pieces hanging out.
Josh laughed at the story, popping one into his mouth. He relished the sweet, yet tart taste rolling around his tongue.
Ducky grinned.
"Reminds me of the time I was running around our house with glitter glue. I had a…"
The five of them returned to their usual routine of sharing food and stories as they waited for the teams to get out and start the game. Eventually, the band arrived, playing the drums and the trumpet while dressed in bright yellow attire. The principal came out and made everyone sing the national anthem along with the choir, which Josh did somewhat half-heartedly. Ruby passed them some black and yellow face paint, which they all applied to their cheeks and eyelids to show some school spirit.
And then finally, the two teams stepped out. The Sea Goats came dressed in shades of turquoise and white, walking out in a triangle formation. Their teal-clad schoolmates cheered and waved flags for their team.
The Bees stepped out in their striped uniforms, looking a little discouraged at the loss of their best forward and their best goalie, but still keeping their heads up and grinning.
Josh clapped his hands over his head and cheered for the team. Cody, Ryder, Parker, and Darrel noticed him up there. Cody and Darrel waved excitedly, while Parker and Ryder just stared.
Ryder took his place in the center of the field. On Capricorn's side, a tall guy with long dark brown hair in a ponytail, who was probably Luca Ramirez, opposed him. He cracked his knuckles and neck threateningly.
The referee, dressed like a zebra, said a few words to the two boys, then stepped back and blew the whistle, the sharp noise piercing his eardrums.
The game had begun.
~lll~
"And there goes Diago Lopez of Lakeview, passing the ball to Ryder Mission. Their running, almost there- and there we have it, point for the Bees!" The announcer, Lilla Lopez, cheered for her older brother, throwing her arms in the air.
Josh watched in fixation as the ball was placed into the center. With the blow of a whistle, Luca was off, weaving in between players like a video game. He ignored open teammates, instead keeping the ball for himself. Not that he needed to pass to anyone anyways.
Cody, who was on defense, stole the black-and-white ball from Luca for a split second, but the larger boy took it back, heading directly for the net.
Their backup goalie, Ivan Lawrence, waited in panic for Luca to shoot. He was not used to the role of goalie, and it showed in his insecure stance and pumping heart. Luca leaned back and did a massive kick with the sharp bottoms of his cleats. The ball flew through the air…
Ivan stretched up with all his might and caught it with gloved hands, tumbling to the ground. There was a snapping sound of bones where they shouldn't be and suddenly his ankle began to hurt.
The referee held up his hands, tweeting into that whistle like nobody's business. Coach jogged over from the sidelines and onto the lush green grass, examining his player in distress.
"Ive, you okay? Anything hurt?"
Ivan groaned, tumbling onto his side. He clutched his ankle in pain. "My ankle...I think I broke it."
Coach nodded, helping him up with a hand. His gaze swept the field. Ugh... nobody here was suited for the role of goalie. They were all too headstrong, wanting the freedom of running across the field without the guilt of a missed catch and a point for the other team being placed on their shoulders. Unlike Josh. He was perfectly suited for the role, and great at it too! Why he'd be-
Oh.
Josh.
Coach sighed. He was his only option, wasn't he? And it would only be for the last bit of the game... He grumbled to himself, helping Ivan onto the bench. A thin lady with ginger hair handed the boy some ice for his ankle.
Coach signaled to the referee and walked up into the audience, making a beeline for Josh, who was stuffing his face with a juicy ketchup-filled veggie burger that his vegetarian sister probably bought for him.
"Oi. Josh. You're in the game, Ivan twisted his ankle. Think you can handle one last round? We've only got twenty-two seconds left." Coach asked, pointing back to the field, where the two teams were gathered.
Josh's eyes widened, face covered in ketchup. He took a few seconds to chew his food and swallow, then to take a bright red cloth and wipe his face-
"Uh, that's my jacket." Ruby told him. Josh winced.
"Sorry!"
She laughed. "That's okay, it was red anyways. Now go! Guard that net, or whatever you do in soccer. Or fute-ball, as the Europeans call it." Ruby said with a terribly attempted accent.
