Falling for the Goalie and Other Dangerous Sports

Chapter 5 Part 2 - Derek

I was too focused on the goal I let in to stop my sliding, sending me tumbling and covered in mud. Parents and players hollered and yelled as loud as they could, sending me into a deep, dark, depressing abyss. I hung my head. How could this happen? I had tried so hard...

"Maddy." I growled.

I pulled myself off the ground, snatching the ball and punted it to midfield. Or so I tried. I was so riled up and angry, I kicked it a little farther than I should've. But Maddy had the blame on this one. She was the one who didn't listen to me. She was the one who lunged and let him dribble by her. She was the reason for that unreasonable and unacceptable goal.

I looked over at her. I found out she was looking at me too. She opened her mouth to say something, search for words, anything, looking as scared as ever. "Your. Fault." I mouthed. The whistle sounded, but I kept my glare. Her eyes filled with fright, still not knowing what to say. There was nothing to say though. She made a stupid mistake, and I was going to make sure she knew it. She caused me enough trouble; all she had to do was listen to me and nothing would of ever happened.

"I'll listen next time."Maddy said quietly.

She turned around again, moving up the field. Had she just...apologized? I blinked a few times, still staring at her brown hair, pulled into a messy bun. She said she'd listen. Does that count as an apology? No, no, you hate her Derek. Hate her. But she just...and then she...I didn't quite know what to think. Or what to feel. Guilty? Hateful? Depressed?

"Derek!" I heard. Heather had shouted at me to move back. I saw the oppponents advancing towards us, little bit by little bit, the hunger and anger in their eyes growing.

"Not again," I thought. They were being rough, no doubt, but legal rough. Somehow, a player caught a break through all the confusion, heading towards me and my goal. Heather, Aimee, Carter, Sam, and Wyatt were now on our half of the field, trying to get the ball back. Things moved inside the 18, where position was the most important thing to worry about. One of their players had a dangerous cross, which ended in a tackle battle, Sam, kicking the ball out of the baseline. That gave the other team a corner kick.

I quickly assigned positions. "Front post!"I yelled. People were shouting everywhere, and it was hard to be heard. I checked all the necessary spots, seeing they were filled except for that open man on the outside of the 18 - that the ball was being passed to. I saw him trap it, get ready to kick, when out of no where, Maddy came and stole the ball. She passed it up to Nate who dribbled it for awhile, waiting for someone to pass it to.

There was a long whistle, meaning that the game was finally over, and we had won. I was so close to doing cartwheels into the handshake line, but I looked at the scene 10 yards ahead of me. The kid who had almost scored the last goal walked back to his own line, discreetly sticking out a foot to trip a distracted Maddy. She tumbled head over heels, coming up covered in mud. The other team's players jeered at her.

"Loser."

"Whale!"

"Whore."

The players continued to walk, laughing the whole way. I was about to confront them when I saw Maddy march up to the head douche and spin him around.

"It's very mature of you to act like such a baby after losing a game."

"Baby? That's the best insult you had?"

"Unless you wanted me to call you a dick." Maddy spat. I yet had seen another side to this Maddy I never knew existed. And I was scared as hell. Her eyes were as cold as ice, stare as deathly as daggers. I was completely unprepared for when he raised a fist - and punched Maddy in the face.

"Shit!" I heard Wyatt shout, starting the panic. I couldn't control my actions from then. My feet flew to where the kid was again, about to land another punch in the stomach. Maddy was holding her jaw, unmistakeable pain in her expression. I don't even know how I did it, but before his fist could touch Maddy again, I had stopped it with my hand, inches from her. And then, me landing a two times as hard punch on the player's face sent everything into a hell-like chaos.

It was a swirling mass of orange and navy jerseys, breaking up a fight that didn't even start. I was satisfied with watching him take back a bloody hand from his lip, until I realized Maddy was still lunging towards the player, raging and practically rabid. She was finally dragged off towards the sideline, angrily shaking Kendall's arm off.

"What the hell?" Wyatt asked me.

"What? Didn't you see her?"

