Falling for the Goalie and Other Dangerous Sports

Chapter 2 - Derek

"And...Derek in goal."

"Sweet." I jogged out, pulling my trusty gloves on. It felt like seeing an old friend when my gloves go on. They're practically a second skin on my hands. Flexing my fingers, I got into "the zone", ready to receive the ball coming from the corner kicks. Today, I would be impenetrable.

The first kick was a shank, that I easily caught at my knees. I practiced my goalie throw, tossing it back to the corner. The next kick was low and out away from the goal. "Wall, remember, impenetrable wall," I thought as one of the new girls, Heather, I think, shot straight at me. It's amazing, you know. There's this giant goal behind me and she manages to kick it right at my face. I threw the ball back again, blocking more and more shots. They eventually got better, but there were still less shots in that out.

A sudden giggling interrupted my concentration. Seeing Wyatt talking to Maddy again, I still couldn't believe how she couldn't see how much Wyatt likes her. It's like putting a sugar cookie in a plate of chocolate chips-you can't miss it. I didn't really know Maddy. Some of the guys mention her name once in awhile because of her looks, but she's got a fiercely independent personality under her shy demeanor. I had one class with her last year, and it was enough to tell that she doesn't take anything from anyone. She was one good defender, and I would have to get to know her eventually. I wasn't looking forward to it, though; I hate dealing with overly confident people. I quickly turned back to the corner kicker.

"Shit," I muttered under my breath. The ball was already in the air. I shuffled back a few steps, but it wasn't enough to catch up to the ball. I dove to protect the goal, but Kendall volleyed the soccer ball in a little above my arms. A small piece of my confidence seemed to drift away as the ball rolled out. I wasn't letting myself get distracted again.

Another kick like last time's soared above my head. I dove again, saving the ball this time, feeling impenetrable again.

"No kiddin'. But I've got this one in, guaranteed." I overheard Maddy say.

"Whatever you say!" Wyatt replied. Wait, guaranteed? This girl was about to get a wake-up call. Hoping to provoke her with a stare, her hazel eyes caught me off guard. They blended in with the greenery around, but the burst of copper in the middle made them stand out. Her hair was a shade of chestnut, ponytail in waves of almost-auburn. Her face had ggentle features: big eyes, small nose, average mouth. She wasn't one of those stick figures you'd see walking the halls, she had a more filled out-frame, strong shoulders and legs built for running and shoving. Noticing the amount of of time I spent staring at her, I quickly turned away before my disguise was blown. Now was not the time to check a girl out, much nonetheless a teammate.

Watching Jarod kick another perfect pass, I moved back. I went to go knock the ball away, but instead I somehow managed to bounce it out off of Maddy's head and out. For a split second I was satisfied watching the ball move away from the goal, but a sudden force on my face knocked me off balance, nearly causing me to fall over.

Getting myself together again, I noticed Maddy sprawled out on the grass. My first instinct made me ask, "Are you alright?" I'm glad she was dazed. My tone of voice was much softer than it should of been.

"Yeah, I think so." Maddy replied in a wispy sort of voice. I held out my hand to help her up. Hey, it was the least I could do. Pulling her to her feet, I slowly let go. Maddy took one shaky step before dropping to her knees again. "Sorry, it's just...everything's so blurry..." She reminded me of an injured doe, so soft and quiet and innocent. It made me pity her for the moment, wanting to help in another way.

Before I could do something embarrassingly impulsive, Coach Dublin came by. She took Maddy over to the sidelines and directed me to get an ice pack. I ran to grab one and returned to see Coach testing out the battle scar.

"Can I see your head, Maddy?" Coach asked. She pulled away the water bottle from her head to reveal a purple bruise beginning to form. I cringed for a fraction for a moment. Maddy sucked in her breath as Coach gently pressed it. "Geez, it's already starting to look purple. Here, put this ice pack on it." I handed Coach the use-once ice pack and took the chance to look into her hazel eyes again, just to try and decide what color they really were. I didn't notice the increasing cold feeling coming from under my nose until Maddy said something.

"Derek, you're nose is bleeding." she pointed out. I quickly rubbed under my nose, bringing down my hand.

"Oh." I said. I wiped under my nose again, looking at the blood her carelessness caused. I had a resentment towards her as I continued to try to staunch the blood that took away my time and my hunger for more competition. More diving and groveling and scraping and the wave of confidence you get after a save.

"Don't do that!" Coach said, pulling my arms away from my face. "Wait one minute and don't touch that nose!"

I leaned forward to let the blood drip out away from me. Making sure I was at a good angle so Maddy could see me and what she did to me, I saw her simply shift her ice pack around. She must really be hurt. Shouldn't she be scolding me or something? And she looked even more dazed than usual. More...lost.

Coach came back, telling me to wipe off my hands and keep leaning forward to let the blood drain out. I couldn't stop sneaking stares at Maddy. She looked exactly like an injured doe, and it was painful to see her eyes stumble around, still not quite alive. I sat down a small distance from her and watched Mark take over in the goal box, resentment growing again. "Ah, I could've saved that easily!" I kept thinking as Mark made useless attempts. Then things went very quiet between us. I pulled my tissues away to see still-wet blood, signifying my nose still hadn't stopped bleeding. It fueled my anger, no doubt, but I had to break the unnerving silence that had settled in.