Josh grinned, nodding to the coach, and quickly pulled his shin pads over his black knee-high socks, his gloves on over callused fingers, and took his hoodie off, revealing his bright yellow jersey. He took one last swig from his energy-drink-filled water bottle and jogged onto the field, taking his place in the net.
From the crowd of people watching, Matt cried out in outrage.
"How come he gets to do that?! I'm not allowed to play! That's so unfair!" He whined.
Abbie, his girlfriend, rolled her eyes. "Can it, will you? I wanna see what happens."
Josh leaned over forwards, knees bent, hands outstretched in his goalie stance. He waited with careful patience for the referee to blow his whistle. The Bees were in the lead. All they needed to do was keep the Sea Goats from scoring and they'd win this game. So basically, all the weight was on his shoulders.
No pressure.
The referee whispered a few final words, then stepped back and blew the whistle.
Tweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!
And Ryder had the ball, dribbling between his cleats, swerving around players trying to steal it from him. His eyes were set on the net in front of him. So set, in fact, that he didn't notice the foot right in front of him.
Ryder tumbled to the grass, his palms stinging. He looked up to see the culprit, and saw Luca running in the other direction with the ball, straight for Josh.
"Hey! You can't do that!" Ryder shouted. But the referees hadn't noticed, and probably didn't care enough to listen to Ryder's sob story.
Cody and Darrel ran in front of Luca on the other side of the field, trying to distract him and steal the ball, but Luca just brushed right past them.
Josh, who was observing a small fly on a puffy dandelion and not the game in front of him, was jolted back into reality by the thundering stampede-like noise of Luca running towards him, getting ready to shoot.
Josh waited carefully in suspense for a telltale sign of where Luca would shoot. Perhaps a turn in directions, a flick of the wrist, a dart of the eyes-
Wait.
Luca's root-beer-coloured eyes darted to the bottom left side for one split second...but he was not heading for the bottom left side. In fact, he was running in the complete opposite direction. Was this some kind of fake-out? Did he follow his eyes or his body?
Josh would just have to guess.
Taking a deep breath, Josh leaped to the bottom left corner as Luca kicked the ball. Time seemed to slow. The cheers and roars of the audience were a distant hum. The ball sailed through the air, spinning and turning…
Right into Josh's outstretched arms.
There was silence for a moment, and then cheers erupted from Lakeview's audience. The score sat with the Bees one whole point ahead of the Sea Goats!
Josh blinked, standing up. When he noticed his teammates running towards him with huge smiles on their faces, Josh pumped his arms into the air, cheering.
Cody ran over first. "You did it! I can't believe Coach let you back in, that was amazing! And you know, you've got a great arm. You should sign up for boxing-"
Josh held up a hand, chuckling. "Thanks, but no thanks. My punching-homophobes-in-the-face days are over."
Darrel, Parker, Ryder, and the rest of the team arrived, screaming happily and lifting Josh into the air. Josh laughed. So this was what victory felt like?
Damn, that felt nice.
Eventually his teammates let him down. Luca was standing there. He put his hand out, smiling.
"Good game. You're very talented." He told him. Josh shook his hand timidly.
"Th-thanks," He stammered. The Luca Ramirez was telling him he was talented?! Somebody pinch him! Not actually. That would kind of hurt.
Josh grinned to himself, running off the field. He could see Coach handing out large colourful Freezy sticks to his teammates, and his friends running over to congratulate him.
If this was what being on a team felt like, Josh would want to stick with this forever.
A/N
Ah, nothing I love more than homophobic boys being punched in the face. So satisfying.
Also, I've been thinking about getting rid of Ruby's twin siblings? I don't know, I never really liked that arc in the first place, and we really don't need more small children in this series.
By the way, that Wifi name is something I've legitimately seen before on a road trip. Phenomenal.
Question/Challenge: What's the weirdest Wifi name you've ever seen? If you haven't seen any, go and find some or look them up.
Have an amazing day/night, and remember to set your ocean on fire!
~Ghost