Team members were still jeering at each other. I couldn't really see the aftermath until now. The kid that had shoved Sam had ice on his eye, Zane had a cut, and Aimee looked as vicious as Maddy. Coach Dublin and Coach Reed had gone to talk to the other coaches and reason with the yelling parents. The team was sitting around and drinking water, the whispers and questions swirling around. Finally, Jarod decided to dropped the bomb. "Why'd you do it, Derek?"

"Me? No one saw Maddy provoke the kid?"

"That's not the point, you landed the first punch."

"Technically second."

"Whatever. But ultimately, you're the blame here."

"Are you kidding me?" I almost yelled. "Maddy's the one who recklessly provoked him. I'm the one who stopped him from throwing any other punch on her. And she-" I pointed at Maddy,"Is the one who wouldn't stop fighting!"

"Derek, I could've handled it." Maddy piped in.

"Oh, I'm sure of that. You see how red your jaw is? It hurts, doesn't it."

"It doesn't hurt as much as you think."

"Don't lie."

"I'm not!"

"Yes you are. I would've at least thought you'd thank me for stopping that second punch the player was about to land."

"God dammit Derek, do you ever stop thinking about yourself!?"

Maddy stood up.

"About your giant ego, thinking your somehow a step above everyone else, thinking you can handle everything?"

"I never-"

"I could've taken that kid without your help! One punch isn't going to kill me, Derek!"

Everything went quiet for a moment. It was a ring of on lookers, watching a huffing Maddy and me at the center, observing every detail about us, waiting to see what would happen next. As if we were some sort of experiment. Eventually the whispers started back up and Maddy returned to searching through her bag for something. I didn't really realize I was walking towards her in the midst; she was now less than an arm's length away.

"It killed me." I said slowly and deliberately to only Maddy, my voice in a near whisper and my adrenaline numbing my mind, letting loose the filter that kept my emotions inside of me. "It killed me to stand there, to do nothing, and watch you get hurt." I threw my gloves on top of my bag, pulled my muddy goalie jersey off of me and walked past her to grab a drink. The coaches came and broke the staring whispers.

"Well. That was quite the turn of events." Coach Reed said. I looked up at her, knowing every eye was on me. Coach Dublin was staring into my soul, the maddest I have ever seen her in my life. I hung my head again.

"Derek." Coach Reed said. I looked up at her, waiting for the punishment that could be the end of me. "I'm sorry, but you will be facing consequences."

"I know." I said quietly. I could've argued my point, blamed it all on Maddy, gotten off the hook, but a rule I learned is to listen to Coach Reed rather than talk. She had a way of manipulating people.

"The consequences for you are that you will NOT-" Coach Dublin said, putting more emphasis on not,- "be in the goalie position for the next 2 season games, and will not start in goalie for the following 3. Understand?"

Several gasps and whines went through the group. I knew they wanted me as goalie, they knew that they could easily lose without me. I was just as horrified, but too exhausted to feel much of anything. Some part of me hoped this was just some horrible nightmare I was having and I could wake up any minute now.

"Derek. Do you understand?"

I looked up at her and mumbled, "Yes, Coach." Coach Dublin then went over practice times and an evaluation of the game. I stared off into the distance again, wondering what Max would say. Closing my eyes, I let out a quiet sigh. I found Maddy again, attentively paying attention to the coaches. "Look at me please," I thought. "Look at me and yell at me again."

I don't what made arguing with her so...desirable. It was just like all the stops had been pulled, and I could speak whatever I was thinking about, and she'd do the same in some rabid sense of joy, the joy of tearing down a relationship, brick by brick, piece by piece, and building it up again, all in some insane cycle that I couldn't get enough of. How could I love this abuse?

Feeling disappointed in myself, I chewed my bottom lip, wanting her to just call me out on being a complete ass so the silence between us wasn't there.

"One, two three-"

"Ashcrest tigers." we mumbled quietly. We all trudged back to our parents in silence, many staring me down. I kept my sight on the grass leading to Max.

"Why-"

"Let's just go." I said, pushing past him towards the car.

"But-"

"Please." I said.

"Okay, but we have to take Maddy home. Heather's parents came, and Maddy's mom already called me." he said, heading over to his car. I went to get in the passenger seat, but Max stopped me.

