Stranger Things FanFic

Soccer Practice

 "Come on Eden, are you almost ready?" Scottie yelled into the bathroom keyhole.

"Yes yes, I'm coming." Eden stepped out of her bathroom with wet hair and gym clothes on.

"You took a shower?! Before practice?"

"Yeah, so?"

"I swear you're gonna be the death of me; we're gonna be like 20 minutes late!"

"That means more of an entrance," Eden said, trying to dry her hair some more.

"True," she agreed, smirking. Eden knew Scottie was a sucker for a good entrance.

20 minutes later they arrived at soccer practice and saw everyone just finishing warmups.

"Hey, what took you guys so long?" Said Lola as they ran up.

"Eden. Why are you just finishing warmups?"

"The coach got a little invested in the regular morning gossip session, so we only just started like five minutes ago."

"We should really limit her leeway."

"I know, right?"

"Okay kids, listen up!" Silence fluttered through the crowd as everyone's attention flew toward the coach's whistle. "Today, we're going to practice penalty kicks, Lola, listen please, you especially need to work on these." A slight rustling of laughter rippled through the group. "We're going to run over positioning and how to get power behind a kick, then we'll finish off with a quick game. Sound good?" Everyone agreed through shouts and claps and then ran out to the middle of the field. "Alright, everyone line up! Goalie, get in position, call it when you're ready."

"Ready!" The coach's whistle rang out across the field and Erin aimed a kick straight at the goal, blocked by the goalie. Natasha's wasn't too good either; it was a weak kick and more rolled to the goalie before she picked it up. Robin's was the first to go in, as it flew towards the goal in a wide curve. Lola's was better than it ever had been before, but still not very good. Scottie went after Beth whose dainty name suited her kick: everyone on the team had secretly made bets that she wouldn't last very long. Scottie's kick was powerful, but in a straight arc and easily stopped by the goalie. Eden went next and hers was the next successful goal and it slid past the goalie's left foot to great cheers. Some other people tried, one other girl got a goal, and then the coach blew her whistle.

"That was good, better than the last time we ran penalties, but still dreadful, I imagine we won't have time for a game at the end of the day as we only have so much time before all hope of improvement runs out. Everyone should be following Robin. She had a perfect kick and it went in past the goalie very easily. Try to aim your kicks so they curve to the side or fly in an arc. Remember, we talked about this last week, you guys did well, now it's time to apply both principles at once. Keep working on it and reviewing it at home and you'll get the hang of it in no time. Ready, again!" The shots were better as a team this time, and though only Natasha and Robin got goals, everyone managed to add some curve and spin to their ball, much to the pleasure of the coach. "Great job, everyone. Water break!" They ran over to the water cooler to receive their cups from the water girl and take swigs from their bottles. Scottie looked around the field and her eyes finally settled on the boy playing on the neighbouring court with his buddies.

"Are you making goo-goo eyes at my brother again?"

"Maybe."

"Okay, well!"

"What?" Asked Scottie, almost spitting her water out because she was laughing.

"I'm just happy you guys are together, you're perfect for each other."