"I'm sorry...about, you know, hitting you in the face." I mumbled. I quickly turned my attention to the drill again, knowing I was probably losing my pissed-off disguise every second. I grabbed my water bottle an took a drink to give myself a mental slap.

"It's alright. And sorry about...about..well, you know..." she drifted off, deep in concentration for words. I decided this was time to mess around a little bit. Some payback for the embarrassment she caused me.

"Headbutting me in the nose?" I said, cocking an eyebrow at her. It was hard not to gape like an idiot at her captivating features again, but she replied quickly.

"Yeah. That." Maddy stated before looking down again. I noticed her blushing a little bit. The quiet threatened to move in again, but Maddy spoke up.

"Well, you have a hard head." I saw her move her ice pack down to her cheeks. Hard head? Ha. She's covering up her blush with the ice pack, of course. Now it was time to embarrass her.

"I could say the same for you. And the ice pack goes on your forehead, not your cheeks. Unless my 'hard head' hurt those too." I leaned over and pushed the ice pack up onto her forehead again. When I took my hand back, I accidentally brushed it against hers. I wasn't expecting the electric shock that coursed through my arm. I hope Maddy didn't notice the little spasm I had after pulling away.

"Hey!" Maddy said, frowning.

Determined to keep my cool, I continued my natural arrogance. "What?" I said, nonchalantly taking my tissues off to check the blood flow.

"Your nose stopped bleeding." she finished, a soft realization hitting her face.

I stood up and held out my hand again. Maddy took it, but I chuckled a little and said, "Thanks for the news flash." Sure, I felt like a jerk for a moment, but there was no way this girl was getting off the hook so easily. After going over the game details and heading towards Mom's red VW, I met up with Wyatt.

"That was some smash up. What did she do to you?" Wyatt asked me.

"Gave me a bloody nose, but I returned the favor with a bruise on her head." I said, reveling in my success.

"Man, I can't believe a girl did that to you. But it seemed you guys had a real connection out there, huh?" Wyatt said, nudging me. I don't know why, since he was the one who had the crush on her. But I would trade places with him right now; my nose was beginning to get sore. Yet somewhere deep inside, the truth was maybe we had had some connection. Not like I would ever say that to Wyatt, though, no way.

"Hah, no." I replied.

"Sure. It was pretty obvious the way you were staring at her. I mean-"

"Shh!" I said to Wyatt. Maddy was staring at me suspiciously. As soon as she got into her truck, Wyatt continued.

"Ooo, you do care about her, don't you?"

I pinned him against a car we were walking past. "Listen. I don't care about her. Aren't you the one who cares about her?" I said. If there's one thing more annoying than injuries, it's being told what I think.

"I was just teasing, man. And I do like her, but I'm positive I'm in the friend zone." Wyatt said, me loosening my grip. I heaved my bag higher on my shoulders and started walking off towards the VW. "But seriously. If she likes you, I haven't got a chance now, do I?" he said playfully.

"What are you talking about?" I said through gritted teeth.

"Fourth grade, Ashley Wallbourne."

Remembering the incident of her kissing me in front of everybody when her "boyfriend" was Matthew Peters, earning me another bloody nose, my knuckles tightened over my bag strap. It was easily one of the most embarrassing and painful moments of my life. In spite of that, girls actually started noticing me more. And so the giggling group of airheads still follows me around today. I could say I was attractive. And still am. But there wasn't one girl who wasn't some plastic mass production of every other girl I could care for.

"Whatever.I'm not interested. She's all yours." I stated. Wyatt held his head up higher, confidence showing.

"Cool. See you later then."

"Later."

Him bringing up Ashley Wallbourne was a rather low blow to me. He knew how I never wanted that to be part of my life, but still decided to gash open an old wound. Why would he think I liked this Maddy girl over one collision? I had no idea, but I sat in the car completely wiped of energy. I looked over to not see Mom, but a newspaper covering an unknown face. Pulling the newspaper back, I saw my older brother, Max.

"Hey! What are you doin' here?" I asked, giving him a hearty high five, spirits lifted.

"Well," he said, pulling out from the parking lot, "College starts in a week, I quit my summer job, and I'm going to stay here instead of my apartment." Max said. "What about you? What was up with that collision on the field?" he asked.

I explained what had happened with Maddy, but nothing too...personal. When I finally finished, he said,"Well that's quite the experience little bro." Max ruffled my messy brown hair. I combed it forward with my fingers, trying to fix it. It really did need cut soon. "And you know what would've stopped that?"

"Better position, I know. I've only heard it a hundred times." I said, rolling my eyes.

"And you still don't listen. Also on that one goal..." Max continued to give me pointers on some of the shots that went in. He was a goalie in high school, easily on of the best Ashcrest High School has ever seen. He let in a record of 7 goals in his sophomore year, and helped win the district championship when he was a junior, and led the team to state victory by shootout in his senior year. I wanted to be just like him, a "brick wall" he would always say.

When we arrived home I went upstairs to check my phone. There was only one message from Scarlett Jones, a girl who practically stalked me.

How was practice?

She gives me scary dreams at night. I tossed my phone on a pile of laundry in the corner of the room and took off my sweaty practice clothes, changing into something more comfortable. I hopped into my bed and realized how tired I was, pulling the covers over my shoulders and turning to face the window. The day's events replayed over and over again in mind, until the last thing I could remember was Maddy.