"Whoa, little bro. Sit in the back."

"I don't want to, though-"

"Just do it." he said. I sighed and went around to the other side in back of the car. Moments later Maddy came in."Thanks for driving me, Max." she said quietly.

"No problem, ma'am." he said. Maddy smiled, but quickly returned somber. She proceeded to lean her head against the window, closing her eyes. I wanted to say something, but didn't know where to start. Sorry for being a jackass? I whipped out my phone and read my text messages, most of them sent within the last 10 minutes from team members. I wasn't ready to reply, so I shut my phone off, and looked out the window too. Max broke the silence after awhile.

"I think she's asleep. Maddy, are you awake?" he asked. She didn't respond.

"I screwed up big time, didn't I Max?" I asked. I saw his hands tighten on the wheel.

"You may not of handled the situation correctly, but you stood strong, little man. Proud of you."

"Even after that horrible one-on-one goal?" I questioned.

He chuckled."Even after that. Although it wasn't all your fault..." he drifted off, and I didn't respond. I didn't want to hate Maddy anymore. It was too hard. "And I saw you blame her. Don't think you can hide that." Max said in a serious tone. I closed my eyes, remembering me staring her down and mouthing "Your fault" to her. "You like her, don't you?"

"Wha, where did that come from?" I asked.

"Please. I see the way you two look at each other and how much you tease, too. It's hard to not miss." I felt my face heat up. I wasn't sure about feelings for Maddy. I couldn't deny it, although I couldn't accept it.

"It's against the rules." I said, hoping I ended the conversation.

"That, it is little bro. And I'm sorry about that." he said.

"Thanks..." I replied, thinking things over. I heard Max laugh again.

"What?"

"Nothing, nothing. Don't worry about it." he said, continuing to drive. I went over what I said, but couldn't figure out why he was laughing at me. I peeked at Maddy again, out cold against the window. In one hand she had her water bottle, the other was empty. I looked at her natural beauty, disrupted by the red mark on her jaw. I winced at the sight. I saw her shirt, still covered in mud. Her soccer socks were more brown than orange, cleats caked in grass.

"I'm sorry," I thought to myself. "I'm sorry you ever met me and I'm sorry any of this ever happened."

"Don't be so hard on yourself."

"What?"

"You said you're sorry she ever met you." Again, I unknowingly voiced my thoughts. I sighed frustratingly.

"I am. I'm a horrible person."

"No, you're human. Just like the rest of us."

"You know what I said at the sidelines? Do you know what happened? She called me selfish. And she's right, you know that? Of course you know that. I just can't..."

"It all depends on what you replied with. She called your selfish, you called her...?"

"I didn't call her anything. I told her..." I thought about it for a second. "Never mind."

"I won't tell."

"I don't care."

"No. Say it."

"No."

"NOW. Or I will wake her up and tell her every little bit. Maybe even throw in the doctor incident from when you were 5..."

"I told her I cared about her, okay? I told her it killed me to see her get hurt. You know the amount of shit I'm in now?"

An abruptly silence settled in. Max's hand tightened on the wheel again, making a right turn. "I'm sorry. Crap."

"No, no, it's not the swearing, it's just...that was...that must've..." He trailed off again. "That says something, Derek. And I have one piece of advice for you." I peeked an eye open to see his reflection in the mirror. "Don't let Maddy go, no matter how hard it might get. Don't push her away, or let her walk away. Deal?"

I paused for a moment, reflecting on the advice. I didn't quite understand it, but I knew it meant something. Max only gets real in depth in a conversation if it's something important. "I won't. I don't think I could."

"Good. Now get some sleep."

I quickly obliged, laying my head back and putting my knees on the back of the passenger's seat. In a heartbeat, I was asleep.

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Phewww! Looooooooooooooooooooong chapter. Anywhoo, I had to get the romance more into this book. Not everything's lollipops and rainbows yet, though. We've got a whole soccer season to go, and i have plenty of surprises in store >:) I'd like to thank you soooooooo much for reading this incredibly long chapter that derseves a vote for my sore arms and hands ;) comment too! do you think the chapters should be less jam-packed is the question :)

(A/N originally from Bri)